We left Ebenezer on Tuesday morning & arrived at Petersburg CG in Appling, GA, about 30 miles northwest of Augusta, GA.
SC backroads weren't as bad, most were US highways but you could still tell a difference in the roadways once we crossed the GA line. It had rained quite a bit in & around the area the prior weekend. The turn into the CG was quite narrow & we swung wide in order to stay on pavement. As we turned onto the road an ACOE worker came barreling down the road. He stopped but wouldn't move so Greg turned sharp in order to get the camper off the highway & the right back end of the camper went off the pavement & into the mud. We got straightened out & headed on to the CG.
Once we got to the site (#46) there was a slight incline that had some washouts. Greg was able to maneuver around the ruts. As usual, we plugged in the surge protector before backing into the campsite itself. While we were waiting for the surge protector to do it's thing, we realized it was very wet & soft where you would normally park the camper (your feet would sink 1-2" just standing still). No big deal since there was plenty of space to park it further away & still have the picnic table, fire ring, etc. accessible. However, once he went to put the stabilizers down (one of the last things you do when setting up) we realized that the right back stabilizer was completely bent from our incident when turning in. Again, no big deal ... nothing $150 won't fix & we were level so the stabilizer wasn't essential.
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| Would normally be backed up further to the right. |
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| View from down by the lake. |
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| No stabilizer on the back |
The site had a beautiful view (to the north).
After setting up we realized that it was going to be a struggle getting out unless we went straight through the site next to us (which was currently empty). What I realized during all this, was that this site was actually a 'buddy' site. That means you usually are camping with another party & you can coordinate entering & exiting.
We got up the next morning & drove over to Winfield CG, another COE nearby. But ... it didn't open for the season until 4/1. (This trip is not turning out like we had hoped.) No matter, Mistletoe SP was right next door so we rode through there. Noted some sites & decided to drive into Evans for some provisions & diesel. Note: We stayed there in April 2021 & it's a great SP.
Rain was forecast for our 4/1 departure date on Sat. so we decided we would leave a day early. The 'buddy' site next to us was due to come in on Thur. which left us w/trying to decide the best way to get out of there. The best bet was to back up the incline, the way we came in. However, it would be almost impossible to avoid the ruts, like we had when we arrived. The other ways out, if the buddy camper site was occupied, had low hanging limbs with the possibility of damaging something on the roof.
We walked the campground, met a nice couple with a two friendly dogs, had dinner, a nice fire & went to bed to ponder it the next day.
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| Sunset from the other side of our loop |
We got up & after breakfast, decided to go ahead & leave on Thursday before the 'buddy' arrived, so we could pull straight through instead of risking damage to the camper.
On the way out, we stopped at the ranger station & spoke with the attendant who agreed to refund us for Friday night.
This is a beautiful park & we're glad we got to see many of the sites after the rain. Many were flooded & rutted worse than ours. Some still had standing water. We did find several sites that would have been good but again there are so many parks for us to choose from that this one is most likely off the future radar.
Notes:
- Lesson 1 / do more research on the site itself. With all the resources available, I should have known this wasn't the best site for us.
- Lesson 2 / never ever reserve a buddy site w/o a buddy to go with it.
- Watts on Wheels (YouTubers) were just across the way. Not as friendly as they appear on their channel, barely even spoke or waved when you saw them.
One more short spring 2023 trip coming up in a week or so.....
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