Friday, March 28, 2014

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.

2 comments:

  1. I haven't been to OBX since 1985 -- well, I have been to Topsail Island in 1987 and 1991, but that hardly counts. You really to drive the whole thing. You see a lot of different stuff, from the coastal jungle of Okracoke Island at the far south (and where Blackbeard headquartered) to the rolling green hills of Kill Devil. The ferry ride from Okracoke to the mainland is one long, boring-ass trip, about 90 minutes as I recall, if not more, so I'd save that for the very end, if anything.

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  2. All advice appreciated! We are going to spend three days in a campground in the Croatan National Forest before we head to the Outer Banks. That area is actually one of the least populated in the USA. Almost no humans. Just animals. I'm hoping to be able to see a good night sky. They say it's one of the best around to stargaze.

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