T. H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park - 2013

For many college students, the transition from winter to spring includes a visit to Florida's panhandle. OK, we don't qualify as college students and we make sure we are miles away from the party-minded college students during spring break season, but we enjoy observing that long established college tradition by traveling to St. Joseph Peninsular State Park to officially launch another year of camping in Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer.
We have tent camped in this park for years. Who knew that the name of this campground was really the T. H. Stone Memorial Park? I don't remember seeing that name on any of the park's signs.
There are two camping loops in this park: Shady Pines and Gulf Breeze. As a hold-over from our tent-camping days, we normally reserve a site in the Shady Pines loop. The nice trees in this loop help make it cooler inside tents during warm days. Since we were camping this year in Rosie, we decided to venture out and try reserving a site in the Gulf Breeze loop.
While I am sure it was a coincidence, the Gulf Breeze loop lived up to its name. We could not extend the awning because of the 15-20 mph winds. Of course, the winds were the result of a weather front!

Rosie in the Gulf Breeze loop

While we missed the "in the woods" feel of the Shady Pines loop, the Gulf Breeze loop had more reminders that you were at the beach and we enjoyed our stay there.

View from Rosie' back window

One of our favorite areas at this Florida State Park is the marina. This is where the pelicans gather during the day. It is always fun to see a dozen or so birds sunning themselves on the dock.

Pelicans at the marina

A brave (or tame) pelican

One of our interesting sightings this year was a group of white pelicans flying over the park. This was our first sighting of a flock of white pelicans.

A flock of white pelicans fly over Rosie

As usual, we watched the deer in the park. We were fortunate in that we saw a family cross a waterway.

We welcomed a construction project during our stay. There is a boardwalk connecting the Shady Pines and Gulf Breeze loops. We have watched the effect of weather as it wore away the walkways. Park volunteers started replacing the weathered planks while we were camping in the park.

Part of the walkway connecting the park loops

The boardwalk between the camping loops

A bench overlooking a waterway

You always find a crowd of people gathering along the beach at sunset. We were treated to some amazing sunsets during our stay this year.

Sunset

Weather is always questionable during spring break. I mentioned the brisk winds earlier in this posting. Temperatures were also cooler than in pervious years. We had to wear jackets most of the week.

It was "jacket weather" this year

At the end of the week, we hooked Rosie up to our truck and headed off to our next adventure. Annie, our Yorkie, loves to ride "shotgun" as we leave the park.

Some specifics about the T. H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park:

• There are two bath houses in both the Shady Pine and Gulf Breeze loops. The most recently remodeled bath house is in the Gulf Breeze loop. Bath houses were well maintained by the park volunteers.
• This is a "pet friendly" park. (Make sure you pick-up after your pet!)
• AT&T 4G and 3G service was spotty. We could only call or use our iPhones for Internet connections at the back window in Rosie. (One of our neighbors had a cell phone repeater and claimed it worked well inside the park. Maybe this is something we should investigate adding to Rosie's technology.)
• There is wi-fi available at the camp store. After years of no wi-fi, sluggish wi-fi is welcomed. Of course, you have to drive to the store in order to use it.
• We were able to watch TV stations from Panama City (ABC FOX, and NBC), Dothan (CBS) and Tallahassee (PBS). We found the embedded digital channels to be more interesting (ME-TV, THIS, ANTENNA-TV, etc.)
• Camping sites in both loops have water and 30-amp electrical service. Make sure you bring your waste tote because you will be needing it to dump your sewage at the dump station when your gray and black tanks start to fill.
• Make sure you pack enough food for your stay. The park is miles and miles away from non-tourist type shopping. There is a camp store in the park, but you may need a mortgage on your home to buy anything there.
• We had heard over the years that sites along the open fields tend to see rodents during the day and hear them at night. We can now verify that claim. Our site this year backed up to one of the water ways/fields and we did see rats poking around during the day. The tent campers next to us said they heard "critters" scurrying around during the night. This was the first time we saw rats and this was the first time we camped next to an open field.
• This is a park you need reservations before arriving. The odds of finding an open site without reservations are slim. In fact, many sites are reserved 11 months in advance.
• Pay attention to the maximum rig sizes when making reservations. Some of the sites are shallow and rigs larger than Rosie (25 feet) would not fit in the "compact" sites.
• Larger rigs should avoid the Shady Pines loop. Some of the turns on the road going through this loop are "challenging" for larger RVs. The big boys need to stay in Gulf Breeze.

Speaking of reservations, we plan to reserve another site in the Gulf Breeze loop next year.

Gunter Hill - Winter Camping

Our fourth visit to Gunter Hill COE Campground could only be described as different from the others. True, all visits are different, but this one was very different. This was our first time camping in the dead of winter. We need to put the emphasis on the word "dead."
We have been in parks when the leaves were off the trees before. We have camped in cold weather before. We have camped when the park wasn't full before. This was our first visit to Gunter Hills when things were dead.
While the park wasn't full, there were campers there and you could see several campfires at night. There were a few brave souls out walking during the days and we saw a couple riding there bicycles around the park.
So, why was the park dead?
There were no children in the park this time. While some people would welcome the peace and quiet hanging in the air, we missed the sounds of young voices as they played in the park. We also missed the sounds of excitement as families enjoyed the park. We missed the subtle signs that said the park was alive with families enjoying the camping experience.
As the temperatures warm up during the next couple of months, the leaves will return to the trees, the grass will turn green again and the campground will fill with families. As families de-winterize their RVs, the sounds of children playing will return to the park. While some may see this commotion as noise, we see it as part of the pleasant sounds found at many campgrounds.

Fontainebleau State Park - Louisiana

Fontainebleau State Park is located near Mandeville, Louisiana. Lake Pontchartrain forms one of the boarders of this park and I imagine that the beach area along the lake is one of the park's most popular features during the summer. Since we visited the park during November, only a few brave souls were fishing in those chilly waters.

Main entrance to Fontainebleau State Park

The Lake Pontchartrain beach area

So, why would people want to camp in this park during the off-peak season? First, this park has wetlands, wooded areas, marshes and wildlife. We heard owls in the evenings and watched eagles fly overhead during the day. Fellow campers talked about the many deer in the park, but we always seemed to miss the deer sightings. In short, the lake is not the only draw for this park.

Looking towards the old camp area

The people in the park appear to mark time through hurricanes. Park staff prople showed us areas destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and, more recently, by Hurricane Isaac. We were looking forward to the boardwalk through one of the park's wetlands and marshes. Unfortunately, this feature along with the visitors center was destroyed by Hurricane Isaac.

Rosie in the newer camping area of this park

There are two camping sections to this park. The older section has many pull-thru sites. While this sounds attractive to some campers wanting to avoid the chore of backing into a site, the downside to this section is that the sites are close to each other. Very, very close! I wasn't sure that all campers in this area can open their awnings because their neighbors are right outside their doors. I don't think our 25 foot trailer and tow vehicle would fit in some of these tiny sites. I am sure there are some great reasons for camping in this area because it was packed. My family prefers the newer campground area.

The newer campground area is more traditional in design. It has larger sites and some can accommodate the big rigs. Having said that, you need to realize that the view from your site will probably be the campers around you. The sites are bigger, but closer together than in many of the other campgrounds we visit.

I mentioned that Fontainebleau State Park is close to Mandeville. Since we found ourselves in the heart of Cajun country, we decided to diligently search for the perfect gumbo and shrimp po-boy sandwich. Sadly, we failed to find the absolute best and our search continues.Some people would say that this is something to look forward to on our next visit to Louisiana.

 The park features:

• 30 and 50 amp electrical service
• Paved pads
• Water and electrical hook-ups
• One dump station
• There are some good roads for riding your bicycles
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC from New Orleans in this park via antenna
• There isn't wi-fi in the park, but AT&T's 3G and 4G service is adequate
• The restrooms and showers in this park are modern, functional and clean.

Gunter Hill COE Campground - Third Visit - Halloween

We left Gunter Hill COE Campground from our second visit wondering what happens at the park during Halloween weekend that makes people talk excitedly about it. By the time we parked our trailer at Fort Rosie, we decided to make reservations for Halloween weekend. We were surprised that both loops were nearly full. The Catoma loop, the one recently reopened after renovations, was full. There were about a dozen sites open in the older Antioch loop.

Surprisingly, site 101 was open so we booked it. This was the second time we were able to reserve this premium space and this would have been impossible in previous years because this site was typically reserved months in advance.

Since we figured that this was going to be a festive weekend, we decided to buy some decorations for Rosie, our Airstream trailer. We found some orange Christmas-type lights at Home Depot plus we bought some awning lights at Camping World. We knew that we would be able to fit in with families camping over Halloween at Gunter Hill Campground.

As we were checking in, the park attendant said that he just had a cancellation in the Catoma loop. He also said that there were only seven open sites in the entire park for the weekend. For the second time, we switched from site 101 to an unknown one in the new loop.

The park attendant described Catoma as the "festive" loop. We understood what he meant when we turned into the campground area. There were lots of Halloween decorations and lights everywhere in the park. Suddenly, we knew what the camper meant three weeks ago when he excitedly asked if we were planning to return for Halloween. It was apparent that this was going to be a fun weekend.

You have to keep in mind that Gunter Hill is, in my opinion, one of the top Corp of Engineers parks in our region. They have great sites, full hook-ups and the park is well maintained.

Rosie, our Airstream trailer, with Halloween lights

We have already talked about this park in previous posts. This posting is about being in the park during Halloween weekend.

Some of the festive lights at Gunter Hill's Halloween weekend

The Trick-or-Treat Parade at Gunter Hill COE Campground

Autumn colors at Gunter Hill Campground

Fall at Gunter Hill Campground

Annie getting very involved in a game of Sorry

We learned that a number of other parks have "holiday specials." The obvious dates are the 4th of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and New Years. We found that Gunter Hill's Halloween celebration was great fun and well worth the trip.

This was also a time when the park was filled with families and small children. It also seemed that most people in the park knew each other. We were in the Catoma loop because of a cancellation. It appears that the family that cancelled was probably related to the campers all around us. Fortunately, the family was very nice and we enjoyed camping next to them.

We plan to return next year for Halloween at Gunter Hill Campground.

Gunter Hill COE Campground - Second Visit

Our second visit to Gunter Hill COE Campground was very different from the first. There are two loops at Gunter Hill and we stayed in the Antioch loop the first time. Actually, the Catoma loop wasn't an option since it was closed and being renovated.

Gunter Hill COE Campground - Catoma Loop

We enjoyed being in the Antioch loop during our last visit. It had some sites with great views of the creek. (It seems silly to call Catoma Creek a creek. It is wider than some rivers.) The loop was also alive with lots of campers, children playing and the smell of camp foods being cooked.

We learned on our second visit that the Catoma loop was open, the Antioch loop was about to be closed for renovation and that only three or four campers were in the Antioch loop. We thought we were very lucky to have site 101, a premium waterfront site, reserved in the Antioch loop, but we quickly decided to give up this site for an unknown one in the Catoma loop.

The bridge in the Catoma Loop

Armed with a new campground map, we started looking for our site. First impressions were very positive. Camp sites were very spacious and your neighbors were not right next to your trailer. Each site had a concrete pad, water, electric and sewage hook up. In short, it was easy to see why the campers moved over to the Catoma loop.

Another view of our camp site

The Catoma loop has wide sites and is well maintained. It doesn't have as many water view sites as the Antioch loop, but you substitute the feeling that you are in the woods and you end up with a reasonable trade.

The newly paved roads were great for riding our bicycles. They were also good for taking walks.

Sunset at Gunter Hill COE Campground

What about the Antioch loop? We rode our bikes over to look at this area. It was sad to see this mostly empty area, which was full of campers a few months earlier. We didn't notice the first time we stayed in Gunter Hill how close the sites were to each other. We didn't notice how cramped the sites were. We didn't notice how many ruts were in the road. We did notice this time how sad we felt about this good camping area as it was clearly reaching it final moments before being closed for renovations.

The bottom line is that the Catoma loop is one of the best Corp of Engineers parks near Montgomery. It is nice to be less than 15 minutes away from Alabama's capital city and to be in a relaxing country setting.

Annie enjoying Gunter Hill COE Campground

On our last day in the park, a fellow camper asked if we were planning to return on Halloween weekend. We asked what happens on Halloween. His response was that they really do Halloween right.

Not knowing how to do Halloween right, we decided that we needed to return to Gunter Hill COE Campground in three weeks for Halloween.

For the record, the campsites in Gunter Hill's COE Campground Catoma Loop has:

• 30 and 50 amp electrical service
• Concrete pads
• Full hook-ups (water, electric sewage)
• One dump station
• There are some great roads for riding your bicycles
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in this park via antenna
• Campers said that it was a challenge to capture either Dish or Direct satellite TV
• There isn't wi-fi in the park, but AT&T's 3G and 4G service is adequate
• The restrooms and showers in this park are modern, functional and clean.

St. Andrews State Park - Florida

One of the things we have learned during our brief camping career is that there are some parks that you must reserve a site a long time in advance. As you can guess, these are the popular destinations in premium locations.

We first saw this phenomena when we reserved a space at the Florida State Park at Port St. Joe. The people at Reservations America said that many people book their campsites a year in advance. Not wanting to be left out of the top tier locations during holidays, we started making reservations months in advance.

With that background, we are ready to start talking about our visit to St. Andrews State Park, which is located near Panama City Beach, Florida.

A mere 72 hours before we were scheduled to arrive at St. Andrews State Park, Hurricane Isaac smashed into the gulf coast. While Louisiana and Mississippi felt the full fury of this storm, the Florida Gulf coast in the panhandle received lots of wind and rain from Isaac.

Rosie rode the storm out in Fort Rosie, what we call the warehouse we store her in when not out on an adventure. As soon as the storm moved ashore, we started calling the park to find out if it was still open. Our first call was about 72 hours before we planned to arrive and the park ranger said that there was a lot of standing water in our campground loop. The second call was 48 hours before we were to arrive and the park report remained that our site was flooded. At that point we started making alternative plans for our trip in Rosie.

Our last call was 24 hours before we were scheduled to arrive. This time the park attendant said that the water was receded and that our site should be OK by the time we arrived the next day.

Since we were not sure we were going to actually go camping, we hadn't been diligent in getting ready. Panic entered in as we quickly started getting our supplies ready for the trip. We were able to quickly throw together our camping list and we were able to hitch Rosie to our truck and we were off to visit a new park in Florida, St. Andrews State Park.

The sign at the entrance said that the campground was full, making us glad we had reservations. We stood in line waiting our turn to register, making us believe that the flood of water from Hurricane Isaac was being replaced by a flood of campers.

The rain storm at St. Andrews State Park

It was easy to see that our camping site was recently under water. It had that "mushy" feeling. What surprised us was the number of empty sites around us. It appeared that Hurricane Isaac scared some would-be campers away.

I stayed over the weekend then headed back home so that I could go to work during the week while Becky and Annie (our Yorkie dog) stayed in the park. After work on Friday, I would rejoin them for that weekend then we would pull Rosie home on Sunday.

Who would have thought that the reminents of Hurricane Isaac would start to regenerate into a tropical downpour? I started getting text messages on Tuesday about the pouring rain. By midday, Rosie was sitting in a swamp.

Looking out the back window of Rosie, our Airstream trailer

Becky and Annie were trapped inside Rosie because of the constant rain storms. The sun poked through the clouds on Thursday, giving Becky a chance to explore the park's beach area. The rain clouds stayed away most of Friday, but returned Friday night and Saturday morning. The storm woke both of us up and the all of the sites near us were again flooded.

When we arrived, we thought that our site was perfect. We now know that our site is in the lowest area of the park and easily floods. Maybe our loop should be renamed, "The Swamp."

About the park:

• Many of the sites are on the water (inlet, not the Gulf). These are good choices because they are less wet when it rains.
• Sites have 30 amp service and water.
• Sites do not have sewage connections, but the park has several dump stations.
• The park has a great area for swimming in the Gulf.
• There are lots of places to ride your bikes in this park.
• It is easy to watch ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC in the park via antenna.
• There isn't wi-fi in the park, but AT&T's 3G coverage is adequate.
• The restrooms and showers in this park are modern, functional and clean.
• There is a decent camp store in the park.
• We saw several deer in the camping area and there were lots of raccoons near the beach.

One of the things we noticed was the surprising number of tents at this park. There was a healthy number of tent campers there during our stay. We hope, against all odds, that they were able to stay dry during the constant rains.

So, are we planning to go back to this park? Sure! This park has a first class beach and it was great between rain storms.

The beach at St. Andrews State Park

Alligator Trail at St. Andrews State Park

Looking at the inlet at St. Andrews State Park

The inlet area at St. Andrews State Park

The inlet side of St. Andrews State Park

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.