Counting Down...

Only a few more weeks until our first big vacation trip of the year. High in the running was a trip to Pennsylvania, an area where we've never taken our travel trailer. But for years we had been discussing a long trip to a part of our own state that I've never seen, and which my wife hasn't seen in decades: the Outer Banks.

The main reason I have never hauled the trailer there is that it's basically a pain in the ass to access those vast barrier islands. If you go in from the south you face a ferry ride. And there are no big Interstate highways or freeways leading from the central part of the Carolinas to the coast. The closest I've ever been would be Wilmington. The nearest spot to them that we've ever camped is Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina.

So, we're heading to the Outer Banks.

It'll be all new territory for me. We're going to take the kayaks and get in some time on some blackwater rivers in the Croatan National Park. And we're going to stop at the Alligator Wildlife Refuge to try to get a glimpse of the packs of Red wolves who live there.

And, of course, we'll travel to see the lighthouses, Kill Devil Hills, and Jockeys Ridge where the Wright Brothers had their first flight.

This was our campsite at Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina. To date, this has been the closest we've ever camped to the Outer Banks. This was also an exceptionally pretty campsite at what, to me, is the finest unspoiled coastal area that is easily accessible in South Carolina. And that's our old Nissan Frontier...the only motor vehicle for which I ever developed any kind of emotional attachment..

Getting the little travel trailer ready for a long road trip. That's part of the fun, too.