Camping with Florida AF - a continued saga

For those who are interested, I have decided to create a thread for our various camping trips and lessons learned/improvements.

Prior to meeting my wife, I traveled the country and Florida with a RTT and truly enjoyed the time out exploring and on the water. She looked me dead in the face and said we are not sleeping in that... to be fair, i bought one large enough for me and the dog and not much else. So, we started camper shopping.

We bought the camper in 2024 and used it a couple of times around the Florida area. It served as a spare bedroom at the house and then it became out evacuation home. The camper has served us well and continues to do so in to 2025.

2024 Camping:

1. Fort Desoto, FL. - Feb
2. Fisherman's Cove RV Park, FL. - June
3. Fort DeSoto. - June
4. Ginnie Springs, FL. - July
5. Fort Desoto - July
6. evacuation plans:
a. RV Self Park - Kingsland, GA
b. Eagle Hammock, GA.
c. Manatee Cove, GA.

In 2025, we have camped at:

1. Fort Desoto, FL. - Feb
2. Fair Harbor, GA. - April
3. Rivers Edge, GA. - April
4. Diamond Lure, GA. - April


Day of purchase:

 

After one night in my Pop up tent, it was decided we would go to the next RV show in Tampa. So we did. There, we purchased a 2024 Salem Cruise Lite Platinum RLXL. We went for a much smaller rig, but couldnt pass up the deal on this one.



We tore off the manufacturers tire cover and replaced it with something a little more fun:



and then we headed for Fort Desoto.



Due to some poor planning, we ended up at our first RV park... man these things are different~



After bouncing between the fort and rv park, we got some rest at home and then went to Ginnie Springs... what a shit show...





All in all, it was a good year where I built confidence towing the camper and driving with my family.

 

Reserved 2024 Evac

 

Who doesnt love a good Hurricane?

Well, we did our best to prep the house for the incoming storms. Unfortunately, we could not get the propane tank hooked up to the generator in time and decided we needed to evacuate. This, on top of having a baby less than a month old... it was time to head to SC to get away from these storms...

We loaded the truck with our mini freezer and generator, to save as much food as we could... lessons learned here, we were severely over payload and even though we didnt have a major issue, it broke my confidence and ended up being a major stressor for some time to come.

anyway, back on topic.. we got loaded up and headed on the road. We were an hour in to the drive when my wife noticed I was not doing ok. She found this place on the side of the highway you can rent by the hour, so we stopped at RV Self Park.





This place was basic, but cool. We setup light and got some rest. Shockingly, we woke up to news the hurricane turned and our destination was about to get hammered (which we all know now how bad the Carolinas took it). So we extended our stay at this minimal site and rode out the worst of the storms. Calls from home verified we had no power and more rain coming, so we jumped online and headed further East.

We learned a lot about base access after enlistment and were able to get some folks to bend the rules due to the local situations. We later learned that everywhere we were looking at had mandated evacuations which is why we were able to get spots last minute. No complaints here!

Eagle Hammock - our first time on a nuke/sub base:



and our coffee bar looks a little different these days :



The best part of all of this is knowing my new son was safe... Life really has changed since he was born:



Our stay was over here and we packed up and went to Manatee Cove. Our plan was to stay here until power was back on, so we booked a week.



We settled in and were prepared to just relax and explore... when power came back on... We did the math here and the cost to run the generator for 24 hours (camper/fridges/freezer) was more than our rates at these sites, so we stayed until that call.... finally, homeward bound!

We had some downed trees and general cleanup, but all was well... minus the constant sway from the trailer.

 

In Feb, we loaded up and went back to Fort Desoto. This is one of my favorite places in the country, so I go as often as I can.

This trip was about family, but also rebuilding faith in my trailering. Sure enough, I felt a lot more confident with this setup and confirmed the lack of sag from being under payload really fixed things for us. As usual in the Fort, lots of fun and beautiful views.

 

How long is your trailer out of curiosity? I'll post some pics of ours in a bit. Did I tell you about my black tank flush fiasco at Disney?

 

total is 29'11"

and no you did not!

 

Nice! Mine is 22'7". I found out that my fresh water and black tank ports were labeled backwards from the factory.

 

wow!!
That’s crazy

 

After a couple months off from camping, we emptied her out and repacked it based on our actual needs. This was especially important for having things accessible with the baby. He is active now and a bundle of chaotic joy.

After getting everything rigged how I wanted, and removing around 200lbs of items we had just in case, I busted out my new tongue scale. The trailer is advertised as being 500lbs dry, and it aint dry right now.



This number made me feel really good! So I packed it all up and we got on the road:



I bought these mirrors to try to avoid spending tons of money on new mirrors... I hate them. They vibrate like crazy and scratched the hell out of my mirrors... but they do work so... I will use them for a while:



I was very excited about this addition... trash... and will be returning:



Coffee Stop:



While working our way off the back roads and towards the highway, I used the weigh my truck app to find and pay for a cat scale. By now I am feeling a lot more confident in my setup but I wanted that final piece of mind...



Got it.. Man am I happy with the results. So, off we go to our first stop!

We arrived at Fair Harbor RV park and explored. Cute stop with farm animals, easy parking and lots of options for your site. We liked it enough that we will use it anytime we head North out of Florida, especially while little man cant do the longer trips.







After a good nights rest, we packed up and headed to our main stop...

well.... with one major stop on the way:



More to come as we run this trip, but for now... ill be by the river!

 

That.... that is not good! I like your new rig a lot! I would go crazy with the baby in it, but I think you picked out a great one!

 

So we got to Rivers Edge and learned more about the place. This is a two phase RV lot where each phase has their own HOA. We found a couple owners renting their spaces out and decided to check it out and base camp for work out here for the week, before our next stop which is why we are actually up this way.



Luckily, my parents own a lot in here so we were able to make everything come together.

I really dont think I can call him little man anymore, but he saw his first clear freshwater river:





Only down side so far (besides preferring state parks) is that this turn is was a little tight and I ended up on the clay/grass. Not an issue until I found a hard to see little ditch to keep the lot from flooding. My tire dropped right in and I immediately spun the wheels. I bought a recovery rope years ago and never did buy shackles. We dropped the trailer, did some things I wont mention for safety reasons and got my truck out without ever pressing on the gas peddle. From there we rehooked and got her in correctly.

Since then, we have just been working, fishing and eating.... I love it and for $45 a night, if you are in the area looking up their rental lots could be worth your time. Very quiet and friendly with good facilities.

More to come I am sure.

 

Good times... good times. The family memories you'll make will last a lifetime.

We've had ours for 8 1/2 years and it's always our happy place.

Regarding the tow mirrors, I'm super happy with my $130 Millenco Grand Aero 3. Used them since 2016 on two different Tundras and would buy 'em again if doing it over.



Safe travels and happy trails.

 

A typical camping trip in northern MN.
On trips with the boat, it requires my wife to tow the boat with her Highlander.
This particular trip was a rural forest campground with no hookups on a quiet lake with zero development. Awesome for fishing Northerns and Bass and also for towing kids around on the tubes and my yearly "I can still waterski" mission.
We sometimes do the packed campgrounds with hookups when getting together with family at a campground.
State parks also. Ton of those up here.

 

I’m right down the road in Warner Robins….from Perry that is

 

Haha, you didn’t know this?

I have a lot of Ginnie stories.

 

I'll be back in perry Sunday ... Side eye... On phone.

Bro....I know lol.... Let's talk

 

So much to update but left rivers edge and arrived and at a site at Diamond Lure. This place is easily 5 star....

I highly recommend and we will be here until we go back to perry.

Pictures soon as I need to get on my PC or stop drinking. But know this place is amazing.

 

Rivers Edge was beautiful and really opened my eyes to future possibilities. These sites are privately owned and offer an interesting take on camping full time.

Our time with family wrapped up and we packed up to head over to Diamond Lure. This site was purchased as a place to sleep and we were not impressed with the website or overall vibe, but we loved the price and proximity to our weekend festivities.

That changed quickly...

Driving to the check in office:



Stopped to check in:



and we were met with the nicest of people. She made check in a breeze and we talked for a bit about the place. They do have a mil/leo discount, so that was unexpected and nice as well. As we went to go to our site, she asked if we wanted to change sites and we did... they escort you to your site and warn you again about the bears.... we hoped to see some but it didnt happen this trip.





The site I would have gotten had she not changed it for me:



All in all, it was a beautiful stay with lots of fun...

Night one dinner:



Got to keep an eye on him:











A fun few days for sure! We are already planning our return visit.

The truck handled great, a couple times when we were out of it and I was doing my walk arounds I could smell something, my guess was hot brakes...

On to the return towards home!

 

We woke up with a little bit of a delay, I guess we wore the little man out!

I was hemming and hawing about needing to stop again on the way home, but... shocker... wife was right.... little man gave me a good 2.5 hours before becoming overly restless and requiring us to stop. So, luckily we booked our mid point stop for the return and got another night in.

This was back at Fair Harbor in Perry. We called the base to see about camping there, but they need me to come in during visitor hours and register first. So we will make it a point to do that before our next trip.



This time I paid the extra 3$ for the view. It was also much cooler over here.



Little man saw his first horse. We were allowed to pet her but I wouldnt let him for fear of him grabbing her hair.



First time using these.. what a pain in the ass, especially again at tear down.



Dinner time!



Dinner and an animal planet show...



A reminder of one of the reasons we fell in love with this model



Doing what he does best...



Welp... this trip had its costs... first was an expensive lesson in storage:



Then i tried to find out why the light wasnt working in the slide out... found it... yay...



Then we realized a door we dont use wasnt level... this will be fun to take apart and try to fix.

 

Thank you sir! This camper has afforded us a lot of opportunities and we are very thankful we can own it. We hope to make many more!

 

Those are great calls, I have them both as well. I used the ones this time because of how far the site was out of level. I wanted to try these as they dont have that stacking jump up requirement. They worked great but I was doing it on my own so a lot of getting out to check.

 

WOW....that's a nice campground!

 

Yeah we were really impressed. We are going to book next season for apple picking. should be fun with the kid.

 

I should have posted that! good note for future posts!

Fair Harbor - $65 standard $68 waterfront.
Rivers Edge - owners vary, the one i used was $45
Diamond Lure - $45 per night

All full hookups. Fair Harbor is nice because it is right off the highway.
Diamond Lure reminds me of a state park, but the actual state park had some nasty turns and mountain access. People do it, but I didnt want to push my first time in the mountains towing like that.

 

Ha... you should try Disney....$250 per night