Croft State Park, another try

 Determined to travel – July, 2020

We were supposed to have spent two weeks in the Blue Ridge Mountains with Jack and Marcia this summer.  As Covid continues to rage, all federal properties still remain closed making camping along the parkway an impossibility.  Rob continued to have health challenges along with a treatment that caused even more trouble and we were feeling Covid limitations and complications more than ever.

Jack and Marcia made their move north from Florida as soon as restrictions and safety allowed and found themselves within an easy day’s drive of us, as good an excuse as we needed!  Croft State Park is just outside Spartanburg and an easy drive straight up I-26 from Charleston and we made plans to meet up there.

The park was a complete surprise!  Being enamored with mountain parks, we really didn’t have high expectations.  The campground was nestled in the trees with welcoming sites and there were hikes in every direction with lakes and streams and several caches for Marcia to find her way to.  The best part of the experience, however, was the relief of being outside of the Covid raging city for a few days and being with friends following the same safety protocol we used.  

Being with Jack and Marcia, we fell into our “routine” and hiked ourselves silly (me especially),  Marcia found several caches (always the diversion) and we ate, drank and gamed at will.  An extra challenge this visit was that Rob continued to have debilitating migraines and my emotional state was at an all time low.  Having been secluded from friends for months and Rob’s health being a roller coaster ride with some really BIG “thrills” along the way, I was what could be described as a wreck!  

Despite my emotional state, we carried on and even had a fun day exploring Spartanburg, a town we have near 40 years experience with in business but didn't really know.  We found a welcoming, open minded and contemporary town and I scored a birthday gift for my daughter in law and Rob and I had our first meal out in many months - all protocol safe, mind you!

As our times together would indicate, any rendezvous with Jack and Marcia meant good food and lots of games.  Not as exciting for blog material but always a joy for all of us.  With Rob down a lot of the time, I had even more time to cook and kept us well fed while Marcia reliably arrived with some stellar G&T's to share.  Can't say it's a bad life!

Jack’s full-time RV-ing son, Jack Jr and his wife RoseMarie decided at the last minute to come see them at Croft.  Being in my “tender” condition, the complication of visiting with people whose habits I knew nothing of along with selfishly being less than desiring to share the precious days with our friends provided to be a challenge that took me to the brink and I had a good, honest Covid cry!!

These are circumstances that show a person’s underbelly.  They also show people’s true colors.  Marcia proved herself to be more than an RV buddy, more than a good game player, hike taker or dinner sharer.  Marcia locked herself in as a true friend.  Seeing what I was fighting terribly with myself to hide, she showed up and helped me let go.  All of the sadness, frustration and fear of the last 4+ months of covid and health scares came out on the shoulder of someone risking her own safety with a lifesaving hug. 

More than the trees, the streams, the hikes or games, our time together at Croft will be the time that I was rescued by a friend. 

Gainesville area, GA - an ... ESCAPE? May 2020

Tallulah Gorge State Park, May 2020

Who would have guessed we’d be where we are today?  I’m not talking about Tallulah Gorge, I’m talking about Covid-19!  For two months now, we’ve been dealing with the new reality that Covid has brought.  There’s no need to explain, we all are experiencing life in a new way.  Our particular challenge is Rob’s health in the midst of the pandemic.  With another recurrence of tumor growth, we’re having to maneuver continued healthcare mired with new complications. 

With the airBNB business at an understandable standstill and feeling like our wanderlust might make us crazy in the confines of our own little bubble, we decided to try a short trip to an open park in nearby Georgia.  Really, how dangerous can RV travel be?  We have everything we need!  Full kitchen, bathroom and no need to stop anywhere or see a soul.  So we took off feeling thankful for a much needed escape.

Tallulah Gorge is a wonderful site.  With the days hot and the nights cool, we had a perfect campsite with no one else around us – distance protocol not a problem!  The first day’s hike was through all of the park’s boasted features and we thoroughly enjoyed hiking along the rim of the gorge and climbing and descending the 721 steps to the river below!  With miles under our belts (and plenty of elevation challenge), we spent the evening with a great meal and our favorite games.

Rob has been struggling with migraines lately and we’ve tried our best to maneuver around them enjoying the clear moments.   Usually waking in good shape, we decided to try an eleven mile hike to a lake positioned further into the park.  It was really a wonderful day despite the distance.  Without too much elevation change to challenge unreasonably, we made it to the lake and basked in the sunshine, our lunch and cool water to dip our sore feet into.

The camp host had told us that the back trails normally required permits to hike but that the office was closed with covid so we just needed to know there was no staff covering the area and to use 911 for emergencies.  Thankfully, the hike went off without event but we were surprised to find a group of rangers near the end of our day that were as surprised to see us as we were them!  We were admonished for not acquiring the previously stated as unavailable permit … apparently a miscommunication somewhere along the line!  We made our apologies and were treated to viewing the very rare trillium persistens plant found only in a four square mile area in the world – right where we were!  Who woulda guessed?!

With a great hike under our belt, we fell into another casual night.  Rob continued the daily migraine struggle as the day wore on which was the norm in recent times.  It’s so hard to watch this man of such strength and vigor be held back by this malady.  Taking one day at a time is all we can do and we settle in hoping for better spell in the morning.

Well, the morning didn’t bring us good tidings, I’m afraid.  We woke to Rob’s migraine growing progressively worse lending him finally on the floor without any fight left in him.  I called 911, an especially scary proposition with Covid raging.  Being in a remote campground, it took a little time for them to arrive.  Deciding the closest facility didn’t have the resources to care for Rob in his condition, it was decided to transfer him to Gainesville, an hour away, where they had full services for possible stroke or heart related issues. 

It’s Covid.  We don’t have a car.  I’m not allowed in the ambulance.  They’re taking Rob miles and miles from me – and he’s not well.  Needless to say, it was an unbelievably hard thing to process.  I first tried to rent a car but we were too far to have it delivered.  I tried to find someone in the campground to take me or lend me a vehicle.  No such luck.  And finally, realizing I couldn’t be in the hospital if I went, I tried to sit still with myself far too far from family or home.

Without spending a full page on the details, Rob needed to stay the whole day and into the next to get stabilized despite no answers being found.  The big challenge then was getting to him!  Time for the big girl panties.  I packed up the RV – first time solo – and I got behind the wheel thanking myself for having at least tried it once before!  I did it (and did take that selfie because I HAD to).  I did it fine, too.  I got things right, got out of the campground (despite accidentally hitting the air horn a couple times at the pre-waking hour of 7am!) and made the 60 mile trek to the Gainesville hospital. 

Rob wasn’t released until that afternoon and I sat in the RV in the entryway of the hospital (thanks, security!) trying to get updates and sending up supplies for Rob and fresh baked cookies for the nurses.  He was released in better but still far from perfect condition and it was time to get off the hospital grounds.  Navigating and driving through county roads on the approach to the highway toward home, I gained even further appreciation for Rob’s insistence on driving all the time!

I drove the balance of that day and we found a place to pull off the road for the night in the corner of a parking lot.  Not an auspicious place to spend our final night of our Covid escape but we could not have been happier to be where we were – safe, together and alive!

Moonshadow 2020 – Covid Edition / Florida, the year begins

NEW PORT RICHEY FUN, Dec 27 – Jan 1

We bought Moonshadow in a bit of a hurry really.  Rob was determined that we should have a diesel and she fit the bill being a reasonable price for a diesel with low miles in good shape.  BUT, too much excitement can blind … and we’ve had a few issues on our hands we ignored in our haste.  One such issue was the windows.  When we picked her up for transfer to Charleston, we realized the windows had all lost their seal and were cloudy which makes for less than enjoyable viewing from them!! 

2020 began with our traditional Kramer rendezvous in New Port Richey for New Years and we brought Moonshadow along for window replacement at nearby Suncoast RV repair.  Randy and Theresa (Rob’s brother and wife) picked us up from Suncoast and we enjoyed 5 days of family frivolity. 

Rob’s uncle Bob and his two kids Gregg and Wendy and her kids make for nonstop fun.  Bob turned 90 just weeks before and is still the rock – and life – of the family!  We all stayed at Bob’s wonderful home, the guys golfed and Theresa and I hiked daily. 

New Year’s Eve was an emotional day for Rob and I in that it was son Jacob’s wedding day in Colorado.  Planned well after our trip to Florida and repair reservations, there was just no easy way to make our way there.  When the big moment came, we watched on Facebook Live and I cried like a baby while the whole family watched along.

The eve brought great fun with Wendy, partner Steve, son Kirkland and daughter Alli and had another blowout New Years Eve together in Wendy’s welcoming home still impeccably decorated for the holidays.

Home Oct 5

And that was it.  Even our last attempted hike the next morning was pretty much scrubbed by a massive mosquito population determined to send us packing!  With no particular hurry to get there, we broke camp and drove the last few miles back to the address officially known as home.

It’s been just over a week now since our return and it’s taken me this long to actually put these finals touches on our last recollections.  Life here moves at a much quicker pace.  With the calendar filling rapidly in the weeks and months ahead, each day fills itself as well.  Doctor visits to catch up on, friends to reconnect with, even sorting through the mail all keep us running. 

We’ve been able to spend time with the kids and Madi has visited repeatedly to our delight.  We’ve spent quality time with friends, attended a few parties and even a gala and it seems that our adventure is already in the distant past.  I have no regrets - for going nor returning.  No regrets, but I can’t help but slip into planning where we head next….

We’ll see you there!!!

The Final Days of Summer Oct 2 - 4

We invited John and Penny to the driveway for oatmeal and fresh baked muffins in the morning before our planned departure of the day.  We were excited when they agreed to join us that evening for a bbq and a taste of RV living at the campsite we hoped to secure just under an hour’s drive down the highway.

The plan was to arrive early enough to secure a first come first serve site at Croatan National Forest.  The park had not answered their phones all morning so we said a quick good bye and see you later to John and Penny and hit the road.  It was a quick drive and we arrived right on time for checkout.  Despite half the campground being empty, I was unable (a first!) to convince the campground host that he could find us a site for the night.

Being that John and Penny had agreed to come join us at our campsite for dinner and get a taste of our life off the grid, we couldn’t go much further away.  The only real option we had was at Goose Creek Campground, a commercial RV park and certainly not the “natural” setting we had hoped for. 

We checked in and picked our site along a nice little stretch of water.   It wasn’t as bad as we had envisioned really.  Being a brutally hot day, the gleaming pool didn’t seem like a bad option nor did the power we hooked up to!  We got ourselves settled, took a stroll around the campground finding a peaceful area along the intracoastal waterway and then put our suits on and headed for the pool.

John and Penny arrived and we gathered under the shade of the awning as the sun took its leave.  After a filling barbeque complete with fresh baked key lime pie, we wrapped up our amazing time together feeling thankful that, once again, this journey had allowed us another long overdue re-connection.

Having moved far enough south and with the high temps refusing to give way to fall, we woke the next morning knowing we were close to home.  Not taking time for much else, we packed up our campsite and started the final stretch south.  We crossed the border into South Carolina before noon and battled our way through the still congested traffic around Myrtle Beach as the sun continued to beat down.

Figuring it was best not to officially arrive back at the end of a day, our final destination was just a stone’s throw from home.  We had camped at Buck Hall plantation just north of Charleston before, using it for a short weekend breather in the last RV.  Thankful to have hookups with the unusually hot weather, we got ourselves set up and the a/c on full tilt. 


Being that this journey truly WAS being measured in friends, not miles we had invited our good buds from Charleston to come up and spend the evening.  Why not?!  They must have been excited to see us, arriving mid-afternoon despite the heat! 

We had had intentions of a solid hike before the day was over.  No chance!  With good friends to catch up with, we wasted no time with healthy habits!  The wine was opened, the snacks brought out and we enjoyed the shade of the awning and the breeze as the day marched on.

It wasn’t long before I started looking at getting dinner ready and we all realized that there was too much fun being had to rush anything.   With the beverages continuing and plenty more to talk about, Dick and Karen accepted our invitation to spend the night.  We shared a momentous last dinner on the road, played some cards and made an all around great adventure of our final night out.

Yet More Fun with Friends Sept 30 - Oct 2

We had a good drive on our hands to reach our next destination.  We met John and Penny in the Keys in January of 2012 during our first year of Moonshadow’s sailing chapter.  Instant friends “back in the day”, we had only crossed paths once since as they sailed through Charleston later that spring. 

Being that our homeward path brought us down the coast, we looked them up for a rendezvous.  Once again, fate would provide not only easy and perfect homesite camping but reconnection with great acquaintances and limitless fun!

We arrived mid afternoon having broken camp early and a long, stop and go drive down the coast.  We had skipped lunch not finding the right opportunity and trying to stay on schedule.  Once again, we were able to maneuver our monster cozily along the driveway and were settled in no time.  We wasted no time catching up and, before we knew it, we were sitting in a waterside bar, drink in hand. 

The rest of the day was spent bar and food hopping through the quirky and quaint town of Beaufort.  Ever the sailors favorite, the eateries and little haunts were not hard to find and we moved about with our long time resident friends who introduced us to one character after another.  Full of food and drink, we arrived back to their home and played the night away with good conversation, a fun game of Blokus (never heard of THAT one before!) and general shenanigans. 

We weren’t hooked up to power but the quiet neighborhood and the night breezes provided a good night’s sleep.  After a lazy morning, John and Penny hit the gym sending Rob and I to hike a nearby trail.  We drove out from Morehead City to  We visited the historic fort built pre Civil War.  Built by Robert E. Lee as a project as a young army engineer, it is beautifully restored and sits on a gorgeous area of shoreline.
Fort Macon State Park.

We toured the fort then hiked the forested and swampy bay side before breaking out to the gorgeous dune trail on the return.  Appreciating the beauty of the area and soaking up the hot but healing sunshine, we were happy to return to the car’s a/c and the ride back. 

Again missing lunch, we decided on a midday main meal and headed back downtown to try out a relatively new Mexican spot.  With darn good margaritas and some of the best guacamole we’ve ever had, we filled ourselves with main   
dishes that continued to impress.  As if that wasn’t enough, we apparently needed to hit a brewery and didn’t stop until trying the local ice cream! 

Needing a break from fun and frivolity, we put our eating frenzy to rest for a short while.  Rob had noticed an open mic happening at a spot downtown and decided he had to make his debut – THAT DAY!  Of course he also decided I needed to be his backup and we found ourselves heading back to the bar hours later with guitar in tow.

We had a fun night watching the other “acts” that ranged from a novice or maybe two to a 13 year old wonderfully talented fiddle player and obviously established local bands using the time for live band practice!  There was We were second to last on the lineup so we got to enjoy everyone – with me feeling more and more like bailing on the whole idea!!  Our time finally was up and the crowd was down to our kind friends and the remaining local diehards who were taking their drinking seriously.  With a bit of a mis-start, we managed to make our way through Rob’s chosen three Johnny Cash tunes before I could jump the stage and RUN!!

John and Penny were ever so gracious to support and took a video of the whole “ordeal”.  Returning home near 11, Rob couldn’t wait to see the video as they played it full screen.  We laughed, critiqued and finally settled down from the high energy of the night and an amazing time with good friends!

Back to the Beaches Sept 27 - 30

We knew we had some serious driving ahead of us being a Friday afternoon in a large metropolitan area.   We were right.  From the start, traffic was congested and red sections were appearing all along our planned route for the day.  Again, we weren’t even sure exactly where we were headed. 

Getting around Philly and into the Delaware peninsula, we could wander the Chesapeake, follow the beaches or just head straight down the middle.  We ended up taking the beach route because it looked to have sections where just driving would provide scenic reward. 

We bussed our way down the coastal highway in the Friday afternoon throng.  With less nature to see than expected, there were other distractions.  We noticed the sound first.  What looked like normal cars were sounding like they were on a race track.  Then we noticed the wheels, the mufflers … calling our son, Matt, he informed us the H20i was happening.  The numbers of souped up cars and crazy drivers was … impressive (for lack of a better word).

Anyway, long story short, we did make it to the border – and a WalMart.  Having missed our opportunity to book a campsite in the area state parks, we gave up and succumbed to our old standby.  We spent the night wandering into the small, depressed town of Pocomoke City not finding it quite what was billed as the “friendliest town on the eastern shore” despite attending the Friday night social gathering downtown.

Glad to get back on the road in the morning, we headed to the Outer Banks.  Neither of us had ever been so we were hoping to get lucky and score a first come first served campsite.  We both thought a latte sounded good and I directed us to the only coffeehouse I found along the way that didn’t have Star or Dunkin in its name!!  We headed for Hickory Trading Co that showed latte art on their website and the added bonus of being filled with local crafts supporting persons with special needs.  Pulling our big lug into another weird parking situation, we went in to find a great concept but a bust of a coffeeshop!

Back on the road with our undrinkable coffee, we headed for the beach.  The highway toward the beaches covered rural areas and there were numerous farmers markets along the way with mass quantities of seasonal pumpkins to brighten the ride as the traffic increased…knowing we wanted to get to near the Delaware/Virginia border for the night, we journeyed on.

We marched our way through the small communities and out to the seashore.  We arrived at the Oregon Inlet Campground just in time to get their LAST site!  And even that was at the mercy of the attendant rangers at the welcome station who had “a moment” deciding if they could fit us in!  We were SO excited! 

The campground was set on the back side of the dunes.  Wide open, un-shaded and open to the elements, we got ourselves set up and primed for a day at the beach.  Our site didn’t have any services so we did our best to utilize the shade of our rig and awning and then headed out to walk the beach.

Having determined myself to now be a mountain girl, I was nonetheless once again entranced with the beach and the ocean.  We walked several miles enjoying the sand under our feet and the sound of the waves crashing.  The Outer Banks surprisingly allowed vehicles on the beach so, being a Saturday, there were a LOT of vehicles lined up with countless people fishing.  We watched several reel in their catches – one lost along the way and the other a good sized ray that put its captor up for a good fight.

The rest of the day was spent in full beach stupor with a lazy game of scrabble in the shade of the rig accompanied by several cold beverages.  Easing into the evening, the wind picked up as the sun dropped in the sky.  We enjoyed an al fresco grilled salmon dinner before losing what was left of daylight and then enjoyed the myriad of stars offered by the clear and near moonless night.

The next morning we learned our site remained available and we decided to stay another day.  With the temps climbing into the 90’s – our first really hot day since heading out in July – and no electricity, we knew we wouldn’t be spending the day in the sun.  We opted to try a bike ride and headed to the Bodie Island historic lighthouse just 2 miles away. 

There was an adequate shoulder on the main road but the sun was seriously hot and the wind was directly against us and building.  The 2 miles and then another into the lighthouse seemed like double!  With lighthouse access limited to 8 at a time, we decided not to wait for the hour plus for our turn and wandered the area and its short nature walk before heading back out.

Wanting to get some exercise, we decided we should try to bike the rest of way back to Nags Head to see what we could find.  Another 6 miles against the wind left us both sweaty and spent when we arrived to Sunday morning in the less trafficked south end of town.  Nothing but the local convenience store was open so we scored some cold beverages and a seat on the shady front porch before the ride back to our beach home.

The ride back was momentously better!  With electrolytes replenished and the wind at our back, we flew back in a surprisingly short time.  We spent another lazy afternoon – lunch in the  
shade, a nap as the wind continued to build and the clouds began rolling in and another game of scrabble for good measure!

With the clouds and wind taking over, the temps dropped and we enjoyed another beach walk.  With the change in weather and the weekend being at its end, the beach was a whole new experience and we walked the sugary sand and crashing waves until we had our fill. 

With the wind blowing in earnest and the air turning cool enough to require another layer, we chatted with neighbors and whittled away the evening.  Each day was becoming more special knowing that our trip was soon to be left in our memories and on blog pages.