Next on our agenda was an approximate 195 mile drive to one of our favorite COE (Army Corps of Engineers) Campgrounds – Gunter Hill in Montgomery, AL, our home for the next two weeks. Unfortunately, by the time we figured out our itinerary, there wasn’t one site available for all 14 days so we reserved site #10 for the first week and site #43 for the second one.

As I’ve said before, moving from one site to another is a royal pain! Rugs have to be rolled up, decorations put away, the satellite dish must be stowed, the slides brought in, and so much more! But sometimes, as in this case, we had no choice!

Because the first few weeks of our trip had been fairly hectic, we were looking forward to some much needed R & R during this two week stay.

Located on the backwaters of the Alabama River about 10 miles west of Montgomery, AL, this Army Corps of Engineers (COE) park offers 142 sites and has two loops – Antioch which is older and has gravel sites with water and electric hookups. For bigger rigs, the newly renovated Catoma loop is recommended. These sites, #1-75, have concrete pads and full (water, electric and sewer) hookups.

After being checked in at the entrance station by a very friendly couple who were volunteers, we made our way to our first site. We like this campground is not only because of the full hookups but also because the majority of the sites are very spacious and have lots of room between each site.

During our first few days, we didn’t do a lot. Mornings were spent running errands to stock up on supplies needed for Thanksgiving, then in the afternoon we would take a walk or just relax in front of the campfire.

Speaking of campfires, at the entrance to the park, there was a sign to text a number for firewood delivery. Knowing that we planned on being there for two weeks, we texted the person. Within a few hours, a half cord of firewood was delivered to our site by a super nice guy. He even stacked the wood next to the campfire ring.

We were supposed to move to the second site on Wednesday, November 27th which just happened to be my birthday. Things were going good “until…” Tuesday, the 26th when my phone rang. It was one of the campground hosts telling us that there was an electrical problem on site #43, located at the opposite end of Catoma Loop.

At first we thought that the problem was limited to that particular site but no it was more extensive than that – it was all sites at that end of the loop and, unfortunately, they had no idea when it would be fixed. Because it was a holiday week, there were no other sites available so our reservation would be cancelled and we would receive a refund. The poor volunteer apologized over and over again, eventually making the comment that the rangers should be the one calling customers, not the volunteers.

Oh no! Immediate panic set in! Knowing that the number of other campgrounds in the area was limited and that it was a busy holiday week, we immediately started looking for some other place to stay. Hopefully a place near by as dealing with the potentially heavy holiday traffic the day before Thanksgiving wasn’t on our list of things we wanted to do!

Fortunately we were able to make a reservation for a pull thru site at The Backyard RV Resort, a mere 10 miles away, located in a not suburban area. Whew! Not exactly where or how we had planned to spend Thanksgiving day but unfortunately there was nothing we could do about it.

The next morning as we prepared to leave Gunter Hill, we had another call. It was the same, very apologetic volunteer telling us that they had decided that, if we wanted to, we could still move to site #43 and use our generator until the power returned. We thanked him for the offer but we explained that we had already made another reservation at a nearby park and would be leaving by check out time.

After a very quick drive to the Backyard Resort where, as directed in our confirmation email, we made our way directly to our reserved site #304.

Now during our many years of RV’ing, we have stayed in a number of beautiful upscale resorts – this definitely was not our idea of a “luxurious escape” that they claimed it to be on their website. Having the usual amenities of cable TV, a dog park, laundry, wifi, on site propane does not necessarily make for a luxurious escape. Combine that with gravel sites, the lack of any vegetation, landscaping, picnic tables or firepits as well as the very close proximity of one site to the next, this place should only be categorized as a campground and at best only a mediocre one at that! How could a place located behind a Popeye’s Kitchen and across the street from a TA Truck Service Station be considered a luxurious escape? And it was very overpriced! Comparatively speaking 4 days at The Backyard cost us $188 (all of the state taxes wiped out the 10% Good Sam discount) while 4 nights at Gunter Hill with the 50% senior pass discount was $60. Our original week long Gunter Hill reservation at $135 was cheaper than the four night stay at The Backyard!

Certainly not what we expected but on the bright side, at least we had a place to stay. With full hookups, it was much better than spending Thanksgiving in a Walmart parking lot.  On Thanksgiving day, since Rob and I aren’t particularly fond of turkey, we enjoyed our usual Honey Baked Ham, delmonico potatoes, curried fruit and green beans with sauteed shallots and vermouth for dinner. Delish (as usual)!

Not much else to report on our stay here. At the end of our four night stay, we were quite happy to be moving on to our next stop which turned out to be a lot more interesting and fun! Stay tuned!