After 8 months of planning a week camping on Hunting Island State Park, we were all packed up and ready to hit the road. Willie, our Maltese, yelped with excitement as they knew it was time to get in the car. I got the call as I about to step into the truck. It was Hunting Island Campground calling to inform us that the campground was flooded after they had received four inches of rain and was expecting two more inches today. What?!?!! Oh no…..please tell me our vacation is NOT cancelled. We had to think quick…we were having a bad start to the day due to the United States Postal Service. They did not deliver my husband’s medicine when they said they had and we had to try to track down our mail. The postal service told us they had no idea where it went. Oh great. Thankfully we had enough to last the vacation.

We had to think quickly where we would like to go. Ocracoke was our first thought, but that was almost a 9 hour drive. We decided to head south to St. Augustine, FL with a stop over in Savannah, GA on the way. Now…to find a campground that was available since this was right before Memorial Day. After several calls, we found a family owned campground in Hardeeville, SC. The Hardeeville RV campground was about twelve miles from Savannah. Great! We got headed out, but first we had to inflate our camper tires. They were very low. We stopped at a Loves because they are big rig friendly. When we pulled off the interstate there was a huge line of 18-wheelers and campers waiting in line to get fuel. There was no way would were going to fit in there so we headed out on the road again and found a Spinx gas station. They had two air pumps we could get to easily. What a relief! The first one we pulled up to was broken. Some brilliant and I am sure productive citizen had jammed gum in the coin slot. My husband was about ready to turn around and go home since everything seems to be against us leaving. We prayed the next one was not broken. After going all the way around the building and crashing into some overgrown cedar trees at the next air pump, we made it! It was functioning!!

Now we our on the road again headed to Savannah. We arrived at the Hardeeville RV Campground on South Okatie Highway at about 7:30pm. We were greeting by one of the site owners. She was very friendly and gave us a good discount on the stay. It was 25 dollars a night for full hook-up for Passport America members but we did not have that membership. She must have felt bad for us since I told her about our horrible day. They had other discounts available for seniors, Good Sam Members, and military for thirty dollars a night. It was also only cash or check. No plastic accepted. Not bad for full hook-up.

The park was very nice! I was pleasantly surprised. Our site was pull through, flat and gravel base. The site had ample room between rigs and there was a nice picnic table with the site. There was no fire pit but that’s okay…it is hot here anyway right now. They had a really nice dog park for the pooches. I was impressed especially for the price! The only “problem” I noticed was that this was the middle of no where. The closest grocery was about ten miles away. Thankfully, there was a little gas station down the road that had all kinds of groceries for the campers. We were able to get the essential staples of milk, bread, butter and eggs. They had a small grill for a quick breakfast too. We did not try it, but maybe next time.

Tomorrow we head to Savannah but for today we are exhausted and have to get some rest. When things don’t go right, you have a choice. Either give up and let life run you over, or push through and learn, laugh, love, and be blessed for taking the hard road. Take the hard road and see what God can do with the bad stuff.