Point Mallard Park and Campground, Decatur, AL - February 15 - 18, 2008

I had another 3-day weekend for President's Day, so decided to take advantage and take the T@B out. I decided to try Point Mallard Park and Campground in Decatur, AL. http://www.pointmallardpark.com/ Point Mallards' claim to fame is it's water park which is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day and has one of the first wave pools in the country. The park also has a golf course, restaurant, batting cages, soccer fields, baseball, softball fields, large picnic pavillions, a walking trail, ice skating rink, and plentiful picnic areas and some nice river views.

I arrived Friday evening after work and was met by the campground host. I asked for a pull through site, but was told I didn't need one, he would make sure I got into my site. He escorted me to site #12 which was right near the bath house and talked me through backing it in and I did it!!!!!

Here are some pictures of my site once I set up.

As you might be able to see, I have started work on modifying a standard Wal-Mart shelter and solid walls to work similar to a Paha Que shelter. Basically all I've done so far is cut one wall off and cut a bottom skirt and velcroed it to the bottom of the camper. I still have some work to do. Don't know if I'll be able to make the top portion or not, but I'm going to give it a try.

Rick came by after work on Saturday and cooked us some yummy T-Bones on the grill and I made baked potatoes and sauteeed mushrooms. He didn't stay the night, but we had a nice dinner.

The electric heater I tried last month really wasn't cutting it for keeping my front porch warm, so I got a tank top heater and it did the job!!


Just a couple of pictures of me and Rick with the Camper.

Sunday morning, we had a nasty thunderstorm. I noticed almost all of the big rigs there had put their awnings up. I had up my three EZ-Ups well staked-down and all they did was wobble a bit. I spent some time outside during the storm watching the rain come down and stayed dry:-)


After the rain, the weather cleared up into a beautiful afternoon, so I took a stroll around the area.

Here is the comfort station/bath house.

Here is an empty pull through site.

Here is one of their partial hookup sites.

Here is a playground on the property. Since it was off-season, they were doing a lot of maintenance and renovation.

I just thought this was a neat boat.

This is a pavilion in the campground.

This was the only other "small" camper in the campground. Everything else was big rigs.

This was the biggest rig I saw

This was the most unusual. It was a gooseneck trailer converted for camping with a "huge" toy hauler deck.

Not sure what this building was, but it was unusual

One of the soccer fields.

The large picnic pavilion at the park.

A picnic area near the water park by the lake.

It's hard to tell, but that is the empty wave pool at the water park.

The stone wall of the wave pool

The entrance to the water park.


The water slide

Another view of the water.

The park sign

The diving platforms into the Olympic Pool

The moon in the middle of the afternoon.

A view of the picnic area by the water.

The entrance to the walking/bike trail.

The ice skating rink.

Walking along the walking trail

A big fat squirrel sitting on a stump.

Along the walking trail

At this sign, the trail splits off. You can continue right and somebody said the trail goes for about 3 miles. Or you can cross the pavement and go left and it takes you back to the campground. I went left.

Here is the main building at the campground.

Here is the laundry facility. $1.50 for wash, $1.00 for dry. I did use it on Monday morning and used 4 washers and 4 dryers and got it all done in an hour or so, instead of all day at home.

The campground sign with current rates.

A neat sign post near the entrance.

The camground host site.

And here I've come full circle back to my site.

Also, here is how I solved my shelter elevation. I got a set of 10 Lynx levelers. They have holes in them to run stakes through and are also flat so if I'm on concrete I can put my awning weights on them. I used 3 on each leg near the camper and 2 on each leg on the other side.

Monday morning was breakdown, washing clothes, then taking her home to unload and off to storage. With my son sitting in the seat next to me, I also managed to back her into my driveway!!!

I also discovered my hatch leaks inside the hatch, so after the May Rally, she's going to the dealer. It's not getting into the kitchen and has the cover on it while in storage, so I can afford to wait, but I do want to get it fixed.

Coming next, I'm going to be going with my Scout troop supporting them as they bicycle almost 100 miles along the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga Cycling Trails from Atlanta Georgia to Anniston, Alabama. I'll be at three different spots over 3 nights and will probably be dry camping for at least 1 night, maybe two.

(75 miles)

Thanks for reading!!!

Carol & Rick.