We had the Carolina Casita Gathering at Twin Lakes Campground on Lake Hartwell. We got there a day early so that we could get settled in our campsite before everything started. I warned everyone on Facebook that we may get a little loud and boisterous as we back the camper into the sight. We haven't been camping for 3 years due to various circumstances, and this was our first time out. Plus, we were towing it with our new car, a 2026 Subaru Outback Touring XT.
Unfortunately, Don's back was giving him a lot of problems, so I had to pack most of the stuff on my own. He was able to back the car up and hook up the camper to the car, but otherwise, I did almost everything else by myself. Of course, this made him feel bad about having to rely on me to do everything. We were never able to fix the leaking bathroom sink, so we just planned on not using any water at the campsite.
When we got there on Wednesday, the weather was beautiful. Unfortunately, we got there too soon, and the campground attendant told us we couldn't check in yet, so we went back into town and had lunch at Dairy Queen. It was a good lunch! We also stopped at the Goodwill store just to kill time shopping when the park attendant called us and said our campsite was clear and ready for us. So, we headed back to the campground and set up at our site. It was a small site where we had to unhook the camper and park the car beside the camper. Then I had to go down about six steps to set up the Clam screen room. The view was beautiful, though. We met a couple of new friends from the Casita group, Babs and Jackie, who were really nice. Later, we also met new friends, Marc and Jolene.
On Thursday night, we went to the Smoking Pig of Pendleton for dinner. There were about 20 of us, and the food was very good. Marc and Jolene stopped by our camper, and Mark tried to fix our leaky sink in the bathroom, but was unable to get it fixed that day. Then we headed over to Bab's site for a meet-up where everyone introduced themselves, told a camping story, and then everyone went around to tell what tow vehicle they used. It was hard to see the people in the dark, but at least I could hear them. I took some pictures which actually showed everyone's faces in the photo, so the next day I was able to look and try to figure out what story went with which person. It was so much fun meeting new people and making new friends!
On Friday morning, after breakfast, we came back to the campground and walked around the lake. We did happen to get into the boggy mud and had to clean our feet and shoes. In the morning, Nancy and Ray came to visit us, and we had a nice couple of hours to visit. The rest of the afternoon, we just relaxed around the campsite. For dinner, we met at someone's campsite, and we had a potluck dinner. I loved meeting another knitter, Gail, and we had a lot in common!
On Saturday, we didn't do very much but relax around the campsite. Marc came over again and was able to fix the bathroom sink. He also helped us with the vent fan, which wasn't working. He was able to get it working by putting duct tape over the fuse so that it stayed in. We drove to the picnic shelter to visit with some people and see where the potluck might be in case of rain. The dinner was supposed to be at 6:00 p.m., but it started raining about 6:00 p.m. They moved the potluck dinner to the picnic shelter and postponed it until 6:30 p.m. By this time, Don's back was really causing him a lot of pain, so he took a muscle relaxer, and we ate dinner in the camper. We decided not to go to the shelter because I was afraid he would slip on the wet, grassy hill. We went to bed early.
On Sunday morning, we went to Waffle House for breakfast and then returned to the campsite to pack everything up. We took our time, and I tried to discourage Don from doing too much. The only problem I had was getting the stakes out of the ground that held the Clam down in case of wind. Luckily, our new friend Henry stopped by with his dog to say goodbye, and he was kind enough to pull the rest of the stakes out of the ground. We got everything packed up and were on the road by about 10:30 a.m.
We had a wonderful time, and we hope to go to another gathering in the future. We won't be able to go to the next two scheduled gatherings because we have other obligations, but I'm sure we will get to be with our new friends again sometime in the future.
Original photos by Pat Hensley
