We Lost our Camping Mojo....

I know others this has happened to!  I've seen lots of campers for sale over the years and many of them in fairly new unused condition.  We said that wouldn't be us but life happens.  This is the first winter that we haven't camped at all....none....nada.  I see Little Red outside our kitchen window and I want to go hang out and when I do I immediately feel the pull the get him back out on the road.  But then I go back inside and the idea passes.

I have to admit that photos like the one above from Myrtle Beach State Park give me the fever and make me want to load up and go.  This has happened to us for a couple of reasons one of which is our health and Greg's work comes in a close second.  As older campers, being able to move and have energy is key.  If we had a huge comfy camper then it might not be as important but with our little guy we have to plan on what we are actually able to do.  If we have bad weather the close quarters are definitely an issue.

Well spring is here and we are determined to get back out there even if its not with the vigor we once had.  Our first year and a half we camped almost every month - if Greg had a weekend off we were camping.  Now we're being realistic about our new situation and just hoping to get a week trip in along with a few weekends over the summer if possible.

I also believe that our desire for a little bit larger Retro is weighing in on our decision.  We really need a walk around bed and I would love to have a dry bath but those are dreams for down the road.  Every time we camp we spend time walking around the park checking out other campers and set-ups.  I well remember the years we were camping in tents and just dreaming of the day we would have a real camper.  Now we have one and we need to enjoy it when we can.  We are truly campers at heart and I'm hoping that will never change. We even camped on our honeymoon!


We are hoping our next outing will be either in North Carolina, possibly Bryson City, or the beach.  We'll keep you posted as always with lots of pictures.  Lucy is excited too!!  I'm so looking forward to this view again.  This is one of our very favorite state parks in SC - Devils Fork.  I'll update when we have our plans set up and as always we will see you on the road.

Little Red Returns to Myrtle Beach State Park

We traveled back to Myrtle Beach State Park last week and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip!  This time we stayed on site #19.  It was right across the street from the bathhouse and a short distance from the campground store.  This time of year the park is very busy and bustling with campers.  I loved that, and from our little dinette we could watch campers heading out and see all the different sorts of rigs - one of my favorite things.  You can check out our last visit here.

 The weather was good for the most part with a few evening storms but that didn't slow us down. We were able to enjoy sitting on the beach two days and it was so relaxing.  Greg was able to swim a good bit while I relaxed and enjoyed the view.  Dogs can visit the beach after 5:00 PM so we took Lucy down and let her watch the waves and sit with us.  She was a little nervous but she enjoyed it too.

We set the screened room up on this trip and it was so nice to sit out there and eat and enjoy the breeze.  We always take a big outdoor fan and it made it just perfect.  We had very few bugs and no need to bring out the deet.  That's always a good thing.

We made a real effort to eat all of our meals at the campsite this trip except for fast food on the way down and on the way home.  It worked out great.  With the grill we were able to cook some delicious steaks one night and we brought along our rice cooker and made Zataran's Jambalaya one night with kielbasa.  Our oldest son and his wife gave us the cooker and it is just perfect for camping.  It's lightweight and makes an entire meal. Here is the one we have.  I would definitely recommend it!! You can saute meats and veggies right in the pot and it gives you options for different kinds of rice.  The handle makes it easily portable.

If you decide to visit this campground be sure to make reservations well ahead of time.  During in season it is really full and hard to find a spot.  We only saw a handful of empty sites.  We also visited Huntington Beach State Park which is not far and it was completely full.  These beaches are very popular.

If  you like the busy side of Myrtle Beach, this is a very inexpensive way to visit.  There are excellent restaurants, water slides, great shopping and so much more in this area.  We also love Murrell's Inlet which is close by and a must see when you come to the beach.  We have to put this campground at the top of our list for summer camping and we also loved it last year when we were there in December.  That was an awesome way to do our Christmas shopping.  This area really does Christmas big!

Again we loved camping in Little Red and have no complaints so far.  He is a trooper with a little over 3,000 miles traveled and still working like a champ.  Our only desire would possibly a walk around bed just because we are getting old and making up this one is a little bit of a challenge.  Even so we still love it!!  In September of this year we will have been on this journey for one year and it has flown by.  What a wonderful difference this sweet little red camper has made in our lives!

For our August trip we have reservations at Hunting Island State Park.  This will be our first visit since it reopened in June of this year.  We were there just before Hurricane Matthew hit so we are anxious to see how it's coming along.  Stay tuned for an update on this beautiful campground. 

Simplified Camping Trip...James Island

We just took a three day trip to James Island County Park and we really loved it!! It was our first time visiting a county park. This time we made an effort to take as little as possible and since it was a short trip it was much easier. We have a bad habit of bring way too much food and then buying more along the way.  There is just not enough room for this ridiculousness!  Also we were having too much waste and just plain clutter.

We also were bringing too many clothes and we just don't wear them.  We are definitely old tent campers when it comes to changing clothes.  As long as they are clean, we will wear shorts several times and just change shirts.  We dress simple and comfortable and bring some nice things which we leave in the car on a hanger.  A while back we found one of those big suction sturdy hooks (see it here) and we keep it in the bathroom and hang things there that we don't want to wrinkle.  So far that is working well.

Okay - now back to the actual trip. 😊 We really loved this campground.  It is one of the only campgrounds in the vicinity of Charleston and it's beautiful.  There were swings like this scattered all around the campground, lots of trails and things to do.  They have a splash zone water park, dog park, challenge course and so much more.  There are full hook-ups and wireless which worked fairly good outside and in scattered areas.

One of my favorite things are always clean restrooms and these were awesome with ample shower areas which were private.  The lighting was also really good.  So many times we find campgrounds to be very dark at night and that is great unless you have to make late night bathroom trips.  This one very easy to manipulate at night.

We loved the onsite store and the staff was very friendly and helpful.  We spent one day in downtown Charleston and loved walking all around one of our favorite places.  We also ate at a local restaurant and had the freshest seafood which was absolutely delicious.  If you are ever in the area it's a must try.  The name is Roadside Seafood.  Its a tiny little dinner style restaurant, family owned, and everything is fresh and hot.

An also must see for us every time we visit Charleston/Mt. Pleasant area is the Kitchen & Company!  We found this place a couple of years ago and they have everything you could dream of for your kitchen including beers and wines.  We also get more forks or spoons since we are always loosing some - tell me we are not the only ones.  This is a must see and their prices are excellent!

As always, Lucy did not enjoy the ride but loved camping.  She walked, walked and walked some more and truly enjoyed it.  We did add the seatbelt clip to her car seat this time and it made a huge difference.  Since she couldn't climb all over the car trying to hide she would sit quietly in her seat and look out the window a bit.  She didn't pant furiously or seem sick so this was a win win for us!! She can still move and lay or sit anytime she wants.  She always has a stuffed animal and her blanket close by. 

We are working on a slide show of the pictures Greg took in Charleston around the Battery and I will get them linked up as soon as I can. 

As always we are loving our Little Red Retro and get away as much as we can with Greg still working.  Our next trip is a return visit to Myrtle Beach State Park - one of our favorites!!

Little Red Travels to Table Rock State Park...SC

We had heard many things about Table Rock State Park for years but never made it there. Its approximately 3 hours from where we live so it's not a bad trip at all.  We left late on a Thursday so that we could be set up and ready to enjoy the day on Friday.  This was another set up in the dark and not without it's unique set of issues.  But....what's a camping trip without some fun troubles....Right???

So we left around 6:30 PM and with a few potty stops for Miss Lucy and a quick run through Bojangles we arrived at about 9:45.  This park is in the mountains but not too bad if you come in through the correct entrance.  😏  I should mention here that I am horribly afraid of heights.  I can enjoy the view somewhat but can't look down..ever!!!  This campground had two ways to come in and one is not for those towing or driving RV's.  That's because the road gets very narrow and sharp..I mean extremely sharp curves.  But luckily Greg was familiar with this after talking to the office before we left home and we made it in on the right side on our first try.

During set up on the pull through site we had, we got really close to the box that provides power but couldn't really see that when we set up.  Anyway after getting level and working inside to set up I got the shock of my life when somebody (Greg) forgot to take the chains off before pulling forward.  I thought Lucy and I were taking the short way home via the mountain.  But it was all good - we just lurched forward off of the lego block he had used to level up.  No harm done....except that Miss Lucy was significantly shaken up.  She just glared at us for the rest of the night.  She hates the ride in the car and thought she had snugged up in her bed to relax so this was particularly upsetting to her little system.  Poor baby...we have to work on her issues with riding in the car.  I have ordered her a car seat for dogs so we will see how that works.  More on that later.

The next morning we had an awesome view of the side of the mountain - our site was sort of down in a little valley.  We were on 43 and it was fairly level with the usual amenities of a fire ring, water and power.  This campground was fairly large with sites down at the bottom for larger rigs and camp hosts and the area we were in was mainly for travel trailers, etc.  This is a very busy state park and we really loved that.  There are so many trails and of course you can hike up to the top of the mountain.  We made it to the the second level and would love to be able to go to the top but I'm just not sure the ole knees could make it.  😆 It's a wonderful meandering path with different trails that are different difficulty levels.

The weather was nice for the whole weekend with the exception of Saturday night when the rain came in - it was very late though.  We prepped for this by putting away everything outside that night so that we wouldn't be putting away soggy wet chairs, etc.

While there we met the campground hosts which were some of the nicest we have met so far and they have a real community there.  Lucy met lots of dogs and especially loved Big Otis who was one of the hosts...he was a pit bull mix and just so sweet!!  We met some snow birds from Canada and all sorts of kiddos.  We also spotted something I have been looking at but had not see other than pictures.  It was the new Vintage travel trailer and its made very much like the Retro but bigger.  It would be too heavy for towing with our car but it was so nice.  We will have to watch those and see how they do.

All in all we loved this campground and would definitely return.  Because it's located in the mountains, we did have issues with our cell phones but awesome television reception.  Go figure.  Some of it was caused by the fact that our site was lower down.  If we walked outside we could get a little better reception.  I have a Samsung and was just able to send text messages and receive them but Greg has an IPhone and he got much better results.  Not sure why.

We are still loving our Little Red and would recommend the brand to anyone.  We still get lots of questions and comments and we are normally the only retro in the parks that we visit.  We have been told so many times that seniors with huge big rigs want to downsize because it just so much to haul and handle.  We will be doing an update on things we have learned after 6 months of use and our travels to 10 campgrounds.  More gadgets to come also. 

Camper Elf Has Arrived....

Look who showed up here this past weekend!!  This is Peppito aka Peppy and he is a Camper Elf.  He came to live in our camper and watch over us but we are keeping him inside where it's warm for now.  He is quite mischievous and gets into lots of things.  Our main goal will be keeping Lucy Loo from eating him up.  She thinks he came for her and she stalks him all day.

This morning we found him riding on the back of the Campground Truck ~ Lucy
thought that was quite curious.  😀  We will keep you posted on his antics and Lucy's trail not too far behind.  Love our little Elf and of course our Lucy Loo.  Stay tuned. 

December Trip Planned

 Well - we have booked our December trip and I am so excited!  We plan to roll down to Myrtle Beach and camp at Myrtle Beach State Park and Campground!   I haven't been to this campground in many years and we have never camped there before.  I remember it as being fairly rustic but I'm sure much of it has changed over the years.  The exciting part about this area in December is that they do Christmas really big and we hope to get lots of shopping done while we are there.  I am working on some little Christmas Decorations for the camper too.  Pictures to come.

Additionally this will be our first time ever camping with a full hook-up.  I for one am really looking forward to trying that.  Hubby is excited not to have to dump the gray water so often.   We will let you know how that goes and I know other Retro owners do this regularly and it does make life easier.

Another great thing about visiting our beaches in fall and winter is that the bug population has moved on and you can stroll the beautiful shores with a sweater.  It is awesome and we love that time of the year on the beach.  A camp fire is that much better when there is a chill in the air.

Check this campground out if you are ever in the area.  As with all of state campgrounds, the cost is just so reasonable and makes camping that much more affordable. The pier here is a must see experience.  This picture was taken at sunrise on the beach.  There is also the Snowbird Coastal Camping Specials ~ more info on this on the site linked above.

More to come.....

Devils Fork State Park

We took the Little Red Retro on our 3rd camping trip up to Devils Fork State Park and Campground which sits on Lake Jocassee.  We had planned on staying four days but we loved it so much we extended our stay an extra day.  To say the lake is beautiful is an absolute understatement.  It is breath taking and the most beautiful shade of aqua we've ever seen in a lake.  I will post pictures but they just don't do it justice. 


We stayed on site 43 but we found quite a few that we liked and we already have a return trip booked next May on site 1.  This campground is very woodsy and there are sites on the lake side and down on the wooded side.  We liked the lake side and we were just up the hill and could look down onto the lake and trees from our window.  There are also pack in pack out tent sites that are very nice.  The weather was perfect during this visit with bright sunny days and warm with a crisp cool in the evenings.  One of the best things was there were no flying bugs or insects.  Camping a lot in the low country, we were so happy not to have to deal with those little buggars. 

We found all sorts of things to explore here and walked a lot every day.  There are trails and pathways and we loved the beach areas of the lake where you could sit and relax.  This was another dog friendly campground and our Lucy made lots of friends.  There is a camp store and a lakeside rental place where you can rent canoes, kayaks, life vests and more.  They also have ice cream and drinks as well.

This is the view from the registration/office and it is beautiful.  We had seen this picture on the web site but you just have to see it in person to believe how awesome it is.  The grounds are very clean and well maintained.  The staff is friendly, helpful and well versed on the campground

There are a few areas to grab a bite or shop close to Powdersville where the park is located.  We went into Walhalla and grabbed lunch one day and picked up a few things.  There is a very nice Ingles grocery store there as well as Dollar General, and CVS along with McDonalds.  On our way home we had a recommendation from a fellow camper to stop off in Easley, SC and visit Mutts BBQ.  It was excellent and we highly recommend it too.  If you like BBQ and veggies then this is your place.  A full review is on our Yelp profile on the right hand side of this page.

This area is the side of the lake where we put in.  There are several boat ramps and an area to put in for non-motorized boats.  We put in near the beach area and didn't have any trouble.  All of the boaters were very respectful of the small boats and kayaks and took it slow and easy until they got further out.  We canoed across to the other side and back and it was a very nice trip.  We loved it!! 

Scuba diving and other activities are also readily available and you don't need to leave the campground to find a group to provide these services.  There is also a boat tour of the lake available and we definitely plan on doing that the next time we visit.  They actually take you out to the falls which we heard is pretty amazing. 

The bathhouses are ample and convenient and very clean with large showers that have separate areas with curtains for each shower.  Plenty of hot water and strong water flow make for a nice relaxing shower.  On our site the bathroom was only a couple of sites away and most of them even had drink machines just outside on the porch area.

This campground is definitely at the top of our list now and we have to give it a 5+ rating.  It hits all of the things we love and then some!

Cost:  $  (The most reasonable one so far)
Location:  5 out of a possible 5 - this is one of our favorites!
Service:  Excellent
Overall Rating:  5+ out of a possible 5 Campers

Update on our Little Red Retro.  We still love it and are enjoying it more each time we take it out.  We get lots of attention when we are hauling it - everything from high fives, thumbs up and horn honks.  Each time we stop somebody walks up and asks us about it.  We went to Costco on our way out of town and even had a couple come up to us there and want to know all about it.  We had visitors at the campground and on the way home.

I believe we have tried out everything on the camper now and it all works well for us.  We even tested the gas heat on this trip and it worked really well and heated things up very quickly.  For the two of us and our little Lucy Loo this camper is just perfect for us.   We are still working on that video of the camper and we will get it up soon.  Another recipe will be up this week - Hobo Dinner.  It turned out pretty yummy!!

Camping Trip Prep...

Oh my gosh - I so remember the old days when getting ready for a camping trip was pure torture and included days of packing and a nightmare the night before.  Also when we returned the amount of work cleaning up things and putting them away was a job too.  But we still enjoyed the trip and did it again and again for a week at a time.

One of the many reasons we wanted a camper was so that it would be somewhat self contained and the packing would be minimal.  So far that has been the case and we hope to get better at it as we do more.  In our case Hubby has to do most of this because I have some health issues that limit my energy and ability to lift and move easily. So anything we can do to simplify and ease the process is appreciated.  He also still works more than full time so we have to make the most of what time he has.

Over the years we have finally learned not to take so many clothing items.  We each have a duffel type bags and we roll our clothes and we only take what will fit in each bag.  Those are stored at one corner of our bed near the cabinet and stacked.  That works for us and doesn't really get in the way.  Anything not needed for everyday use clothing wise (ex. hanging items)  stays in the car.  We keep duplicate personal items such as tooth brushes, deodorant, toothpaste, hair items, etc. in a mesh hanging bag inside the bathroom door. So no need to worry about packing those.  We also keep some staple non-perishable food items in the cabinet so we are ready to go at any time.

There are lots of packing lists available on Pinterest and we have saved lots of those to reference.  Our main

thing is to cut down on excess stuff and weight and keep "things" from stressing us out.  We are also still learning what necessary items are needed.  The next thing on our purchase list will be one of these containers that can be attached to your black water hose and can be wheeled to the dump station.  We don't use our bathroom exclusively and still make trips to the bathhouse but we have found that after about 3 days our black water needs to be dumped.  We actually overflowed the toilet on our last trip...yep that was fun but a good learning experience all the same...just water thank heavens!!  They can be found here.

We do carry a camp stove and cook outside on it a good bit and over a fire.  We normally do make most breakfasts inside and love using our little two burner gas stove in the camper as well as our little toaster oven/coffee maker/griddle.  As the temperatures cool some here in South Carolina, we probably will venture outside to cook even more.  We love this little guy and totally recommend it.  It is just perfect for two and works well for us so far.  You can find it here.

I have mentioned before that we love to take at least one leftover frozen meal.  This goes in the bottom of the cooler and helps to keep the ice cold and other items cold.  Our fridge works on gas while we are traveling so we fill it too.  Next on our wish list will be a Yetti Cooler.  They are very expensive but such a great item to have for next year when we hope to take a couple of week long trips.  I have to drink lots of water and ice becomes a big deal.  Those bad boys can keep ice for days.   There are lots of sizes and styles and they even make one big enough to hold a body.....not that I would ever need that. (Smile).  This one can be found here.

We are learning so much from fellow campers and for this trip I hope to get a notebook ready so that we can exchange email addresses, etc. and keep in touch.  Meeting people and hearing their stories is the very best thing about camping.  We will share more after our trip this week.  Thanks for joining us on this journey!!

Hunting Island Update

We were so fortunate to have scheduled a visit back to Hunting Island State Park this year just before Hurricane Matthew rolled through there.  This park has always been one of our favorites and we are so saddened by the damage done by this powerful storm.  There are more links in the side bar about the damage and expectations for reopening which will be at least 2-3 months out.

This was our campsite setup with a tent added.  We normally bring this along for when our kids join us and this gives us a good bit of space.  This old Sears canvas tent is over 30 years old and has some wear.  At one point our dogs ripped out the back window so we sewed it shut - that was fun.  Anyway....it works and is great for Fall camping.  To me it is too warm for summer but the guys still seem to enjoy it.  The screened room is a K-Mart purchase....yep I said K-Mart.  It was on sale and matched the camper so we couldn't pass it up.  It worked great and hubby said it was easy to put up and take down.  We set it up in line with our little retro awning and so we could walk out right into it.  We had a good rain storm our first night on this trip and it worked great for that.

This is the set up from the back end of our site.  Please ignore the huge bag of trash - we were headed for the dump.  The raccoons will gladly handle it for you if you leave it out over night. We love that front big window on our unit and it really gives us a lot of light and visibility.  We are still working on a full walk through so that you can see all of the features of Little Red.

One of our favorite things about Hunting Island is the close proximity of the wild life.  They literally hang out with you and we so enjoyed that.  Below is a picture of one of our

regular visitors to our site.  It is against the law to feed them but it is so tempting because they come right up and lick your hands.  I'm pretty sure some campers are feeding them. (Smile)  This was my first experience getting up close and personal with a deer.  They look you right in the eye.  It was amazing! We didn't catch the raccoons on camera but they were so brave and were all around us most of the time.  They stole marshmallows on a regular basis. We are just hoping that all of the beautiful wildlife fared okay with the storm.  Lots of babies were there on this visit.

As we hear more and find out about the park reopening, we will visit and post more information.  This campground is just magical and the powers that be are committed to bringing it back to as close as it was.  Watch for more details as they are available!

Camp Chili

One of our very favorite foods for fall camping is Chili and Beans!  I added beans because I know that in many parts of the country Chili is something very different from what we make.  We use both ground turkey and beef and several different kinds of beans.  I make this at home and freeze it because chili just gets better the longer the beans and other goodies get to hang out together.  You can also make it meatless and we have done that many times. Corn is also really good in this too.  Now as I have said before - I'm no chef so this is just an idea to get you started and it's just easy and yummy!!!  This is a big ole batch so if you don't want lots of chili then cut back on the amounts.

Camp Chili
2 pounds ground turkey
3 pounds ground beef
Large can tomato sauce
Large can tomato puree
2 cans of Rotel tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
3 cubes beef bullion
2 cups water
1 cup catsup
1 large chopped onion
1 large chopped bell pepper
2 tablespoons jarred garlic or fresh
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash
Salt and pepper to taste (I use a lot!)
2 large cans kidney beans
2 small cans chili beans
2 cans black beans

I like to add the tomatoes and liquids to the soup pot first and let them start to simmer.  In a sauce pan I sautee the onion, garlic and bell pepper until tender and add to the pot.  Then brown the turkey and hamburger and add to the pot. There is a big debate around my house about how the meat is browned!  I like it chunky and hubby likes if very fine.  If I make it it's gonna be chunky - I want to know there is meat int there!  :-)   I do season all of these as I brown/sautee them to add flavor.  At this point I season this mixture and it should be a little strong because the beans will dilute the flavor.  I let it simmer for about an hour before adding the beans.

Give the mixture a good stir and drain and rinse the beans.  The only ones I don't rinse are the chili beans because they are packed in a seasoned sauce.  Add all of the beans to the hot tub and stir well.  I normally simmer for at least a couple of hours after that and add more of anything that may be missing at this point.  If it is too thick you can add more water.  Too thin - you can add more catsup or sauce.  For us this makes a huge stock pot full of chili.  We top ours with cheese and raw onions, sour cream and crackers.  Enjoy and remember it's even better the next day!

Hunting Island State Park

For our second camping trip in our Little Red Retro we went down to Hunting Island State Park.  We had been here previously but it has been over 31 years.  We actually spent part of our honeymoon there and loved it.  This trip did not disappoint and we had an awesome time.

We spent 4 days there and really hated to leave.  Hurricane Matthew was getting ready to roll in so it's good we had to leave but it was grudgingly.  During our stay we had deer come right up to us and lick our hands.  I'm sure they thought we had food but its strictly forbidden to feed the wildlife...but I sure wanted to.  There were families of deer all over the campground and they would scamper in

and out of our campsite and watch us and walk right up.  Then there were the raccoons - they would scamper all about and were not afraid to take what they wanted.  They were always in twos or threes and every night we would forget and leave something out and they would swipe it.  They ate two bags of marshmallows and so much more.  We really enjoyed the critters and looked forward to their escapades every day.

This is a large park by our standards and if you camp there you can climb to the top of the Hunting Island Lighthouse free of charge.  There is a nature science center with all sorts of reptiles and you can hug a snake if you are so inclined.  I am not....not ever.  The sites vary in size and are roomy and include a picnic table, fire ring, electrical hook up and water.  There are also tent sites that are only accessible on foot and those are definitely for the adventurous types.  We loved walking up and seeing their setups but you really have to bring the super bug spray to stay in those areas.

This campground has wireless and it is connected at every bath house so if it is super important to you then you may want to check the maps when selecting your site.  On this visit we could not get access - we were about two sites down out of range.  However when hubby needed to do a little work he walked down to an empty site near a bath house and hooked right up.  We also got fairly regular TV antenna reception and enjoyed some old moves and such at night.  Cell service was excellent for us too.  There is a very nice camp store and we walked there everyday and got ice cream and anything else we needed.  They had boiled peanuts, coffee and cold drinks also.

This is another pet friendly campground and dogs are welcome as long as they are kept on a leash.  They can even walk right out on the beach and explore.  Lucy loved exploring the campground and walking on the beach.  There are lots of dooty bags and stations around the campground.  Be sure to pack your bug spray for you and your pups - this place has lots of water and some sights are buggier than others.

Of course the real attraction here is the long stretch of beach - it's natural and unspoiled with no commercialism here.  It is just beautiful and full of all kinds of creatures if you into that sort of stuff.  We glimpsed all sorts of crabs and such.  You can actually follow the beach all the way down to the lighthouse.  It is a hike but a beautiful walk.  There is a little gift shop and more trails and outdoor areas to enjoy.

For us this campground hit all five campers on our rating system.  We loved the sites, the bath houses were clean and well stocked by state park standards.  The showers were hot and roomy with curtains on the stalls.  There are senior volunteers onsite who camp there for 3 months at a time as well as a camp chaplain and camp hosts.  This park was packed out and that is normally a good sign.  We noticed campers of all ages but there was a good number of seniors and we always enjoy that...since we are seniors too.  We hope to plan a full week at Hunting Island next year!


Cost:  $
Location:  5 out of a possible 5 - this is one of our favorites!
Service:  Excellent
Overall Rating:  5 out of a possible 5 Campers

 

Maiden Roll for the Little Red Retro

We took our Little Red Retro out on her first journey and rolled up to Calhoun Falls, SC.  If you have never heard of this little town don't be surprised.  We live in SC and had never heard or been aware that it existed.  It is very small with only one little grocery store and it it's surrounded by Lake Russell.  We camped in Calhoun Falls State Park which sits on the lake.  We have a state park pass and hope to hit all of the ones in South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina.

This park is large compared to some we have visited and when I say natural and quiet, that is a real understatement.  We actually witnessed a family of deer running through the woods and squirrels frolicked about with no fear.  Each site includes a large iron stand to hang your trash so that its not down low for animal consumption.  Our site was on the lake and most are and each one has
ample room for an RV and tents as well.  There are pull through sites for third wheels and we visited one of the handicapped sites which was located in a good flat spot with a roll up pad for wheel chairs, etc.  All lake front sites have a set of steps to get down to the water.  Of course there's a picnic table, grill and hook-ups for RVs.  We had no trouble with our trip to the dump station when we left and recycling is also available.

This park has something for just about every camper including tennis courts, basketball court, swimming area with a beach front to the lake, boat launch ramps, hiking trails and more.  The one thing you won't find here is wireless.  Lots of campers had tailgater pods and  little satellite dishes and they appeared to work fine here.  We have an air TV antenna on our unit but nestled in the trees here in the woods it didn't work  We did get good cell reception and that worked good throughout our two day stay.

So for us this campground hit about 4 out of 5 campers on our rating system.  The bathrooms were typical of state campground facilities and had ample supplies with older showers but toilets were in good condition and the bath houses were located in fairly convenient locations.  One thing to be aware of is there is very little lighting at night.  We found that a good flashlight was a life saver and really was necessary.  There were lots of dogs in tow and we of course had our little camper Lucy.  You will just need to bring along your dooty bags for pick-ups and pups must be leashed at all times.  Lucy gave this campground a big ole paws up - she made friends and loved smelling all the trails and lake areas.  So in summary we enjoyed Calhoun Falls and would definitely return.  We found the staff at the lodge helpful and friendly and the little onsite store had lots of goodies as well as necessary items you might forget.

Ok so here is our rating for Calhoun Falls Campground:

Cost:  $
Location:  4.5 out of a possible 5
Service:  Excellent
Overall Rating:  4 out of a possible 5 Campers 

So far we love our Little Red Retro and are very happy with our first RV purchase.  We already have our second trip planned for the end of September.  We will be checking into Hunting Island State Park Campground!  Pics and our review on that one to come.