Mountain Traveling, Life and More...

In June we visited Devils Fork, SC again - one of our favorite places to travel to in the summer and fall.  This campground is located on Lake Jocassee and offers some of the best scenery in the state.  It's cooler there than where we live in the middle of the state.  This beautiful lake never disappoints!  We hung out there for two days and would have stayed a third night but there was a good bit of rain and storming so we decided to move on up to our next destination ----- Bryson City, NC!!!

Oh my gosh - I have been dreaming of this trip for a good while.  I have read so much about the area and I follow a local celebrity - Ashley Hackshaw - AKA Lil Blue Boo!  She is a local artist and she and her husband have been such a boon to the area since they moved there.  We visited their store Bryson City Outdoors and its just as the name implies - everything you need for doing the outdoor life!! Go over and follow Ashley on Instagram - she is amazing and takes you along on her adventures of living in Bryson City and raising chickens, rescue pets and their beautiful daughter along with Bret.  They also restored an amazing property available to rent during your stay at Sixty One Park.  That's on my bucket list too!!!

While visiting Bryson City we camped at a small campground in Almond, SC called Turkey Creek!  I can't recommend this little gem enough.  Its run by Mike and Ramelle Smith.  It's very wooded and natural. The bath house and laundry room are clean and spacious and the campsites are remarkable well cared for and clean.  They have been running this special campground for many years and their touch is very evident in every square inch. Their dog, Huey, the best concierge and retired trail guide, is a friendly greeter and always available for a head pat.  Lucy loved him and couldn't wait to give him a kiss.  This campground is perfect for tent campers as well as RV's.  We will definitely be back. It's about 5 minutes from the lake and Bryson City.

Another gem we found there was the Mountain Perks Espresso Bar and Cafe!  Oh wow - don't miss this little bit of awesomeness when you visit the area.  We had a delicious lunch there followed by the best cappuccino I've ever sipped on.  The owners are so friendly and gave us so much info on the area and places to visit.  We truly didn't want to leave when we finished up.  The atmosphere is quaint and cozy and the food is so yummy.  I had the cheesy potato soup.....drool worthy!  If we lived in the area this would definitely be a regular stop. 

As I write this post I'm dreaming of returning to both places we visited.  At some point we hope to take longer trips and spend more time in areas we really love.  These two are definitely on our list.

Life here at home with no kids is flying by.  We are learning to make food for two - not an easy feat after so many years of making way to much.  Unfortunately when we returned from this trip our cat was not feeling well and after a vet trip we had to put her down.  She was 14 and lived a great life but I sure do miss her.  Greg was her favorite but she was great company to Lucy and I even though she was a grumpy curmudgeon most of the time.  We miss you Jessie Kiki and hope you are frolicking away over the Rainbow Bridge. 

Update on our research into a bit larger camper.  We hung out at John's RV Center - the place we bought out Retro, for a couple of hours last week.  They are very heavy on Airstream right now and we were surely tempted but for the same money we could get the Retro or our dreams - the 189R - Silver Edition and have so much left over for awesome travels.  We'll keep you posted on the journey. 

We aren't sure of our next destination but hopefully it will be in August.  Maybe a beach landing this time.  Take care and we'll see you on the road.

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....