We love camping, but our dogs make it a little challenging. Either Jason had to pull the fifth wheel by himself with Bella and I had to follow with Solaris, or we had to get creative! So what did we do? Yep, we got creative! Or rather, I should say that Jason got creative. We can’t travel with both of the dogs in the same vehicle, within any close proximity of one another. Solo, while she is a wonderful pup, does not tolerate Bella anywhere within her personal bubble. If you’ve followed us at all, then you know that we both had dogs before we met and have no intention of ever changing that, so we make it work somehow.
We had reservations at Lake Manatee State Park in Bradenton, FL and wanted to attempt the short trip with both dogs in the truck before trying longer trips with them. We knew that we had to keep them separated with no chance encounters. Since this trip was within a couple of hours of home, this was the perfect opportunity to give it a try. At first, we thought we could use travel crates in the cab, but couldn’t find any that would fit both dogs and the space. We just couldn’t come up with a solution before I left for my niece’s wedding.
After I left, Jason called and said that he had come up with an idea. He built separate spaces in the cab while I was gone. He used 2×4 lumber and plywood to create a floor and barrier between the dogs. When I got home, I attached fabric to the plywood between the dogs, peel and stick on the floor and farm wire to create a separation from the front seats and each other. It wasn’t pretty, but it seemed to work, so off we went on a few rides to test our handiwork. The dogs were both aware that the other was just on the other side of the wall, but were content in their own personal spaces. After a couple of test rides, it appeared that Jason’s idea was a success, so we were ready!
Have I ever mentioned that both of my parents were born on a Friday the 13th? 🙂 Well, if that isn’t enough to give you an idea of my luck, then how about the fact that about halfway to the campground, we had to stop so that Jason could work on the truck three different times? Yep, we were driving and we heard a boom, but hey… at least it wasn’t the dogs, right? If you’ve ever had a higher mileage 6.0 then you are probably used to the charge pipe blowing off, but I sure wasn’t! Also you’re probably used to making this face as you fix it! Our truck has over 260k miles on it and the turbo was due for a service. It was over boosting and this caused our intercooler pipe to blow off. I don’t understand what that all means, but it happened a couple of times that afternoon and scared the life out out of me every time, but Jason said was a pretty easy fix each time. We traveled onward to our campsite but once we got home, he replaced a couple of sensors and that seemed to solve the problem enough to stop the pipe from blowing off. But now, the turbo still needs a good service before we travel to the Indy 500 in May.
Because of all the stops, we broke the golden rule and arrived after dark. Didn’t I tell you about my luck? Well, it seemed as if my unlucky streak was continuing. We were able to find our site and set up pretty quickly, but had no power. There was water and 30amp electric available, but our power connection wasn’t working. We thought it was our power cord, so we tried our spare. That didn’t work either! Thankfully Jason had brought the generator. Since we arrived after hours, we had to wait for maintenance to arrive the next morning. We made the most of it and lit a campfire and settled in.
The following morning, maintenance was quick to respond and had our power connection restored in no time. Our first view from inside the camper was great, but would it provide as nice once we got outside and explored? We had a very private campsite, full of lush green foliage and palms. After breakfast and settling the dogs, we set off to explore the area.
First, we got a good look at our campsite and made a few adjustments since we had set up in the dark initially. Well behaved dogs are allowed at the campground and our dogs are both well behaved, don’t bark or destroy property, but do not get along, so they each have their own crate, bed and playpen. They were set up to have full view of the campsite and each other but were separated by our lounge area to prevent any reactivity. This allowed us to have them both outside with us at the same time. It also helped us rotate them inside and outside for potty breaks and walks. It also rescued us from a little excitement during our stay.
We took a walk around the campground and found it pretty full, although we couldn’t tell from our campsite. The sites were spacious and far enough apart that we couldn’t see, nor hear the other campers. Our site had a picnic table and firepit with grill, and was surrounded by nature. Yes, we were equally impressed with the campground as we were with our site and the sunsets were just beautiful. Reservations are welcome up to 11 months in advance and can accommodate RVs up to 65 maximum ft. The campground is within walking distance of the beach and fishing, however there is no lifeguard, so swim at your own risk. A dump station is located at the entrance of the campground, but no sewer hookup is available at the individual campsites.
There is a scenic lake with over 2,400 acres for kayaking and canoeing, but you’ll need to bring your own because they do not offer them at the park. You’ll want to bring your bicycle and enjoy the 2.5 mile paved path to the lake. Alcohol is prohibited at the park and campground. There are horseshoe pits, volleyball and playground within the park. The park offers over 4 miles of remote hiking trails and more than 600 acres of wildlife habitat. If you go, be sure to take hiking supplies and be prepared for possible wildlife encounters. We wished we had taken an airhorn with us!
We use a lot of different methods and tools to keep our girls happy and distracted. They each have their own “rooms” outside and inside. Their outside spaces are identical with one exception. Bella is taller than Solaris, requiring her outside crate to be a size bigger. Otherwise, they have the exact same setup. We use zipties to attach their playpens to their crates. Each playpen has a walk gate and each crate has two entries, making it easy to put them in their “rooms” and take them out without having to unlatch the walk gate. Neither of them like to have leash supervision when outside to potty. Their playpens also serve that purpose and the walk gate makes for easy playpen cleanup.
Inside, they each have identical crates, converted to a desk area where the sofa-bed used to be. We have a reclining sofa in the slide, so the sofa-bed was just wasted space. Now the space is usable and serves a purpose. This is also the only way we can have them both in the same space with us at the same time. They don’t mind their crates because they feel safe and get “ice cream” whenever they are sent to their “rooms”. We also use them to easier rotate the dogs from one space to the other, so that each one gets equal time in each space and neither can claim nor dominate a specific space. Besides, we love our dogs and want to spend equal time with them.
When one dog has access to the living room and kitchen areas, the other has access to the bedroom and master bath area. There are beds in the truck, all of their crates, as well as in each living space so they are comfortable no matter which space they are in. This gives us peace of mind and lets us enjoy our personal time and space without feeling stressed or anxious about a fight breaking out. We just don’t ever offer that opportunity. The fact is that Solaris is never going to accept having another dog in her vicinity and that’s fine. They are both safe and happy and that makes us happy.
So, remember when I said that we wished we had an airhorn? Well, here’s the thing… weapons of any kind are not allowed at most campgrounds, specifically county, state and federal lands. So what are you supposed to do if a potential predator approaches your campsite and focuses on your pets? We had that precise scenario at this campground. Our campsite was surrounded by nature, and a lot of it. It was very pretty, private and dark at night.
We were sitting outside in our lounge area, around the firepit and our dogs were each in their own crate/playpen space when we heard a lot of rustling in the bushes. At first we didn’t make much of it, maybe a raccoon, rat or possum, we thought. But then Solaris began fixating on a specific area. She was on high alert. Bella was just chilling in her personal space, not paying attention. Suddenly, Solo stood up, her tail went straight, her ears pointed up like “Gizmo”, and her hackles stood straight from her neck down her back to her tail. Something was up. We kept hearing the rustling, but usually she doesn’t bother with wildlife of any kind, just dogs in her personal space. I kept reassuring her that it was ok, while giving her commands. She is well trained and follows commands easily, but not this night. She began a low growl and her head followed movement all the way around our campsite, from one side to the other, around the RV. She knew something was out there and felt it was a threat. At that point, I knew something was up. Her behavior wasn’t normal, not even for her. That’s when I told Jason that I was ready to put out the campfire and go inside. He didn’t hesitate, he was feeling uneasy himself, and by then Bella was also becoming anxious. I got up and started picking things up to take inside and that’s when Jason yelled to me to quickly get the dogs inside.
If you’ve stuck through this far, then by now, you know that I couldn’t have grabbed them both, because then I would have had a dogfight on top of whatever the wild threat was. I was closest to Solo, so I opened her crate to reach for her collar and she attempted to bolt out. She never does that! Never! I gave her a command and grabbed her collar, not even attempting to attach her leash. I had to fight to get her inside the camper. She knew something was out there and was determined to protect us and our space. Once I was able to get her inside and behind the bedroom gates, I went back to retrieve Bella. Jason was still picking up, but panicked once I opened the door. Whatever was stalking us was now running in the bushes, getting closer. He grabbed Bella and yelled for me to bring him something loud. I didn’t have time to process, so I grabbed the cast iron firepit burger cooker and the fire poker and handed them to him. I quickly grabbed Bella from him and exchanged the items. He yelled that wanted something loud to scare the animal off with, like pots an pans. But by then, we had both dogs inside and he was on his way. Turns out, it was a bobcat! We don’t know if it was stalking Bella, us, or the food, but pretty sure it wasn’t Solaris. Well, not unless it was just looking for a fight. Anyway, that’s why an airhorn is now on our camp packing list! After we got back home, we Googled bobcats at the park and wouldn’t you know it, the trail just behind our campsite was Bobcat Trail.
In closing, we would definitely camp at Lake Manatee again, but would absolutely take a couple of airhorns, both for the campsite and for hiking. It was my favorite park campground to date.
Stay safe out there,
Val 🙂
Disclosure: The items below are pictured in the photos within this blog. As an Amazon Affiliate, we may earn from qualifying purchases. This means we may receive a commission if you click on a link and make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.
