Spring 2018 Southern Trip: Home to Rocky Mount, NC

Sunday, April 1:  Easter

Well, its time for Judy and I to take another road trip.  April is “mud season” here in Northern New York, so now is a good time to take a southern adventure.  Over the next 30 days we will spend time in, among other stops, Myrtle Beach, Savannah, St. Augustine, New Orleans, and Nashville.  Our last stop will be at son Matt and family in West Virginia.  Stay tuned and we’ll post a few updates.  As always, we really appreciate having friends and family follow along with us.

Monday, April 2:  332 miles and camped at the KOA in Jonestown, PA

Site 85

I've been watching the 15 day weather forecasts religiously while planning this trip.  I made a final check this morning, and GRRRR.  Jonestown was forecasted to get 1 to 2 inches of snow Sunday night.  But it is supposed to warm up into the mid 40's by the time we arrive, so fingers crossed.

As it turned out, there was snow, but it had mostly melted by the time we arrived at 3:30.  We had bare roads to drive on all the way, and trip was uneventful.  But the melting snow left the interior roads in the park a bit on the muddy and messy side.  Our site had a paver patio, which lessened the mud issue somewhat, but we still had to wipe the dog's feet every time we took them out.

Tuesday, April 3:  113 miles and camped at the Philadelphia South KOA in Clarksboro, NJ

Site 72

After raining all last night, we woke this morning to more cold rain.  Its no fun picking up the hose and electric cord in pouring rain.  Its even less fun taking the dogs out for their "duty" walks in the rain and then cleaning their feet off.  We left Jonestown about 10:30, and arrived at Philadelphia South at 1:00.  Traffic around the Philadelphia area was less than expected, but traveling during the middle of the day certainly helped.  Philadelphia South KOA is an adequate stop. We would certainly stay here again. It was muddy, which isn't their fault.  There are several long term campers here.  KOA has recently purchased this park appears to be putting a lot of money into expansion and upgrades.  Our site, 73, was a little tricky getting into because of a sharp turn.  However, since it was an end site, we had a nice size yard and patio.


Wednesday, April 4:  114 miles and camped at Cape Henlopen State Park, Lewes, DE

Site E-1

The day started out cold and damp, with warnings of high winds.  Since our drive was short, only 2 hours, we didn't leave until nearly 11:00.  We arrived at Cape Henlopen just about 1:00, very windy, but temps in the 70's.  Whoo hoo!  We had just backed into our site, when it started to pour.  I got drenched.   If we had only gotten here 20 minutes earlier.

This is a gorgeous park, build on the remnants of sand dunes.  All of the interior roadways are paved, as well as the parking pads.  There are no paved patio areas, so plan on lots of sand. The campground is shaded with lots of pine trees. There is a long paved bike trail and you can  hike to the beach.  In hindsight, I wish I had booked 2 nights here.  I hope we will return someday and stay longer.


Thursday, April 5:  341 miles and camped at Rocky Mount KOA, Enfield, NC

Site 26

We woke to a frigid 36 degrees this morning.  Long way from the 74 when we checked in yesterday.  However, today turned out to be the first day of the trip when we had both warm temps and no rain!  Also, today turned out to be the most tiring day of the trip.  The traffic around the Washington Beltway and Interstate 95 turned out to be brutal.  The highways were congested and slow!!!!  What was supposed to be a 5 hour 30 minute trip turned out to be 7 hours.

We left Cape Henlopen about 9:30 to a clear sunny day.  Western Delaware and eastern Maryland are rural and beautiful farm land with hundreds of poultry farms.  But the minute you approach Washington, that all changes with condo's, suburbs, and traffic.  We finally arrived at the Rocky Mount KOA, which is located in a quiet, rural area.  There is nothing fancy about this campground, but it works.  We struck up a long conversation with a couple next door who are Canadian and were heading north.  We had some interesting stories to share about traveling and disastrous border crossings.  

Tomorrow we head to Myrtle Beach and after driving every day for 5 days, we will settle down for 3 nights.  Time to slow down and relax a bit.