Day 16 – It started getting windy last night and the waves were loudly crashing; 66 degrees at 6:15 a.m. We think it would be exciting to stay here thru the storm, but it wouldn’t be safe in the RV. We’re heading for another campground in North Carolina (we’ve become attached to this State!): Flanners Beach Campground at the Neuse River Recreation Area. It’s 3 hours from here on a river. We’ll head North to get off the barrier islands, then West through Roanoke Island and across the top of the Alligator National Wildlife Refuge, turning South past New Bern. New country to explore.
The drive was tedious and scary. The winds were blowing and the gusts were pushing the RV around. We had to take it slowly which increased the driving time. We departed Camp Hatteras at 9:50, 71 degrees, hazy and windy. Sand was blowing off the dunes onto the road.
Something I’d forgotten about living in the South by the Ocean – everything is coated by a layer of salt – making it look even more hazy out. As we drove away from the Ocean, we noticed changes from what we’d been seeing. Forsythia were in full bloom, a brilliant yellow; many trees were covered with gorgeous white flowers, and we passed many lovely pink bushes.
Other differences: BBQ joints everywhere, collard greens growing in fields, grits on breakfast menus instead of potatoes, if it wasn’t a BBQ place it was a fried chicken place, restaurant chain “Bojangles – chicken and biscuits”, rarely a Mexican restaurant or an Italian restaurant, pizza places only occasionally. Though we did pass acres of solar panels for some of the farms, we were surprised to discover the campgrounds thus far in NC did not recycle trash. Oh, and places to buy firearms and discount cigarettes abound. Plenty of Trump signs of course, and I’m sure we’ll see lots more, but we won’t be talking politics here.
We arrived at our destination at 1:55 p.m., 81 degrees, cloudy, humid, and windy. There’s a storm coming. Site 16 at Flanners Beach Campground, which is part of the Neuse River Recreation Area and surrounded by the very large Croatan National Forest. Lovely area. Off the road and quiet, it just opened for the season today. Small campground in the woods near the Neuse River. There are 42 sites, 20 are electric only (no water & sewer at site), and most sites are either filled already or reserved for weekend arrival. We like our site; it is private, though small; there is no one next to us or across from us yet, and behind us is just woods. We’ll be here four nights.
Site 16, Flanners Beach Campground
Walkway to the beach from Flanners Beach Campground
Flanners Beach, NC
The girls were not happy campers. They did not enjoy the trip here due to the high winds and the length of the trip. But once we got set up, Java and Luna settled right in, with Pixie and Grace continuing to complain. We sat outside and watched the birds flitting from tree to tree. Had dinner and relaxed, all kitties calm and happy by evening, left all the windows open for the night – a very quiet campground.