Hamilton County State Fish and Wildlife Area, IL 2-5 Sep, 2016

Hamilton County State Fish and Wildlife Area map

Made a last minute decision to trek out to IL to get a new sticker.  We originally selected site #31, but ended up taking site #59.  When we first arrived, people looked at us and chuckled, realizing that there was pretty much NO way we were going to fit into #31.  The trees would have prevented us from getting into the site, plus it was a bit short.  

Didn't realize until arrival that we did not have water on the site.  Luckily, some friendly campers helped link hoses together so we could reach to the spigot and fill up our water tank.  First time using the tank on our camper, and we had some leakage going on.  We still haven't been able to recreate the leaking.  

Also, there wasn't any firewood for sale anywhere nearby.  The camp host told us we could use whatever wood we find on the ground, so of course that meant we went out to buy a chainsaw.  

Picnic area at the end of the campground near the cabins

Beautiful lake views from all over the campground.

 Took the kayaks out for happy hour on Saturday.  The lake was beautiful and the girls had a blast.

Site #59

Our setup on site #59

Got the IL sticker!

Douglas Dam, TN 9-12 July, 2016

Campground Map

Douglas Dam Headwater Campground

We met the Giles/Ball/Marrow clan at Douglas Dam Headwater Campground in Sevierville, TN.  Jenn and her family took sites 19 & 20, which ended up being a long pull-through type combo site that worked out perfectly for a group trip.  Our site, #26, was just across the road, nicely shaded, water views, but a bit short (and slightly steep) at the entrance so it was a bit tricky to get 6 tons leveled.  There was a large, grassy area in front of the sites, which worked out perfectly for a kids' play area.  The google maps photo above of the campground shows the water level MUCH lower than it actually was while we were there.

Our yard art

The swimming beach

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, and after about an hour or so of finagling to get into our campsite we were setup and ready to go.  The entrance to the site had a downhill slope before leveling out and our camper was so long that we had to have the front jacks on the hill.  That made it tricky to get the camper leveled.  We also had some power issues at the site, and had to reset the breaker on the power box a few times.  Once settled, we took the kiddos down to the water for a swim.  Whomever maintains the campground clearly brought in some sand for the beach - it was nice, clean sand.  Once in the water, the ground became super muddy.

Site #26

On Sunday, we rented a pontoon boat (great call Jenn!) and spent most of the day on the reservoir.  We stopped a couple of times for some food/drinks/swimming, but otherwise puttered around and checked out the area.  Saw some cool primitive campsites where people clearly only had boat access.  

Auntie Jenn with the kiddos

Beautiful scenery on the water

Castaway Keith

Sleepy grizzly bear

  

On Monday we made the 30 minute drive out to Pigeon Forge and Dollywood.  The kids had a blast! Nestled in the Smoky Mountains, the park was scenic and a great park for kids of all ages.

Who's watching the road?

Thumbs up for the water ride

Keith & Warren

To much awesomeness for one bee to handle

Ferris wheel fun!

Overall, what a great weekend.  Next time we go back with this crew, we'll grab site #18.  It's a pull thru, and we can position ourselves so our door opens up to the picnic table area between sites 19 & 20. Probably would stay away from the other loop, not so much shade, crowded, and tricky to get in and out since it's a dead end.  

Pros

- Nice shaded site

- Great water views
- Nice beach, easy access

- Close to Smoky Mountains

- Pull-thru sites
- Large grassy area
- Firewood and ice delivery
- That Dam Store just up the road
- Marina around the corner has a dock bar with live music!

Cons

- Many sites difficult to navigate

- Parking lot between sites and lake
- Bathroom light ruined the ambiance at night

Baileys Point, KY 1-4 July 2016

Bailey's Point Recreation Area - owned by the Army Corps of Engineers

Our setup, site A15, if you look REALLY close, you can see the lake through the trees

Finally picking back up the blogging idea after a 2-year hiatus.  Oops.  Anyway, we

went to Bailey's Point campground on Barren River lake for July 4th weekend.  We stayed in spot A15.  When I booked it, I thought there was a good chance we'd have a rockin' view of the lake, but, alas, we weren't so lucky.  However, the trees provided lots of good shade during a hot, sticky weekend.  

Each loop within the campground seemed to have its own character.  Many of the people in our loop were either camping together, or at least knew each other.  They were all friendly, and absolutely loved the girls.  One guy labeled loop A the "geriatric" loop, and told us that loop B was more of the "family" loop.  I'm actually pretty happy that we chose loop A - loop B was crazy, kids everywhere, and lots of vehicle traffic since there was a small concession shop there and better lake access.  This campground seems to be a place where boat owners go, everyone we met owned a boat, and many people tied their boats up right at the campground.  That explains why the campground books so quickly - the small sites and steep hills would seemingly make it less popular, but the easy lake access is a selling point for boat owners.  

The girls' first ride on the kayak

Addi and I at the beach in C loop.  

On Saturday, we drove over to C loop to put the kayak in the water and spend some time at the small swim beach there.  The water was very choppy, because of the large amount of boat traffic on the lake.  The walk down to the "beach" was rocky and steep.  I use quotes on the word beach, because it was a rocky area with lots of branches and debris, with a small area roped off for swimming.  However, the girls didn't mind, and the water was shallow enough where I wasn't concerned.  My gimpy leg situation prevented me from being able to go swimming with the girls.  

Gimp's view of the lake

We originally planned to return home on Sunday, but had the site booked through Tuesday, so we weren't in any hurry to get moving.  Good thing, because on Sunday morning our next door neighbors, Gary and Jan (?? dang, forgot her name) came over and offered to take us out on their pontoon boat with their dog Layla.  Of course, Olivia befriended them earlier in the weekend and was constantly over there to pet Layla.  They loved her.  Anyway, we took them up on their offer and spent about an hour and a half out on the lake.  Both of the girls even got to drive the boat.  Gary took us to a cove area where lots of people get out to swim, and there's a rock outcropping that people jump off of.  Olivia considered doing the jump, but ultimately was a bit too scared to do it.  

Captain Addison

Olivia doing the Titanic pose

After our boat excursion, Bob wanted to drive around a bit to get the girls to fall asleep.  So, I had him take me out to Paradise Point - a goofy, eclectic store/weiner stand/junk store.  http://www.paradisepointky.com  The wieners were amazing, and I loved wandering around the store.  If only they served beer there... I could see spending an afternoon there.  

Paradise Point

Don't Postpone Joy!

Happy gimp

After we returned from our adventures, we hung out in the trailer and napped, then spent the remainder of Sunday afternoon watching the girls ride their scooters (dammit, Olivia scraped her elbow - thought we were going to get away with a no booboo weekend).  The weather report predicted strong storms Sunday night, so several people left the campground.  We stayed, and got to fall asleep to the sound of rain on the camper.  Pretty soothing, if you ask me.  Apparently there were tornado warnings back at home, so good thing they didn't head towards Barren River Lake.  

Sisterly love

We headed home Monday morning with yet another great camping weekend on the books.  Pro and con summary:

Pros

- Friendly people in the campground

- Nice shaded site

- Camp store onsite

- Nightly movies at the amphitheater

- Camp host handed out coloring books and lake safety information to the kids

Cons

- Steep hills leading down to lake

- Limited lake views in loop A

- Sites with lake views have very little shade

- Limited hiking

- Lousy cell service
- Lots of boat noise without the added bonus of actually SEEING the lake

Clear Creek, AL 17-19 June, 2016

This weekend was the Giles' maiden voyage in their new camper, so we met at Clear Creek Recreation Area in Alabama - new state stickers for all of us!  We won't put to record the rookie mishaps that occurred that weekend (bent shaft) but just know the Giles were tenacious about camping & made it to the campground just a couple of hours late and only a couple hundred dollars poorer.

We loved our double-wide site 94D in the Bear Loop.  Because our loop didn't have water views it wasn't as popular as the other loops - good news is we had the loop pretty much to ourselves so the kids got to roam the area freely on their scooters & bikes.  Morgan & Bella even got to do some off-leash roaming.  Lots of PI though.

Bear Loop, site 94D

The Giles' new camper

RAWR

We all tie dyed t-shirts, so look for them on future trips.  We also spent an afternoon at the lake (Lake Lewis Smith). The beach was nice, and had lots of shaded grassy areas to sit.

Arts & crafts time

Who doesn't love a kiddie pool?

The best sites for water views are 18-26 in the Fox loop.  These sites are not pre-assigned, so you can reserve a site in the loop ahead of time, but won't know the specific site until you arrive.  Bear loop was reservable for specific sites.

Barren River Lake Resort State Park, KY 27-29 Jun, 2014

Google Map View of the campground

We took over campsite #001 at Barren River Lake State Park this weekend.  The campground is very pretty and wooded, and each campsite was pretty good sized with actual GRASS, which is a first for us so far.  We reserved the site through www.reserveamerica.com which indicated that the site had 30/50 amp hookup and water, but no sewer.  However, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that there was, in fact, a sewer hookup at our site.  A large rock was placed on top of the cap to the sewer connection at most sites, perhaps because the park doesn't want campers using it, but several trailers and RVs were hooked up to it so we went for it.  

Olivia walking Bella to our campsite

Navigating to our site was a bit tricky.  The campground was only at about 25% capacity, so we had lots of space to move; however, if there were more people there we would have had a really hard time getting around the tight turns and into our spot.  The site was paved and fairly level side to side, so we only had to level front to back.  We noticed that many of the other sites had a moderate grade, in comparison ours was fairly flat.  However, we had very little flat ground immediately outside our door so we had to walk up a bit of a hill to get to the picnic table and fire pit.  No problem, it was actually pretty nice.  

Our setup

There was a small basketball court across the road from our site as well as the beginning of a nice walking path through the woods.  Olivia enjoyed taking the dogs for walks on the trails.

Walking in the woods

View from the basketball court & trailhead looking at our spot

We ventured out to the lodge and beach on Saturday afternoon and were disappointed to find out that the beach was closed.  Mary totally missed the note on Reserve America indicating that the beach had been closed since 2012 - the local gas station owner said that it was too hard to maintain the beach with the shifting lake levels, debris, and difficulties with keeping sand on the beach.  Too bad.  We checked it out anyway though, and it had a bit of a creepy, deserted feel to it.  Olivia didn't mind, and got in the lake for a little bit of swimming on the slimy boat ramp. 

Olivia enjoying Barren River Lake

Addison seemed to enjoy camping as well!

Overall, we really enjoyed this campground and next time would be happy to stay in site 001 or check out 079B.  A summary of a few of the pros and cons:

Pros
- Sewer!
- Nice woods and grassy area
- Boat ramp (if we ever had a boat)
- Nice bathrooms with showers as well as laundry facilities
Cons
- Beach closed
- Beach not walking distance from campground