Island Hopping....Edisto and Hunting ......

We had fun adventure last year and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  I never got around to writing this one up.  Greg made reservations for one night at Live Oak Campground at Edisto State Park and the following two nights on the beach side.  Reservations at Edisto are very hard to come by and we have tried many times so we were thrilled to get these even with having to move.  Now when I say Beach side - I really mean beach!!  It was amazing!!!

Our site at Live Oak was cozy and we really enjoyed being there.  There were lots of places to walk and enjoy the nature all around the campground. We were a little sad to move until we saw our site on the beach side campground.  It was amazing and literally right on the other side of the dunes with a walkway just near our site.  It was site #13 but it appears that it doesn't exist now as we checked on reserving it again and it no longer shows on the map.  It was really one of the best sites we have ever had and our only regret was that we couldn't keep it longer.  We stalk the reservation site hoping to find one similar there again. 

One other awesome find was Botany Bay - my brother had told us how amazing it was and we spent hours there.  If you ever get a chance to visit make time to ride through.  It's just beautiful and there is lots of history so take your time. We took the walk to the beach and it's a trek but totally worth the effort.  We saw so many shells and so much more.  Check out the link above to see more pictures.

Since we weren't ready to head home just yet, Greg checked online and was able to get a reservation at Hunting Island State Park.  We hadn't been back since the last hurricane hit there - I believe it was Michael.  This is one of our very favorite spots and as I have mentioned too many times, we spent a part of our honeymoon there 34 years ago.  I have to admit when we drove into the park it took my breath away just a little - it was just so different.  After a bit we realized that it was still a beautiful nature filled adventure it always has been.  When we got to our site we were surprised to find out the site we had reserved was the very same as our last visit.  Even with the storm damage and reduced shoreline it is still an amazing campground.  Most of the ocean front sites are gone but there is still a lot of work going on there to restore as much as possible. 

This view is from the lighthouse side and it's well worth visiting too. There are tables and places to grill and hang out on this side and it's just so peaceful there.  Tons of crazy birds hang out there too.

After a couple of days we headed home.  This was such a fun trip and it's so nice to be able to pack up and move on to the next adventure.  That was so much more complicated when we tent camped.  We have done this on a couple of trips and we really enjoy it.

We have our next trip planned in June.  We will be heading back up to Devils Fork for a few days and then on up to Bryson City!  I have wanted to go there for years and we are finally going to make the trip.  We hope to ride the train and see a few other sites while we're there.  We have reservations at Turkey Creek Campground.  We have heard so many awesome things about this campground and the couple who run it.  Check it out if you are ever in the area.  We'll post some pictures after our trip.  They also have an awesome Facebook page.

On another note, we are settling into our new normal as empty nesters and learning it's going to be ok.  We are still struggling with the thermostat but it seems we have the Google Home and wireless down.  Now if we could just get the Amazon Fire Stick functioning again.  Oh well....one day at a time.  See you on the road....

Little Red Traveled Back to Devil's Fork...

We actually spent a whole week in one spot - first time for us and we loved it.  I didn't want to leave but of course it's always nice to get home.  Lake Jocassee is a beautiful back drop and it was just steps away from our site.  We camped on #1 this trip and we had made reservations back in October of last year for this visit.  This campground is very busy during peak times so make your plans early.  Even the tent sites fill up.

Lucy loved the lake and actually went swimming this time.  Her favorite thing to do was sit out in the screened room in front of the fan and chill.  As usual she didn't love the drive but the car seat did help.  She spent about half of the trip in her seat and slept and looked out the window..  That is a huge improvement and made us very happy.  Thanks so much to the camp host at Table Rock State Park for that idea!!

Our set up this time was awesome.  We had the screened room and our site was right beside the path to a little beach area on the lake.  That kept us from having to walk down to the main swimming area, although we did just about every day for ice and ice cream....of course.  😀  There are so many trails
and areas to walk in this park and plenty to do.  On this trip the campground was fairly packed and bustling.  We met so many people and dogs of course.  Lucy made all kinds of friends.  We have to shout out to Charles and Ashley and their dog Katie - they left us their awning on the lake and it was awesome and we left it for some kids who were there when we left.  We also met the most awesome little dog named Bud...Lucy was in love with him and he tolerated her.  He was quite the Man! 

This was the most moderate weather we have experienced so far and we cooked outside every day.  The bugs were minimal and the sun was beautiful through out our visit.  We could not have ordered a better week.  It was also our 32nd wedding anniversary mid-week so we celebrated by going into Seneca and having dinner at the local Fatz restaurant.  It was excellent and so much fun.

Our youngest and his girlfriend came down and spent the last few days with us in a tent and we all had a blast.  They canoed some and we all went to an awesome local Mexican restaurant for lunch on Friday.  We found the neatest little general store and picked up some goodies there.  It is stocked with unique canning jars, Lodge products, handmade goodies and so much more.  If you are in the area do stop by The Burgess General Store and visit with Mark and Krystal.

We love this area and will definitely visit again.  From here out until Fall this campground is super packed and hard to get reservations.  Be sure to plan ahead if you want to camp here.

So far we are still loving Little Red and he has been very reliable and very little issues - always caused by our lack of knowledge or human error.  The only thing on our list down the road would be a little larger camper - possibly a 177 or a little bigger.  A walk around bed would so nice but we still love our little 166 and we can easily tow it with our Ford Edge.

As far as gadgets on this trip we used our Coleman grill every day and it actually works better than our big gas grill that we use at home.  We would highly recommend it to anyone who camps or tailgates ....or just needs to be mobile.  The other real life saver on this trip was the "Pooper" - this was our first use of it because we were staying put for the week.  We were so happy to have it.  Being in one place and having relatively small tanks on the 166 it really made our stay so much easier.  This is something we would also highly recommend if you camp a lot where there are no full hook-ups available or you just don't want to pay extra for them.  It was quick
and easy to attach to the back of the car and drive down to empty.  It also made it easier when we left and dumped the tanks.  

We have more pics of the lake on Greg's DSLR camera and we will put those up as soon as we get them transferred.  Not sure where our next trip will take us but we'll keep you posted.  See you on the road....