RV Buddies

We had been happily anticipating our stay at Road Runner Travel Resort because one of Tim’s childhood friends and her husband (Jade and John) were also staying at the RV Resort.  Jade and Tim went to elementary and Junior High School together in Lafayette, Louisiana.  When we started posting on Facebook that we were going to buy an RV and start fulltime RV travel, Jade reached out, and she and John have been providing us with invaluable advice ever since.  John had been RV traveling for over a decade and is an RV Driving School instructor.  Jade met John in 2016 and has been travelling with John since she retired in 2017; they married in 2021. (Check out Jade and John’s blog at whereyatblog.wordpress.com.)  John has been our troubleshooting resource when we encountered issues with the RV, and both have provided us with a lot of advice and information about the full-timing.  We were going to be in the Road Runner Travel Resort together for 5 nights and we were ready for some in-person time together!

As we drove east toward Ft. Pierce, Florida, on our way to Road Runner, we stopped to get our RV washed at a place called Blue Beacon Truck Wash (our RV was filthy after two months of travel). We had to wait in line with 18-wheeler trucks for about an hour, but the RV looked like new again when we finished!

On our first night at Road Runner Travel Resort, Jade and John made a chicken and sausage gumbo and hosted us at their RV.  There’s nothing better than some good comfort food, and gumbo is a favorite of Tim’s people (Cajuns) in Lafayette!  In fact, every evening that we spent together integrated food, great conversation, laughter, memories, dreams, and advice.  On another evening, we hosted Jade and John at our RV with bourbon chicken on the grill, rice dressing, green beans, and a homemade king cake for dessert!  John and Jade barbecued ribs at their RV on another night.  Saturday was John and Jade’s last night at the RV Resort.  They drove us to a nearby seafood restaurant, called 12A Buoy, for dinner.  We enjoyed our conch appetizer; grilled shrimp stuffed with crabmeat; beer, wine, and cocktails; and lots of conversation.  One of the signs of a good friendship is when there is never a lull in the conversation.  Somehow, after talking for hours on multiple evenings, we never had a problem filling more hours with conversation and laughter.  

Our time at Road Runner wasn’t all about food.  John lent us his car one day and we ran some errands in the city.  Tim picked up a prescription at Walgreens, made a stop at the post office, and picked up a few things at the grocery store.  Pat made a run to a UPS Store to return some items he had purchased on Amazon.  We did laundry on two different days.  We walked around the RV Resort daily, taking pictures of the lake, pool, tennis courts, and golf course.  We had our mail forwarded to Road Runner by our mail service in Livingston, Texas; and spent some time reading Christmas cards and other mail that had been accumulating there since December.  Also, John gave us a bike rack that he was no longer using, and we mounted it to the back of our RV (after watching some YouTube videos about how to properly install it) one afternoon.  We plan to buy electric bikes in the near future and will transport them with us on the bike rack.  

John and Jade were leaving for a 12-day cruise and storing their RV while they were on the cruise.  When you store an RV and aren’t plugged into electricity, you must empty your refrigerator and freezer; so, they brought over a lot of food for us!  We should have enough to eat for weeks now!  We will miss spending time with John and Jade, and hope to meet up with them again somewhere down the road.  

Our last two full days at Road Runner Travel Resort were finally sunny and warm!  We took advantage of the weather by hanging out at the pool for a few hours each day.  Tim grilled some burgers for dinner on our penultimate evening at Road Runner, while we watched football on our outdoor tv.  With Tim’s Dad’s birthday approaching (Tim’s Dad passed away in 2018 and loved to grill and drink beer), Tim got a little sentimental while cooking the hamburgers, thinking of how happy his Dad would have been to see him grilling, while drinking a beer and watching football outside of the RV.

On our last evening at Road Runner, Tim started what he hopes is a new streak by winning $10 playing bingo (his third win in four bingo events on our RV travels)!

Review of Road Runner Travel Resort in Ft. Pierce, Florida

Road Runner Travel Resort is located close to the beach on the Atlantic Ocean side of Florida (their website says about a 10-minute drive to Hutchinson Island Beach), but not really close enough to easily ride your bikes there.  The city is about a 13-minute car ride from the RV Resort, where you can find most of what you might need.  Since we used a borrowed car to go into the city, we don’t know how easy it would have been to take an Uber/Lyft.

The RV Resort has 452 full hookup RV sites, along with cabins.  It has a heated pool; laundry facilities; bathrooms with showers; and tennis, pickleball, & basketball courts.  The resort has a lake where you can fish (you must throw back what you catch) and a three-hole golf course.  Road Runner RV Resort also has a restaurant and a store where you can buy food, beer and wine, and RV supplies.

The RV Resort has some activities; they gave us a list of a few daily activities when we registered.  The events calendar on the website was not updated but most of the activities seemed to involve exercise classes; crafts; board games; wood working; tennis; golf; and of course, a Bingo night!  There were no activities listed for the weekend.  

There are no garbage bins at the resort.  Instead, they pick up garbage at your RV site, but only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Additionally, your garbage must be out on the curb by 8:00 a.m. on those days, which, as late sleepers, we found aggravating.  The resort had bins for recycling; this is only the third place we’ve stayed where we got to recycle plastics, glass, and cardboard.  

We probably wouldn’t return to the Road Runner RV Resort because there isn’t much to do in the area except going to restaurants or the beach but not without a car.  As “no car” travelers, we could go to other places that have much closer beach access and nearby attractions.  It was a beautiful and quiet resort though, if you are looking for a quiet place to hang out for a while.  

Finally, Pool Weather in Florida

Camp Mars in Venus, Florida, (Mars/Venus pun was intended by the name we think) is the fourth gay campground that we have visited.  We arrived mid-afternoon and immediately met our neighbors in the two closest RV sites, Ross and Cole, who chatted with us as we set up and gave us information about the campground and its activities.  We later met one of the other neighbors near us, Frank.  After we finished setting up, we took a walk around the campground to get our bearings. 

 

The activity for the evening was Bingo, so of course we had to participate; however, Tim’s winning streak at Bingo ended.  Our tablemate for Bingo was Marvin, who had a fun sense of humor; so, we didn’t come away from Bingo empty-handed, we made a new friend.  Immediately following Bingo there was a bonfire near the activities center, where we met more campers, including Trevor and Thomas.

On our second day at Camp Mars, the sun was out, it was in the low-80’s, and the pool was heated.  We took advantage of the sun and laid out at the pool for a few hours.  We retreated to our RV so Pat could begin preparations of his chili for the Chili Cook-Off later that afternoon.  Pat’s chili was one of thirteen entries, being judged on hottest chili; best nontraditional chili; best presentation; and best all-around.  Although Pat’s chili didn’t win a prize, people must have really loved it because it was the most eaten chili that evening!  The winner of the best all-around had beans in his chili, which is a no-no for a Texas boy like Pat, so we gathered the judges thought chili should have beans. 

Following the Chili Cook-Off, there was supposed to be country line dancing and disco, but we only heard the disco music and danced to a few songs.  There was another bonfire that evening, where we met Wendell, who had been fulltime RV traveling for awhile and gave us some recommendations on gay RV campgrounds across the country.  We had very clear skies that evening, so we tried to find the rare green comet that was supposed to make its first appearance since the Ice Age and wouldn’t return for another 50,000 years, but we never saw it.  Ironically, we did find the planet Mars in the night sky, while we were at Camp Mars, because it was the brightest object in the sky.

Our third day at Camp Mars also provided abundant sunshine and 80-degree weather, so we once again hung out at the pool for several hours.  Later that afternoon we took a longer walk around the campground to a boardwalk area with an abundance of trees, including fallen trees (Camp Mars is near Fort Myers, Florida, and was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ian in September 2022).  We returned to the RV, set up the grill, and grilled potatoes and steaks for dinner, while we watched the Cowboys’ disappointing loss to San Francisco in the NFC Divisional Playoffs round.  

We had earlier been invited to a campfire at one of the camp sites, so after the football game we headed out to sit at the campfire with 5 other campers.  We somehow ended up on the topic of transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming individuals; and some of the people at the campfire had some harsh opinions about the use of these individuals’ preferred pronouns and other methods of accommodating these individuals.  We found ourselves alone in explaining that these accommodations were not that difficult to make, and how common courtesy should play a role in how we treat others.  We eventually left the bonfire after we could not sway the other campers with our arguments and too many comments were made that we found to be highly offensive.  The sad reality is that hostility towards trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming individuals can come from gay people as much as it can from heterosexuals.  Sadly, two of the individuals who made offensive comments were a teacher and a flight attendant, who probably interact with these individuals often and should have a better understanding of their situations.  They professed to be supportive of these individuals, but their words did not support that position.

On the early morning of the fourth day of our stay at Camp Mars, we had some heavy thunderstorms pass through and it remained cloudy the entire day; so, no pool time on this day.  Instead, we caught up with emails and writing blog entries.  We took another walk around the campground before sunset, as it was our last night at Camp Mars.  We even had a gator sighting!

Review of Camp Mars in Venus, Florida

Camp Mars is tucked into the back woods of Venus, Florida; the closest bigger city being Fort Myers, Florida.  Camp Mars was damaged by Hurricane Ian in September 2022; mostly a lot of fallen trees and other debris.  We were told that 4 RVs were totaled during the hurricane from falling trees and that part of the roof of the office was blown away.  The camp did not have electricity or water for several weeks after the hurricane until the debris could be cleared; however, the owners have mostly cleared the campground of debris and fully restored water and electricity.  

The only way to get to the entrance of the camp is a dirt road.  Contrary to our prior experience with a dirt road, this one was flat and mostly smooth, so the drive to the entrance was not a bad one.  The camp has full hook up RV camping sites, on mostly flat green pastures, along with cabins, yurts, and tent camping.  We had some trouble hooking up our water, as the camp has placed a water pressure regulator on the faucets that makes it difficult to get a secure connection; we had a constant drip/stream of water at the faucet despite our numerous attempts to tighten the connection.  

Camp Mars has hiking/walking trails, lots of forest, a stream, two ponds, and a boardwalk that ventures into the forest.  The campground has themed weekend activities in an activities center, but there is no bar or café.  The bonfire each evening was a nice touch, but the bonfire was small and not well-attended.  The one washer and one dryer at the campground are not available to temporary campers on the weekend, but we were told that these are available on weekdays (although we did not attempt to do our laundry here).  We enjoyed the heated pool (especially Tim) and were glad that there were themed activities.  

Camp Mars tends to skew a little older than the other gay campgrounds we have visited (we were probably the second youngest couple there) and is smaller, but in some ways that is refreshing.  Aside from our bad experience at a campfire we were invited to one evening (discussed above), the people were very friendly and helpful.  We would not choose Camp Mars as our number one gay campground in Florida, but we might return for another stay sometime.

Tampa RV Supershow (aka... Friends>Frustrations)

Our next major destination was the Tampa RV Supershow at the Florida State Fairgrounds, but we made a few stops along the way.  First, we had to make a trip north to Sanford, Florida (near Orlando), to the dealership where we bought our RV, La Mesa RV.  We bought our RV used, but the previous owner only had it for three months and drove less than 3,000 miles.  In the short time that he had it, however, he managed to break the lever on the driver’s seat that allows you to adjust the seat back and forth to accommodate drivers of different heights and sizes.  We discovered this by having the RV inspected before we bought it (there were a few other minor things wrong that the dealer fixed immediately), but they said they needed to order the part for the driver’s seat mechanism.  When we came back on Labor Day to take possession, they said the part hadn’t arrived, but we took possession with their promise to fix it.  Now, after TWO MORE trips back to the dealership over the last five months (both times they “said” they ordered the SAME wrong part), the issue is still unresolved.  La Mesa manually adjusted the driver’s seat for Tim to drive it comfortably, since Tim is probably going to be doing about 75% of the driving.  This meant, of course, that Pat could not yet drive the RV long distances.  Now, we will have to return to La Mesa AGAIN to get the part installed before we leave Florida at the end of February.  Needless to say, we were very aggravated about this turn of events as our park reservations have already been made through the end of February.  This has been the most frustrating part of our purchasing experience.

When we left La Mesa, we headed to Seffner, Florida, to stay at Lazydays RV Resort, which is located close to Tampa.  Lazydays RV is the worlds largest RV dealership.  This is the flagship location so it has a large RV Park, located across the street from the dealership.  We arrived at the RV Park very late since we left La Mesa so late in the afternoon.  We completed our set up in the dark and then relaxed in the RV for the evening.

The next day, we had arranged to grill burgers for our friends Chris and Steve who live in the area.  Chris and Pat are huge drum corps fans and even competed together (Chris was the founder and director) in an all-aged corps when they were both living in Dallas.  We have not seen Chris since moving to New York, and had not yet met his boyfriend, Steve, who we loved immediately!  We had so much fun at lunch, catching up and getting to know Steve.  Luckily, Chris and Steve were able to block off a few hours to visit even though it was a workday.  We hope to see Chris and Steve again at the end of February, when we go back to the Sawmill Campground before we leave Florida.

After lunch with Chris and Steve, we did some laundry and had an early evening drink at the campground restaurant/bar called “Exit 10.”  Pat accidentally left his credit card at the bar, so we had to return the next day (more on that later in this blog entry as we talk about our evening after the RV Supershow).

Following our second night at Lazydays RV Resort we woke up early to drive to Tampa, Florida, to attend the Tampa RV Supershow.  We had a reservation to park the RV at the Florida State Fairgrounds where the RV Supershow was held.  This brought us our first experience in “boondocking,” which means that you are parking where there are no hookups for electricity, water, or sewer.  For water, we used our freshwater tank as we had done many times already when the temperature dropped below freezing.  We had also not used sewer hookups at other times, either because the temperature was below freezing or there were no sewer hookups where we stayed.  This was our first experience at not having an electrical hookup.  We had run the generator once before when we lost electrical power at the park in South Padre Island, so we knew how to run the generator.  Our RV is also equipped with an automatic generator start (AGS), which allows us to set certain parameters for the generator to automatically start (thermostat, battery levels in the “house” part of the RV, and “quiet hours” at night).  We had not yet used the AGS, so the night before we arrived at the Fairgrounds we studied how it worked and successfully used the AGS system while we were at the Fairgrounds.  This boondocking experience was helpful for the future, as we will be boondocking and using the AGS when we tailgate for football games.

The Tampa RV Supershow is the largest RV show in the world (Hershey PA disputes this so we will have to check that one out too).  We arrived at the Supershow at about noon and quickly walked through as many RVs as we could to see if there was anything in particular in the RVs that we might want to have in the future.  The Supershow also offers educational seminars, tourism and camping information, entertainment, and the latest in innovative RV supplies and accessories.  We spent the entire day at the Supershow until it closed at 6:00 p.m. and bought a few supplies.

Our friend, Michael, who lives in Tampa, joined us at the Supershow mid-afternoon.  Michael is interested in purchasing a Class C Motorhome for travel after he retires.  Class C Motorhomes are most often smaller in size than a Class A Motorhome (the type that we have).  After the Supershow closed for the day, we got an opportunity to show Michael around our RV.  Michael then drove us to Lazydays RV Resort to pick up the credit card that Pat had left in the restaurant/bar there.  Afterward, Michael drove us to one of his favorite Cuban restaurants for dinner, called Capdevila at La Teresita, where we had delicious roast pork, red beans, and salad.  Next, Michael took us to one of his favorite bars nearby before taking us back to the Fairgrounds and our RV.  We were really happy that we got to spend almost an entire day with Michael, and hope to see him again before we leave Florida or convince him to come on a cruise with us.

Review of Lazydays RV Resort

Lazydays RV Resort has over 300 RV sites with full hookups.  It has a screened, heated pool and hot tub; restaurant/bar; golf cart rentals; a 12,000 square foot “rally center” (RV talk for mini conventions); children’s playground; basketball, pickleball and tennis courts; laundry facilities; shuttle service to the Lazydays RV Dealership across the street; and is not far from a Cracker Barrel.  Propane delivery is available to RV sites, as well as an RV washing/detailing service.  We only stayed two nights at Lazydays and didn’t take advantage of many of the amenities except for the restaurant/bar and the laundry facility.  Like some of the other large campgrounds that we have visited, Lazydays is located close to an interstate, so there is a lot of vehicle noise at night.  The sites are laid-out pretty close together but rumor is that a spring remodel will resolve that.  Otherwise, we enjoyed our stay there and would consider going back.

We won’t write a review about the Florida State Fairgrounds parking since it isn’t an actual campground but it was great to get to experience boondocking for the first time.

A Tale of Two Parks

We drove back into Florida (dealing with some gusty winds along the way and happy we had the new stabilizer to help with that wind), where we were scheduled to be in Dade City, Florida, for four nights.  We had tried to spend all four nights at the Sawmill Camping Resort;  however, we could only book the Sawmill for two evenings because they were all booked up for the next two evenings.  So, we moved to a different campground for our remaining two days in Dade City: the Withlacoochee River Park.  Since both campgrounds are in Dade City, Florida, we are reviewing them together.

Our first stop was the Sawmill Camping Resort.  This was our third gay campground (this one classifying itself gay & lesbian) since we began full time RV travel, and we finally had a little bit of luck at a LGBTQ+ campground.  While it was cold (lows below freezing and highs in the low-50’s), the campground was full of campers and the scheduled activities were on!  Although we arrived by 2:30 or so, we had to wait until 4:00 to begin set up as the previous campers at our RV site had rudely not checked out by 11:00 a.m. as required by this campground.  We quickly made friends with Mark, Scott, and Chris while we waited.  After we set up, we read up on all of the scheduled activities during our two-day stay.  

Like many LGBTQ+ campgrounds, Sawmill has themed weekends.  This weekend’s theme was leather, which means that many campers dressed up in leather for activities.  On our first evening at the campground, we participated in “leather bingo” (we didn’t wear any leather, but Tim won at bingo again; this time his prize was a free appetizer at the campground pool) and watched the “leather boy” contest, which turned out to be a very serious and intense (but also fun) contest for folks who are very serious about leather.  The contestants included a transgender man, which was unique but an especially compelling story.  The most serious part of this contest was the “question and answer” session.  The contestants’ answers were so profound, and the contestants were so vulnerable with their feelings and life experiences.  They really wanted to win this contest!  After the contest, we danced at the after-party  at their club, Woody’s Nightclub, where the DJ played some great 80’s and 90’s dance music.  

On our second day, we walked around the campground and took advantage of the free appetizer prize.  It was a sunny day, but the weather was cold, so we didn’t take advantage of the pool area (not many did and those that did had on coats as they laid out in the sun).

We prepared the RV for the freeze that was predicted for that evening by disconnecting our water and sewer and using the freshwater tank instead.  After sunset, we went to the “leather and lace” drag show and watched the “leather sir” contest, which was similarly intense to the “leather boy” contest from the previous evening.  After the contest, we headed back to our RV.

The next day, we headed to the Withlacoochee River Park campground.  We use an app called “CoPilot GPS” for mapping our route in the RV.  The app allows us to input information about our RV, like height and weight, and keeps us from roads that might have low bridges or power lines to prevent damage to the RV.  We are not completely happy with the app, but it has been the best of the ones for RVs that we have tried.  This time, however, the app took us down a dirt road beside the campground that was extremely bumpy.  This is never good for an RV.  We programmed the app to avoid this road on the way out but there should be a setting to avoid dirt roads!  

This was the third county-run park that we’ve stayed in.  The entrance to the park was odd because the registration office was located on a street with a sign that said that no RVs were allowed to drive down the street.  We had to park at a picnic area nearby and walk to the office.  Once we registered, we headed to our RV site down a street called “Big Ma’s Way,” (we were given instructions to turn at Smokey the Bear on the corner).

On our arrival at the park, we set up about two hours before sunset and decided to walk part of one of the nature trails called the “Perimeter Trail,” a 3.5-mile trail that encircles the park.  We walked approximately two miles of the trail.  It was again forecasted to be below freezing, so we once again used our freshwater tank.

On our second day at the park, we went back to the “Perimeter Trail” and walked two other trails across a boardwalk and to an observation tower that allowed us a view of a lot of the park.  We walked over 3 miles on the trails that day.  We then walked down to the Withlacoochee River, where the park has a canoe and fishing dock.  We headed back to the RV for the evening, as we were headed to the place where we bought our RV early the next morning to hopefully get a replacement part we have been waiting for since we got the RV (more on our trip to La Mesa RV in the next blog entry).

Review of Sawmill Camping Resort

It was an easy trip to the Sawmill Camping Resort, with well-paved roads leading to the entrance.  We were annoyed that the resort had not kicked out the previous campers who were in our spot way past their checkout time but loved our campsite once we got there because it was next to the pool and not far from the main activities area.  In fact, the entire campground is very compact, and you are never too far from any of the bars, cafes, or other facilities.  There were bathrooms with showers in the pool area, which were heated and well maintained.  There was also a store located in the office area that had many of the grocery items you might need.  Although there was no propane at the campground, there was a nearby company that visited the campground to provide propane to campers and we were able to take advantage of that perk (which we really needed since the temperature was dropping below freezing). 

Although we are not serious about leather, we love a good theme party; so, we were very pleased that the Sawmill has good theme weekends.  Sawmill had four bars and a café at the pool with a good variety of food.  They have daily activities, comedy shows, drag shows, and game shows.  We love a full activity schedule!  We have already scheduled another visit to Sawmill Camping Resort during our Florida winter itinerary and look forward to our next stay.

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Review of Withlacoochee River Park

The Withlacoochee River Park is a county-run park that has 15 RV sites.  It also has cabins and tent camping.  The RV sites are located in one section of the park and have electrical and water hookups, but no sewer hookups (there is a sewer dumping station as you exit).  In the RV camping area, there is a replica of a 19th-century church, which serves as a book exchange and game playing and puzzle making area.  There is an observation tower that allows for a view of the entire park.  

The park has several hiking trails, picnic areas, and playgrounds.  There is a canoe/kayak dock on the river, where you can launch your own canoe or kayak, and a pier for fishing.  There was a nice restroom with a shower located in the RV camping area, but no laundry.  It was very quiet at Withlacoochee River Park; we enjoyed the peacefulness of the park but probably won’t return to the park since we have already experienced this park’s trails/sights and there are so many RV parks in this area to explore.

We💚State Parks

We were headed back to Florida but made a three-night reservation along the way at Reed Bingham State Park in Adel, Georgia, near the Florida state line.  Prior to coming to Reed Bingham, we had been having issues with leveling the RV when we parked it at our campsites.  Many times, we have had to manually level the RV at campsites that aren’t made of cement, because the automatic leveling system was leaving us slightly unlevel and sometimes almost resulted in the tires coming off the ground.  We watched a YouTube video on how to “recalibrate” your jack leveling system and “recalibrated” prior to our arrival at Reed Bingham (while we were on a level cement surface).  It seemed to work well, as our automatic leveling system got us level on the first try on this gravel site (in addition to our automatic leveling system telling us that we are level, we also use our own level in the RV, and our “beer can roll leveling test”).  

On our way to Reed Bingham, we stopped to run some errands.  Tim got a haircut, which he was not completely happy with (Tim says he misses his $65/haircut stylist in Brooklyn but he did get this most recent haircut for $25).  Pat did some shopping for a new pair of jeans; he had PLANNED to always wear shorts for setup and breakdown but the early January weather is not cooperating (even in the south).

Finally, we arrived at Reed Bingham State Park.  The park is laid out so well that we weren’t very close to any other RVs.  Our passenger-side window over the dining area looked out at part of the park that encompasses the Gopher Tortoise Trail and Habitat.

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Our campsite was under a canopy of oak trees with Spanish moss hanging from the branches; so much so that we couldn’t find anywhere to put the Starlink on our entire site to get through the tree limb obstructions!  That was a first.  There were many squirrels around our campsite.  A few of them thought it would be fun to drop down from the branches of the oak trees above and onto the top of our RV to run around, so they had to be promptly chased off with a broom.  There is also an abundance of lady bugs here, many of which got into the RV and had to be humanely captured and set free on the outside.

We took advantage of the hiking trails on the second day of our stay.  We hiked the Gopher Tortoise Trail, the Little River Trail, and the Birdwalk Trail; a total of 2.8 miles.  Gopher tortoises are long-lived reptiles that occupy upland habitat throughout Florida and southern Georgia, including forests, pastures, and yards. They dig deep burrows for shelter and forage on low-growing plants. In Georgia, the gopher tortoise is listed as Threatened; both the tortoise and its burrow are protected under state law. As we hiked the Gopher Tortoise Trail, we saw several burrows that the tortoises had dug for shelter; we did not actually see any of the gopher tortoises though.  The Little River Trail took us into a swampy area, where there were two overlooks with a view of the Little River.  We did not see many birds on the Birdwalk Trail (probably because it is winter), but we did hear some “in the bird family of raptors" and a woodpecker’s pecking.

 

 

  

On the third day of our stay, we took a walk around the lake that forms at the bottom of the Little River, where folks can fish or launch boats.  We also decided to play putt-putt golf on the grounds of the park; we ended up with a tie after 18 holes (Tim made 2 holes-in-one, but it wasn’t enough for him to clench the win).  We also saw two bald eagles flying overhead (cue joke about putt-putt golf and eagles) but couldn’t get a decent photo.

We then headed back to the RV to do some laundry before the approaching storm, which ultimately wreaked havoc in Alabama before getting to us in southern Georgia.  It rained so hard that we could barely hear the television, which we had on to distract us from the storm.  Luckily, we made it through the storm unscathed and left the next morning to head back to Florida. 

Review of Reed Bingham State Park

This was the second state park that we have visited since we started full time RV travel.  We loved our campsite at Reed Bingham under a canopy of oak trees, overlooking the Gopher Tortoise habitat, and a nice distance from the other RV sites that allowed some privacy.  

The park has a lake that is popular with boaters and skiers.  Visitors can also fish or rent canoes or kayaks for a pleasant ride on the lake.  In addition, the park offers guided pontoon boat tours on some evenings.  

There are many covered picnic areas; a fitness pavilion with exercise equipment outdoors; the aforementioned putt-putt golf area; and two playgrounds for children.  You can also rent bikes.  There was a catfish restaurant, Company 5 Catfish House, close by that is only open Thursday to Sunday, so we didn’t have an opportunity to check it out since it rained on our last night there (which was a Thursday).  The laundry room and restrooms were located close to our RV site and although the price was right ($1 for each) the laundry room only had one washer and one dryer.  

We enjoyed our stay at this beautiful campground, but unless we want to return at a time when we can rent bikes, canoes, or kayaks, we have pretty much seen all there is to see at this park.