Hilton Head, SC – Hilton Head Harbor RV Resort (5-night stay):  (Hilton Head Harbor RV Resort)  Wednesday, April 11 after a 332 mile drive we arrived at approximately 5 pm.  This resort has owner-owned sites creating a uniqueness in the landscape, yard art, although all are paved and they all follow the strict HOA regulations and are all nice.  A few have outdoor fireplaces, built-out bar, most have patio furniture (some nicer than others).  You are not able to select a specific site when you make your reservation, you wait until your arrival to select your site.  We were able to use their golf cart to drive around looking for two together.  All of the water-view sites were taken.  We ended up with two across from each other, Brenda site #80 and us site #14.   Once we set-up, we realized that inside at the RV height, we actually did have a slight water view above the decorative shrubs.  Our site was nicely decorated with rose bushes, pot-plants, rope-lighting in the tree, a picnic table and a nice patio furniture set.  

The next day we played a round of golf at Golden Bear Golf Club.  It was a nice day for golf and not too crowded.  It was at the golf course, Bill ran up onto an alligator laying out beside a pond where his golf ball had rolled into.  We had been warned at the RV resort to watch our pets around the marshy areas surrounding the marina because of alligators, but Bill was quite surprised as he went to retrieve his ball and saw the alligator almost camouflaged.

One day we spent driving up to Old Town Blufton, walking around the village area filled with restaurants/bars, but only 1-small sports-themed retailer.  Bill got a nice hair-cut and we drove to Coligny Beach on Hilton Head island.  We thoroughly enjoyed walking the beach a little and stopping in the Tiki Hut Restaurant/Bar on the beach to have a few appetizers and drinks.  We enjoyed the live-band and watching the young people play beach volley-ball.

We spent a day driving to Savannah, GA and walking around with the dogs, ordering a take-out to have lunch in the river-side park.  This was another beautiful day and we were taking advantage of the nice days since bad weather was predicted to be coming our way.   Orval selected our dinner restaurant and what fun at Skull Creek Boathouse!  The ambiance with the sunset just shortly after our arriving, the live-band, pleasant temps made the 1-hour wait for a table go by very fast.

The weather reports kept getting worse, so we decided to stay an extra night, making it 5-night versus the original 4-night reservation at Hilton Head Harbor RV Resort.  This required changing our next few reservations, but all worked out and we were very glad we made the decisions.   Sunday, the day we were originally scheduled to leave had high-wind possibilities, heavy rain with possible severe thunder storms.  It did get very windy and the rain began later in the day, but nothing too serious.

Flat Rock, NC – Lakewood RV Park (1-night stay):  This was planned as an over-night only, a rest from the drive, with no specific place of interest to visit.  Although, it was a good place to have a prescription called in at the local Walmart for the poison ivy that was getting worse.  No idea where the poison ivy was started, but thankfully it was on the leg and not face or neck like it has been before.  The drive on I-26, especially closer to Johnson City is a nice scenic drive with snow-capped mountains with scenic pull-overs.

Damascus, VA – Laurel Creek RV (3-night stay):   We had visited the Virginia Creeper Trails before with good friends, Bruce and Sandra Johnson.  This trip was planned to share the experience with Brenda and Orval, and again experience the beauty and enjoyment of riding our bicycles all down-hill with beautiful scenery.

Bruce, Sandra, Bill and Karen

 

The day we arrived, after setting-up camp, we drove to Boone, NC to see Bruce and Sandra’s new mountain home which was absolutely breath-taking.  We had dinner with them at Vidalia’s Onion and enjoyed catching up.  Originally they talked about riding the trails with us, but decided to drive back to their lake home in Sherrills Ford, NC, the next day.

There are two trail options, a full-day is 34 miles and the half-day ride is 17 miles. There are several bicycle shops in town to sign-up for the shuttle ride up the mountain to begin the ride, offering bike rentals, helmets, etc., if needed.  Wednesday’s forecast and through God’s blessings, the day turned out to be awesome, beautiful day for the bike ride.  Temps were perfect, not too cold, not windy, and the trails were just as we remembered.  Both dogs traveled with us in their doggie baskets.

Thursday, April 18, we were scheduled to leave Damascus, but once again decided to stay another day because the wind-gusts were predicted to be strong driving to our next destination.

 

 

 

 

Millboro (Clifton Forge), VA – Douthat State Park (2-night stay):  Friday arrived at Douthat State Park, and realized there was a narrow bridge with no railings to get to our campsites, Bill found it quite eerie.  As we were approaching the bridge, two men were carrying a stringer of trout to their truck.  We learned the river was stocked the day before our arrival and people were fishing in the area of this narrow bridge.  After setting up camp, we decided on dinner at the Park

Restaurant and to pick-up our fishing license at the General Store, located together.

The restaurant was convenient, however, Brenda and Orval ordered pulled pork and were quite disappointed with the presentation and taste; Bill had the rib-eye sandwich that also was not good, Karen kept it safe with the salad bar and mac n cheese bites which was pretty-good, but how can you go wrong with a salad?

We purchased a 1-day fishing license to fish on Saturday.  We were hoping to catch enough trout for dinner Saturday night, but Bill was the only one who caught a few small trout which he released.

It was a very nice park with hiking trails, flowing rivers stocked with trout, a nice lake, boat rentals, and a sandy-beach that would be nice if it were warmer.  Douthat reminded us of Beaver’s Bend State park in Broken Bow, OK.

Cherry Hill RV Park – Washington DC is our next stop . . . look for the next Chapter of our blog.