Boondocking, without a doubt, is our favorite way to stay. There’s nothing quite like parking the rig out in the middle of the desert, or in a forest clearing, with no one else around. (Read about our first night boondocking here).
Whenever we’re headed to a new place, the first thing I do is jump online and look for a place to boondock. So far, my favorite website for finding campsites is Campendium. For me, it’s the easiest site to understand and navigate, and their information has always been accurate. The camper reviews and photos are also very helpful.
When we left Daytona and headed north, I found the East Tower Hunt Camp located near Sanderson, Florida. It looked to be in a large clearing where we could get good sunshine to power our solar system. Even better, the camping area was located only a hundred yards or so off of a paved highway, making access in and out very easy.
First Impressions
When we pulled in, the open space in the middle of the camping area was enormous. There was only one other camper at the far end of the clearing. We chose a site where we could point the rear of our rig south (for solar) and set up camp. There were several other camping areas tucked in around the edges of the clearing. A large fire lookout tower hovered above us, just a couple hundred feet from our rig.
Initially it seemed like a great setup. There was plenty of room for campers to spread out, it was quiet and surrounded by trees for seclusion from the highway, and we were getting enough sunlight to keep our batteries charged. A yellow dog ran from camper to camper in greeting, begging for attention. It looked like we were going to have a good stay.
Chinks in the Armor
We discovered the first downside to our new campsite that same afternoon, when we tried to sit outside. The place was literally crawling with bugs of every kind. Gnats, flies and relentless mosquitoes left us bitten to pieces and not wanting to open our mouths for fear of inhaling them. They ended up driving us back indoors, much to our dismay.
We fell asleep that night listening to nothing but the sound of the wind in the trees. It was dark, quiet, serene. Perfect for sleeping.
About 2:30 am we were awakened by the sound of people yelling. We heard trucks outside. Bubba got up first, and then I climbed out of bed, and we watched from behind our living room blinds as local youth from the area (probably in their 20s) hooped and hollered, drank beer and climbed the tower.
The kids partied until after 3:30 am. Bubba and I stayed awake, keeping an eye on them, for fear they might, in their drunkenness, decide to head over and mess with our rig. They didn’t, but it was an uneasy feeling not knowing if these kids were troublemakers or just harmless locals blowing off steam and nothing more.
The next day as we were driving into town for some groceries, and decided to drop in and check out a state park campground near us. Ocean Pond Campground was only a few miles from our boondocking spot, situated on the shores of a two-mile-long lake. The spaces were large, the views beautiful and the staff extremely friendly and helpful.
We spoke with the camp host about our experience the night before, and she told us the local kids really tore it up out there on the weekends, bringing in quads and partying until all hours of the night. Hearing this news just confirmed that we probably didn’t want to remain there.
Making the Move
Ocean Pond Campground is strictly first come, first served, and guests can stay up to 30 days. At the time of our visit, there was one campsite left. We paid the camp host in advance for our stay, grabbed some gear out of Grace (our truck) and left in the site, and affixed the site tag we had been given.
Then we skedaddled back to East Tower Hunting Camp to collect our RV.
Since we hadn’t done much setup, we were packed up, hooked up and ready to roll within about 10 minutes. In less than an hour we were comfortably tucked into our new campsite along the lake’s edge. Ocean Pond Campground proved to be a lovely place to stay, and we enjoyed our time there immensely.
Lessons Learned
Bubba and I have an agreement with each other. If we pull into any campsite, whether it be boondocking, a state park or an RV park, if either one of us has an uneasy feeling about the place we leave. No questions asked.
In two years of full time travel, this is the first place we have pulled into where we felt uneasy. Would we have been okay? Probably so, but we didn’t want to tempt fate. We could have moved back into the more remote campsites, but then we wouldn’t get enough sun to run our solar even though we likely would have been left alone back there.
In the end we decided to trust our gut feeling and move on. That’s one of the beautiful things about having a home on wheels. If you don’t like your neighborhood, you’re free to move at any time!
