Our plan after leaving Piney Campground was to head to Conley Bottom Resort in Monticello, Kentucky where we would stay for a couple weeks – through the Fourth of July holiday and Ronnie’s doctor appointment. It is a first come, first serve campground so we thought arriving on a Monday would be perfect. The weekenders would be gone which would leave plenty of camp sites available to choose from. This was not the case. We arrived early afternoon and stopped at the office to get the scoop on how we go about obtaining a campsite. There was no one in the office so Ronnie asked a fella working on a boat just outside the office. He said that we could just drive around, pick a spot and someone would come around to collect payment but he wasn’t sure of the nightly cost. It seemed a little unconventional but Ooo-kay.
We did indeed drive around and much to our surprise the campground was literally packed with campers. We found one or two sites that we might have been able to squeeze into but at this point my mind was saying ‘absolutely not’. First, we had no idea of the nightly rate. Second, the campground was packed and buzzing with people on a Monday (which is atypical). Third, the sites were not very distinguishable one from another and they were so close together I really believe that our awning would have touched our neighbor’s camper. As I was taking all this in I was also thinking that if we don’t stay here that we now faced the challenge of finding another place to stay. With the upcoming fourth of July holiday I had a sinking feeling that it might be difficult but there was no way I wanted to be here. Maybe if the price had been right but since we didn’t know the price that was a chance I wasn’t willing to take.
We drove out of Conley Bottom with our heads in a fog trying to figure out where to go from here. We headed to the nearest state park which was General Burnside Island State Park located in Burnside just south of Somerset. The island encompasses 430 acres in the middle of Lake Cumberland and is the only island park in the state. There were no sites available during the holiday but we were able to book a site for four nights. While Ronnie and the gal at the check in booth were booking our site I was on the phone calling Fort Boonseborough (as I couldn’t think of another place near his doctor’s office) to see, if by sheer luck, there were any sites left since our time there would be during the holiday . Thank God they had two sites left. I immediately booked one of the two. Whew!
The campground at General Burnside encompasses 75 acres with rolling hills and various loops with camp sites making the campground seem small and not crowded and therefore more cozy. It’s a great place to stay if you play golf and/or have a boat. There’s a nice boat ramp in the park but there’s no fishing or swimming allowed. The pool has been closed for quite some time according to the gal at the check in booth which was disappointing. After doing some research I found an article from 2016 that stated the pool is in need of repair and no monies were appointed to General Burnside in the $18 million parks maintenance fund at that time. From the looks of it still no money has been appointed.
Despite not having much to do we were extremely grateful to have a place to stay. A place to stay with full hook-up I might add. The sites were a nice size so we enjoyed sitting outside under the awning watching the comings and goings of fellow campers and simply relaxing.
It was here that I started making personal jars of sun tea.
There’s not enough room in our fridge for a pitcher of tea so I grabbed two pint jars, filled them with hot tap water, stirred a tablespoon of honey in each until dissolved then put one tea bag in each jar. I do this in the mornings and leave them for a couple of hours to steep. I have a spot in the door of the fridge for each jar and it’s working out great. I’m learning that creativity is your friend when living in a camper full time.
The four days went by quickly and before we knew it we were packing up and heading to Fort Booneseborough. I spent my birthday moving from one campground to another – yippee! We were recently there for a week over the Memorial Day holiday. If you missed that post you can read about Fort Boonesborough HERE.
We crammed a lot into that week – fishing, a doctor’s appointment, a vet appointment, a birthday dinner with friends, a visit to our church to see our church family, a visit with my great niece and her family, a trip to the storage unit, and more fishing.
I went with Ronnie one morning to White Hall where I managed to make two dish scrubbies while he fished. I stayed at the camper with LizzieBelle the other times he went. He enjoyed his fishing time and did well…
We’ve been grilling the fish or blackening the fillets on the griddle rather than frying them and they’ve been delicious! Served with rice and steamed broccoli it’s a much healthier (and tastier, in my opinion) way to eat them.
Although we didn’t do much sightseeing we were thrilled to have a place to stay. When Conley Bottom didn’t work out as I had hoped I got a little nervous. I think that’s the most difficult part of full-time RVing – finding places to stay especially on the weekends and over the holidays. Once we are finished with doctor appointments and are free to travel beyond Kentucky I hope that we’ll be able to start booking places more in advance which should help. Since none of our travel plans have worked out so far we’ll just see how it goes! At least we’re able to be flexible and as I continually remind myself – we always have a roof over our head whether we’re plugged in somewhere or not and for that, I am grateful.
All too soon it was time to move on again. Till next time friends!
Dates at General Burnside Island State Park: June 27 – July 1
Dates at Fort Boonesborough State Park: July 1 – 8
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