We departed home in New York on December 19, 2018. It was 18 degrees, clear & cold that morning. Now, one month later in South Carolina, it is 58 degrees & cloudy this morning. We’ve left 2018 behind & begun 2019 with the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, currently with no end in sight. We’ve traveled from NY, through NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, NC, & SC. And we’ve traveled 962 miles in the RV during this first month.
We’ve stayed at 7 campgrounds in 4 states: two in Maryland, one in Virginia, three in North Carolina, and so far, one in South Carolina. All but one of the campgrounds that we’ve stayed at were new to us this trip: Martinak State Park & Bayside Campground at Assateague National Seashore, both in Maryland; Cherrystone RV Park in Virginia; Moonlight Lake RV Park & Carolina Beach State Park in North Carolina; and our current campground, Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina. We did return for a second visit to a campground we discovered on Trip #1 in 2017, North River Campground in North Carolina. We would return again to all of these campgrounds for extended visits, except Monlight Lake RV Park which was good for a one-night stopover.
We encountered lots of rainy weather during the first 3 weeks, keeping us inside often, but we had many good days. Highlights of this month, not in any particular order, have been: birding on the causeway walk in SC & birding at Kiptopeke State Park in VA; kayaking at Indiantown Creek in NC; biking in NC at the Dismal Swamp Canal hiking & biking trail and throughout Huntington Beach State Park in SC; the Civil War Museum in NC and the Harriet Tubman Museum in MD; Brookgreen Gardens in SC; visiting with Gail & Keely & Shane in MD, and the Christmas-decorated enchanted forest, also in MD; the horses and the drives around Assateague & Chincoteague Islands & the marsh boardwalk at Assateague (MD & VA); Blackwater, Dismal Swamp, & Back Bay National Wildlife Refuges; and watching the ships & the sunsets at the Chesapeake Bay in VA. Certainly not a bad way to start this trip!