As much as we loved Eastbank RV Park at Lake Seminole, we were glad to be headed to Destin West RV Park. We didn't take the route our Garmin, Waze or Good Sam said to go. We called the park and received excellent directions. I'm sure Sherrian will tell you about it. The park is a few miles west of Destin and about two miles east of Fort Walton.

We arrived about 12pm and were able to check in early.The park is what we expected with the bay on the park side of Okaloosa Island and the gulf across the street. Highway 98 is a little difficult to cross but there is a foot bridge a little ways down that leads to the Ramada Inn  There we have access to the beach, fitness room and restaurants. There are some shops and restaurants down the street. 

Sometimes you run into a campsite that has an ant problem. Whether it's Argentine ants,which can have a painful bite or the tiny sugar ants that will swarm a few crumbs, you can take preventive measures. Upon arrival,when finished setting up your site, douse anything leading to your camper with ant spray. This includes stabilizing jacks, water hoses, and power cords. Don't make any pathways by leaning things against the the camper. There are environmentally friendly sprays, but these contain odors like mint or lemon grass. The smell is sometimes overwhelming.

After the ant spray sprinkle baby powder or borax around the perimeters of your pad, canopy, picnic table and rug - any where you don't want ants to intrude on your fun. I even sprinkle some around my truck tires. The powder doesn't kill the ants, but forms a barrier they don't like to cross. You still may find an ant or two inside, but these steps should prevent hundreds or even thousands from invading your spaces. One other note for pet owners, be careful not to let your pets walk where you have sprayed for ants.

We all will have an accident at sometime when filling our portable totes. We're tired, maybe not paying attention or missing a step when disconnecting or reconnecting the sewer hose. Maybe we forget to close the valve. In any case the goal is not to spill anything, especially blackwater. I started placing a small plastic bucket or pan under the drain port. Even if you forget to close the valve, the bucket will give you enough time to react. Sure you have a nasty bucket to take to the dump station, empty, wash and sanitize, but it's heck of a lot better than cleaning up underneath your camper.You can't do a good clean up unless you move your camper.

We have found using newspaper to soak up the mess is easier than using kitty litter. Kitty litter tends to make mud and it's harder to clean the area.

We had to move to another site today. The new site is very nice (34 loop C). It's more secluded with a view of Lake Seminole from the back window and woods from the dining area. When sitting outside, all we see are woods in front of us and the lake to the side.

The cats love walking around on the grass and chasing bugs. We will be here until the end of October. For the next two weeks we will be creating our own hikes and bike rides as we are tired of just riding around the campgrounds. We have noticed a few trails but they haven't been kept cleared for hiking. We may decide to give them a try. For a bike ride we will ride on the road to the dam and then take a dirt road that leads to Chattahoochee Park Landing. 

We’ve been here almost two weeks and both of us are working online and enjoying the lake. It’s frustrating technically because T-Mobile is non-existent and Verizon is sketchy. The local WiFi spot at Hardee’s is not great either.

The park is beautiful and the wildlife is abundant. We’ve seen many alligators, herons, deer, a fox and the beautiful majestic Bald Eagle. The sunset is incredible and our pictures will never show the real beauty or colors.

We have a gorgeous view of the lake and Jim Woodruff Dam. There are several boats on the lake but nothing like the boat traffic on Lake Lanier near home. We plan to fish but we’ll stick to corks as the lake is only 4 – 10 feet deep. We do not plan to use our inflatable boat due to the numerous alligators.

Chattahoochee, Florida is the closest little town and this week-end they are hosting the Intertribal Native American Pow Wow. We enjoyed listening to the music and hearing the native stories.

For more information about the campground click here to visit our campground page.

 

In preparation for our great adventure we prepared the house for our lengthy absence. We made sure everything was unplugged, put antifreeze in our sinks and turned off the water to all sinks and outside spigots. We also turned our hot water heater to “vacation mode.” We set our thermostat to 55 degrees and opened the doors under the sinks to let in as much heat as possible.

Another major portion of our preparation was to go back and forth to the camper to load everything we didn’t need.

The morning finally arrived and we decided to drive straight through downtown Atlanta after rush hour toward our first stop at Eastbank Campground on Lake Seminole. We had our route planned, but somehow we missed our exit to Hwy 27 and drove straight into Fort Benning in Columbus GA. It was apparent we were not the first camper to make this mistake. The nice soldier stopped all traffic to allow us to turn around.

Due to my fear of getting off at an exit, we made it all the way to the campground without even a bathroom stop! Sherrian was not that pleased.

Because of a nearby culvert, I didn’t think I could back into the site, but the gatekeeper, Marvin, came down and parked us right where we needed to be. The site did not look the same as the site we saw on Google Earth, but we have a gorgeous view of the lake and it feels good to get the camper settled in for a few weeks.


Mike & Sherrian