26 Apr - Arrived at MacDill Air Force Base FamCamp Tampa FL

 

Today we drove a short 87 miles from Three Flag RV Resort near Wildwood FL to the MacDill Air Force Base FamCamp (family campground) in Tampa FL, also called The Raccoon Creek Recreation area.  This is stop # 10 out of 35 for this trip. We are camping here for six nights then heading south to Naples/Marcos Island KOA.

I've been TDY (temporary duty assignment) to MacDill Air Force Base before but not to camp with an RV, and Doreen has never been here.  MacDill is an Air Mobility Command base and home of the 6th Air Refueling Wing with the iconic KC-135 air refueling aircraft and all the associated support units.  MacDill is also home to US Central Command (USCENTCOM), US Special Operations Command (SOCOM), Joint Communications Support Element (JCSE) and other units.  

So MacDill has an interesting FamCamp.  It is massive and a haven for snowbirds, those campers that go south for the winter then migrate back north for the summer.  Many say we are doing this "backwards", since we go south for the summer and stay in the northern tundra for the winter!  Some day that may change, but for now that is how we roll.  Like I said, this place is massive.  They have 389 RV spots with full hookup, so they host a whole lot of snowbirds.  This place is packed in the winter, but right now there are many vacant spots as the snowbirds have headed back north for the summer.  

One of two campground areas at MacDill.  See the beach area

Looking down our street

This is what the sites look like

So we arrived, processed through the main gate and headed around the flight line to the southern part of the base where the FamCamp is.  They were doing some "controlled burning" of some brush today so there was a large fire department presence and smoke everywhere!

Heavy smoke from controlled burning

The wind carrying smoke across the road

Since many of the sites are vacant we opted for a spot a bit away from the beach but with no adjacent neighbors.  

After arriving and getting set up we changed into beach attire and headed for the water and sand.  The beach was nearly empty which was fine with us, and the water was very warm.  Doreen is definitely in her element here!  She immediately started searching for sea shells!

We do not have any firm plans while camping at MacDill other than attending an A's vs Tampa Bay Rays baseball game on Thursday 29 Apr.  Doreen has found some lighthouses she wants to visit or at least photograph and we will revisit the local beaches (St Pete's Beach, Madeira Beach, Clearwater Beach),  shell hunting, and of course checking out the local cuisine.  We got some intel on Big Ray's Fish Camp restaurant from one of our Air Guard comrades.  Otherwise I suspect some relaxation and sun worshiping will be in the plans!