Camping at Croft

After we "accidentally" bought the new trailer, time was of the essence. We scheduled a trip months in advance for the very next weekend! How were we to know we'd end up buying a trailer!? 

That week, we got a quick rundown of how the trailer works, we brought it home on Wednesday, loaded up all our stuff on Thursday, and set off for our next camping adventure on Friday. It was an action-packed week, but we got it done. 

Next stop: Croft State Park in good ol' South Carolina. 

Croft is only a short distance from our house, so it ended up being a perfect little trip to get a feel for how the larger trailer tows. The poor little truck is now rocking 9 miles per gallon, but it pulled the trailer without any problems.

We got the trailer all set up (and pushed the slide out!) for our weekend getaway. We were a little close to our neighbors on the front side, but the site was really nice. It overlooked the lake for some spectacular sunset views.

Our little Coleman never had a TV. It had hookups for one, but we never installed it. We would always make fun of the campers who would just sit inside and watch TV. It wasn't something we were into.

Well, this new trailer came with a TV. Actually, it's a bigger TV than the one we have in our house! We were joking with the salesman that it would be the least-used appliance in the trailer. Well, we broke our anti-TV vow on day one.

On Friday night, we got there well after the sun went down. After we finished setting up, it was too late to go to the store for firewood, and we were freezing! Well, we went inside and, somehow, the TV magically turned on. You know, "just to see how many channels we get." 

As it turns out, we get a lot! Rose, Luna, and I watched Seinfeld on a clear 40" picture until about midnight while sitting in our reclining chairs with the heat on and drinking "sodas" from our massive refrigerator. Isn't camping grand...?

After a restful night's sleep on our king-size bed (also bigger than our bed at home), we enjoyed a few cups of coffee and decided to check out the park.

Croft is HUGE! There were tons of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails scattered over thousands of acres of pristine wooded land. They even had a horse stable and a full equestrian show ring! It was wild. 

Since they had dedicated biking trails, Rose and I decided to break out the bikes and see what the woods had in store for us. We learned from the lady in the camp store that the bridge to the bike trails had washed away after a hard rain. Thinking we were quite the adventurers, we decided to head down to the "little creek" and see if we could cross sans-bridge. 

The route down to the creek was awesome (with emphasis on "down")! There were tons of windy trails that bobbed and weaved through the trees, over roots, and around rocks. Once we got to the creek bed, we realized there was no way we could cross... The creek wasn't so little after all.

It was shallow for the most part, but there were plenty of rapids to carry us and our bikes away—that is, if we didn't get stuck in the mud first. While our bike ride was cut short, it was still a beautiful place. We stayed and enjoyed the sounds of the water before turning back. 

Oh, and remember that "fun" trail DOWN? Yeah, what goes down must also come back up. Our legs were dying by the time we reached the top!

With our bike plans thwarted and our legs burning, we did what any normal person would do and went for a hike instead. We snatched Luna off the couch and headed out for the 1.5-mile nature trail.

The hike was lovely. It weaved through the woods, following one of the many creeks in the area (probably the same one that messed up our biking plans). At one point, we could climb down from the trail and enjoy some time on the rocks by the creek. 

It was nice to just relax next to the water for bit. It reminded us a lot of one of our very first camping spots in Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. We hung out by the creek for a few minutes before finishing the trail and heading back to the trailer.

We finished out the action-packed day with a few "sodas" sitting by the lake.

With the day coming to an end, we headed back up to the trailer for some dinner and another lovely night in the recliners watching TV (yes, we did it again). 

Croft State Park was definitely a winner. We'll have to come back another time to tackle more of the hiking trails—and hopefully the bike trails too. Until next time!