Wind Creek State Park (Alabama) - 2016

Sometimes you simply forget about the campgrounds in your backyard. We used to camp in Wind Creek State Park once or twice a year. Of course, that was before we retired and I could easily commute to work from the park.

Wind Creek State Park in Alabama

Commuting distance is no longer a priority when selecting campsites. Of course, our still-too-busy schedules and appointments are the things we need to work around now and it seemed that our calendar was crowded with other things for too long. We started itching to go out in Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer, but our calendar was limiting this trip to a single week.

Instead of commute distance being the deciding factor, we were looking for a place close to home to maximize our time in the woods. There are two campgrounds we frequented back when the distance to work was high on our agenda. It had been several years since we camped at Wind Creek State Park, so we decided to load up Rosie and head there.

We were pleasantly surprised by the changes in the park since our last visit. The State of Alabama invested some money in improving the park by creating some "premium" sites.

Our campsite in Wind Creek State Park

Wind Creek State Park is on a huge lake, not along a tiny creek as the name suggests. Many of the campsites are along the shore and overlook the water. The premium sites were created by removing some sites along a popular section of the park and using that space to make the remaining sites larger. Full hook-ups were also added to the premium sites along with a premium camping fee.

While the premium sites are very nice, we elected to camp in one of the more basic "water and electric" sites along another finger of the shoreline. We found a good site that had easy access to the lake, an important feature since we brought along our kayak.

Rosie at Wind Creek State Park

Another view of Rosie at Wind Creek State Park

Our camping loop was about 30 percent full. That meant our loop was quiet. That was a good thing since this was Suzy's, our five month-old Yorkie, second time camping. Less distractions were seen as a positive thing.

Suzy with her stuffed toy

Suzy in the park

Suzy out for a walk

The "star of the show" turned out to be our inflatable kayak. We were able to explore the park from the perspective of the shoreline. We found several interesting natural features from the vantage point of our kayak. It was also fun to paddle around the various camping loops in the park.

The view from our kayak

On the lake in our kayak

We did have a big storm while at Wind Creek State Park and lightning destroyed my 30 foot vertical amateur radio antenna and its tuner. I'm thankful it didn't break anything else.

Antenna knocked out by storm

Here are some specifics about this park:

• There are multiple camping loops in this park. Some, but not all, are along the lake's shore.
• Some sites have full connections and others have water and electric.
• Our site had 30 and 20 amp service.
• One bathhouse served our loop. The bathhouse was clean and well stocked.
• We could not receive any TV signals using Rosie's antenna.
• AT&T placed a good 4G signal over the park.

In all, we enjoyed our adventure at Wind Creek State Park and will return again when we are looking for a quick getaway.

Looking at the lake

Selfie at our campsite

Silo in the park

Wind Creek State Park and the 4th of July

While coordinating calendars one evening, we discovered that we had a longer than expected Fourth of July holiday. This would be a great time to schedule an adventure in Rosie.
There were a few caviots to scheduling this trip. First, we were talking about one bonus day for the holiday and not a significant amount of time. Second, I would have to spend a little time during the weekend to complete a project for work and that meant I needed to be inside a WiFi footprint at the campground.
When you add those two elements together, the sum was that Rosie was headed to either Wind Creek State Park or to Gunter Hill Corp of Engineers Campground. Both are within a 90 minute commute from Fort Rosie, which is where we store our Airsteam trailer.
While both parks have their advantages, Wind Creek State Park won this time because of the bicycle trails. Wind Creek has more bike paths than Gunter Hill and riding our bikes around the park in July sounded like fun.
Several Alabama State parks have a policy of reserving you a space in the park, but not a specific camp site. That means you have to get to the park then race around to find the actual site where you really want to set up your camping rig.
Many of the lakeside sites are currently closed for renovation at Wind Creek. That greatly reduced the "prime" sites available during the holiday weekend.
Knowing this, we decided on a clever plan: we would head out early in the morning and beat the crowd.
Someone let our secret out. There was a line of want-to-be campers at the registration office trying to get the best of the remaining sites. When it was our turn, we decided on a site in one of the first loops in the park.
This was our first time in the park where our site was not on the lake. We discovered that some families with young children like these loops because they feel it is safer being farther away from the lake. While I am not qualified to determine if the early loops are really safer, they did appear to be quieter than the "party" atmosphere found nearer the lake.
Our plan was to spend the week at Wind Creek and I would commute to work, as needed. We pulled out after three days.
Why? We have stayed in Wind Creek for a week before, what happened this time to convince us that it was time to pack up and head home?
Shortly after setting up, it started to rain. Then it continued to rain, followed by more rain. It rained everyday while we were there and the weather apps on our iPhones were predicting another week of rain.
After spending three days in a soaking rain, the reality that we were going to spend the entire week inside Rosie started to sink in. It wasn't going to stop raining that week. It was time to hitch up and head home.

It seems that we always learn something on every camping trip. The "take away" from this trip was to know when to throw in the towel.
We camp because we enjoy sharing each other's company, we enjoy seeing nature from Rosie's panaramic window and we enjoy being outside in the campgrounds. We don't camp so that we can sit inside Rosie and watch TV. If the weather is forcing us to be couch potatoes, it is time to move on down the road.

Wind Creek State Park (Alabama) - Third Visit

What's that smell? I doubt there is a married man who hasn't heard his wife ask that question.

Normally, men view that as a hypothetical question because everyone knows the answer. But, the question was valid this time because I didn't know what or who was responsible for the smell inside Rosie, our Airstream trailer.

It didn't take long to figure out that the smell was coming from the bathroom. After talking to some seasoned campers, we found out that we violated one of the primary rules of travel trailers--never store the trailer with the black holding tank dry.

Who knew? I thought we were doing great by getting to the park dump station and draining both the gray and black tanks. It is clear now that we always want to keep a few gallons of clean water in both tanks at all times.

Wind Creek is a park that we enjoy returning to for a short weekend trip. We pulled Rosie over one weekend then I ended up going home on Sunday evening so that I could be at work during the next week. Becky and Annie (our Yorkie) stayed  and enjoyed the park while I was working.

After work on Friday, I drove back to Wind Creek State Park and rejoined Becky. We decided that we had to take some action to rid Rosie of "the smell."

Most of the camping sites next to the lake do not have sewage connections. There are some connections in the loops across from the lake sites with full connections. We decided that we needed to move Rosie to a site with full connections.

The park wasn't full and the rangers didn't mind us moving as long as we didn't ask for a refund. So, we quickly packed-up Rosie and moved sites.

That was the start of an evening where we kept filling the black tank then emptying it--again and again and again. Somehow, that strategy worked!

It seems that there is a lesson learned on every outing with Rosie. We learned on this trip how to take care of the black and gray tanks between camping trips. I guess I will have to look for a better excuse the next time Becky asks, What's that smell?" in Rosie. 

Wind Creek State Park - Alabama (Second Visit)

Technically, our recent stay at Wind Creek State Park was our second visit to the park in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. We had to remind ourselves of that fact because the first visit is mostly a blur in our minds. This is where we camped the first night after purchasing Rosie. We were too overwhelmed with trying to learn how to do things inside our trailer while on that maiden voyage and unable to enjoy Rosie or the park.

Things were different this time. We are now comfortable camping with Rosie and we discovered that Wind Creek is a great park with lots of things to do.

First, there are more than 600 campsites at this park. While not all of these are on the water, many are. Our campsite was probably 20 feet from the edge of the lake.

Rosie at our campsite at Wind Creek State Park

This made it easy to go for a quick swim behind Rosie. Of course, we had to occasionally share the lake with some other residents and their families.

Sharing the lake with another "family."

More young "families" on the lake.

 Another feature we enjoyed at the park was the many places we were able to ride our bicycles. We were able to follow the meandering roads going around the many "fingers" of this lake. There are some moderate hills at the park, so you will have a workout as you ride your bike around Wind Creek State Park.

Lots of places to ride your bicycles at this park

 When not riding our bikes, we enjoyed being at our campsite. It was very easy to relax while at our "lake house."
 

Rosie at Wind Creek State Park in Alabama

Camping at Alabama's Wind Creek State Park

While riding our bikes around the lake, Becky said she remembered camping here when our sons were small children. She also remembered that we climbed some form of a "tower" at the park with our boys. That started our search for the tower.

The "tower" turned out to be a silo and once we found it, the memories of our tent camping trip from more than 25 years ago came flooding back. The view from the top of this silo was great.

The silo overlooking Wind Creek's lake

 Another memory from our first camping trip was the main playground in the campground area. We remembered our sons playing on a "jungle gym" that, with a little imagination, could appear to be similar to a car. We couldn't resist and had to recreate a few "legendary" scenes on the play equipment.

Steve trying a "shortcut"

Becky shifting to ludicrous speed

While at the park, Steve had to do a few last-minute things for his work. The picture below shows him writing a press release about the new graduate program for Troy's Hall School of Journalism and Communication.

Steve working while inside Rosie

Some points about the park:

• Most sites have 30 amp electrical service. I don't know if any sites offer 50 amp service.
• Bath houses and restrooms were clean and modern.
• This is a pet friendly campground.
• Expect to pay around $26 per night for your campsite. (Weekend rates are higher.)
• All sites have water and electric service. Some have sewage connection. Fewer on the water have sewage connections.
• TV service is minimal. We could watch Alabama Public Television and occasionally the local Fox affiliate would pop in for a few minutes. I guess it is good that you don't go camping to watch TV.
• There is WiFi service in the park. The speed of the service degrades as the number of people in the park increases.
• There is a camp store in the park, which closes around 5 p.m.
• There is an ice cream/pizza/hot dog stand in the park.
• There are a couple of dump stations in the park. You may need to plan your park exit time if you intend to drop by one of the dump stations.
• There appears to be only one trash dumpster in the park.

There were two memorable events that happened while camping at Wind Creek this time. First, we decided to conduct an experiment with Paco, our Hahn's Macaw parrot. We thought we would see if Paco was a good camper. We discovered that Paco isn't into camping and we ended up taking him home after one day at the park.

The second memorable event was that this was the first time we heard the severe weather sirens switch on while in a park. We gathered at the bath house along with a couple dozen other concerned campers until the storm passed over us.

The bottom line is that we had great time at Wind Creek State Park in Alabama and we plan to return to this park again.

Wind Creek State Park, Alabama

Our first adventure in our new (to us) camper was a one night stay at Wind Creek State Park in Alabama. This would be our first opportunity to practice the steps we were shown at our orientation when we took possession of our new trailer.

Wind Creek State Park

For some reason, the set-up seemed much easier at the dealership. Fortunately, several seasoned campers were quick to identify us as "rookies" and came to our rescue.

The first problem was our assigned site. There was a ditch on both sides of the little bridge we would have to back our Airstream across. With less than 15 minutes of trailer backing-up experience among us, this was too big of a challenge. The park rangers agreed and moved us to a less challenging site.

After backing in to our site, we had to connect the power, water and sewage to the park. We discovered that is is easier to connect than disconnect.

Next, we moved inside to discover we didn't know where anything was nor did we have a handle of where things should be located. And that was how we spent our first day in the camper--trying to figure out where we should logically store stuff.

ABOUT WIND CREEK STATE PARK

It would be unfair for us to attempt to evaluate this specific park because we were overwhelmed with making our peace with trailer camping. We did note the following:

Park Focus: a large lake
TV Reception: campers on a hill could see Birmingham stations. We could not receive any stations.
WiFi: Yes, and it worked reasonably well.
Camping sites were paved and had water, electricity and sewage hookups.

We plan to return to this park and to take some time to enjoy it.