May 1, 2020 finally came and we were able to move to another Thousand Trails (TT) campground. We like Orlando RV Resort in Clermont, FL, but we get a little antsy to move on and see something new. The Stay-in-Place mandate with the social distancing made it difficult to really have any fun. It prevented us from sitting down with your neighbors, throwing back a couple and swapping camping stories. So, we got a little bored. Fortunately, Cheryl and Tom, friends we had met at a previous campground a couple of years ago were there, so we visited a little bit with them.
We took the Spyders out for a few rides, but Florida is flat and there just isn't that much interesting riding to do there. Usually, we would take a trip to a hole-in-the-wall type local restaurant to get some fresh seafood or to a museum or park. But as you know, that wasn't happening. You know, you choose this lifestyle to see this beautiful country, explore and see all the sites. Staying in the same campground for a month under the mandate squashes that.
So, on May 1, we were able to enter a new TT campground. We had rearranged our schedule to go to The Oaks at Point South in Yemassee, SC. It was kind of weird not moving every 1 to 2 weeks. You have a routine that you go through every time you break down and set up your campsite. I kept telling Dave, "I think I forgot to do something". He said the same thing. But we were OK. Nothing was missed.
We had an over 5 hour trip by car with no stops to get here. That means with the truck, a couple of stretch breaks and a lunch stop, it would be closer to 6 1/2. That makes for a long day, but the breaks help a lot. I also bring music in which to listen.
As we were packing up, a couple people walked by in Orlando asking where we were going. When we told them, they said things like, "Oh, that's a tight campground", "They have low trees there", "I don't think your long set up will fit". So that always makes me nervous. I had already called ahead as they were pre-assigning spots due to Covid-19. That way you could get your paperwork outside and have limited contact with anyone. I told them about our set up and she said they would do the best they could. She also informed me that they don't have extra parking or storage for our truck. She also said that if the site didn't work, we could look for another. I always look at Google Earth in advance and they had all pull-thrus in the woods (grass and gravel), so it looked like it would be OK. But looks can be deceiving.
Since TT would not let anyone into any of their campgrounds until May 1, we knew this day might be a little crazy, as we were told 200 RVs would be leaving Orlando and lots would be coming in. So we knew that would be true for The Oaks too, plus it's a small campground. We left Orlando pretty early; around 8:30 and there was no one in front of us...yeh! We also left early because we knew we had a long drive. One thing the Covid-19 did for us was make the traffic light. No traveling issues especially through construction and Jacksonville, FL. I also wanted to get to The Oaks as close to 1:00 as we could as that is when they permit entry into the park.
A couple of miles from the park we pulled into an empty parking lot and dropped Zippy (our Smart Car), because we didn't know if we would have space to drop it at the campground. We arrived about 3:00 and I was surprised to find no one in line. We got our assigned spot (site #33 out of 88). We hopped in Zippy to look at the site...straight shot in. :) It actually had a dead area between us and the neighboring site, so Leroy (our truck), had a spot too. Everything fit well and no problems. Quite a few really large motorhomes in here as well. After we pulled in, about 4 more showed up. So our timing was perfect. What has surprised me, is the number of sites still open. I guess many snowbirds have gone back home and others are figuring why bother camping when the pool and amenities are still closed. They do have a lovely long path around a lake. I'm just glad we are here and I love camping in the woods again. Video of the campground will be coming in the future on our YouTube channel.
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