Saturday, 8 June
Lake Greenwood Motorcoach Resort — Cross Hill, South Carolina
TEMPS: LO 68F / HI 85F (20C / 29C)
Plans for camping at Lake Strom Thurmond didn’t work out due to an ant-infested campsite. But those plans gone awry led us to another lake … in another state. So, instead of spending an additional two weeks in Georgia, we are now on the shores of Lake Greenwood in South Carolina. But not for long.
What with the heavy rains, and the heat and humidity, we haven’t been out to explore the area. Regardless, I wanted to get a post up before we take off tomorrow. Once you see the photos, I think you’ll understand why we’ve made plans to return here despite the expected hot July weather. (Those following Karen and Al’s blog have already gotten a sneak preview of the place.)
After leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot in Grovetown Tuesday morning, we drove 80 miles to arrive at the Lake Greenwood Motorcoach Resort (LGMR) around 11:00a.
Our 420-mile (672 km) route from the Eastbank COE campground in Bainbridge, to the
Pointes West Army Resort in Appling, to the Wal-Mart in Grovetown, to the LGMR in
Cross Hill took us through Georgia and into South Carolina.
[inset map shows our meandering travels thus far.]
Mel (owner/manager) greeted us at the office and took us around the campground, pointing out the two sites he had in mind for us. As he had explained when we called to check on availability, the last bit of paving work was about to reach this section of the park, so we settled on Site 44 and quickly hustled the Phaeton into place. (As promised, the paving work was completed by 5:00p.)
Site 44 is an end-site at the top section of the resort.
The view from our living room.
And yes … the grass is that green.
This ownership resort reminds me of a classy, well-maintained urban sub-division. It is quite different from the campgrounds we have favored thus far in our travels. We first heard about LGMR several years ago when its name was Cane Creek RV Resort & Marina. Back then they were offering free stays to promote the property. Unfortunately, we were still worker bees and a trip this far south was not in the cards at the time.
Fast forward several years, and now there are no free stays (at least not at the moment), but if you have a spare $49,900 to $89,900 in your pocket, you can purchase a lot and take advantage of the promotions offered to buyers. We will have to pass on a purchase. At $49-$59/night, renting a spot is plenty spendy for us. Besides, it is too early in our gypsy lifestyle for us to tie ourselves down to a specific place.
Looking towards the back of the resort from one of the centrally located sites.
If you look real hard, you can see the Phaeton back in site 44.
At the time we checked in, Mel indicated that he could move us to a lakefront site once the new pavement set. Since we were here for just five nights, at first we weren’t going to take him up on the offer. But then, we looked at the weather — rain, heavy rain, and more rain on the radar. Then we looked at the lakefront sites. Then we called Mel to see if he could get us into one of several sites that tickled our fancy. After all, if we were going to be stuck at home because of the rain, we might as well have a view to go with it. So, Thursday morning we moved from site 44 to site 32.
From site 44 (red arrow) to site 32 (blue circle).
[scanned from the map we received at check-in; sites in white are already sold.]
Site 32 is a bear to maneuver into, but once you get in it’s worth the effort.
Glimpse of site 32 and the landscaping from the deck of site 33. Site 31 is quite close,
but sits on a terrace, and our awning on that side of the coach blocks it entirely.
We managed to make the move between rain showers. By the time we were settled into our new site, we were hot and sticky. Although the day was overcast, the expected monsoon looked like it was going to hold off, so we quickly donned our swimsuits and headed to the pool to cool off.
Hot tub and swimming pool with a view of Lake Greenwood.
We spent the rest of the day taking another look at our plans for the summer. Something that became apparent while we were at Eastbank was that for summer camping in hot and humid places, an FHU site is essential for stays longer than a few days unless we’re willing to make a trip to the sewer dump every couple of days. You get my drift, I’m sure, so enough said on that topic.
Anyway, with our new-found desire for FHU sites for the summer, we cancelled our plans to stay at the 30A W/E campground at Short Stay (Joint Base Charleston). With a big gap now in our plans, we then decided to return here to LGMR for a month in mid-July. Yes, I did say this place is spendy, but the monthly rate isn’t too much more than our monthly budget for camping fees. We’ve been doing really great in that respect, averaging just about $600/month, soooo … time to splurge.
Looking towards Lake Greenwood from one of the centrally located sites near the pool house.
Though it rained on and off Thursday afternoon, Mui set up his Safari Chef propane grill for some “shrimp on the barbie.” He’s been grilling using the charcoal grills at the various sites we’ve been in since getting on the road, so this was his first time using it. He’s very pleased with it. It comes with a lid that doubles up as a saucepan/wok, and has both ribbed and flat griddle plates, as well as a camp-stove adapter. A nice little kitchen to use outdoors.
The awning provides protection for the Safari Chef … just in case it rains.
TS Andrea’s rain bands reached us Thursday evening; we were spared the winds. It rained through the night and until 
11:30a on Friday. Once the rain stopped, we went for a short walk and returned to find sugar ants in the Phaeton. What? Where did they come from? A quick recon around the coach unearthed the source. The ants were using a branch of an azalea bush that was touching the slide as a conveyor belt into the coach. Mui cut off the branch; sprayed the slide gaskets along which the ants were coming and going. That done, we set out some Terro liquid ant baits near the fridge where the action was concentrated. Two hours later, not a single ant remained. We have not seen any since then. (Click the photo for the FAQs on how the bait works.)
I don’t recall off hand the blog where I first read about this product, but to whoever wrote about the Terro baits … thanks! Being at home to notice the ants soon after they gained access into the coach, and having the baits on hand, saved us from what could have become a real infestation. Just goes to show you can’t run away from ants forever … sooner or later, they get you.
Mid afternoon on Friday, the overcast skies started to part and we got some sunshine and blue skies. What a treat — even if it was too steamy to sit outside.
Our view from the deck of Site 32; similar view from the passenger side sofa in the Phaeton.
Today dawned overcast and comfortably cool with the breeze coming off the water — so much so that a light fleece jacket was necessary for a little while. We took advantage of the break in weather to sit on the deck to enjoy a light breakfast and read for a bit. All too soon, it was time to get to work. Having been on the road six months now, today’s project was to go through the basement, as well as the cabinets in the coach, to purge what we no longer feel is essential to us on the road. Some of it will go into storage when we drive up to Winchester, Virginia with the toad. Some of it will be trashed or donated.
Once the sun came out, it was too hot to work outside. But by then, we had moved indoors to tackle the closet and the cabinets. By mid-afternoon, we were ready for a break, so we headed over to the pool for a dip. If not for the mess we’d made inside the Phaeton needing to be cleaned up, we would have stayed to enjoy ourselves for the rest of the afternoon. Oh well; we will put the pool and hot tub to good use when we return in July.
I did carve out a few minutes from work this morning to walk up to Karen and Al’s site up the hill from us. They were busy setting up their kayaks in hopes of getting them in the water this afternoon, and I had chores to return to, so our visit was short. Here’s hoping we meet up again someday for a longer visit.
We also met Karen and Al’s neighbors here at LGMR. Peggy and Jay own the site adjacent to the one they are renting. Peggy invited us to go out on their pontoon boat this afternoon, but our clean-up project got in the way. Hope they will give us a raincheck.
A colorful sunset wraps up our last evening at Lake Greenwood.
We take off tomorrow morning for our trip up to the Richmond, Virginia area. We’ll be doing the trip in two segments, but not sure exactly where we will stop tomorrow night … the beauty of being flexible. Love it.
