Summer 2021 Friends & Lakes RV Tour - Camp Mack, Lake Wales, FL

Camp Mack - Guy Harvey Resort     October 13-17  

Lake Wales, Fl

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WiH2zSjtc8SGRtF59

Our last stop before arriving at home was this wonderful campground/fishing/ entertainment/ campfires, etc. fun place. We have stayed here a few times over the years and really love it. It’s now a Guy Harvey Lodge, Marina and RV Resort. We stayed for 5 nights to enjoy some special events going on that weekend. Been here a couple times before and it's even nicer! This place is beautiful, great campsites and amenities. A couple of years ago this became a Guy Harvey Resort. Many sites are owner occupied and well maintained. This property is located on the Kissimmee River, and hosts many serious bass fishing tournaments. Over the weekend there were 2 fishing tournaments, live music, good and all around great fun.

Heading home on Monday, can't wait to be back in my awesome house!

Summer 2021 Friends & Lakes RV Tour - O'Leno State Park, High Springs, FL

O’Leno State Park   October 6 – 12

High Springs, Fl

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After leaving Georgia, we headed south to High Springs in N Florida.  We camped at O’Leno State Park, where we have stayed a few times. There is a lot of history in this area of the early settlers, the native Seminoles and the farming/logging that started the movement of others to this area. The park is located along the banks of the scenic Santa Fe River, a tributary of the Suwannee River, and features sinkholes, hardwood hammocks, river swamps and sandhills. As the river courses through the park, it disappears underground and reemerges over three miles away in River Rise Preserve State Park. This area has numerous springs which feed the rivers. We were able to kayak the Santa Fe River, one of our favorites. It’s a beautiful flowing river with small springs along the way and various wildlife. We saw lots of turtles and birds, but didn’t see any alligators! Kurt went kayaking another day with camp neighbors and they paddled the Ichetucknee River until it flowed into the Santa Fe, and finished after more than 10 miles. It was a long day for that crew, but they enjoyed it.

Beyond hiking and biking in the park, we visited a nearby mountain bike trail system in Alachua. The trails were mostly fun. For me it was the intermediate type trails which I enjoyed, but Kurt was disappointed as they weren’t challenging enough for him. At least we both had some good exercise and had a day outside.

Summer 2021 Friends & Lakes Tour - Petersburg Campground, Thurmond Lake, Augusta GA

Thurmond Lake, Petersburg Campground   September 27 – October 5  

Augusta, GA

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Next we drove south through Georgia to Augusta area to camp at one of our all-time favorite campgrounds. This site was one of the best ever! We were fortunate to get a real lakeside site, which has an easy path to the water. We did get on the lake a few times to paddle around and Luca went with us. We are were able to keep our kayaks right there on the lakefront beach and have quick access. So spacious, not any close campers. There are trails within the property of this Army Corps Lake. The Bartram Trail is a 32 mile, fun forest bike ride or a great hike. Much of this trail runs along the lakefront, with great views of the water and boats on the lake. Also, nearby is FATS (Fork Area Trail System) where there are highly rated mountain bike trails that are challenging and fun. There was also interesting objects on the trail as shown in one picture. Every time we camp here, the sunsets are always amazing and beautiful!  Luca loves it here, he can roam around our site and do a little "hunting". The weather was mostly perfect, just a couple of days a little rain. We stayed here for 9 days, then we will head south to Florida.

Summer 2021 Friends & Lakes RV Tour - Brevard, N. Carolina

Land of Waterfalls RV Park    September 19 – 26

Brevard, N. Carolina

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We continued to head eastward and arrived in Brevard, N. Carolina. This is a small town, rural area SW of Ashville. Brevard is a quaint mountain town that is not yet totally blown up, just far enough away from big cities. There are a lot of visitors from Ashville and other surrounding areas. We found this new RV park just east of Brevard, which is close to all the activities we want to visit. Brevard is on the south end of Pisgah National Forest. Also DuPont State Recreational Forest is south of town. This beautiful forest has miles of mountain biking and hiking trails. It is also filled with numerous, spectacular waterfalls. We had 8 days to hike, mountain bike and sightsee around the area. One of our favorite places is Oskar Blues Brewery, where we enjoyed their brews. The venue is outdoors (covered), has a food truck and you can bring your dogs!

We really love this area in N. Carolina. So many beautiful surrounding communities where many people are drawn to live. This would be a great area to have a cabin for the summers. This is definitely a place we will go back to.

Summer 2021 Friends & Lakes RV Tour - Bryson City, N.Carolina

Country Girls RV Park    September 12 – 18

Bryson City, N. Carolina

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Next we headed up to the Smokey Mountains area to stay near Bryson City. This is one of our all-time favorite places to spend some summer days. We have stayed at Country Girls about four times and still enjoy the RV sites backed up to the Tuckaseegee River. This was an unplanned stop, as our reservations got mixed up and we were able to get a site in this park. While here, we enjoyed our favorite activities; mountain biking and hiking. We also love exploring around the area, and especially downtown Bryson. One day we drove up into the Great Smokey Mountains out of Bryson City on the “Road to No Where”. There are several trails that emanate from this spot. The hiking in this area is one of the best in our travels. Luca really enjoyed the hikes. On our last day there, we drove over to the Nantahala River Gorge to watch the white water rafters. After we arrived a rain storm rolled over and ended those plans. So we drove back to the campground and started getting ready to move out tomorrow. On to Brevard, N. Carolina!

Summer 2021 Friends & Lakes RV Tour - Chatuge Lake, Hayesville, NC

Clay County Campground   September 5 – 11

Hayesville, N. Carolina

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Next we traveled through Georgia just over the N.Carolina border to camp at Clay County Campground on Chatuge Lake. We met our friends Rick & Debbie who camped near us in this campground. They live just a few miles away near Hiawassee GA. The campground was nice with lakefront campsites. We were able to kayak on the lake and mountain bike at nearby trails that were very fun. Enjoyed many hours with our friends at the campground and also their home. We hope to see them soon, maybe in Florida!

Summer 2021 Friends & Lakes RV Tour - Union Grove, Alabama

Georgia Mountain RV Resort   September 1 – 4

Union Grove, Alabama

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WREnUY398HJd9T3C8

Continuing our trek to the east, we stopped in Union Grove, Alabama. This RV park was highly recommended and it was one of the nicest parks we have ever stayed. Beautiful maintained and lush landscaping provided a nice environment. Our stop here was to visit friends who moved to this area. We had met the Matt & Janet during a trip to Bryson City, NC a couple of years ago. During our stay there we also visited Guntersville State Park, which had great mountain bike trails, along with camping and various activities. We did ride some trails and enjoyed that they were well designed. The park lodge was situated on the mountain top and has a great view of Lake Guntersville. Because Kurt is fascinated with dams, we visited the TVA dam at Guntersville, watching the raging water release from the recent heavy rains of the remnants of Tropical Storm Elsa.

We did spend some time with our friends and toured their home that they are currently renovating. It’s a very nice home in the country with 20 acres. So beautiful! Also, visited their daughter and SIL, Tia & Brian at their home not very far from Matt & Janet. They are all so blessed to live near each other in a beautiful area. We truly enjoyed our visit there and hope to see them all again in the future.