Maryland

We headed 95 miles into Maryland on November 19th to spend Thanksgiving with family. Jason's sister lives outside of Baltimore and let me tell you, finding an RV park is no small feet. We finally settled on a place called Bar Harbor RV Park in Abingdon. It wasn't bad, it was on the harbor and we had a nice view, but it was definitely on the spendy side. I guess you can charge what you want when you're the only option around.

Feeding ducks right outside the RV

And most importantly - another sticker for the books!

Fourteen!

Jason was able to take Emma out hunting again - which made both of them happy. They brought home five chukars, and I lucked out because sis-in-law cooked them. I'm just not about touching things that were walking around earlier in the day.

Emma in her element

Emma found, Jason shot, Angel cooked

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday because we were waiting for Jason's mom and step-dad to drive over from Indiana. It was so wonderful to spend time with family, it's been a long time since we had that!

After diner fire on the back porch

Cheese!

Cousins

Finishing out Virginia and a Day in DC

After Williamsburg we continued our Northern trek 128 miles to Lorton, VA. We stayed at a lovey, and nearly empty state park from November 15th to 19th, the Pohick Bay Regional Park. I have never seen more leaves on the ground than here, the boys were in pile-making-heaven.

A ride through the woods

Our main reason for choosing Lorton was for it's proximity to Washington DC. We had originally planned to visit the White House, but decided to postpone that for another trip. Having a puppy is just a pain sometimes!

We did spend an entire day exploring DC though, and after dealing with parking I totally understand why bus tours are so popular here!

We did a drive by of the White House and then parked (kind of near) the National Mall.

Money shot!

You'd never know there was traffic jams all around

I was really surprised how many people were around, considering it was a Tuesday in November. The Lincoln Memorial was even larger (and more crowded) than I had imagined.

Oh hi there Abe

The Korean War Memorial and especially the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial are very sobering and well worth the trip.

We also walked through a place I had never even heard of - the National WWII Memorial

We found her!

Virginia Take 2

November 5th had us driving back over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (eek!). We headed 54 miles over to Hampton, VA and The Colonies RV Park. It was a cool area right down the road from Fort Monroe, which - I can't lie - has me seriously wanting a place with a moat someday.

Um, yes please!

The RV park was on a little barrier island with a 'private' stretch of beach. It was perfect for taking the dog out. There was rarely anyone there so I was a rebel and let her run around.

Beware rogue teeter-tottering youth

The weather left something to be desired, so we spent quite a bit of time inside just relaxing.

It's a hard life

Mmmmm bacon

We only stayed 3 nights in Hampton, it was more of a stop-over location for us. On the 8th we hit the road again - but only a short 40 miles into Williamsburg, VA where we stayed a full week at the American Heritage RV Park. 

There is a lot of things to do and see in the Williamsburg area. We went to the Yorktown Battlefield and explored parts of Yorktown itself.

This is my BOOM stick

Le Poseurs

Victory Monument in Yorktown

We also went to the Jamestown Settlement - it was really interesting but I didn't get very many pictures. Oops!

A random cross, because I have to put a picture :)

Main road through Jamestown Settlement

On the 13th Jason was FINALLY able to take his hunting dog to get some birds. The east coast doesn't have much public land so we had to go to the Orapax Hunting Preserve. All in all it was a good experience though! Emma had more fun than I can even describe, and Jason walked away with a chukar and three quail. I think the boys favorite park was cleaning the birds, but I'll spare you the pictures.

Get some!

On the evening of the 13th and the day of the 14th I went to a Homeschooling Conference by the ladies at Wild + Free. I highly recommend them if you are a homeschooling mama. I'm still really struggling with the finding the "right" way to do it for our family.

Virginia Take 1

On October 25th we travelled 88 miles into Virginia. We stayed 3 nights at Chesapeake Campground, which was ... not great. It's rare that we've stayed somewhere that I've actually felt uncomfortable, but this was one. We talked about taking off the next day, but I'd had the mail forwarded so we had to wait. 

It turned out for the best because I was having some serious tooth pain. I ended up having one of my wisdom teeth out on the 26th. Not my idea of fun, and I was pretty much out of commission until we headed out on the 29th.

It's only 55 miles to Cape Charles, but you have to take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It's pretty cool, but definitely nerve wracking, and expensive! They charged us $31 for the experience. The bridge is 23 miles across the ocean, with two separate 1-mile tunnels beneath the ocean. 

At Cape Charles we stayed at the Cherrystone Family Camping Resort, which we specifically chose because of the Halloween activities they hold. Cape Charles itself is an adorable little town. We had (for the first time in a loooong while) yummy beer at Kelly's Gingernut Pub - a great little Irish pub/restaurant.

Get in mah belly!

Jason and me had a nice morning coffee date at the Cape Charles Coffee House. Another completely charming little place.

The ceiling/ upstairs of the coffee house

So, we arrived at Cherrystone on Thursday and there was almost no one there. By Friday evening? Place was PACKED. Apparently Halloween is a serious THING up in these parts. There were people decorating their sites for hours on end. I even saw a guy bring in an extra truck load of decorations. 

If you're in the area for Halloween, it's a great place. There was a huge bounce pillow, they brought in a magician, there were costume contests, pumpkin contests, crafts, trick-or-treating, you name it!

Takes after his mom

Hopefully takes after none of us ;)

We also went down to the Cape Charles Beach, which - shocker. Is right past the town of Cape Charles.

Guardian of the beach

Boys being boys

Virginia is for lovers, didn't you know?

By Sunday afternoon the campground was a ghost town again. Which wasn't a bad thing. We spent the next few days just relaxing.

Snugglings my favorite

Seriously, this dog is always ON someone

Even more North Carolina

On October 20th we traveled 92 miles over to Twin Lakes RV in Chocowinity, NC. The boys job when we arrive is always to walk the dog so she can go potty. This time they were thoughtful enough to wave hi to me from the walk out front of the office. And Emma was thoughtful enough to pee all over the concrete. While everyone watched. Fun times :)

This doesn't have a ton of things happening, but you can always find something if look hard enough. We decided to do the $2 Tuesday skate night at the Extreme Action Park on the 20th. Trust me when I say there was nothing extreme happening. I'm sure the four of us were a sad, uncoordinated, sight - but we had fun!

The next day we strolled around the downtown area in a little town named Washington. There were a bunch of cute little shops, as usual it was hard not to buy something in every store. There's something about having to stuff all your purchases into a 240 sq ft space that does make it easier though :)

While we were walking around we passed by a barber shop and Jason commented to Porter that he could use a cut. The guys inside Ruff Kuttz heard and invited us in. They were some of the friendliest gentleman I've met. We hung out while all three guys took turns getting cuts. We chatted and watched a game of chess. It was seriously one of my favorite experiences to date!

Um, Mom ...

On the 23rd we hit the road again and stopped after 67 miles outside of a little town called Creswell at the Pettigrew State Park. We only stayed a single night, but there was a lot to see in this place!

Can you see Emma back in there?

The campground was right on the gorgeous Lake Phelps

Seriously, how stunning is this place?

Not only  was the campground lovely, and right off the lake, but just a small walk through the woods was Somerset Place. In the late 1800s it was one of the South's largest plantations.

The path over to Somerset

You had to make reservations to tour some of the main building, like the owners home, but even looking at it from outside was well worth it.

Front view

Over the three generations this plantation was active, more than 850 slaves lived here. There were many reminders of times past around the plantation.

For public humiliation

We continued to hot foot it towards the coast on the 24th and drove a quick 54 miles to The Refuge on Roanoke Island in Wanchese. I really wouldn't have minded staying here longer, it was lovely place.

Seriously, this is my life

After getting settled in, we took a short drive over to Nags Head Beach at the Outer Banks. Another gorgeous place!

Do you think mom will notice if we get wet?

Me: "Love this!" Him: "Ugh, sand. It's everywhere."

We set out pretty early the morning of the 25th, well early for us at least :)

But first we pose!

We stopped for breakfast at a great place called Waveriders Coffee and Deli. They even had gluten free bagels for Porter, he was giddy.

We had to drive through Kill Devil Hills so naturally we went to the Wright Brothers National Memorial! If you ever have the chance, I recommend stopping here. They have replicas of the first prototypes, the place where the brothers lived and worked, and you can walk along the path that the first flight took place.

North to South to North Carolina

After the Overland Expo we decided to head towards Topsail Island off the coast of North Carolina. Some friends that we met through Fulltime Families were there, so why not?

In order to make it from where we were in Asheville over to Topsail, we actually had to go through South Carolina. So on the 9th of October, we headed 117 miles to Crown Cove RV Park in Fort Mill, South Carolina. We only stayed there Friday to Monday and spent the time relaxing. But most importantly? Another STICKER!

The dirty dozen

On the 12th, we packed up and drove 251 miles back into North Carolina and the Turkey Point RV Park in Sneads Ferry. The office lady was the sweetest thing ever. We had originally thought we would stay at Black Beards, but remember when I told you about Hurricane Joaquin? The amount of rain that bad boy dropped was no joke. We drove through and the place was like one giant mud puddle. And considering we have 2 boys and a puppy? No thank you.

What IS that growing on the tree?!

WEEEEE

The ladies at Turkey Point were seriously adorable and incredibly sweet. Since we weren't sure how long we were going to stay - they refused to let us pay! Not until we were sure how long we wanted to stay.

Sunrise over the water

"I'm a big helper" ~ Emma

We met up with our friends"the Ace people" a few times while were in the area - there's something to be said for a familiar face. We met up one night for dinner and the boys threw down for wing Wednesday at Quartermaster's Restaurant. Fifty wings? It ain't no thang!

Hudson and me took a short drive over to the Sea View Fishing Pier one night. It was well worth it!

Perfection

Cheese!

Shells for DAYS

Mom and Huddy

The weekend was jam packed full of happenings. It started out with Autumn With Topsail - a festival with crafts, live music, food - all the workings!

Rolling at the Topsail

The site of the festival happened to be right where the Missiles and More Museum is, so we went there too! We went to the festival both Saturday and Sunday. Afterwards on Sunday we went to the Sea Turtle Hospital. It was amazing, but I really didn't get any good pictures. Take it from me that they are amazing and adorable creatures though.

Another great place we went was (below) Surf City Ocean Pier. Seriously - they charge you to walk on the pier. But you know what's free? Underneath it. We walked the beach and enjoyed the sunshine. Overall I gotta say, Topsail Island is pretty great!

Happy days

It's free to be under the pier, watch for birds though...