Thinking about Next Camping Trip
Posting those Kings Mountain Campground videos on YouTube yesterday got me longing to be outdoors again. I am hoping we can have a camping adventure in February, perhaps to Huntington Beach State Park or Little Pee Dee in Dillon.
I like the idea of camping at all of the state parks here in South Carolina that offer campgrounds. So far we have camped at Kings Mountain and Myrtle Beach state parks.
Loved, loved, loved Kings Mountain! For the most part, the ranger station was well stocked, but they were having trouble keeping firewood in supply. The campsite itself was fairly level. The roads were gravel. The squirrels were aplenty.
Lots to do and the fact they have the historic farm with CHICKENS! Awesome! Oh, and they offer hiking and other stuff.
The one issue with Kings Mountain was the bathhouses. We chose a campsite close to one of the bathhouses, but no hot water, then they closed it. Then the other two closest bathhouses had plumbing problems, closing one of the two as well. It only became difficult during the night, so I just cut out my evening hot tea for a few nights.
We went the end of June so the temps were great and it was cool enough at night to enjoy the
campfire.
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On to Myrtle Beach State Park
The closet (pictured to the right in the above photo) is the perfect size for the 5 gallon bucket with the portable loo attached. We line the bucket with 2 trash bags and put 1/2 a bag of cat litter. Kept me from having to get all dressed up and try to make to the bathhouse in the middle of the night in the cold.
Myrtle Beach State Park was good. We went in the beginning of November so the temps were not too hot during the day and not too cold at night.
The roads were paved and our campsite was nice and level. Plenty of room for the van, tent, shelter, fire ring and walking around. Technically our campsite was for RVs, so yes, plenty of room! The site we chose was right across from the bathhouse and it had a well defined walk way. The ranger station had a nice shop.
There were two negative things were encountered. LOTS of mosquitoes when we started clearing all of the leaves from the site. Hundreds would not be an understatement. And we mistakenly left the mosquito spray at home. Within 10 minutes I looked like I had the pox...But once we got a smoky fire going, lit citronella candles and finished clearing off all of the leaves, they subsided. We still went to the store and got some spray. Will NEVER leave for a trip without it!
The other challenge was the noise. Not from other campers, but from traffic. Highway 17 is the main highway running through the Grand Strand and it passes next to the park. Granted we were camping in the outer loop, closest to hwy 17, but it sounded like we were at an intersection, not in a nature park. At least the vehicle traffic slowed after about 2:00am. But there is also an international airport very close by. A jet plane taking off isn't quiet. at. all.
Myrtle Beach State Park does offer nice, clean bathhouses with hot showers! So important! Plus there it a fishing pier, the beach and lots of picnic areas.
I like the idea of camping at all of the state parks here in South Carolina that offer campgrounds. So far we have camped at Kings Mountain and Myrtle Beach state parks.
Loved, loved, loved Kings Mountain! For the most part, the ranger station was well stocked, but they were having trouble keeping firewood in supply. The campsite itself was fairly level. The roads were gravel. The squirrels were aplenty.
Lots to do and the fact they have the historic farm with CHICKENS! Awesome! Oh, and they offer hiking and other stuff.
The above pictures were taken at the Living History Farm
Look how close we were to the closed bathhouse!
We went the end of June so the temps were great and it was cool enough at night to enjoy the
campfire.
___________________________________
On to Myrtle Beach State Park
After the Kings Mountain trip, we decided to upgrade our tent. The dome tent just didn't cut it with our big queen size air mattress. With this tent we can have a bedroom area and a sitting area. Plus the little closet can double as a water closet at night with our handy portable loo.
Big queen size air mattress at one end of the tent and a sitting area on the other side.
Myrtle Beach State Park was good. We went in the beginning of November so the temps were not too hot during the day and not too cold at night.
The roads were paved and our campsite was nice and level. Plenty of room for the van, tent, shelter, fire ring and walking around. Technically our campsite was for RVs, so yes, plenty of room! The site we chose was right across from the bathhouse and it had a well defined walk way. The ranger station had a nice shop.
There were two negative things were encountered. LOTS of mosquitoes when we started clearing all of the leaves from the site. Hundreds would not be an understatement. And we mistakenly left the mosquito spray at home. Within 10 minutes I looked like I had the pox...But once we got a smoky fire going, lit citronella candles and finished clearing off all of the leaves, they subsided. We still went to the store and got some spray. Will NEVER leave for a trip without it!
The other challenge was the noise. Not from other campers, but from traffic. Highway 17 is the main highway running through the Grand Strand and it passes next to the park. Granted we were camping in the outer loop, closest to hwy 17, but it sounded like we were at an intersection, not in a nature park. At least the vehicle traffic slowed after about 2:00am. But there is also an international airport very close by. A jet plane taking off isn't quiet. at. all.
Myrtle Beach State Park does offer nice, clean bathhouses with hot showers! So important! Plus there it a fishing pier, the beach and lots of picnic areas.
Joe is an excellent camper and has been teaching me. Here he is showing how he stokes a campfire using our camp shovel. Full sized shovel with a short handle.
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