My morning walk was unlovely…through the Walmart, Lowes, Staples, MattressFirm, Best Buy, and Hobby Lobby parking lots. I knew that we had a lot of driving to do today so I wanted to get my two miles in before we left.
Our ride initially took us through more low country.
Later, we rode mostly on Carolina highways flanked by tall pines in sandy soil.
We went about 250 miles and stayed at the Mount Pleasant/Charleston KOA. We wanted a full service campground so that we could get laundry done. I took a walk after throwing the clothes in the dryer. It is really pretty here!
We enjoyed some North Carolina shrimp scampi for our dinner.
I love the town of Charleston but we are really trying to stay away from cities…so tomorrow we will move further south.
It was a great morning for a walk. The weather was perfect and the breeze was warm.
Our goal today was to take the Cedar Island Ferry to the mainland. Fortunately the seas are calm today! We got to the terminal very early and so I passed the time taking care of paperwork and Tim puttered around on his bike.
We boarded and the boat pulled away from the harbor.
It was a lovely day for a ferry ride. We enjoyed being out on the deck and taking pictures. These cormorants were sharing this sandbar with pelicans and gulls.
In the middle of the ride, we were surrounded by shrimp trawlers.
We landed at Cedar Island after 3:30. We traveled for about an hour through low country…marshy and pretty.
It was after 4:30 by the time we arrived in Morehead City. There wasn’t much daylight left. We parked in the Walmart parking lot for the night. I went in to get supplies. Tim found a Greek restaurant, The Pita Plate, within walking distance. We called in our order and went to pick it up. Tim enjoyed a chicken gyro and I had excellent falafel with hummus. We did not move very far today, but what we did exhausted us!
Ocracoke Campground Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina
Today is Election Day and while we are very aware…it is nice to be away from the news and the ads and the frenzy of this particular election. We are in our happy place and there is something to be said for that!
Our campsite backs up to the dunes and I began my morning with a walk over the dunes and down to the beach. I circled back around at the access road and walked through the campground. It was a little chilly but the sky was blue and the wind and the waves were calm.
Beach Blanket FlowerI love the way beach grass creates patterns in the sand as the wind blows.
We took the Jeep and drove the entire length of the island on the beach as much as possible, using the access ramps. It was such a perfect autumn beach day…a little crisp with clear skies…great for walking.
I am the little dot way behind the Jeep
We took our bikes and rode the 3 1/2 miles into the town of Ocracoke, through the side streets, and down to the dock.
We were looking forward to lunch at Eduardo’s food truck…great shrimp burritos for our meal. We were able to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air and fresh seafood.
We spent the afternoon doing a few chores after out rest time. We packed the cooler and headed to the beach to watch the sunset and have dinner.
Ocracoke Campground Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina
Good morning!
It felt like winter when we got up this morning. It was 45 degrees and blustery. I decided to forego my morning walk…I did not want to be cold! We packed up and headed for the Hatteras-Ocracoke Ferry Terminal. We had to drive through six inches of water standing on the road. The wind was blowing water from the sound up into all the small channels. Yards were swamped and so was Route 12.
Today was long…longer than we expected by a bunch…sometimes it happens that way! We got to the terminal at 9:15 and the attendant told us that they had shut down service because of high winds and waves…we were welcome to wait…Good thing we have no schedule and no reservations. Good thing we had our own bathroom and snacks and books and stuff to do!
We got a little excited at noon. They were going to load priority vehicles and if there was room for us, we would also be able to cross. We could see as they loaded the huge dumpster truck with his trailer that we were not going to make it…maybe at 2 though! We were happy then to get on the ferry!
I had expected that the ride would be rather rough…but it wasn’t bad at all…at first…then the boat was a rockin’ as the ferry pitched to the left and right. I am certainly glad that we didn’t travel across when it was rough! The ocean water was splashing onto the front deck.
It was 3:30 before we got to our campground and got checked in. Tim decided we should take the Jeep into town and find some carryout for dinner. We found the Ocracoke Oyster Company and ordered.
Tim had fish tacos and I had a fried oyster salad and we took our meal to the beach to watched the sunset. It was a nice way to end the day!
Cape Point Campground Hatteras National Seashore NC Day 2
My morning walking companions.
Marsh Pinks.
Lovely scenery.
After breakfast, we took a long bike ride through the park.
We packed a picnic lunch with smoked whitefish and fresh vegetables and apples and headed to the beach.
We were not back at the RV very long when the sky began to fill with clouds. By 3:00 it was raining. We were grateful that we got to enjoy the best part of the day!
By 5:30 it was dark. We went for a beach ride but it was so cloudy and black that we didn’t stay out very long. There were still lots of fishermen out there though.
Cape Point Campground Hatteras National Seashore NC
Happy Halloween!
I began my day with a walk over the dunes and down to the beach.
We packed up the RV and headed south on Route 12 to Cape Point Campground. While the Oregon Inlet Campground was almost full last night, this place is fairly deserted. There are a few Canadian geese and a couple of deer and a couple of other campers but it is very quiet here. There is a beach access ramp directly off the camping loop. We took the Jeep for a ride this afternoon.
When we drove to the actual point, the waves were tumultuous, crashing and splashing as high as 20 feet. There were lots of fisherman here…not sure if they were catching anything.
We drove around the bend where the wind and water were much calmer. The sunshine felt wonderful.
This evening, during the golden hour, deer were feeding on grass at sites across the way.
The sky was lovely at sunset.
Later, we took another ride out to the beach to see the Blue Moon. I wish I knew how to adjust my camera to get better moon pictures!
Oregon Inlet Campground Hatteras National Seashore NC
The weather we were supposed to get during the night, terrific “red” thunderstorms and wicked wind, thankfully, never materialized. We woke up to calmer breezes and mist. A call to the bridge information hotline told us that there were o wind restrictions today. We got busy and packed up and left before anything could change! By 10:00 we were at Morris Farms where we got some preserves and produce. By 11:30 we were camped at Oregon Inlet. We aired down the tires after grabbing a quick lunch and headed for the beach. The sky was beginning to clear and though it was windy, it was warm. We enjoyed at walk at the inlet and then a second walk at Pea Island Wildlife Refuge. We drove down to Rodanthe and stopped in the market there for a couple of groceries.
We had delicious Maryland crab cakes from Santoni’s for our dinner as we watched the sunset over the sound.
After dark, we took the Jeep for a drive along the beach. It was still very windy. The fast moving clouds and the almost full moon made for stunning pictures.
When we left Reisterstown, it was raining. It was not a very nice driving day, but it wouldn’t have been a nice day for much else either. We had the intention of staying at Cherrystone, one of our very favorite campgrounds but it was raining and unpleasant and we decided that instead we would just keep moving. We did stop in the town of Cape Charles just for a quick lunch break and walk on the pier.
We had made arrangements to stay at a Harvest Host Campground. Harvest Host is new to us. For a yearly fee, members are allowed to camp in over 1,100 locations. These sites are farms, orchards, breweries, wineries, museums, and other similar attractions. Our first time was in Virginia at a brewery and we really enjoyed having this different kind of experience. Today, we had hoped to make it to Morris Farms in NC but that didn’t work out! We got to the toll booth at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and we were directed to turn around. There were wind restrictions due to 47 mph wind gusts and so we were not able to cross.
We went back a couple of miles to Kiptopeke State Park and set up camp. I had forgotten how lovely it was. We went for a nice hike from the campground to the beach and then through the woods.
On the 18th of September we dropped the RV at Camping World in Oakwood, Georgia. While we visited with David and his family, the RV was scheduled for some repairs and maintenance. We got to David’s in midafternoon and everyone was home for dinner. Oliver recognized us right away and we got giant hugs. Austin was a little more hesitant and it took him a couple of minutes to warm up. From that moment and for the next four weeks, we had an amazing visit. The boys are growing like weeds and we hadn’t seen them since Christmas and so we had missed a lot! We certainly tried to make up for all that lost time. We played and played and played…playdoh and puzzles and games and kitchen and bubbles and bikes and made up games too! We had so much fun! When the boys were at school, David had a list of things that we could do to occupy our time…yardwork and painting and fixing stuff, and cleaning the garage and making dinners…we had fun doing that too! Andrea took a week off at the end of our stay and it was nice to have extra time with her as well. It was hard for us to leave.
We had an appointment October 20, 2020 in Red Bay, Alabama to get some new furniture for the coach. We drove home through Tennessee and got to do some leaf peeping.
We got to Reisterstown on October 23rd. I had fun helping Allison prepare for Kyle’s 30th birthday party. The four of us also enjoyed some dinners together.
I am really glad that we made the decision to go home. It was nice to spend time with the kids. It was also nice to see my mom. She is now cancer free and doing well!
I walked this morning in the campground before we left. It was humid and balmy but not raining. We thought we might be riding into part of hurricane Sally as we traveled toward Atlanta. But we were very fortunate and although we had periods of light rain, we had no gusty winds. Our ride took us through bands of clouds.
We arrived at Jones RV Park in the early afternoon. We spent the day cleaning the RV and getting it ready to take to Camping World, where it will stay for some maintenance while we visit David and Andrea and the boys. We plan to be with them for several weeks. We won’t write the blog while we are there but will resume when we begin moving again…so stay tuned!
We have very much enjoyed this trip. We have seen lots of things that we had never seen before. We were eager to leave Baltimore and we chose well…cooler temperatures and beautiful scenery, lots of time outdoors…all good!!
