We arrived at Small Country Campground on Thursday October 5th after spending Wednesday night in our RV parked on Military Road in Arlington, VA. We got a full hook-up shady spot for our RV, which thankfully Mike knew how to set up. He got us hooked up to water and electricity, but his most impressive act was hooking up our sewer line, so we could take showers and use the toilet. The rate was $44 a night for our spot.
While a shady spot may have sounded ideal initially, unfortunately we were slotted in-between two fifth wheel trailers who resided at Small Country full time. One of our neighbors was a lovely couple with two dogs and both worked locally at the nuclear plant. After seven days residing in the shady area, we registered for a second week in the sunnier spots on top of the hill. Up here we had a bit more room to spread out and do some exterior work on the RV.
During our two weeks at Small Country, we got to know the campground. There's a bike/walking path that encircles the lake on the property, Lake Ruth Ann. It's a little less than two miles and has private property along it, but it's a nice walk in the woods. The campground offers several different water activities on Lake Ruth Ann - swimming, boating, and fishing. Because it was October, I only went swimming in the lake one day in the two weeks we were there, but their Lake Toys were lots of fun. I haven't seen a water trampoline since I was in Mexico at a resort when I was a kid and sadly I never got to jump on it, but this time I made damn sure I was getting on it. Another of their toys included an inflated climbing mountain, which had to be 12 feet tall, I probably climbed at least 10 feet of it. I wish I'd gotten pictures of them, but I only thought of it two days before we left and by then they deflated them. Boo!
Mike didn't get any casting in because he was a bit preoccupied fixing up so many different things in our RV, but the spot for fishing was charming. The boat rentals were $5 for an hour, $20 for half a day, and $30 for a full day - they had paddle boats, kayaks, and row boats. The paddle boats were tempting, but Mike was tirelessly working on improving our home. All work - little play.
The most exciting aspect of the campground for me was the Jumping Pillow! I'd seen these before at farms I'd visited for haunted hay rides, but I was super excited to have one available all day. Of course, I couldn't really jump while kids were on it, so I had to wait until it was vacant. Thankfully in October kids have to go back to school - so I got to jump during the afternoon. Great exercise! Only problem - my inner child does not agree with my adult back and I had to take 2 Ibuprofen that night before bed but it was worth it!
Small Country does a great deal to accommodate the families that live there - playgrounds, games, rides (tractor and fire truck rides). Their mini golf course is pretty adorable and they even have a pool for those uninterested in lake swimming.
Their WiFi was alright, but you aren't allowed to stream Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon. They have a Direct TV cable hookup at their Premium sites, which was nice. Small Country was a great starting out point for us on our trip, hence the reason we signed up for a second week. They offer Good Sam and Passport America discounts (but in October P.A. doesn't work, go figure.), so we appreciated the discount. The campground holds a few events to bring their community together, but only one was held while we were there. I would have loved a community hall/room on the campground in order to do computer work (despite their request that the WiFi not be used for office work) or just get out of the RV on rainy days.
All in all, a fun first landing point for us newbies to full-time RVing!
Now we're hitting the road for destinations further afield.
