Camping with a 5 month old

They say getting there is half the fun. “They” must not have a 5 month old, a 4 year old and a 9 year old.  As you can imagine the 9 and 4 year old creates their own set of challenges but the 5 month old, as cute as she is, can make any trip a little spicy.

Riding in the car just isn’t her thing. So when we plan a trip we always take into consideration how long it’ll take to get there. (Unless we’re going to the beach then it really doesn’t matter, because you’re going to the beach.) So when my adventurous husband Jeff convinced me our family needed an RV because “it’ll make traveling easier” I jumped on board. We bought our RV in January. Three weeks after our daughter Sophie was born. (I mean who doesn’t buy RV’s right after having a baby. Can you tell she is the third?)

So far we’ve taken it and all 5 of us on three camping trips. Each with their own comedy of errors. This past weekend we took it to Oconee County State Park.

It’s about 43 miles from where we live in Greenville. Pulling an RV it took about an hour and a half.

The trip started off like any other RV excursion. We went to our storage facility to pick it up and pack it up early Friday afternoon so we could be up to our campsite just in time for dinner. It didn’t take long to notice someone else had been in our RV. Someone who didn’t belong. The TV was stolen, (yes we have a TV….we have to be able to watch baseball and football while in nature.) the medicine bin was stolen (hope the thieves like children’s Tylenol and Motrin because that’s as strong as it gets in our RV) and all of our chargers or USB cables. Never the less that wasn’t going to stop us from having good family fun. It just delayed us a bit. So first thing Saturday we headed out and made it to our spot before 11am. It was an easy drive and pretty easy check in. If you are new at RV’ing the spots are a little tight and it took a good hour to back her in just right.

The camping area has several water front tent site sets up and tons of RV spaces. We were assigned campsite #12. We weren’t on the lake but could see it from our spot. We were also pretty close to our neighbors but they were really nice and had young children so it worked out well for our 4 year old.

Once we got the RV level and the outside area all situated we went hiking. Thank goodness for baby wearing devices because that’s how Sophie gets around when we do anything outdoors.

We walked to the lake and then took about a 10 minute walk to the little park store. Of course the boys had to get a toy because the 2 bags of legos and playmobil that we brought with us weren’t enough. Luckily we found a little sercy for ourselves. It’s a solar powered bug that lights up at night. For some reason I thought he was so cute.

At the store you can buy toys, souvenirs, food, and coffee. (Just make sure to check the expiration date. The coffee we bought expired in September of 2015. We learned that the hard way the next morning.) But it’s also the place where you can rent putt putt equipment and paddle boats. The boys loved playing putt putt and my oldest actually got three hole-n-ones. It was a super cute course. There are multiple playgrounds and of course the lake. So many families were enjoying a swim and next time we are going to get in ourselves and jump off the different diving boards. They have a high and low board.

After our hike we went back to the site to start prepping dinner and watch college baseball. The park does have WIFI, just not at the campsites. So we couldn’t watch baseball but dinner was still on. Hotdogs, chili, strawberries and chips.

We were too tired to cook the chicken we brought and we were worried we wouldn’t make it through dinner. You see sometimes 5 month olds cry, and you can’t figure out why. That happened to sweet Sophie. She must have been over nature and had a 2 hour meltdown. Luckily she pulled it together and ended up being a trooper.

We ate outside, it was a little buggy from all the recent rain, but that’s to be expected when you’re outside. The dogs were great and the company even better. We spent a whole 38 minutes playing games with no tears or fighting between brothers. It was magical. (It’s actually kind of nice there isn’t WIFI because it forces you to concentrate on the real reason you came. To be together, have fun and make memories.)

While I put Sophie to bed the boys played trucks with our neighbors and enjoyed S’mores. Everyone was sound asleep by 10 and up again around 7:45. For breakfast we cooked eggs, bacon and sausage. Food always tastes better outside. Too bad I can’t say the same for the coffee but next time we’ll check those expiration dates.

Clean up didn’t take long. We’re in a nice little groove. The hardest part was getting the RV re-attached since the spot wasn’t super flat and we’re still new at this. One of the rangers who happened to be making their rounds helped us out. We said goodbye to our new friends, visited the dumping station and headed back to Greenville.

What I love about this area is you are within miles of so many cool waterfalls and trails. On your way to Oconee County State Park you’ll pass through the town of Walhalla. Very small but it has a fantastic attraction called Stumphouse Tunnel. It’s an incomplete railroad tunnel for the Blue Ridge Railroad of South Carolina. Back in the day it’s where Clemson made their blue cheese. We visited last year and loved it. You can walk through the tunnel, which won’t take very long, and then visit Issaqueena Falls. It has beautiful waterfalls and you can make the hike as adventurous or calm as you want.

If you want to plan your next trip feel free to hit me up on Facebook or Instagram and I’ll be glad to tell you more about our trips. You can start by going to the south carolina parks page.  Also if you’re out and about let me know where you’re going because we’re always looking for our next “adventure.”