Twin Lakes Campground, Lake Hartwell, Pendleton, South Carolina

Well we finally left the 1000 Trails campground and moved just a little way East to Twin Lakes Recreation Area in Pendleton , South Carolina just a few miles from Clemson University.  This is a very nice Army Corps Of Engineers campground on Lake Hartwell  which is a about 50 miles long and has 962 miles of coastline. 

I didn't do a map of the trip since it was so short but in its place is a map of our travels since we left NH on August 9th including where we expect to be for the next couple weeks.  We are at #23 this week and will be at #24 next week which is another 1000 Trails campground (we are going to try them one more time).  

Our site - we are on a little point surrounded on three sides by water

Part of the lake from behind our camper looking North

Looking South

View of our campsite from the lake

Blue Heron near the camper

View across the lake with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background 

Another view of the lake

We hiked the shore for a few miles today and found quite a variety of terrain from white sand beaches to a large rock quarry to long stretches of red clay - I took this pic because it reminded me of a Mars landscape

1000 Trails Campground Fairplay, GA, Stumphouse Tunnel

Wednesday we moved from McKinney Campground in Ackworth, Georgia to Carolina Landing in Fairplay, South Carolina.  Carolina Landing is owned by "1000 Trails",  a membership campground organization that has campgrounds throughout the country.  We were given a 1000 trails membership when we bought our camper and this is the first time we have used it (we actually tried before at other locations but they either had no vacancies or were closed for the season. Well, we were not impressed - they advertise 227  sites but in actuality the majority of them are rented out to seasonal campers and there are only a handful of sites available for travelers.  The park is old and outdated, very hilly and tough to navigate - our first experience with 1000 Trails was not a good one although in fairness, the people that worked there were very pleasant and helpful.  I guess we shouldn't complain as we got a free membership and it cost nothing to stay here.

Our Route

Our Site - We were jammed in between two permanently occupied campsites - very little extra space - barely enough to use the awning.  This is not the worst place we have stayed in the last year and a half but it is in the top three. 

We went hiking on Stumphouse Mountain and stopped to see Stumphouse Tunnel which was part of a plan to build the Blue Ridge Railroad from Anderson, SC to Knoxville, TN.  The railroad ran out of money and ceased work on the tunnel in 1859.  Then the Civil War came along and ultimately work on the railroad never resumed.  The tunnel was hand dug and goes about 1/2 way through the mountain.

There is also a large waterfall nearby that we hiked to.  The falls were nice but there has been a drought and I understand they are normally more impressive.

McKinney Campground, Ackworth, Georgia - Alatoona Lake

On Sunday we moved from Huntsville, Alabama to McKinney Campground in Ackworth, Georgia, about 45 miles northwest of Atlanta.  McKinney Campground is an Army Corps Of Engineers campground located on Altoona Lake. Altoona Lake was formed in 1949 by the Corps Of Engineers damming the Etowah River for the purposes of flood control and reservoir creation.  The lake is about 20 miles long and has 270 miles of shoreline.

Our Route

We have a site on a little peninsula so we have water on three sides.  Most of the sites overlook the lake and have a patio area

A Typical Site

Another typical site

Our lake view

One of the several boat ramps

One of the beaches and the marina

Rocket City (Huntsville, Alabama) - US Space & Rocket Center

Wednesday we moved from Deerlick Creek to Huntsville, Alabama.  We are staying at the US Space & Rocket Center RV Park which is right next to the US Space & Rocket Center (about a 5 min. walk).   I have been wanting to go back to Huntsville as I spent most of 1968 there doing my AIT in the US Army. 

Our Route

Our Campsite - note the structure behind our campsite.  It is a shield to stand behind when the Space Campers fire small rockets that they built - part of the Space Camp program.  We get to see them fire them most every day.

The RV Park and the US Space & Rocket Center

A-12 Blackbird (predecessor to the SR-71 Blackbird)

Front View

Space Camp Living Quarters - neat building

Another View

Lots of rockets - Atlas, Redstone, Saturn, etc.

The only "full stack" space shuttle display in the world

Saturn 5 - you can't imagine how big this thing is - the photo just doesn't capture it (363 feet tall)

Saturn 5 rocket engine - Donna for scale

Donna walking under the 5 engine nozzles

The Nosecone

 Miss Baker's grave

Big George - Miss Baker's Husband Is Buried Beside Her

One of the first mockups of Skylab

Skylab - another view

Besides the Saturn 5 and the Space Shuttle this was probably my favorite thing - this is the actual command module from the Apollo 16 mission that went to the moon and back

View of damage to heat shield

Moon rock gathered by Alan Bean - Apollo 12

Alan Bean's Signature

Mobile Quarantine Facility - Actual one used in the Apollo 12 program

Just had to show this - these are Hawk missiles - this is what I was trained on here in 1968 (actually was trained on the radar and control van for the Hawk System - not the actual missiles).  There was so much to see here that the pics don't do it justice - really a worthwhile place to see if you have any interest in science, space or the military - lots of military equipment on display that I didn't mention.

Hiking around the RV park is interesting - the woods must have been a dumping ground for excess parts at one time - there is a lot of rocket fuselage parts, plane parts, etc. near the trails - this large airplane part is not far from our campsite.