East Coast Trip - #4 (Pennsylvania & New York)

Thursday, July 15, 2021 

We left the Outer Banks early that morning headed for Niagra Falls, New York.  The traffic was so heavy near Washington DC.  The freeway was at times 8 lanes abreast and bumper to bumper...horrible!  We needed gas and were unable to get off of the freeway.  The traffic trying to exit was stopped for miles so we continued until there wasn't as much of a standstill to exit.  It just so happened the gas station was in a rural area and not especially made for large trucks or campers, but we made it.

We had a little trouble finding a spot for the night.  We called a few places and ended up at a Walmart for the night.  We pulled in and went straight to bed.  

Friday, July 16, 2021

After a good night's sleep at Walmart which was surprisingly very quiet, we called around and made a reservation for the night at Rustic Acres Campground in Pennsylvania.  We ended up staying here 2 nights.  Maria was not feeling well so we stayed an extra night to rest.  The campground was quiet and wooded with full hookups and nice size sites.

Sunday, July 18, 2021

We made reservations and headed out to Darien Lakes State Park, New York.  When you get north, they don't have water at every camp spot but central areas to fill your tanks...too cold, they freeze.  

We had a really nice ride up.  When I think of New York, I usually think of the city but the state's countryside is beautiful.  

We arrived at the park early so the guys went for a bike ride around the park. The park was wooded and hilly with nice spacious sites.

 

Our Campsite

Monday, July 19, 2021

We woke that morning and headed about an hour's drive up towards Niagra Falls.  Niagra Falls is a huge park with spectacular overlooks and beautiful walking trails to enjoy.  We had a wonderful time walking the trails and enjoying the views.

Afterwards, we rode to Niagra Falls State Park and enjoyed views of Lake Ontario.  We spent time watching boats on the lake and walked around the grounds near the lake.

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

We decided to head back south and scored the last site open at Geneva State Park on Lake Erie which was about a couple of hours away.  We setup camp and headed to Lake Erie to enjoy the area.

We enjoyed walking along the beach, watching the sea gulls and activity on the lake.

We enjoyed our time at the lake and the sunset was spectacular!

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

We left early that morning and headed home.  We pushed it and made it home that night.....very late.  We had such a wonderful time with many memories to last forever!

East Coast Trip - #3 (North Carolina)

 Sunday, July 11, 2021

Sunday morning, we packed up and headed northeast towards the Outer Banks.  On the way, we took a wrong turn and were heading into a "low" bridge.  NO!!!  We had to stop traffic to turn around.  It was a very tricky hair splitting maneuver but Clay did a fine job and got us back on track.

We stopped for the night in Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, NC.  This was such a beautiful wooded park with golf course, huge swimming pool, walking/biking trails and equestrian area.  We ended up spending another night to enjoy the park, ride our bikes and do a little laundry.

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

We arrived in the Outer Banks at our campsite OBX Campground in Kill Devil Hills, NC, for the next two nights.  This was a sweet little campground situated on the banks of a little inlet.  We setup camp and headed to the beach to check out the area.  

The Outer Banks was not at all what I expected.  It was a busy, highly populated island with

mostly houses, but very built up.

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

 We drove down to Hattaras and Rodanthe to check out the area.  The road took us along the beach with large dunes all along the way.   

I took pictures of the Inn at Rodanthe from the movie "Nights in Rodanthe".  

We headed back and relaxed at our little campsite for our last night there. 

Our campsite was also near the Wright Brother's Monument where Wilbur and Orville actually made their first flight.

East Coast Trip - #2 (Georgia)

Thursday, July 8, 2021

We made it to Georgia!  Arrived at our campsite around 8:30 p.m. last night safe and sound but very tired.  We set up camp and chilled for the rest of the night.

We decided to stay an additional night at this campground, which would put us here until Sunday, but in order to do that we had to move to another site.  We were packing up to move to our new campsite when Clay tried to start the truck to hitch up to the camper...and nothing.  Oh no!  Dead batteries!  The man in the next camping site was so nice and jumped our truck so we were able to move to our new site.  Once we moved over and our campsite was setup, Clay headed into Hiawassee to have the batteries changed.

Georgia was experiencing a lot of rain lately, which put a damper on what we could do, so we chilled for the most of the day and watched the rain.  

That evening when the rain subsided we rode up to Ball Mountain.  The little narrow winding road leading up the mountain with its very steep grade and tight turns was almost unnerving. 

Once up on top of the mountain, the views were spectacular and so worth the ride. Its become a thing for graffiti on the rocks even though there are signs everywhere "NO Graffiti".

We climbed up to the overlook for more majestic views.

Clayton brought back a few rocks to add to his collection at home.  Can you guess where they are? Check out his bulging pocket. 

Friday, July 9, 2021

Thanks to Tropical Storm Elsa we continued to dodge rainstorms every day but we headed out anyway to Helen, GA for a little bit of shopping and site seeing.  

Helen is a tiny mountain town (population of only 430 residents)in northeast Georgia. It's known for its Bavarian-style buildings. It's the third most visited city in the state bringing in visitors for its popular Octoberfest.

Saturday, July 10, 2021

We headed to Tallulah Gorge and Dry Falls, NC for a little hike.  Even with the humidity and rain, the falls were spectacular.

East Coast Trip - #1 (Mississippi & Alabama)

We've been wanting to take a trip to the East Coast and see the sights along the way and we brought one of our grandkids, Clayton, with us.  After a couple of weeks of planning we were finally ready to go!

Monday, July 5, 2021

We headed out Monday for Vidalia, La and spent the night in a campground that borders along the Mississippi River. We enjoyed views of tugboats pushing their cargo along the river. One could walk down to the river and get a closer look at these massive machines chugging along.

I think Clayton was very happy and excited to vacation/adventure with us.  One item on his bucket list he wanted to see was the Mississippi River.....check.

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Leaving Louisiana and headed eastward we hopped onto the Natchez Trace Parkway for awhile.  It's a much slower roadway but so beautiful.

The Natchez Trace, also known as the "Old Natchez Trace", is a historic forest trail within the United States which extends roughly 440 miles from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi rivers.

We stopped for a break along the way near the Lower Choctaw Boundary landmark.

When we reached Tuscaloosa, AL area it was raining heavily.  Our driver was so careful, slowed down and drove us through....thanks Clay.  We stopped for the night at Cherokee Campground in Birmingham, AL.  This small little park was hilly and wooded with mostly seasonal campers which made it extremely quiet.  We had time to barely park before it began raining and rained most of the night, a slow comforting drizzle.

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

As we were leaving Birmingham heading North East we stopped for fuel and discovered the refrigerator was not working...no power.  Oh no!  We spent about 2 hours trying to find someone to look at it.  The only place that agreed to look at our fridge, Anytime RV, in Hartselle, AL, was an hour and a half away and not on our scheduled route.  We headed there which was way out in the middle of nowhere, in the rain and did I mention through road construction.  We pulled in, they jumped right on it and we were on our way within 30 minutes...blown fuse.  Yay!  Note to self...we need to buy an ometer.

Back on the road again, we continued to head NE towards Hiawassee.  We stopped for a break in Tennessee near a Dam and took in the views for a few minutes.

We had reservations at Bald Mountain Camping Resort in Hiawassee, Georgia for the night and decided to try to make it,  which would put us checking in late and after hours.  The roads getting there were through the mountains, very beautiful but still raining which was a little scary to me.