10/14 Old Federal Campground, Lake Lanier, GA

I nearly always plan a stop here at Old Federal Campground when I head south to Florida or return to Ohio and Michigan after the winter is over.  This COE campground has a lot of positives:  only $13 per day for people with a senior pass, large paved campsites that are well-separated, almost every site is located on the lake shore, and both water and electric at sites. 

The bad news is that apparently the COE is facing financial problems with delayed upkeep of the recreation sites it manages on Lake Lanier and is asking the counties to take over management.  So, as of next spring, this may no longer be a federal facility, which may mean senior passes will no longer be accepted for a 50% discount.  The campground closed the day I left and will not open until next spring, so it will be interesting to see what happens.  

Site 45 is one of my favorites here because it is at the base of a long, skinny peninsula, and I can see both sides of the lake from my front window.  It is also a long site.  I spent 11 days here and then had to move to another site for three days, but I'll show that one later.

 

 

I took this photo after I left the site, but it is the one on the right with the pickup in the site.   This photo does a better job of showing how the peninsula is very narrow and you can see on both sides.  Having almost all sites on the shore of the lake means that a lot of people can launch their sailboards and kayaks directly from their campsites.

Some photos of other places in the campground. 

The lake is a little low, as you can see by the large beach area.

This is actually next door to the campground.  It is a small sailing club and on this Saturday it was having some sort of event for sailboarders.

This is the second site I moved to for the last three days of my stay.  It was a handicap site, so both the parking pad and the patio area were paved.  Although it was not directly on the shore, it was high so I could see the one area next to the peninsula where the other site was and another area of the lake to the south. 

This is the restroom and shower building.  Much like a lot of COE campgrounds, it also has a washer and dryer, which is very handy for full-timers like me. 

Another sailing club across the lake. 

You can see my motorhome on the far right of this photo. 

Saturday was very windy, so lots of sailboats were out. 

 

 

Atlanta is a horrible city to drive in, and part of my reason for being here is to visit my aunt who lives in an assisted care facility about 35 miles away.  I made four trips to visit her and got really frustrated with traffic.  It seems that as soon as you put your turn signal on, someone passes and cuts in front of your vehicle, which often meant I missed my turn and had to circle around through shopping centers and residential roads.  My turning radius in my vehicle is enormous, so there is no such thing as being able to make a U-turn, so I decided to see if taping a sign to my rear window might help.   

 

After two weeks at Lake Lanier, I am off to southern Georgia and northern Florida.