Hickory Creek Corps of Engineers Park

On Wednesday, we moved to the Hickory Creek Corps of Engineers Park just on the north side of Lake Lewisville. We had had reservations to stay at this park back in April of this year, but decided that we would prefer staying at Lake Park if we could (and we were able to) so we cancelled our reservation at Hickory Creek (at a $10 charge - which I thought was somewhat unfair after I found out that they would not have honored our reservation anyway because the park was still closed at that time due to flooding - but... it was good that we had already gotten a reservation at Lake Park).

Anyway! We moved to Hickory Creek on Wednesday and we really like it here! Of course, as sometimes happens, our arrival was not without its challenges. We left the National Indoor RV Center about noon, driving separately since it was a relatively short distance. Dwayne was going ahead in the Jeep to make sure that the roads were passable on the route that the Garmin was taking us (there is still a LOT of construction in this area). He found that the road was passable, but it had a 15 ton weight restriction (and Miss Doozie is 25 tons), so we decided for me to try going a different way - unfortunately, that road *also* had a 15 ton weight restriction. We decided to just go ahead and drive on it and hope that there weren't any bridges (for some reason, we are more comfortable driving on a road surface that is at a lower weight limit than crossing bridges with a lower weight limit - go figure!?!).

We got to the campground a little before 1pm, and were surprised to find out that the check out time was 2pm, check in time was 3pm, and the site we had reserved was still occupied. The ranger recommended that we go back up to the Walmart (which was on the route that I had passed on the way in, back up the 15 ton weight limit road) to wait for a couple of hours until the designated check in time.

When we came back at 3pm, we were easily checked in and on our way to our reserved site 10... this time, I was driving the Jeep, and as I came to the site, I thought, "Uh oh, this is on a bit of a slope..."

It may not look too bad... but that much slope means that our front end (where our door is) would be way up in the air if we leveled the coach, and it might be that we wouldn't even be able to get it all the way level (which is wearing on the senses if you're dealing with it more than a day or so).

This view from the other side may show the slope a little better.

So... we parked the bus, and then I started checking on the reservation website to see if any other site was available. Nothing was available for the whole 8 nights, but we found that there was one site available for 3 nights, and two others for the last 5 nights. We drove the Jeep out to check them, and found that all of them were a lot more level.

Back to the ranger station to ask if they could switch us to the other two sites. The ranger indicated that he could only switch from one site for 8 nights to another site for 8 nights. We headed back to the bus, and I decided to see if I could do the switch online - couldn't do the switch, but I could cancel the original booking (and pay a late cancel + cancellation fee) and then book the other two sites. I called the service desk, and they said that the ranger could make the change from an 8-night reservation to a 3-night and then book the separate 5 night, but... the ranger had indicated he couldn't do it, and I didn't really want to make another drive out there (it is about 1.5-2 miles out of the park to the ranger station) and then have to come back and do it myself anyway. So, we forfeited the late cancel ($14) plus cancellation ($10) fees, and got booked into the other two sites.

The site for the 3 nights is site 13 - I guess people don't book it because "13 is unlucky" but it is a really nice flat site.

A picture of Miss Doozie from site 10. You also might notice the trailer in the site to the left - and the pickup that is their tow vehicle on quite a slope on the entry into the site. This shows that trailers/5th wheels are not as impacted by the slope if there is a flat area at some point in the site - their pivot point is at the wheels, and the door is usually near the wheels.

 

 

In the picture just above, you can also see site 11 - a pull thru site that is also quite level. It actually might have more of a side-to-side slope, which, I think, is harder for trailers and 5th wheels - they will run up on blocks to level side-to-side.

Look how nice and level site 13 is! The only downside is that we have a drainage ditch right outside our "public" side of the coach, so the picnic table and fire pit for site 13 is behind and a little to the driver's side of the coach.

View of the lake from site 11 - really pretty!

 

We can see the lake from site 13, but it is more of a "peek-a-boo" view.

Right next to site 13 is one of the many paths in the campground (this one goes to the restrooms that are on the loop just behind us).

I wanted to show y'all our new rocking chairs - we got them when we were in Livingston (ordered from Camping World). We really like them! They are ideal for having rocking chairs on uneven ground - with pistons in the back to provide the rocking motion.

Camping World Rocking Chairs: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/mesh-folding-rocker-green/75019

Because we really think we like this park (nice walking trails, sites have nice distance between them), we decided to create a spreadsheet with all the sites and mark it up with slope information.

Yes, we're weird that way!

We walked around almost all of the sites (121 of them!) today and marked whether they are "flat", "very slight slope", or "slope". This way, we can try to book a site that is flat when we come back in the future.

One last picture of the campground - this is from the I-35E Lake Lewisville bridge - the campground is in the area about in the middle of the picture to about 3/4 of the way across the picture.