Anastasia State Park - St. Augustine, Florida

We left the Canopener Rally in Topsail Hill State Park and headed east on I-10. Our next planned stop was Anastasia State Park near St. Augustine, Florida.

Near the water in St. Augustine

This is a park that keeps coming up in our conversations with other campers. Several people said it was one of their favorite places to camp. We decided to investigate for ourselves and reserved a site for Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer.

Rosie at Anastasia State Park

Our first impression of the park wasn't positive. Two very rude drivers practically ran us down as we entered the park. Maybe they were hosting a road-rage rally that day.

Once we were checked in, we started looking for our campsite. We were thankful that Rosie wasn't any larger because some of the turns are very tight in this park. We camped in the Coquina loop, which probably has the larger individual sites in the park.

All of the Anastasia sites are dirt based and the dirt in our site was softer than I would have liked. That meant the blocks we used to level Rosie would slowly sink into the sand during our stay. That just meant that Rosie would slowly start to lean to one side.

We think the big draw to this park lies outside the front gate. Sure, the beach is a nice Atlantic shoreline, but St. Augustine is just outside the park's front gate.

Lighthouse outside the park

Old St Augustine

Flagler College

Flagler College in St Augustine

Another view of Flagler College

St Augustine

A church in St Augustine

St. Augustine is a positive childhood memory for us. It was a school field-trip destination for us as children. Although we attended different schools in Florida, we both made the trip to St. Augustine with our classmates to see the fort, old school, old jail and the Fountain of Youth. In talking with other campers in the park, the main topic is always St. Augustine. The nation's oldest city still has the same draw that beckoned Florida elementary school teachers back in the '60s to schedule field-trips there.

The old school

The fort

In case you are wondering, St. Augustine has much to see and do. We enjoyed exploring the town without worrying about having to stay in our group with our teacher.

But what about the park? It is smaller than I imagined. It is very close to a busy highway, meaning you can hear road noises. The sites in the Coquina loop were very shady and larger than most state park campsites. And while the park was nice, we still prefer our favorite parks along the Florida and Alabama Gulf coasts.

Here are some specifics about this park:

• It was a challenge to level Rosie in our campsite. We had to use lots of leveling blocks to help erase the left-to-right slope in our site.
• Staying level was impossible. Our site had lots of soft sand and the leveling blocks simply sunk into the ground.
• Our site had 50, 30 and 20 amp service. Several times while parked here, our electrical service stopped for a moment and that was long enough for our surge protector to cycle through a two minute restart cycle.
• Be careful with your electronic gear. We noticed that the park's power would occasionally dip below 100 volts and this can damage your electronics and your air conditioner unit.
• Our site had a water connection. Unlike some parks we stayed in, the water tasted good here.
• Our site did not have a sewer connection.
• There was a dump station in the park.
• Some of the camping loops shared a bathhouse. Our loop had a bathhouse in the middle of it and it was a hike to get there.
• The bathhouse was not heated. With "freeze warnings" all around us, that meant the bathhouse was very cold.
• AT&T placed "two-bars" of service for voice and data over the park.
• The park provided Wi-Fi service near the camp store.
• Speaking of the the camp store, it had a limited stock of camping and beach supplies.
• We were able to watch CBS, CW, Fox and PBS using Rosie's TV antenna. We also received Bounce, Decades, Get-TV, H&I, ME-TV, Retro and THiS digital channels.

We are glad we finally made it to Anastasia State Park. While we enjoyed being there, I don't think this will be added to our "Frequently Revisit" list.

The beach at Anastasia State Park

A manatee warning sign

This would look great inside Rosie!

French onion soup

Trees inside Anastasia State Park

Having a Cuban sandwich from the Columbia Restaurant

Canopener 2016, Topsail Hill Preserve State Park - Destin, Florida

We attended our first Canopener Airstream Rally in 2015. That was when we learned about the WBCCI's (Wally Byam Caravan Club International) Southeastern Camping Unit. This is a very active unit that loves to spend time camping in their Airstreams. That was a good match for us and we joined that unit.

Look at the Canopener through Rosie's window

One of our memories from the 2015 Canopener was the cold weather. Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer kept us warm that weekend and we enjoyed our time at the rally.

Weather would play a role in the 2016 Canopener. Instead of being cold, we found ourselves dodging rain storms. This time Rosie kept us dry. Just as before, we found that the weather was inconvenient, but not a "show stopper." We were able to enjoy the rally with our growing circle of camping friends.
Topsail is not your typical state park. It was a resort style RV Park that the State of Florida purchased and continues to maintain in the same style. Topsail is famous for its manicured lawns and concrete pads.

The rain fell at the 2016 Canopener

We understand why the Canopener Rally is held in Topsail. It is a large park and able to support 100+ Airstream trailers. It has a good clubhouse and the sites are very nice. (More than 100 Airstream trailers and motorhomes were at the 2016 Canopener Rally!) These are things that rally planners love. It is also a nice park to walk around and visit fellow campers.

Nothing like seeing a park full of Airstream trailers

Rosie at the Canopener

Last year we camped in the outer loop and most of the Canopener events took place in the inner loop. We reserved our site early and were lucky enough to get the last available site in the inner loop this year. Somehow most of the events for the 2016 Canopener took place in the outer loop. I guess we will always be out-of-sync with the center of "action" at the Canopener.

Rosie's camping site at the 2016 Canopener

More Airstream trailers at the Canopener

One of the things we are starting to notice is that we are recognizing other Airstreamers when we attend rallys. There were more than half a dozen couples we knew from the Cajun Caravan or the WBCCI International Rally. That helps make attending Airstream rallys special.
Here are some specifics about this park:

• There are two main camping loops. We think the inner loop has the nicer sites.
• Our site had 50, 30 and 20 amp electrical service.
• Our site had water and sewer connections.
• There is a dump station in this park. It may be one of the least used dump stations in the Florida State Park system since the Topsail campsites come with sewer connections.
• Our site had a cable TV connection. Our track record with campground cable TV connections is not great, but it worked this time.
• AT&T placed a good 4G signal for both voice and data in this park.
• There was minimal Wi-Fi service near the laundry. For some reason, I only saw the Wi-Fi signal for a fleeting moment while we were in the park.
• There is a camp store and a coin-operated laundry in the park.
• There is no need to panic if you run out of milk and eggs. There is a Publix grocery store a few miles outside the park.
• We found that we needed to buy drinking water at the Publix grocery store because the park's water didn't taste too good.
• There is a tram that takes campers to the beach at Topsail. It ran every two hours during our visit. I imagine it runs more frequently during the summer months. This may be the only state park on the Gulf coast that we have never made it to the beach.

Will we return to Topsail Hill State Park? Probably, but not before the 2017 Canopener.

Topsail is close to Grayton Beach and its famous trees

Slipping away for lunch

Enjoying the 2016 Canopener

White Oak Creek COE Campground - Alabama

Sometimes you just need to spend a little time in the woods. We reached that point during the last week of November, a very hard month for our family. There were two deaths in our family that month.

First, my 94 year old mother passed away. While her death was expected, it is always hard to lose your mother. Very hard.

Second, we lost Annie, our little Yorkie dog. She was a member of our family for 16.5 years and she loved camping in Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer. While recovering from these events, we decided that we needed to hitch-up Rosie and head to the woods.

White Oak Creek Park

We didn't want to travel too far from home, so we selected White Oak Creek Campground. This is an Army Corps of Engineers park located along the banks of Lake George a few miles south of Eufaula, Alabama. People with the National Parks Senior Pass may camp here for half price. That makes camping in a Corps of Engineers park a great value.

We camped at White Oak Creek COE park during the first week of December. There were only a few other campers in the park at that time and we were able to park Rosie in a great location on the lake. That was just what we needed.

Our site at White Oak Creek COE Campground

The view from Rosie's rear window

It was very peaceful watching the ducks and other water fowl around the lake and riding our bicycles through the park. This is a large park with multiple camping loops and it is very busy during the summer months. Only one loop is open during the winter months, but all of the loops have great sites on the water.

Getting the bikes ready for exploring the park

Evenings along the lake

The park itself was well maintained by the park volunteers. The restrooms were clean and heated, something we appreciated when we camped here during December. Many of the sites were spacious and offered great views of the water.

Here are some specifics about this park:

• A large number of the camp sites in this park are located on the lake with great views.
• Our site had only 30 amp electrical service and a water hook-up. We are not sure if any of the other loops offer 50 and/or 20 amp electrical service.
• The sites do not have sewer connections, but there are several dump stations in the park.
• There are bath houses in every loop. The bath house serving our loop was clean and heated, something you appreciate when winter camping.
• AT&T served the park with a decent 4G signal for both data and voice.
• There is no Wi-Fi service in this park. You will need to hotspot your smartphone.
• We remembered from the last time we visited this park that TV service from the Columbus, Georgia market was poor. That continued to be true this time. We pointed the antenna toward Dothan, Alabama, and were surprised that we were able to watch ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS. We also were able to see the ME-TV digital channel.
• If you need to buy something, shopping is available close to the park's entrance. There are also some good restaurants within 20 minutes of the park.

Our trip to White Oak Creek COE Campground turned out to be exactly what we needed to lift our spirits. We enjoyed our time in this park and know we will return again.

Sunset at White Oak Creek COE Campground

Enjoying the park

Rosie in the White Creek COE Campground

Sure, it was a "Major Prize"

Selfie in the park

Hitched and ready to leave

Grayton Beach State Park - Fall 2015

It was a little after sunrise when I first heard it. There was a definite "thud" sound on Rosie's roof then the sound of a critter running along Rosie's roof. (Rosie is our 25 foot Airstream trailer.) The mystery was solved a few moments later when I saw a squirrel leap from Rosie's awning to a tree. It appears that Grayton's animals join us in loving Rosie.

Rosie at Grayton Beach State Park

It is somewhat of an irony that we heard squirrels running on Rosie's roof because this is a park we rarely see wildlife. Besides an occasional rabbit or armadillo and the ominous signs warning us about bears and alligators, the only wildlife we hear about are the college students celebrating Spring Break about 60 miles down the road in Panama City Beach. OK, squirrels may not be the most exciting animals ever seen while camping in Rosie, but it is a start for this park.

Sign at entrance to the park

Grayton Beach State Park is quickly becoming one of our favorite places to camp. It is also a park you need to bring things to when you camp there. For example, we bring our bicycles and enjoy riding them to the beach communities near the park. We always see other campers using their canoes and kayaks in the lake behind the campground. These toys make a great park better.

Bring your bikes to Grayton Beach State Park

The communities near the campground are bike friendly plus they have some interesting parks and shopping areas. We found two "farmers" markets while out on our bikes. I guess the local farmers are different from home because these markets featured crafts and baked goods instead of vegetables and fruits. It was fun seeing the creativity of the local artistic community at these farmers markets.

Grayton Beach community bridge

Grayton community park

Most of our postings in this blog talk about the park itself. Grayton Beach is different in that we find ourselves enjoying the community as much, if not more, than the park. This is not to imply that Grayton Beach is a second-rate park because it isn't. We always enjoy being on Florida's Gulf Coast and the park's wonderful beach. We are simply saying that we enjoy riding our bikes in the communities surrounding Grayton Beach State Park.

Here are some specifics about this park:

• There are two loops in this park. The first has concrete pads and full hook-ups. The second is more rustic, has gravel sites and has only electric and water hook-ups.
• Our site had 20 and 30 amp electrical service.
• AT&T placed a strong 4G signal over the park for both voice and data.
• The park does not provide WiFi service. You will have to create a hotspot with your iPhone or Android to use your computer or tablet online.
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS TV stations using Rosie's antenna. We also saw ME-TV and CW on the digital channels serving the park.
• There is one dump station in the park and it is found in an awkward location. It is at the start of the rustic loop. That means you will probably circle around to use it then circle around again as you leave the park.
• There are multiple places to shop near Grayton Beach State Park. That means you can drive over to Publix if you need some groceries. There is a factory outlet mall about 10 miles down the road from the park.
• Both the park and the community are bike-friendly. You will want to explore the beach communities around the park while camping at Grayton Beach State Park.

We find ourselves talking about the differences between the "old" Florida and today's Florida. We think it is sad that many of Florida's beaches were lost to huge developments along the shoreline. If you want to see some remnants of an "old" Florida beach, you have to go to a state or federal park on the coast and Grayton Beach State Park is an excellent place to see what a natural beach looks like.

Shopping, sort of

Shopping in Grayton

Ham antenna behind Rosie

Camping at Grayton Beach State Park

The beach

The dunes

More dunes

Sunset

Becky's watercolor painting during this trip

Gunter Hill COE Campground

(NOTE: This posting was published four months after
our visit to Gunter Hill COE Park.)

Rosie's final stop on our way home from the Wally Byam Caravan Club's (WBCCI) International Rally was Gunter Hill COE Campground, which is located near Montgomery, Alabama. (Rosie is our 25 foot Airstream trailer.) We pulled into the park about an hour before sunset after traveling more than 500 miles in one day. Traveling that far in one day is hard. It's even harder if you are pulling a trailer.

The plan was simple. Instead of trying to unload and clean Rosie in the dark, we would get a good night's rest in Gunter Hill, which is about 10 miles from our home, then take care of Rosie the next morning.

Gunter Hill is a nice COE park that we visited several times before I retired. Being close to home, I could go to work then return to the park for the evenings. Now that retirement has given us freedom to travel, we stopped camping at Gunter Hill. It was nice to return to this park for an evening.

There was an issue with Rosie. We noticed the air conditioner was vibrating. Our first thought was that some of the anchor screws were loose after our long trip. One of the things we learned on this extended trip to the WBCCI International Rally was that some problems are Airstream specific and others are RV issues. We figured that this air conditioning problem was something a local RV repair facility could fix for us.

There are two camping loops at Gunter Hill. One is more rustic, has gravel sites and lacks sewer connections. The other loop was renovated several years ago and has concrete camping pads and full connections including sewers. In addition, the grounds are well maintained and this helps make the park very pleasant.

There isn't too much to talk about from this stop. We were exhausted and simply wanted a place to sleep before taking Rosie home and cleaning her up after our long trip. We didn't unhitch Rosie nor did we drop the stabilizers. We were too tired. Fortunately, we had stayed in this park and reviewed it several times. I'll quickly mention that Gunter Hill is a nice and relaxing park and one we hope to visit again.

After unloading Rosie, we took her to Alabama Motor Coach RV Service in Montgomery. This is the center we trust with our non-Airstream specific repairs. They found that one of the pulleys in the air conditioner was warped and replaced that part. Now Rosie is ready for a new adventure.

 

Maumelle Park (Army Corps of Engineers) Park - Little Rock, Arkansas

There were several U.S. Army Corps of Engineer (COE) parks near Conway, Arkansas. Since we had a late start because of the tire purchase incident mentioned in an earlier blog posting, we called the reservation phone number listed for the Recreation.Gov Web site, which administers most, if not all, of the federal camping areas.

The person trying to help us on the phone was very nice, but said all of the COE parks in the region were full for the next three days, something we didn't want to hear after spending the day waiting for tires in Arkansas.

As a last second desperate move, we found a local phone number for one of the COE parks and called it. The park volunteer said they had plenty of spaces and they would be there waiting for us.

We asked while checking in why their reservation service thought the park was full. The response was that "recreation.gov" can only see openings more than three days out. More than 40 campers checked out that day and the reservation service will not see those opening for another 72 hours.

We asked if we could have the site for one night with an option for a second day. The volunteer said our site didn't have another reservation for three days and we could come up to the gatehouse and pay for another day if we decided to stay.

We were pleasantly surprised when we drove up to our campsite. First, the park is well maintained. There is a comfortable amount of space between individual campsites. Our site had a great view of the Arkansas River and it had shade, something we had not seen for a long time because we were camping in the west for the past three weeks.

Rosie at Maumelle COE Park

The view from Rosie's site

The Arkansas River behind Rosie

Connecting Rosie to the electrical service

After a day of high anxiety dealing with Rosie's wounds and tires, it was very calming to be back in the woods. One of the many benefits of owning a travel trailer is that you get to explore some wonderful and natural places around you. This park was just what we needed to get us back to having more happy Rosie adventures.

We made a mistake our first night in the park. We placed our trash bag outside Rosie's door. We were going on a walk in about 30 minutes and would take our trash to the dumpster while on our walk. When we finally stepped outside Rosie, every ant in the county was either attacking or rushing our trash.

These ants were not your typical little ones found in ant farms. These were huge ones that were on a mission.

We had some ant spray in the back of the truck, but we could have used a couple more gallons to combat these pests. We mentioned the ants to the park volunteer the next morning and he said they were not aggressive and they don't try to invade the trailers. His advise was to not do anything to attract them in the first place.

Here are some specifics about this park:

• Our site was large, level and paved with asphalt.
  
• Our site had electrical and water connections.
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service.
• Our site did not have a sewer connection.
• We found two dump stations in the park.
• AT&T placed a stong 4G signal over the park for both voice and data.
• The park did not provide a Wi-Fi signal.
• There were a couple of bathhouses in the park. The one closest to Rosie appeared to be well maintained. We didn't check on the other one. We did notice a bumper crop of bugs in the showers early in the mornings. The bugs were gone after the bathhouse was cleaned.
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS from Rosie's TV antenna. We also saw GRIT, THiS, Antenna and ME-TV.

We decided to stay two days in this park. There were several geocaches there and we enjoyed finding and logging them. We also had fun riding our bicycles through the park.

Finding a geocache in the park

Finding another geocache in the park

This is a great park. It is very quiet and peaceful and we enjoyed watching the Arkansas River through Rosie's rear window.

The Arkansas River behind Rosie

Rosie's site

Peaceful view from behind Rosie

Maumell COE Park

Rosie

Maumelle COE Park has nice and large sites