Maxine,
It sounds very frustrating.
Why don't you book a reservation for the Gulf DIS Meet 2019 around Memorial Day week now in case you can't get in for 2018? There are plenty of spots available and you can book that now. We'd love to have another DIS'ser like yourself there. You can always move/cancel/trim days according to the rules. But as you see, it's hard to "add" nights close in to time.
Go to
www.alapark.com, choose "Find a Park" at the top, scroll down to Gulf State Park, and over on the right side click "Book Online Reservations Now". Search your dates, pick your site, and make the reservation. When you add your credit card and book the one night deposit, there is a screen that will come up at some point that shows your reservation number, all the nights you've booked, and that you paid the deposit.
PRINT/SAVE that screen.
Gulf's reservation system is not as good as ReserveAmerica's and it won't send you an email confirmation (learned that the hard way). My little ol' state park system is not very sophisticated.
Good luck.
Bama Ed
PS - here are my observations about sites and 2019:
Sites 6 and 7 have big oaks behind them that provide afternoon shade. Everything on the lake side (sites 11-39) have NO shade but they are lakefront (watch Tiggerdad wrestle the alligators from under your awning).
Site 60 is across from the Comfort Station (they are air conditioned). It has a big oak for daytime shade but the very backside is open so you might get 2-3 hours of sun before it sets in the west.
Some folks like the Garnes stay on Bobcat Road (site 83-103) and it is my favorite spot when I come down in November many years. Site 83 is cut into the shade trees behind it and the trailer door side faces the fish cleaning table there along the main road that has a sink, running water, and a long cutting surface where folks cut/gut their catch from the Gulf in the afternoon hours. For somebody like Loves2Fish or 2goofycampers (yes, our very own Frank and Denise), that would be a PERFECT site. It is a VERY short walk to the lake/Live Oak where many of us congregate. The Garnes are down around site 98 and I like to stay in 94 or 96 in November.
I stay on Sumac sometimes too when it's not summer. Little shade but the wind in the winter can be strong coming off the lake and the sites along Live Oak Road. 61-65 are in the wind then and the rest are sheltered by the oaks on Live Oak Road. I've stayed on Sumac a couple times and would again.
Hope these comments helps. If anyone has any more questions about area (not sites, please, there are 500 of them) you can PM me.