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.