Grace’s Birthday Tubing Trip: Labor Day 2024

Hartwell Lakeside KOA, Site #28

August 29 - September 2, 2024

Grace really wanted to go to the lake and go tubing for her birthday, so we took the girls out of school for two days and extended our Labor Day weekend and headed to Lake Hartwell.  We have stayed at this KOA, which used to be Lake Hart State Park, before, but we didn’t get to choose our site this time - and the one we got was even better than the first!

We loved Site #28.  It was quiet, spacious, lots of trees and had shade when needed in the heat of the last of summer!
Once we got there and set up, Grace immediately got in the water and Kaety headed to the hammocks to read her National Geographic Animal books.  How I LOVE her reading! 
            






We did have a rainstorm come through across the lake on the second day.  It’s fascinating to watch it roll in.  We sat under our awning and let it pour around us.  I got some painting in and Steve read while the girls hung out inside the camper.
After the rains, the lake was super calm and just gorgeous!  The water was warm and we could literally go into the lake right from the campsite.

Grace’s ducks are STILL here!  OMGoodness!  These look to be the same ducks from when we were here last year, minus one white one.  There were 5 babies and the two parents.  They pretty much hung out in our cove and Grace would go down and play with them.  We fed them canned peas and some Cheezits.  No wonder they hang out near the campground!

Saturday was boat day and to say the girls were excited is an understatement.  The great thing about this campground is it is literally 5 minutes from the boat rental place - directly across the water from us.  Steve jetted over, picked up a boat, and headed back to pick us up from the campsite.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day out on the water.  Actually not too busy at all, which surprised us for Labor Day weekend. The girls staked out their spots at the front of the boat as we cruised around Lake Hartwell, darting in between SC and GA.




Grace spent easily over 1/2 her time tubing - she couldn’t get enough of it!  That girl is a fish.  Kaety did tube, but being on the boat is more her style - she even took a nap!!!!






I think because we were hauling the tube around for so long, we used up a LOT of gas.  We ended up having to go back to the boat rental place about an hour and a half before we were due to do so because we were literally running on fumes.  The guy who filled us up said we had less than a gallon left onboard.  Talk about cutting it close!!!  But, we filled up and headed back out and let Grace do a little more tubing before we had to call it quits and turn the boat in.


Sunday was a chill day at the campsite.  We played in the water, Grace hoverboarded around on her new hoverboard, and I went for a couple mile hike on the awesome trail they have there.  When I came back, I was HOT, so into the lake I went.  We literally spent most of the day in the lake.  It was DIVINE.

I am sure we will come back here again.  We love this place!

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