I still don’t have a camper. A few plans have changed though getting one remains on my radar. In the meantime, this week some friends who do have a camper graciously invited me to spend some time with them at Lake Guntersville State Park. Of course, I jumped at the offer. A chance to experience camper living (a 26 foot camper with 3 adults, one 5 year old, and a dog), as well as a new place I’ve never visited!
The campground was lovely. While most camp sites are not directly on the water, most – if not all – do have a lake view. The camp site I was staying at was about 500 feet from the shore. It was a gorgeous view wherever you looked!
I didn’t check out all the amenities. I saw what looked like tennis courts. I know they had laundry facilities somewhere. What I can vouch for is that they had several bath houses positioned throughout the campground. We were actually about 50 feet from one, which was quite convenient! I opted to shower there instead of in the camper. I’d describe the showers as sufficient. There was a door to lock, a small area with a bench to sit your things, and then an area to shower.
A shower curtain between the sitting and shower sections would have greatly improved my shower experiences as I’m not a fan of water splattered clothes nor splashing through cold water as I’m trying to get dressed in said water splattered clothing. Also a simple aerator on the shower faucet. It’s minor but a valid suggestion. Other than that, hot water and good water pressure, which are both massively important in any review I make, were on point. When all was said and done, I was at a campground and left clean from both showers, so mission accomplished!
Oh! The cost of camping is one of the things that makes me happiest. My friends told me, for an 8-day stay in this gorgeous park with deer roaming around everywhere they only paid $190 (rounding up). I mean….how amazing is that!?!??! Do you know how many vacations I could go on in a year at those rates?
So I arrived late Monday night. Tuesday morning was my first glimpse of the area. I woke early (as always *sigh*) and decided to take their pup on a stroll. Walking down to the water there was a group of deer to the right standing a few feet in the lake! I wasn’t quick enough to catch that picture, but below is one I snapped as we approached the lake. You can tell from the picture I actually beat the sun up this morning!
No hiking on day one, but we did drive into the city of Guntersville for a stop at the Walmart, which is apparently a mandatory excursion for any trip I make. Is this a thing with everyone or am I special?
The picture below is from the drive out. It kind of looks painted. It is not. I have no such skill. I’m not sure what happened with the filter.
Deer are everywhere in this park, which makes me somewhere near the happiest girl on earth. Just look at the little baby!!
We also stopped by a discount store called Mike’s.
I️ loved Mike’s.
First of all, massive. Like as big as the Walmart. Secondly, random. If Mike’s were a purse, they would win the weird stuff in your purse game at every single baby shower, hands down.
Walk in the store there’s a console table for sale. Just one.
Behind that is clothing. You approach a circular rack with 162 long sleeved t-shirts on it. All size XS and Medium. Next rack, completely different style, all size Large.
They had a special “tool room” for the handier of patrons. I have no clue what all was sold in that room. Then another tool-ish area that maybe was plumbing stuff? Tool Room, Part Deux? I don’t know.
Scrapbooking stuff here. Beside the tire pressure gauges, naturally. Gardening stuff over there, beside the wrapping paper.
Toward the back, three car hoods of three different makes, probably from three different decades.
Next section over, the most random gathering of scratch/dent/broken home and office furniture ever assembled.
As if that isn’t enough…Right in the center of all this amazing is a small pocket of what I️ like to call the Book Lovers’ Paradise. Several rows of hardback and paperback books all priced at $2, $1, and $.50.
I left the store with somewhere around 42 (or 12) books and spent less than $10.
After leaving Mike’s and Walmart, we returned to the campground. If you follow the road beyond the campground entrance you will make it to a giant lodge on top of the mountain. We decided to go up there to catch the sunset that evening.
Driving up. More deer right at the campground!
And the sunset? Oh, it was gorgeous!!
And finally, we wrapped up the day with dinner and campfire.
A perfect ending to a great day!!
Have I mentioned before that I love camping and woods and water of pretty much any sort (lake/ocean/pond/river/puddle)? Well, day two was my jam! My friends took me to a nearby state park called Buck’s Pocket that has been abandoned due to lack of government funding.
As you can see it was kind of like a mini ghost town. Leaves covered everything, including the roadway. One boarded building, two abandoned mobile home/offices, and, oddly, two abandoned campers.
What was fantastic though was the dried river bed that wrapped around the campground.
Isn’t she lovely? All those river rocks!!
We climbed around the river bed for over an hour, going all the way around the bend. I had so much fun!! I sometimes forget how much I love being outdoors because I don’t do it often. It was like being a kid again!
I also found the biggest sycamore leaf I’ve ever seen!!
Next up they took me to an overlook area.
This whole place is easily accessible for anyone who can navigate a few stairs. (They’re partially visible in the picture to the left of the sign.) You drive right up to this sign and there are wooden walkways leading you to several areas with beautiful views.
It was a wonderful place to visit!!
Our last stop of the day was at a waterfall kind of off the beaten path called High Falls Park. This is a little more challenging than the overlook but still easily accessed.
We crossed over the bridge because we were curious as to how far you could get on that side. Not far, unless you want to climb down to a small beach area with the assistance of a rope tied to a tree. I passed on that, but I did walk through a trail there!
On the way in to the falls we passed several cow pastures and my friends joked about a woman they saw stopped in the road to take a picture of a bull as if it was abnormal.
Apparently my friends don’t know me at. all. because I am that woman all day long! Just because I wanted to show them how cool it is, I got them to stop on the way back out.
After all the excitement we returned to the campground. A little sunset stroll before I took off on my way back home.
As I left the park there was one deer hanging out to say goodbye.
It was just me and this deer. I stopped my car in the middle of the road. To snap this picture and say hello, hence the ear. Because I speak to animals. Because #elmira from Looney Tunes.
Another perfect ending to the best day!
positivelycrystal.com 
Great post and lovely pics!
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Thank you!!
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