Amity Campground

new campsite

Our Casita at Amity COE.

Our (huge) campsite from the water.

Our (huge) campsite from the water.

We arrived at Amity Corps of Engineers campground on West Point Lake near Lanette, AL yesterday.  As pretty as our site was, it did not have much of a water view.

Since I live in deep woods, a pretty woods view was an awful lot like being home.  So today we moved to a different site that on the water that we like a lot better.

The sites here are HUGE.  They all have a paved area for an RV, a tent pad quite a distance from the paved area and a concrete picnic table with a gravel base.  I have never seen campsites this large.  And I have seen houses a lot closer than these campsites are.  It’s beautiful.

The lake

The lake

Oddly enough, here on the Alabama side, the campgrounds are almost deserted.  On the Georgia side I couldn’t get a reservation for 6 days.  Granted, there is not a lot to do here unless you love hiking, boating, fishing and just being out in nature.  But I am really surprised at how few people are here.

The trails look lovely.  I am pretty stiff from the walk with Cindy Saturday, so am not up to hiking yet.  But with a little help from Aleve, I’m hoping to remedy that!

This was our first campsite before we moved.  Beautiful, but we missed a water view.

This was our first campsite before we moved. Beautiful, but we missed a water view.

It was blisteringly hot today, near 90.  We spent the heat of the day reading outside in deep shade, enjoying the breezes off the lake.  It cooled down enough for a nice walk with the dogs late this afternoon.  Just perfect for cooking and eating outside.  And it is almost chilly outside this evening.  Lovely!

Kim is supposed to stop by for a visit tomorrow.  I’m really looking forward to seeing her!

The trail is carpeted with pine needles.

The trail is carpeted with pine needles.

 

Leaving Jennings Ferry, MiFi & Rapidwasher

We kept missing the barges this morning.  We wouldn’t hear them while we were inside the trailer, and then when we spotted one, it was moving away too fast for me to get pictures.  But Ron spotted this one and alerted me… so I didn’t have to leave Jennings Ferry without a decent photo of a tug pushing a barge after all!

We had an electrical problem in the Casita last night.  Our MiFi wouldn’t charge and the batteries died.  I tried switching outlets, making sure the GFI wasn’t tripped, etc.  Everything seemed fine.  But Ron’s computer wouldn’t charge either.

When we got home I plugged the MiFi inside the house and it charged right up.  So I’m not sure if I have an electrical problem in the trailer, or if something was wrong with the power supply at Jennings Ferry.

I’ll see if everything’s okay in the Casita tomorrow.  Sure hope it is!

The trip home seemed endless today.

But I am already ready to head out again as soon as possible.  🙂

The Rapidwasher. Mean blue laundry machine! 🙂

Oh, I did want to share a cool gadget I bought with you.  Before we left for Mississippi, I bought a PVC Rapidwasher.  I got it so that if we were somewhere where there were no laundry facilities, I could wash towels, wash cloths, undies and socks.

Since Flint Creek had such nasty washers and dryers, I did end up doing hand laundry with it in a 5 gallon bucket.  It worked better than I had hoped.  It sucks water through the clothes on both the push and pull strokes and gets a vigorous agitator effect going.  I did soak the towels in hot soapy water for 30 minutes before using the Rapidwasher, which probably contributed to its effectiveness.

Flint Creek was so wooded and casual that there was no problem stringing bungies between trees there for a clothesline.  In many places, it wouldn’t be possible to do that.

The only problem with doing laundry by hand is having to wring out the wet clothes.  It left my hands sore and chapped.  I’ll probably have to end up buying another portable laundry spinner.  The one I had for several years finally died a while back.

 

 

Walter F. George Reservoir Campgrounds

View from Pine Island campground

Today we checked out all three campgrounds here at Walter F. George lake.  They are all spectacular in different ways.

Pine Island

The big expanse of water I was looking for is visible from both the Pine Island campground and some of the sites in the Old Mill Road campground.

The Pine Island campground has a large swimming beach, while the Old Mill Road campground at the other end of the lake has all kinds of convoluted little inlets and gator warning signs!

Our campground, Marina View, has the least shade of the three.  And several of the big rig pull through sites here have a view of only a canal that connects to the lake. However, a lot of boaters like them because there is also parking for their boats.  And a couple of fishermen simply leave their boats in the water.

The swimming beach at Pine Island campground

We saw tenters also in the Old Mill Road loop.

Today, since Sheba chewed Sunny’s eye drops bottle, I had to have my vet at home call in a prescription to a vet in Blakely, about 25 miles from here.  Sunny can’t do without his medication for even a couple of days without the artery in his eye enlarging and turning his pupil bright red, and the rest of his eyes looking like hamburger.  I was so grateful we were able to get the prescription filled locally without having to pay an expensive vet bill.

Crystal clear water

We also had a visitor today who looked at the Casita and exclaimed, “That is the cutest little camper I’ve ever seen!  Is it new?”  He was pretty surprised when I told him it was a 2005.  I asked him if he would like to see the inside, and he was thrilled.

We passed his campsite later while walking the dogs and he enthusiastically told his neighbors, “These are the people in that cute little camper down there!”

View from Old Mill Road campground

Sheba is also getting a lot of fawning attention from the other campers.  Unfortunately she goes into her hyper emotionally out of control puppy mode when she meets strangers.  She just loves everyone–and can really be pretty obnoxious about wanting to jump all over them.  I am surprised at how much energy it takes to camp with a puppy.  She is so good all day, staying in her pen most of the time.

Wide view from Old Mill Road campground

Every time we take her for a walk, we end it with letting her jump in the lake–leashed – after carefully scanning the area for gators.    So by the time she gets in the trailer at night, she has burned off most of her excess energy.

Then she only does minor things — like pulling paper towels out of the trash and chewing them to pieces.

I will REALLY be glad when she gets a little older and calms down a bit!

Gator habitat at Old Mill Road loop

We are really enjoying our stay here.  We have full hookups for only $12 a night with our senior pass!

Old Mill Road has several gator warning signs

Cypress trees by the boat launch area

Geese

The geese casually paraded within 5 feet of where I was standing

The marina from Old Mill Road campground

A Slice of Heaven

Cotton Hill campsite #58

“You got any pretty sites left?” I asked the gate attendant when we pulled into Cotton Hill COE.

View from our site

“A few,” he smiled.  “How many days are you staying?”

“Seven,” I answered.

“Oooooh, that cuts it way down.  Let’s see, I’ve got 6 and 58.  58 is in the Marina View loop, and it has the best view in the campground.  You can take a look at both of them if you’d like.”

“No, we’ll take 58!” I replied, figuring he knew what he was talking about.

View of the marina from our site

He wasn’t lying.  Our site is gorgeous.

I was a little surprised that the lake wasn’t wider.  I’m used to the Georgia COE’s having huge expanses of water.  But there is something indefinably special about this place.

Instead of putting up both sections of the dog pen, we only put up one.  And since we couldn’t stake it down in the gravel, I bungied it to the trailer tongue and step and reinforced it with a couple of other bungees.  It works!  And both Sunny and Sheba have been wonderful about staying in it without barking.  I am impressed with how well they are behaving.

There’s a playground to our right.

Sheba has not had the first potty accident in the trailer, so I am almost ready to declare her housebroken.  At least it appears she is Casita-broken!  🙂

And she is really loving the water  here!

Sunny waiting for Mom while Sheba is already down the bank and in the water

Sheba in the water

Bungeed dog pen

Egret

Fuzzy heron photo

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