Mrytle Beach South Carolina and North Carolina Boondocking

This morning we left our site at Honey Hill Campground and drove about 30 miles to Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach is a neat little town that we had to drive by mostly much to the girls dismay as they see the beach through peek a boo views as we drive...not to mention driving by about 25 mini golf places, amusements parks, water slides and more interesting things for 3 and 5 year olds!

There are many beach access spots along Ocean Blvd with parking.

However there is NO ROOM to try to park an RV anywhere. Just as we finished telling the girls we probably couldn't go to the beach here we found a more residential area with street parking.

We parked, had lunch and headed to the beach for a couple hours. The water was wonderful, the sand was perfect and the waves were delightltful!

Surfer girl Sierra riding her imaginary surf board

Tooples by a wave

Aayla prefers to stay near the safety of the shore

We were sad to have to pack up and leave but knowing that we still had a long drive to get to the Croatan National Forest we had to leave :(

We arrived at the forest at about 6:00 and headed to Long Point Boat Launch which has some dispersed camping sites right on the lake. (sorry forgot to take a picture) However these posts were all small and there was no room for us to park, or turn around so Ian had to back down the Forest Service Rd until he could find a place to turn around. Thankgoodness he does the driving...I would have been in deep trouble if I needed to back down that road!

We continued on searching for other spots. The National Forests here are weird...with lots of residential areas so finding a road off to the side and entering in search of a boondocking spot is a bit more difficult.

We did get lucky though. Right in the middle of the Croatan National Forest we found this little lake and enjoyed the wildlife present.

The forest in front of us

then we turn around and you see this

YES that is a Walmart and Yes it is in the town of Havelok which YES is in the middle of the National Forest!!! Since no typical boondocking sites were to be found we were thankful that this National Forest has 4 lane highways with Ford dealerships and Walmarts to camp for the night in!

4 lane highways and cities in the middle of a National Forest???
I say PARDON?

Sierra decided to let Fasty the second go tonight so she pet him for awhile, caught him and let him go by the pond.

Aayla hugging a tree in the middle of the Croatan National Forest..
oh wait that's not a tree...but yes there is a Walmart in the National Forest...go figure???

Sierra catching Fasty the 2nd to let go home to his family

Surprise...he jumped out and landed on her unexpectedly

Bye Fasty we will miss you

As the sun sets in our Walmart parking lot in the middle of a National Forest

We go inside to discover we have our own little stream inside our Forest River Surveyor. (Hey if Forests can have Walmarts we can have stream inside!)

Guess we found some more warranty work...luckily Ian can give it a quick fix so we can have water in the meantime. Can you believe they put a nail right through the water hose??? Thankfully it wasn't through the electrical! makes us really wonder about puncturing the roof though and voiding our warranty to put up solar panels!

REVIEW Honey Hill campground in the Francis Marion National Forest South Carolina

We headed into the Francis Marion National Forest in search of a boondocking spot and were surprised with what we found at Honey Hill Campground.

To get here from Charleston, take US Highway 17 north to McClellanville. At the intersection of SC Highway 45 (the yellow caution light) turn left, and drive eight miles to the camp.

Value 5/5
FREE for up to 14 days

Site Quality 3.5/5
These are supposed to be for tent camping and our site was very unlevel but after using all of our leveling pads we managed to get it level. There were sturdy concrete picnic tables available and firepits. The firepits were falling apart a bit though and needed some TLC. There were hooks at each site which I presume were for skinning your kill. (deer?)

Facility Fun 3.5/5
Not much here at the campsite however there are many trails throughout the forest and a few little trails that didn't lead anywhere from our campsite, but the girls had fun "exploring". It was very peaceful and quiet.

Natural Surroundings 5/5
Right in the middle of a mature forest. Lots of different types of trees.

Bathrooms 3/5
Vault Toilets

Staff N/A

Location 4/5
A bit out of the way but for free it worked for us for a stop over. It is close enough to Charleston to use as a home base if you want to spend time in Charleston and about 30 miles from Mrytle Beach.

Overal 4/5
If we weren't trying to get up the coast and wanted to spend some time in Charleston this would be a great place to camp for free. It was very peaceful and quiet here with many song birds to keep you company. There are nearby trials and apparently hunting. It was a nice little campground just make sure you have leveling blocks for your RV :)

Even though these are tent sites we found a large site to fit our 56'

Close up with picnic table and fire pit

View halfway between us and the next campsite. Very spacious.

Francis Marion National Forest Camping at Honey Hill

We left Goergia and headed into South Carolina this morning. We stopped today around lunch at Camping World for some roof sealant Ian will need to yes...puncture the roof to add the solar panels we ordered while at Disney. We are still pondering the puncturing but since we have a rubberized roof we have little choice...If you have another idea please feel free to share it with us :)

We drove onward today in search of a boondocking spot in the Francis Marion National Forest. The national forests on this coast are weird. There are places with private residences and we drove through a small town called Honey Hill right up the road as well. Small towns in national Forests??? I don't get it?

This sign snuck up on me and I almost missed it...
please excuse the corner with the mirror :)

 Below is our campsite. It really is more of a hunting camp but it worked well for us for the night and would have even been good as a base camp if you wanted to do any nearby touring. There are only maybe 8 or so sites here and most of them small. We of course took the largest one here and only had one neighbour. The best thing about this actual campground...it's FREE and you can stay for up to 14 days.



Sierra walking back from the trail behind our campsite

 Aayla loves playing in the leaves.

We caught a new pet...let me please introduce...Fasty the 2nd AKA real fast or super fast! He's a Green Anole and changes colour from green to brown.

 This poor little guy has had a rough life...once upon a time he lost a front hand. He manages to scurry along quite fast though and I was amazed to have caught him. He's a bit on the skinny side, perhaps his leg causes him a bit of trouble afteral.

I'd like to welcome Ellie Great to our blog as our newest follower.

I'd like to say a THANKYOU to Rick of Rick and Paulette's RV Travels as he recently wrote a post about all the issues some people have been experiencing with blogger and leaving comments. I have had a horrible time trying to leave comments and even respond to comments on my own blog. After making a few changes he suggested in THIS POST all seems to be fine now. Thanks again Rick for the help. Much appreciated! If you are having troubles pop on over and take a look...for that matter if you don't follow them already maybe you want to do that too. Rick is a wealth of computer information :)

REVIEW Golden Isles RV Park Georgia

Even though we have moved North to Georgia it's still hot so we chose to find a Passport America site tonight to make use of the pool and cool off.

We stayed at Golden Isles Rv Park located at 7445 Blythe Island Hwy in Brunswick Georgia.

Value 4/5
We paid $16 for the night with our Passport America membership so at that price it was OK.

Site Quality 3.5/5
Our site was a level dirt driveway. It was exactly 56' and we fit exactly into it with no room to spare. We had no neighbours for our stay but they would have been a bit close if the site next to us was occupied. Full hook ups and picnic table. Free cable and Wifi available at site.

Facility Fun 4/5
There was an old playground which the girls did make use of (and enjoyed) but I personally wouldn't advertise that playground as a positive for the RV park. It would be better as a bonus upon arrival then a draw to come to the park. There was a pool open 10am to 7 pm. It was a small pool but we had it to ourselves most of the time we were in it. It was nice and refreshing in the heat :) All sites have free cable and free wifi. There is a restaurant on site (we didn't eat at it) and I read that they also rent movies if you want. There is a covered area available for barbeques and get togethers. Laundry available at $1.50 a load.

Natural Surroundings 3.5/5
There are many shade trees throughout the park, grass was in need of a cut.

Bathrooms 3/5
They were fairly clean but felt like they needed a revamp. Showers are available as well.

Staff 4/5
Very friendly upon arrival. Ian asked later in the evening if they could print something for him that we need to fax back home and they said no :(

Location 4/5
Easy to get to off of I 95. Their website lists them as being close to Beaches, piers, fishing, Golden Isle Speedway, shopping, Jekyll Island, Casinos, horseback riding and more. We used this as only a stop over and didn't do any exploring.

Overal 3.5/5
This was OK for a night stop over and in the heat the pool even though small was worth paying for at the Passport America price. The park overal felt a bit outdated and needs a new facelift. The playground although usable really shouldn't be a draw to the park if you have kids. It was old peices of equipment that should be replaced.

I forgot to take a picture of us on location...duhhhh!

Main office, restaurant and pool is to your right.

Map of the park. We were in space #10...which I didn't take a picture of???

The old and outdated playground...the girls still had fun on it.

The pool, small but very refreshing :)

Lunch at the beach and then onto Georgia

We had planned on visiting Cocoa beach after leaving Disney World but our hopes to stay at Ian's grandparents condo fell through so we decided to just head North towards Nova Scoatia early.

We left the forest and drove towards the coast in search of the beach. Most of the beach front is private with the occasional public entrance. We found ample parking along the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National  Estuarine Research Reserve and stopped at the North Beach. We lathered on the sunscreen, had lunch and hit the waves. Surprisingly this Atlantic Ocean water was still South enough to be warm.

After some waves, some swimming, some sand playing and some shell collecting we headed further North to Georgia to an RV park for the night.

Sierra is learning how to swim

 Sierra proud that's she's learning to swim thanks to all the pool time we had at Disney



REVIEW Ocala National Forest Boondocking Site

Ocala National Forest is one of very few National Forests in Florida, and therefore one of the few boondocking areas in Florida. We made a point of driving through here to see what we could find. To get to the spot we stayed at head North from Altoona on #19. Turn Left (West) on 316 until just before the big bridge to Eurika. Here you will turn Right (north again) and continue while looking for a spot on your right. This forest road was not well marked. We drove by and had to go up and turn around. Make sure you stay on the right side of the road and in the Ocala forest as the Left side of this road is private property.

Value 5/5
FREE

Site Quality 3.5/5
Very sandy and lumpy ground. Had to level it up quite abit but still weren't level. This site was just off of the paved road and had a fair amount of traffic on it but not enough to be disruptive.

Facility Fun 2/5
This was just a free place to stay. You could wander further down the forest road if you wanted...not sure what we might have discovered if we did. There were other sites we saw that had a lake and one that had trails but we continued on until it started to cool off and ended up here.

Natural Surroundings 3/5
We were at the entrance to a forest service road but we were parked near an open area with trees on one side of us and parked close to the road. On the other side of the road were houses and private property.

Bathrooms N/A

Staff N/A

Location 2/5
This area we stopped at was a bit out of the way. Even though we got to it on all paved roads the road we left on to continue North turned dirt when we turned east to get back to #19 and it was very rough. The worst washboard driving we have ever driven on. The beaches would be about an hour away under good driving conditions.

Overall 3/5
There aren't many free places to stay in Florida and wasn't much around where we stayed. Other sites we saw would have been nicer but we were trying to drive further in hopes of the sun getting closer to setting and the temperature therefore dropping. This was a stop over for the night only for us so it disn't matter that there wasn't much nearby. We were happy with this free night of sleep! Within this forest there are many trails for hiking, trails for quadding, lakes for fishing etc we just happened to not stop by any of them.


Another site we saw...see next older post for more details




Site at Buck lake that we could have stayed at but continued on