Day 43 – It rained all night & was raining heavily & 39 degrees at 7:15 a.m. A nasty day for a long drive but at least it wasn’t snow & ice. Our destination today was Edisto Beach State Park at Edisto Island, South Carolina. Last night we camped in northern North Carolina, just across the Virgina border. Today we traveled through NC and south thru much of SC. Edisto Beach State Park was where we were staying when we had to leave. We’d only been there a few days & had been unable to do anything because of my knee. We loved it here, but hadn’t been able to explore yet. Now we will.
358 miles, (6:50), 34813-35171
We departed The RV Resort at Carolina Crossing in NC at 9:45 a.m. It was raining and 42 degrees. It rained heavily for a good portion of our trip. The water level was high in many lakes & streams that we passed, spilling over into the forests. When we crossed into South Carolina, we went by the crazy “South of the Border” travel stop which we saw last time on our way home. We began seeing billboard signs advertising the place more than 150 miles before we reached it. As we got further south in SC, the rain lightened to a drizzle and there was fog – rather dark & murky out. We began to see many signs that Spring was approaching here: new colorful growth on trees; bulbs with yellow flowers blooming; flowering trees of yellow, pink, and white; and the temperature rose to a high of 67 degrees. It felt surreal since we’d so recently been in sub-zero temperatures with snow & ice all around us. When we got off I-95 and headed towards Edisto Island, we saw the Bald Cypress trees in black swamps & Live Oak trees with lots of Spanish Moss hanging from them. Lovely!
Click on any picture below to see a slideshow.
We arrived at Edisto Beach State Park at 4:35 p.m. It was 62 degrees and very cloudy. Because of the weekend crowds, we’d been unable to book the preferred water view sites until Sunday after 12 noon when most people had left. There were only 4 campsites available for Saturday night in both campgrounds. We grabbed one, just for the night. Thank goodness. Site #79 was big enough but surrounded on all sides by large family groupings with young children and plenty of dogs. No big deal since it was just for one night, and we’d move to the quieter, more private campsites on Sunday. We unpacked, hooked up, and opened some windows to let some fresh air in. Promptly closed them. Too noisy out. The girls, not being at all used to noise, were a little alarmed by all the outside activity. They sat on their heated pads and on the dashboard glaring outside with their ears back. But the evening went well. Once it got dark out, we shut the shades & we were all in our own little world again. We went to bed early. It rained a little on & off and it was warm.
Edisto Beach State Park, Edisto Island, SC
Site 79, Edisto Beach State Park, Edisto Island, SC