White Oak Creek COE Campground - Eufaula, Alabama (March 2021)

It’s funny how you get out of the habit of loading up your camper after parking for the winter. Unique to this year, the “COVID Safer at Home” time compounded our apprehension. We felt like “newbies” trying to remember the must-haves for o this camping trip. 

As we hitched-up Rosie, our Airstream trailer, for our new adventure, we were confident we had everything we needed packed away inside the trailer. We quickly discovered we left something at home and would have to drive back the next day to get the missing item. More about that later!

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to camp in parks with large sites and we didn't want to be too far away from home in case we needed to quickly return there. Core of Engineer Parks were perfect because their fees are reasonable, they are usually along a lake or river and their individual sites are normally larger than what you find in a privately owned campground. 

There are about half-a-dozen COE campgrounds near our home, so we started looking for reservations for a one week stay. One-by-one, parks were eliminated because they were booked up. We were able to find a week available at White Oak Creek COE Campground. If that sounds familiar, it was where we camped only five months earlier.

Sign at White Oak Creek COE Campground

Only one camping loop was open when we camped there in October. All of the loops were open this time and the campground was close to being full. It appeared that we were not the only people wanting to get back to camping and the large sites found in most COE parks were appreciated by us.

This campground is along the shore of Lake George in Alabama. Lake George is somewhat confusing to the "locals" as they call it Lake Eufaula. We noticed that the water level in Lake Whatever was significantly higher this time. 

View from our site

Rosie in our site

We also noticed what appeared to be multiple family gatherings in the park. We were curious about a family gathering of about four trailers in our loop. They had a full-sized ping-pong table that was well used by the group. This was the first time I have seen a ping-pong table brought to a campground.

We knew from our previous camping trip to not expect too much TV service from Rosie's antenna. PBS was watchable about 50 percent of the time and a CBS station was watchable only about 20 percent of the time. Just as the last time we camped in this park, we brought a DVR loaded with TV shows and movies we wanted to watch. The problem was that I left the power cord home. 

A visitor to our site

Another visitor

Suzy looking out Rosie's window

My first reaction was to suffer the consequences of leaving the power cord home to remind me to always check for it in the future. That was before our "Informed Delivery" app told us an important document was being delivered to our home and it required quick action. That meant I was going to drive the 90 minutes home to deal with that mail. It also gave me an opportunity to get the power cord and a few other things we might need while camping.

It turned out to be a good thing I was able to pick up a few overlooked items because it rained several days and turned colder while we were in this park.  Back in our tent-camping days, a cold rain was a sure-fire camping ender. Our move to camping in a trailer meant we were able to enjoy the park while staying warm and dry inside.

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were four loops in the campground. 
• Most of the sites in this campground were on the water. It appeared that sites not on the water had water views. 
• Some loops have more shade trees than others.
• Our site was paved with concrete and was level. It appeared to us that the sites in the other loops were also paved with concrete
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site did not have a sewer connection 
• There were two dump stations in this park. Both were a distance from the camp sites and you ended up having to drive there to dump your sewage tote
• The trash dumpsters were at the dump stations. That meant it was too far to walk there with your trash
• There were multiple bathhouses in the campground. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not check on the condition of the bathhouse near our camper.
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided decent 4G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to occasionally watch PBS and a CBS affiliate using Rosie’s TV antenna. The PBS station came in mostly mornings and evenings. Reception of the CBS station was random, but mostly unwatchable. We were glad we brought our DVR with episodes of TV shows and movies we wanted to watch
• The campground was near Eufaula, Alabama. That meant there were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

We did not see any problems with ants this time. We came prepared with ant powder, but noticed the campers around us were not in what we call "RV Ant Mode." Several camping neighbors said they had not noticed any bug problems in the campground.

Full "Ant Mode" with all utilities off the ground

This trip was during what we call pollen season in the South. We were thankful that the rain storms washed the pollen off Rosie and our truck.

Getting ready to launch the kayak

Suzy enjoying the kayak on the lake

Another relaxing trip using the kayak

Rosie in our site

We understood the elves baked cookies in this tree!

Rosie as seen from the lake

There are hills in this campground that add a challenge to your bike rides

An original watercolor painted by Becky of flowers
seen in this park on a rainy day. (This was painted from
photos of the flowers and they were not picked for this painting.)

White Oak Creek COE Campground - Eufaula, Alabama (October 2020)

Our first camping trip during the COVID-19 pandemic camping was a success and lit the fire for more adventures in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. Once home, we started talking about going out camping again.

The parameters for another trip were similar to our previous outing. We wanted to stay in a park close to home and we wanted a campground with large sites. We were able to get reservations at the White Oak Creek Army Corps of Engineers Campground.

Sign at White Oak Creek COE Campground

This is a campground located south of Eufaula, Alabama, along the shore of Lake George. It is also a campground we stayed in twice before.

There are four camping loops in this park and I imagine all are full during the summer. We were there during the late Fall and only three loops were open. It seemed camping during the pandemic was a popular idea as there were only a few unoccupied sites in the entire park. 

Rosie in White Oak Creek COE Campground

It appeared to us that fishing was very popular among the campers there during the week. The park's complexion seemed to change over the weekend as the jet skiing and water skiing crowd arrived. That crowd pulled out on Sunday afternoon leaving the campground to the quiet fishing boats.

Suzy looking at the lake

We took our inflatable tandem kayak and enjoyed our excursions around the lake. On one of our trips, Becky did a FaceTime video session with our three year-old grandson. He was excited about going on a kayak trip with his grandparents and enjoyed the adventure as we paddled under the bridge at one end of the park.

Kayak ready for the lake

Enjoying the lake

Heading towards Rosie

On one of our kayak trips on the lake, we started noticing dozens and dozens of what appeared to be empty one liter soda bottles wrapped in orange foam bobbing on the water. As we paddled over toward one of these things to investigate, a fishing boat beelined toward us at high speed. The man on the boat started yelling at us about his catfish noodles. Well, that solved the mystery as to what those things were on the water. From that time on, we were carefully watched by the fisherman.

Catfish Noodles on the lake

Selfie on the lake

We also enjoyed riding our bicycles around this park. Once again, Becky took our grandson on a FaceTime bike ride around the park. Needless to say, he was excited to join his grandparents as he shared in a Rosie adventure using digital technology.

Riding bikes at White Oak COE Campground

As silly as it sounds, we noticed a familiar Airstream in the campground. Did you think all Airstream trailers looked alike? Maybe, but we recognized the Wally Byam Airstream Club Big Red Numbers on the trailer. We were on the WBAC Springtime in Kentucky several years ago with those friends and were schedule to be with them on the Gone to Texas this year. Of course, COVID cancelled all WBAC caravans.

Our friends in White Oak Campground

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were four loops in the campground. Most of the sites in this campground we’re on the water.
• Our site was paved with concrete and was level. It appeared to us that the sites in the other loops were also paved with concrete
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site did not have a sewer connection 
• There were two dump stations in this park. Both were a distance from the camp sites and you ended up having to drive there to dump your sewage tote
• The trash dumpsters were at the dump stations. That meant it was too far to walk there with your trash
• There were multiple bathhouses in the campground. The volunteer at the gate suggested we use the bathroom in our trailer since the number of COVID-19 cases in Alabama were increasing during that time span
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided decent 4G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch only PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. We were glad we brought our DVR with episodes of TV shows and movies we wanted to watch
• The campground was near Eufaula, Alabama. That meant there were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

We discovered a little too late that it was ant season at the campground. We immediately went into "full ant mode" by making sure our power and water lines didn't touch the ground and spraying ant pesticide around every point of Rosie touching the ground. We also had to spray Rosie's outer skin where we found ant trails. It had been years since we were camping in a location with ant problems and we ended up having to fight the critters both inside and outside our trailer.

As we were using the dump station before leaving the park, someone pulled a sewage tote up to the dump station next to the one we were using. We asked if he noticed the ant problem at his motorhome. He quickly snapped back that they had not seen any ants at their site. Becky and I chuckled as he left the dump station that he may not have seen any yet, but time will tell. It is almost too late once you start seeing them.

The ants are just a part of the camping experience and you have to be diligent in trying to keep them out. They did not lower our opinion of this great campground.

View of the bridge at night

Rosie at night

Selfie outside Rosie

Day use area at White Oak COE Campground

Sunrise at White Oak COE Campground

We didn't see an alligator

The geese were not happy to see us in our kayak

Heading back to Rosie

Hardridge Creek COE Campground - Alabama (March 2018)

The first signs of Spring always start us thinking about taking Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer, out on our inaugural trip for the new camping season. This has traditionally been to visit the Florida State Park near Port St. Joe, the campground we have visited every Spring Break for nearly 20 years.

We thought we would do things differently this year. We would divide the trip into staying for a few days at a park a couple hours down the road then continuing on to Port St. Joe.

Hardridge Creek COE Campground was a little ways off our normal route to Florida, but Google Maps said Hardridge was about two hours from our house then it was another four hours to continue on to Port St. Joe. That sounded perfect and it would give us a chance to de-winterize Rosie before arriving in Florida.

Rosie at Hardridge Creek COE Campground

First, Hardridge is a very nice COE campground. It is along Lake George on the Alabama side of the lake, the same lake the local people call Lake Eufaula.

Hardridge has some of the best lakefront campsites I’ve ever seen in a COE campground. The loop called Pirate's Cove juts out into the water and is always full. Like most of the loops in this park, Pirates Cove has electric and water connections. We elected to stay in the loop that also added full hookups instead of the one offering amazing lake views.

View at Hardridge

Looking at Lake Eufaula

View from one of the camp sites

Our campsite had a view of the lake, which was about 50 feet behind Rosie. Of course, there weren’t leaves on the trees yet. We thought that it would be hard to see the lake once the trees filled out with leaves.

View behind Rosie

It seems that fishing is the primary activity in this park. Our campsite had the normal fire ring, picnic table and it also had a small table for cleaning fish. 

Temperatures were hovering around freezing at night while we were camping in Hardridge. Our heat pump wasn’t able to keep up with our desired temperature as it approached freezing outside and we had to switch over to an electric heater. Since the lows were right at freezing, we elected to not fire up Rosie’s furnace.

Looking at one of the camping loops in Hardridge

We were supposed to stay at Hardridge for three nights. Becky realized on our first morning that we needed to attend to something at home. We quickly jumped in the truck and headed there in time to correct our problem. Instead of turning around and going back to Rosie, we spent the night at home. 

It felt strange to be home because we were in the camping mode. The refrigerator was empty and many of our comfort items were two hours down the road in Rosie. We headed back to Hardridge the next morning thankful we were able to take care of things before going to Florida. 

While on our way back to the campground, we passed by a horse-drawn covered wagon train heading into town complete with police escort. It seemed that the rodeo was arriving in a very nostalgic way.

The rodeo heading into town

Here are some specifics about Hardridge Creek COE Campground:

• There are multiple camping loops in this park. Some have amazing lake views. 
• Our site had 50, 30 and 20 amp electrical service. 
• Our site had a water connection with 35 pounds of pressure. 
• Our site had a sewer connection. 
• There was one dump station located in the middle of the park. 
• The trash dumpsters were close to the park's entrance. It was too far to walk to, so you had to drive there with your trash. 
• Our site had a concrete pad and was level. 
• We found two bathhouses in the park. One was near our site, which had full hookups. It seems that some sites in this campground are a long ways from a bathhouse. 
• The bathhouse in our loop was clean and well maintained. 
• The park did not provide a WiFi signal. 
• AT&T placed a good 4G signal over our campsite. This was a surprise since there was no signal at the entrance to the park. 
• It was clear to us that the AT&T signal was coming from the other side of the lake. The middle of the lake is the border between Alabama and Georgia. It is also the time zone line as Georgia is in the Eastern time zone and Alabama is in the Central time zone. Our iPhones kept displaying Eastern times and that caused us to believe our cellphone connection was coming from the Georgia side of the lake. 
• We were able to watch the following TV networks using Rosie's antenna: ABC, CBS and NBC. We were able to receive the following digital channels: Bounce, Cozi, CW, Escape, Grit, LAFF, ME-TV and MY. 

There was an old fashioned restaurant/soda fountain in a drug store about five miles from the park. I wanted to visit it, but we couldn’t this time. Maybe we will be able to do so the next time we visit Hardridge Creek COE Campground.

We passed this on the way to Hardridge!