Cedar Point Campground, Croatan National Forest September 14-28, 2011

Dan and I headed to Cedar Point Campground to help my Mom and Dad with some repairs that were needed compliments of Hurricane Irene. Gin and Syl had told us about this campground and we decided to check it out.  We were not disappointed (more on this later). 

Site 31 - nice big site!!

We spent the first few days evaluating the damage at my parents, tearing down their dining room wall, replacing the wall, painting the wall and ceiling (in two spots!!) and taking umpteen trips to the burn pile.  Mom fed us very well (and worked right along beside us!) and Dad kept dibs on us to make sure that the work was up to par!  Before we could complete the hurricane repairs, Mom decided that she wanted to rip out the "false" ceiling in the spare bedroom.   Whew!  Despite a very close call with the ladder leaning and the pry bar falling on Mom's shoulder, we made it through the repairs with no major injuries!   I don't have any pictures to share but all in all, the project was a success. 

We originally were only going to stay at Cedar Point for a week but liked the campground so much, we extended our stay another week.  There are some very nice trails including one that goes out (via a boardwalk) into the estuary (White Oak River).  We were easily entertained by the "spitting" clams and saw a handful of blue crab too.  Too bad we didn't have the dipping net otherwise we would have had dinner!    Dan and I put many many miles on our bikes and even pedaled to Swansboro and back.  Emerald Isle has some very nice bike trails and we took advantage of those as well.  We found a very small town park off of Coast Guard Road and explored all of the hiking trails the park had to offer.

The weather was quite overcast and rainy for a number of days but we did get these two pictures!


EI bridge is in the background.



This little guy let me take his picture a number of times.  The end of this pier was lost during the hurricane.

We also visited Ft Macon State Park in Atlantic Beach.  Despite my parents living in the area for 20+ years, my family had never been here.  It was a very interesting place to visit and I'm glad we were finally able to do so.  On the way back to Cedar Point, we stopped at Big Oak Drive In and enjoyed a shrimp burger, bbq sandwhich and onion rings.  Yum!! 

My Mom and I took a day trip to Wilmington to see my daughter, Ashleigh.  She is a freshman at UNC-W and I haven't seen her since she moved into her dorm on August 20th.

Ashleigh and proud Mom!!

We went out to lunch and then stopped by Wal-mart to pick up a few necessities for a college freshman....popcorn, crackers, fruit, nutella, cereal, juice etc etc.  We then went back to her dorm and chatted for a few minutes and then Mom and I headed back home.  The time went by too quickly!!

We will be back to stay at Cedar Point later this year for my family's Christmas celebration.  Thanks, Gin and Syl for giving us this recommendation.

Cheraw State Park - Cheraw, SC September 7-14, 2011

Before I get started, thanks for all of your email comments about our new blog.  I do have the comments feature set to "allow" but have been told that Blogger has been having difficulty with this feature.  Hopefully this will get fixed soon. 

Cheraw State Park was our first official stop as we set out on the "open road".  We had been to Cheraw with my sister Cathy and BIL Bruce last year and had a blast.  We were now returning with a handful of other folks dubbed the "Carolina Clan".   Our site (#16) was perfect and even had a sandy tent area for the newleyweds (son Brandon and DIL Amanda) that would join us for the weekend!! 

It certainly was a fun week filled with much laughter, good food, kayaking and hiking.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Thanks Nancy and Bill for the picture!!

Brandon really enjoyed using some of his camping tools!! The hatchet barely left his hands all weekend!

 

BIL Bruce relaxing at the campsite.



Sister Cathy and DIL Amanda enjoying the outdoors!



Cathy at the beginning of our moonlight paddle!



 Bruce and Laura with Rick and Gail behind them!!



Neighbors Paul and Jill

Nancy and Bill

I think that Amanda is praying in this picture. "Dear God, please don't let Brandon see a snake!!"

Why does Gin look so mischevious?  Does she have George?

Syl having a great time!!

Full moon amongst the cypress trees!

And finally, thanks to Nancy and Bill, a picture of Dan and I in our kayak.

We will definitely have to make plans to attend the 2nd annual gathering of the Carolina Clan!!  Thanks to all for such a great time!!





Happy Trails....

It may take me some time to get used to this blogging thing so bear with me while I figure this out!!

A lot has happened in the past 3-4 weeks!  Wow!!  Words can not express how surprised Dan and I were at our Happy Trails cookout!  Thanks to everyone for coming and giving us a very warm send-off.   And a very special thanks everyone who was involved in coordinating the surprise!  The food was great and we had fun playing yard games.

Happy Trails!!

Big Brandon and Dan 

Our dear friend and owner of Korkie's Campground!!

DIL Amanda and son Brandon - instigators of the surprise!!

Linda and Tricia (aka Louise and Thelma).  Best friends for almost 25 years!!

We have to give Linda credit for the title of this blog!  We'll do our best to give regular updates!!