Hardridge Creek (COE) 8/8/25 - 8/11/25 (#25)

Never say never. We have always said we would not camp in the heat of summer, ever again, especially in the south. But, I had the opportunity to attend a Barn Quilt Class in Fort Gaines, GA & our 'go to' campground - Hardridge, is just around the corner.

But .... we got a spot right on Walter F. George Lake, & the weather cooperated! Our spot (#45) was on a peninsula with 4 or 5 other campers, but none on our 'living' side.

Highs were only in the mid 80s & waking up to lows in the high 60s was a delight. The only issue was, it was quite windy most of the time.

Had to hang a table cloth to block wind in order to cook our eggs for breakfast.

We arrived on Saturday, got set up & settled in for our 3 day stay. Of course, Coco had to go meet the neighbors right away. Wendell, Carol & their rescue pup Lizzy loved having Coco escape across the road to their site.

My class was on Saturday. It was at a facility in Fort Gaines, taught by Timothy Shaver who is also instrumental in coordinating The Red Clay Barn Quilt Trail in the area. There were only eight people in the class, including me. Everyone did a great job. Here are a few pics of their quilts.

And .... here's mine.

I wasn't pleased with it after class, so I brought it home & added a bit more red/orange. Like it a lot better now.

We relaxed on Sunday & went to the Silo for lunch. Came home on Monday. Couldn't have asked for a better trip. Next one is planned for later in September. Next post coming up after that ....

Chattahoochee (SP), Cloudland Canyon (SP) & R Shaefer (COE) 4/2/25 - 4/9/25 (#24)

After postponing most of our trips due to moving to Georgia in November 2024, we finally made it back to camping. We left on the 2nd for a one night stop at Chattahoochee Bend SP just outside Newnan, GA. No pics, as we had stayed there before. Our site was #124, a pull through, easy in & out. Didn't even have to unhook.

We left the next morning headed to Cloudland Canyon, just outside Trenton, GA on Lookout Mtn.

Our site was #46 at the end of the loop in the West Rim CG. It was private on the living side w/enough distance between the neighbors on the other side. We had stopped at Sam's Burger & Deli outside of Rome on the way up so only had snacks for dinner. The back door neighbors had a bunch of kids so Coco made her way over there any chance she got. They gave her lots of hugs & kisses.

On Friday morning, we went for our usual CG walk to check out other sites (FHU #10, 12*, 15, 16 + W/E 24, 25 & 26) were all acceptable. Took a ride over to the East Rim CG (tight small sites) & the Interpretive Center & walked a bit of the Overlook Trail. While we were gone a new camper moved in across from us. As I was getting my bag out of the truck Coco hightailed it over to welcome the new people to the neighborhood. The lady picked her up & was loving on her before I could get over there.

Their names were Becky & John from Iowa, making their way back home after being gone since Dec. 2024. Turns out Becky is a quilter so we had much to talk about & John is a retired business owner so he & Greg had plenty to discuss as well. John now paints & carves wooden pieces as a hobby.

They were travelling w/two dogs (one friendly, one not so much). The friendly one had a short meeting w/Coco.

Coco & I got up the next morning (Sat) & went for a hike on the West Rim Loop Trail. We only walked about 1.5 miles of it as it was quite rocky with lots of tree roots & quite a drop down in the Canyon.

Here's a pic of Coco on a flatter portion. We got to a creek bed on this portion & Coco would NOT cross over & it was too wide for me to carry her & try to traverse the wet rocks, so we turned around & went back to the campsite.

Had dinner & just relaxed the rest of the day & night. Pollen was horrendous & everything was covered in it.

Woke up to very loud thunder on Sunday morning & it rained all.day.long. We put the murphy bed up & stayed inside. Coco relaxed as well. Pollen problem solved for the time being. In anticipation of the rain, Greg had packed up most everything outside. It finally quit raining by late afternoon so we got the chairs back out & had a couple of drinks under the awning before bed.

As we were leaving the next morning Becky & John came over to say goodbye & to exchange contact info. John also gave us a travelling gnome he had carved. We told them it would travel with us where ever we camped. Here's a pic of it at the next CG.

Speaking of the next CG, we headed south to R Shaefer Heard COE park on West Point Lake, GA. We had also been there before. This time it was raining when we got there. We waited for it to taper down to a drizzle & got set up in the rain. We were on site #46 this time which is on the lake directly across from the boat ramp so we had some entertainment during the day.

It was quite chilly after the rain & Coco doesn't do well with cold, so here's her solution.

The next day was beautiful so Coco & I went for a walk & then we relaxed the rest of the day. The site we stayed on before was just a couple of sites down & no one was in it (it's a steep one) so we took Coco down there to watch the sun set.

We got home on Wednesday afternoon & got most of the camper unpacked.

We were supposed to have guys coming to screen in our front porch on Thursday, but as with most help these days, they didn't show. They came today (Fri) & worked about three hours & left saying they'd be back Monday ...

As a side note: We purchased 1/2 a cow & Greg picked it up from the processor so we have a freezer FULL of beef!

Our next scheduled trip is for October but we may find time to take a couple of short trips before then.

Kolomoki Mounds (SP) 5/19/24 - 5/22/24 (#23)

We had a couple of other (longer) camping trips planned for late spring but we decided to put our FL house on the market & didn't feel we could spare the time. During the midst of doing all that we felt we needed a break for a few days so we scooted over to Kolomoki Mounds SP.

This was our second time staying there & we got the same spot (#11). It's on the end of the sites by the water w/no neighbors on our 'living' side. 

Weather was perfect & it was truly a relaxing time with only a few walks around the campground & out to late lunches/early dinners, so no cooking for us this time.

On the first morning, we woke up to 2 school buses pulling in at the public area just across the way from us. It was a fishing field trip of about 60 or 70 teenagers. They were typical kids but not too loud.

Later that day we saw a couple of boys fishing on the lake just in front of our site. Turns out they were brothers. The younger one had a slight disability & the older one was very patient with him.

We ate at Blakely Chicken as well as White Oak Pastures. We were a little leary about the chicken place because when we got there it didn't look all that great but the food turned out to be good. White Oak is kind of a go to for us, plus they allow dogs so Coco got to go. 

White Oak, sells their own dried pet treats such as cows ears, various types of animals hides but into chewable size pieces for various sized dogs. They are quite expensive so we just decided to try one of the beef treats. Coco loved it so we stopped by on our way home & purchased a few more.

Here are a couple of pics:

Coco relaxing in Greg's lap

Close up

Brothers fishing

Just chillin

Overall, it was a very nice short trip which was just what we needed. Our next trip is scheduled for October. Hope the house sells & we can get moved to GA full time before then.

Hardridge Creek (COE) 3/5/24 - 3/8/24 (#22)

 1st trip of 2024. Hardridge Creek once again. Arrived on Tuesday & back to the farm on Friday.

We got our favorite site (#69). No pics but you can read & see pics from the last time we stayed on that site Hardridge #69.

We ate at The Silo again & also drove over to Eufaula, AL & ate at the Eufaula Sandwich Co.. They allowed dogs on the patio which allowed us to take Coco.

Didn't do much else except walk the short trail & sit outside & read while enjoying the beautiful weather. 

We did have this pair of bald eagles visit our site one morning.

Next trip is scheduled for beginning of April. Until then ....

Hardridge Creek (COE) 11/13/23 - 11/15/23 (#21)

Trip #21 (last one for 2023) was at Hardridge Creek once again. It's obviously become our go to since it is so close to home.

Our favorite site (#69) wasn't available so we settled on #28. 

As you can see it was private on the 'living' side but neighbors were a bit too close behind us.

We had originally planned on staying three nights but cut it down to only two since heavy rain was predicted the last night into the next morning.

We didn't even put up the fence for Coco since we were only there 2 nights. And, even thought it had rained earlier in the week, there was a burn ban, so no campfire ($500 fine). The first night we had a small fire in the grill since that was allowed.

We were going to go to Kolomoki as our last 2023 trip but rescheduled for 2024 due to being too busy for the holidays.

So, that's it for 2023. Next trips start in March of next year.

FD Roosevelt (SP) 10/12/23 - 10/16/23 (#20) Part 3

We left Fall Creek Falls on Thursday morning headed to FD Roosevelt park in Pine Mountain, GA. 

We have stayed at this park a couple of other times. This time we had site 110 which is a FHU site at the beginning of the CG on the middle upper portion. I was worried that it would be too open for Coco but it wound up being a good site with good neighbors who were not too close. 

We were able to set up the fence in the 'living area'. I liked it but Greg, not so much.

We went to a small festival in Warm Springs & Coco did really well. Got lots of attention which she seems to thrive on. I also took her on a couple hikes & once again she did great. I'm glad she likes the woods.

Here are a few random pics.

We have two more short trips planned for November & December which I'll document as they happen.

Notes: 

Drive through/around Chattanooga was horrible. 

Took I75 back to GA & there was a wide trailer being towed that was taking up 2 lanes.

Fall Creek Falls (SP) 10/10/23 - 10/12/23 (#20) Part 2

 We left Newnan on Tuesday, headed to Fall Creek Falls in Spencer, TN.

We were starving as we came through Rome, GA & had plans to grab a burger at Wendy's but there wasn't any parking so we headed on up the road. We came across this restaurant - Sam's Burger Deli which wound up being the highlight of this leg of our journey. It's owned by a Purple Heart recipient & had a lot of Veteran customers. As we parked, we saw signs that this was also a Harvest Host stop (we aren't members).

We got to the campground and I thought I had reserved a FHU site (#B77) but it was the only one NOT FHU in that loop. It was narrow & neighbors were too close to our liking. It also had a bad slope front to back & we couldn't lower the hitch enough to make it level. We had to set up the fence at the back end of the camper. The picnic table was at the back end, quite a bit away from the pad & fire pit was at least 25 yards away.

Steps extended as far as possible.

We were supposed to stay for 3 nights but I googled the next stop & our site was available for a day early so we decided to leave. Went to the park office & they agreed to refund our last night's stay. Since we were leaving the next day we decided to ride the scenic loop to see waterfalls.

1/4 mile down, extremely steep. Those are people at the bottom.

Hike down to the Falls.

There was a Mennonite community just down from the CG. We stopped at the Brockdell Produce stand, Oak Ridge Market & Country Fabrics (quilt store). We bought some hand pies, eggs & a couple yards of fabric. When coming out of the Market we saw a bunch of horse & buggies & it was obvious that the school day had just ended.

When we got back, we packed up so we could get an early start the next day.

I had high hopes for this CG but because of our bad site & close proximity to neighbors it was just not the CG for us.

Part 3 coming up.

Notes: 

Locals park their campers & come & go to work, school, etc. & come back to spend the night. 

Severe storm damage (April 2023) in the park itself. Logs felled by the road which the local Mennonite sawmill was picking up.