We wanted to fully test the cold weather capabilities of our new camper so we made reservations to stay at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park near Gainesville, FL. The weather was kind enough to accommodate us. Tonight’s overnight low predicted to be 33 degrees (about our camping limit). So far, at 47 degrees, we are very comfortable with our pretend fireplace set at 70 degrees and our little portable space heater pointed at the bedroom and also set at 70 degrees. We have the gas furnace set at 68 degrees as well and so far it hasn’t kicked on.
As we were backing into our campsite we noticed that our neighbors across the road had the exact same Keystone Cougar camper as we do. After we setup our campsite they came over to visit and we both complimented each other on our tastes in campers. They bought theirs in February of 2021 in Tennessee. It’s a 2021 model and did not come with a solar panel setup. We are both very happy with our camper selection.
We arrived at about 2PM and setup our site fairly quickly. The campground roads are fairly narrow, so backing into the site was fairly tight but not an issue. The site is long enough that we could have kept the Expedition attached to the camper and still fit in the sight, but there was a large palm tree at the back of the site that needed trimming, so we parked the camper about 8′ from the back of the site. This site has a 30 Amp power connection (there are 50 Amp sites in the campground) with water (no sewer). Our AT&T MiFi is getting 35 Mbps download speeds and we are streaming our access to the sports channels with no issues. We are also able to pickup PBS, ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC via our antenna.
On Saturday we were honored with a visit from a young co-ed from the University of Florida (which is less than 10 miles away). Our friends Todd and Melissa’s daughter, Makenna, is a Freshman there and was ready for a home cooked meal. She specifically requested Troyer PotatoesTM and we were happy to oblige. We also cooked chicken over the fire. We had a great time visiting with Makenna. Beth sent her back to school with a nice care package of chicken and potatoes.
