We just spent a week at the local KOA and I thought Id share the experience. My wife and I live in Dallas, GA and we had our choice of places like Carters Lake, Lake Alatoona and a variety of state parks and private campgrounds but because of some great experiences at places like KOA Renfro Valley and Calhoun GA we thought wed give our closest KOA a try at Cassville-White in Cartersville, GA. We paid for their premium site since we do like our comforts like full hookups and local cable. The weather was nice and we headed out. Upon arrival the first thing we expected to see is the usual welcome sign making us feel like we are valued customers, something like Welcome to KOA Our sign was Stop registered guests only, trespassers will be prosecuted Prosecuted, oh my! So we headed directly to the office before someone thought we were there to take a dip in the closed pool. The time is roughly 1210 (1200 being check in time) Looks like everyone on duty takes lunch together and they close until 1pm. Hey look, they have our name on a piece of paper directing us to our spot. We walked to our home away from home (before driving to it) and find it is still currently occupied and that it would remain that way for about another 45 minutes. Earlier when we called I reminded the staff of our extended stay in hopes that our site might be one of those away from the transient one day people who are simply looking for a place to stop before finishing their journeys but no, we were placed right in the middle of them so we got to listen to new people arrive and depart daily while we were sitting in our lawn chairs under our awning that pretty much took up the rest of the postage stamp sized site we were given. But, it was vacation; we didnt have to be at work so we made the best of it. So at 1pm the folks were back on duty so I went to check in. While she was checking us in I noticed the bundle of wood sign and decided it might be nice to have a fire during a couple of the chilly evenings and was told she could sell me the wood but I could not burn it.interestingly the sites dont come with a fire ring because someone in the past decided to build a fire big enough to burn down their awning so everyone gets penalized. Great news though, she would be happy to sell me a miniature grill that you can get for $1.99 at the grocery store for the low price of $9.00 your logs wont fit in it though. Needless to say, I passed on the bundle of wood. I did get to hear about how stupid campers are though and specifically about a guy who took a wrong turn got stuck and had to be hauled out by a wrecker. I also learned that this facility has a one car rule for their sites, more on that later. So the first night we are readying ourselves for sleep and boom, lights shining into the windows and through the blinds. Were aliens landing and abduction inevitable? No, come to find out the security lights (which I think are on loan from the sun) are situated in such a way that it creates daylight after twilight, all night long. We did however survive without retinal burns. Now we didnt really expect many activities or fellowship this time of year and to no surprise, we werent disappointed. Unless you wanted to go to the check in counter and discuss the integral functions of restroom cleaning, there was nothing. No pond, trails, interesting floral arrangements, not even a stray cat or squirrel. Well here we are at the end, well the day before the end and we make the biggest mistake of all. My wife brings her vehicle to our site so we can pack a few things early since we are leaving in the morning. Mind you, my truck is there, our travel trailer and now her van. We dont have a very long unit so both of our vehicles fit nicely and dont obstruct any traffic lanes. About 20 minutes into packing food, clothes and other items after a week of stay we hear a pounding on the door. Yes, pounding, not a knock. Low and behold a white haired, white bearded clone of Santa Claus is at the door. When we asked what the visit was about he said he was there to remind us of the one vehicle rule we were so blatantly violating. So we explained that we were packing up some things for our departure in the morning. Now at that point a person with some customer service skills would have said no problem sir, please be sure to park back by the office when youre done, I hope you had a great week with us But no, obviously eye contact triggered his autism because he began to repeat over and over again, one vehicle per site, one vehicle per site, one vehicle per site. Im afraid if I hadnt closed the door on him he might still be out there. I recommend being careful where you walk if you travel here they allow him to drive a golf cart around the premises. Well we are home now and have made the decision that unless every single campground on the face of the earth is occupied, we will never go back to Cassville-White KOA.
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