Revisiting Cotton Hill Campground - Ft. Gaines, GA

 Friday, May 3, 2013

In the late afternoon, we headed out of to revisit Cotton Hill Campground. I had worked most of the day and was a little hesitant about so late on a rainy day, but then camping in the rain is better then sitting home. We made it at about halfway to our destination and decide to embark on a new adventure, Parking Lot Camping. 

I am not sure if anyone else does this, but before a trip I put together an information package with the route we will take, stops along the way, and places we may visit while in the area.  I will estimate my location when I am down to about a quarter tank of gas, then with the help of the internet and online map programs such as Google and Yahoo I locate two or three stations in that area, view which side of the street they are on, the names of a couple of streets I will pass before reaching them and how easy they are to get in and out. I also locate areas that are good rest stops or places to stop of lunch.  All that being said, had already located a Wal-Mart on the left side of the road just a couple of streets past I-75 in Tifton, GA.

When we arrived, I made the courtesy visit inside to ask an associate if campers were allowed to stay overnight. After being given the all clear we selected a spot on the outer perimeter of the parking.  A short time later we noticed other campers staking out their clam to a spot for the night. We had a quick bite of dinner, took Ms. Georgia for a walk, and then settled in for what turned out to be a very peaceful night. 

Saturday morning the rain was still with us and it became harder as we neared our destination. We pulled into our site not bothering to unhitch until the skies cleared on Sunday. 

The next seven days were spent following no agenda and no schedule......

Sleeping whenever you liked.....

Having an early morning cup of coffee by the lake.......

Enjoying Snack time.................

Long walks.......................

 Visiting with a mom & pop  who stopped by our campsite to show off their new family..................

 

The highlight of the trip was making friends with   Carol and Lawton. We spent a every night visiting around their  campfire. They also introduces us to a wonderful place to have lunch just a few miles north of the campground. The Friday Special is Fish. I opted for the Groper and it was the best I had every eaten.Sorry I don't remember the name of the place but it isn't hard to fine. From the campground turn left on hwy 36, and it is a few miles up the road, on the left after your cross the bridge.

Cotton Hill Campground

Cotton Hill Campground is an Army Corps of Engineers Campground located on Lake Walter F. George. Lake George is located on the Georgia/Alabama border and has 45,181 acres of water area.  

 The campground has 91 RV sites with full hook-up sites and 10 Tent sites with water & electric. There are 3 sections in the campground; Old Mill Road, Marina View, & Pine Island with each section offering most of the sites on the water and a bathhouse/laundry in each section.   Pine Island seemed as if it would be more geared to families with kids with its playground and a beach for swimming. Old Mill Road section is very shaded and offers lots of sites that allow boaters to dock at their campsite. 

On the afternoon of May 3, 2012, we arrived at Cotton Hill, and were greeted by the friendly office staff.  It wasn’t long before we had our site setup and our Kayaks in the water.

 

The park has all sorts of wildlife but I found these little guys to be the cutest.

We took the opportunity to do a lot of sightseeing, with our first trip just a few miles up the road to Providence Canyon State Park.  

It was easy going for Ms. Georgia hiking to the bottom of the canyon but the hike back up required several stops for resting, so she didn’t over do it.

 

 

 

Kolomoki Mounds are another great place just a few miles south of Cotton Hill and a neat place to spend the day. 

The visitors center is built inside the burial mound allowing you to see the construction from the inside and also gives you a recreated look at the burial chamber. 

 

  

and display of artifacts

 

Looking down from the top of the temple mound it is impossible to imagine how this was constructed with the resources available at the time. 

The town of Blakely, GA has a suppressing amount of history to offer its visitors.  

 Tucked away just two blocks from downtown Blakely, is the recreated heritage village overlooking the Chattahoochee River. 

   A walk through the town cemetery   is a  step back in time. 

 Seeing the row of unknown solders from the Civil War, you wonder how may mother & wives never learned where their love ones were laid to rest. 

102 – Church just located between Kolomoki Mounds and Blakey.

102 – Church just located between Kolomoki Mounds and Blakey.

Eastbank Campground at Lake Seminole

Eastbank Campground has 62 sites, most with electric and water and is located on Lake Seminole which is a 37,500 acre lake with 376 miles of shoreline. It is an Army Corp of Engineers facility located just a couple of miles from Chattahoochee, FL although it has a Bainbridge, GA address. The campground  operates on Eastern Time however you cell phone my switch to Central Time because of the campground location. The good thing about this is you can pick the time that suites you at the moment.

We reserved site 32C which is just a few feet from the water and give us a good place to pull our kayaks when not in use.  The sites have a concrete pad and must have a gravel area with picnics table, fire ring and BBQ grill. Once the camper was unhooked and setup we were off to explore the campground. 

There is a boat ramp and parking area for vehicles and trailers as will as a small dock.

Two bathhouses serve the campground, both were very clean. Some folks may find it odd that the bathrooms were in the front of the building and the shower rooms were on the back of the building.  There is a large open area this was ideal to play ball with Ms. Georgia or Fly a Kite as one of our neighbor did.

It is a nice walk from the campground to the dam when you will find lots of folks fishing on the lower side. There are signs on the road that runs across the top of the dam indicating where the GA/FL State Line.

This is a very well maintained, quiet campground offering a wonderful place to relax;

that is unless you have someone arrive with 6 yappy little dogs that were totally out of control. Can you believe these folks seemed offended when I told them I didn’t know what my dog would do it one of there little dogs came running up to her because she didn’t like little yappy dogs.  They did keep them a little quieter after that but the dogs still got loose a lot. Well until one came running out to another dog being walked on a leash and found he had met more that his match. 

Eastbank is on our list of top campgrounds and we hope to visit it often.

All Shined-Up and Ready to Roll

Last year I hand waxed my camper only to find that it needed it again after a few months. So, after much research, I decided to try to bring the finish on my little egg back to life with a process that should last several years and require noting more that water to clean when needed. The method I chose was inexpensive and not as much work as it sounded. The supplies needed and the tools used are as follows:

Park your camper in a shaded area (away from falling leaves and such)

  Tools:

Dawn Dish Detergent

RedMax Floor Was (found at Lowes)

BarKeepers Friend (Powdered) found next to the Ajax or Comet. BKF is non-abrasive.

Ammonia – I used Lemon Scented

Micro Fiber Cloths – NOTE: Use White or Light Colored Towels - The pack I purchased were yellow – I rinsed them in hot water several times to remove any die. Good to have extra-I dropped a couple in the dirt. 

Bowl or Pan that will hold about 1 pint.  I cut a plastic gallon milk jug open & used it.

Bucket

Water & Hose

Rubber Gloves

CLEANING:

Wash all surfaces with Dawn / Water

Rinse

Put plenty of BarKeepers Friend on a rag and scrub all surfaces to be waxed.

Rinse

Wash all surfaces with Dawn /Water

Rinse

Wearing Rubber Gloves - Mix a strong solution of Ammonia and Water apply to surface.  (Ammonia will help cut any old wax – let it sit for a few min. I also applied pure ammonia to a rag and wiped it on.) BE CAREFUL NOT TO BECOME OVERCOME BY THE FUMES 

Rinse

Using Barkeepers Friend clean one last time making sure all spots / stains / dirt are removed.

Rinse & Rinse Again.

I took my time with the cleaning process starting around 9a.m. and finishing around noon.  

 As you can see from the photo above that isn't any shine after cleaning.

APPLYING THE REDMAX

 The next morning around 9a.m., checked for any spots I had missed and scrubbed with BarKeepers Friend, then rinsed entire camper. Let camper air dry while I went inside for Breakfast.

Put about 4 of your microfiber cloths in a bucket of clean water to soak.

Put about a ½ pint of RedMax in you bowl. Refill as needed

Squeeze the water from one of you rags.

Dip in RedMax. Squeeze out excess – you do not want it to drip!!!

Starting at the top beginning wiping the surface of your RV.

By the time I finished one coat, the surface was dry and I could start the next coat.
Apply 6 coats.

THINGS TO KNOW:
 

• The prep work is the most important part. All surface area must be clean and old wax must be removed.
• IF wax gets on your windows – wipe off before it dries with a wet cloth.
• I recommended having about 4 rags on hand in the bucked if needed – I got a clean rag from the water bucked each time I put more wax in my pan. Also, I dropped a couple and got dirt on them. Glad I had extra.
• Ware Gloves when applying the wax – This is heavy duty wax which will dry on your skin. HARD TO SCRUB OFF.
• TAKE PICTURES. Before and After

 SHE SHINES LIKE NEW

As I said, that should keep you RV shinning for a few years and all that is needed to wash is water. AVOID PRODUCTS like wash-n-wax or strong soap. Most likely no detergent will be required. But if you encounter anything that doesn’t hose off, just spot clean with mild-soap. 

George L. Smith State Parks

With kayaks atop the jeep & the Casita in tow we arrived at GLS located near the little area of Twin City GA. The park covers 1,634 acres and a 412 acre lake which is lined with beautiful cypress trees. 

The covered bridge/dam located across from the park office houses   a gristmill which once served as cotton, grain and sawmill. The 1880 operations is still used to grind meal which can be purchased at the office. 

 The weather was clear and free of the smoke which has blanketed areas around home. The wildfires which have burned for weeks around the GA/FL line weren’t affecting this area. The clean air was enough to make the trip worthwhile.

After setting up camp, which included putting up a new screen room, it was time for the Ms. Georgia and me to enjoy some lawn chair racing.   

With the majority of sites directly access the lake this is a wonderful place for kayaks, canoes, paddle boats or boats with small trolling motors.  (The use of outboard motors is not permitted on the lake).

 On this trip the lake was low due to the lack of rain the past few weeks; however we didn’t let this dampen our spirit. Over the next few days we spent a great deal of time paddling around the lake, fishing and taking pictures. Fishing wasn’t as good as is normal due to the drop in the water but the lawn chair racing was outstanding..