More on Willow Tree...35-105mm lens a success!

Tuesday, 29 January 2013.  Greetings everyone!  Well, Lynette is currently over at the campground’s game room playing Mah Jong with her buddies – every Tuesday 10-12am like clockwork.  Lynette and one other lady are the only ones who’ve ever played before, so these first few weeks have been a struggle.  But Lynette says they all seem to be having fun and keep coming back to play again.  Anyway, thought I’d take this time to come outside – beautiful morning, about 68 degrees today – and update the blog.  Our weather is supposed to be very nice today and tomorrow – near 75 on Wed, but with some rain/wind as a cold front moves thru – before returning to more normal temps down here for this time of the year.  And that means highs in the upper 50’s to low 60’s and lows in the mid-to-upper 40’s and maybe even the low 50’s at night.  Very nice and we’re loving every minute of it!

I decided to try and get outside the other day and take some additional photos of the Willow Tree campground and share on the blog.  We’re really enjoying our time down here and would highly recommend this campground to anyone looking to come to the Greater Myrtle Beach area, or Grand Strand as the locals call it, and spend some time.  I also wanted to try out the 35-105mm lens on my digital Canon EOS Rebel XT.  I got a great deal on the Canon, along with several lenses and additional equipment from my good buddy, Jon Kuntz.  Thanks, Jon – all the pics in this blog entry were taken with that 35-105mm lens (I hadn’t tried it out since I got it from you as the other two lenses were doing such a great job).

Anyway, the weather outside the other day was overcast but the temp only required a light jacket.  There was also just the right amount of sunshine that I didn’t have to worry too much about which direction I was trying to shoot.  Believe I got some great pics – the 35-105mm lens did a great job.  I was very pleased with the results.  I’ll try and attach a brief description with each photo.

Before posting the photos, a word or two about the Willow Tree campground. They have 107 large, paved RV campsites.  Depending on where you’re located the site is either a pull-thru or you back into it.  Their “Signature” (the most expensive) sites are located right on the 36-acre lake here at the campground, so you most likely want to view the lake when parked.  We opted for a site that is located one row off the lake; still a very nice site but costs a bit less.  If you have a motorhome and want a site right on the lake that most likely means pulling into the site; with a fifth-wheel or trailer you’d most likely back into the site.  It also depends on which side of your rig the water/sewer and electric hookups are located. 

Willow Tree also has four cottages located on the other side of the lake from the RV campsites.  Two 1BR and two 2BR, all located in a cul-de-sac that sits right on the lake.  The campground is also currently putting in three more cul-de-sacs near the cottages that have been designated for park models (think small single-wide trailers but fancier).  Willow Tree will sell you the park model of your choice that you can customize to suit your needs/desires.  The campground has two park models on display and we walked thru one the other day.  Very nice, but small – about 450 sq. ft.  If desired, you can add a screened-in deck later once you’re set up on your site.  The park models are going for anywhere from $50k up into the $60k range, depending on how fancy you get with your customization.  The sites themselves will rent for either $5000 or $6000 per year depending on your view of the lake.  The better the view, the more expensive.  I thought the annual rent was a bit pricey, but maybe that’s the going rate for this Greater Myrtle Beach tourist area.  You can also rent/lease them out, so that might make it more appealing to any potential buyers. After we are “done” with our full-time RVing, this park model option is something we’re considering.  Lynette’s folks had one in Yuma, AZ, for several years and would “winter” there and then travel back to Washington State during the late spring and stay thru the fall.  We visited them once in Yuma and I have to say I came away impressed and tucked the experience away for later reference….and here we are.  Who knows what we’ll end up doing after our “traveling” years, but the park model is certainly an option.

Enough with the chit-chat: let’s get to those 35-105mm photos I’ve been promising.  I’m really proud of a couple of them (don’t worry, I’ll make sure to make a point of it) and am using them in my screensaver slideshow.  I’m getting better, Jon – Jon’s my photographer hero!

View across the lake with the long-needled (about 5-6 inches) pine trees that surround the campground. Believe this is one of the better photos I've taken with the Canon.  Think I got the contrast just right with the 35-105mm lens.

 

Another view of the pine trees here at Willow Tree.  Virtually all of the them are very tall, very straight, with almost all the needles located in the top third of the tree.  Interesting to say the least, but impressive nevertheless.

View of the cottages here at Willow Tree across the lake from us.  

The two in front are the 1BR, with the 2BR units in the back.

View of the two park models on display.  We walked thru the one on the left.

This shot is looking back at the entrance to the nature walk here at the campground, with the lake in the background.  Another of my favorite shots with the 35/105mm lens -- I love how the shadows play into the trail.  I'm getting better, Jon! 

Below are a couple more views of the nature walk trail.  Sometimes it's a very narrow, one-person-at-a-time trails, while at other times it joins a service road so you can actually ride your bike around the far side of the lake.  Quite a pleasant, quiet walk -- and well-maintained.