Doghouse Travelers

The rest of our trip….

Travel makes you modest. You see what a small place you occupy in the world

First off, apologies for being so far behind on our blog posts. We had limited connectivity during our last few stays and thus we chose to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors vs. spending time on our devices.

Beautiful waterfalls at South
Mountain State Park

On Wednesday, Aug 14, we left Falls Lake State Park in the Raleigh-Durham area and headed west towards our absolute favorite campground in Rutherfordton, NC: 4 Paws Kingdom Campground. This campground is also a dog retreat – offering many activities for our dogs, including lure coursing, a pond and several dog parks. This time on our visit, we explored nearby parks. On our first day, our friend and BTRNC buddy Lisa Goersch came to visit with her two Boston Terriers, Snickers and Dexter (Stoli’s cousin). We traveled to Green River Game Lands with Nemo and Stoli so they could romp around in the river. The water was a bit cold for Stoli but he had fun chasing balls with Dexter. We also had the pleasure of camping next to our friends Annie and Marta and their 3 pups on Friday night, and we met several fantastic women from Winston Salem who came in for the weekend. On Friday, we took Peanut and Stoli with us to hike South Mountain State Park with Annie and Marta. This state park offers some amazing waterfalls, and we all had a great time. On Saturday, Nemo got the chance to do what he loves – lure coursing. It’s so great to see the pure joy and drive he has while chasing the lure!!

Saturday afternoon featured an open jam for the camping musicians. Kathy got the opportunity to play with a few other campers. In the evening, the headline activity was the band Josie Wails from Huntersville, NC. They play some rockabilly music and came without their regular bass player who wasn’t able to travel. So Kathy jumped in and provided her bass skills to about 1/2 the set. Though a bit out of her element (which is mainly bluegrass), she had a blast playing with the band, and the show was fantastic!

Open Jam
Kathy with Josie Wails Band

On Sunday, we departed 4 Paws and headed south to the Atlanta area. We stayed the night at Shoal Creek Campground which is on Lake Lanier. We chose this campground due to the close proximity of Joan’s family in Spring Hill, NC. This campground has amazing views of the lake, and wooded campsites, where deer roam freely. Our site was waterfront and actually had a small beach access for the dogs to play in. We spent time with Joan’s family on Sunday and Monday evenings and allowed the dogs to play in the lake on Monday afternoon.

On Tuesday, we started our trip back home with a quick stopover just north of Ocala, FL then home on Wednesday. It’s been a fun trip, with lots of adventures for us and the babies, but we are ready to be home. Thanks for sharing our adventures with us!!

End of the Outer Banks and Falls Lake State Park

“Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination.” – Roy M. Goodman

Note: Our internet is painfully slow so we can’t upload all the pics we would like to. We’ll post more once we get to a more reliable internet connection.

Saturday, Aug 9th – Last day in Waves, NC

After a very busy week of playing tourist, we didn’t have much planned for our last day. Joan went for a 1.5 hr bike ride around mid-morning then we came back and flew our new kites out on the beach. Joan had bought a Nemo (Clown Fish) kite and the guys had bought colorful ones the day before so we all gave them a try on the beach. They flew beautifully!!

After dinner, we took Guido, Peanut, Nemo and Stoli to the beach for their last chance to play freely on the beach. They really enjoy running and chasing each other. As we were coming in, we saw a stunning sunset across the sound. What a perfect ending to a great week on the Outer Banks!

Sunday, Aug 10th – Wednesday, Aug 14th – Falls Lake State Park

We hit the road fairly early on Sunday morning to get on the road to Wake Forest, NC, where we planned to spend the next 4 nights. Falls Lake State Park is a beautiful place – a lake 28 mile lake that winds through three NC counties: Durham, Wake, and Granville. The campground is absolutely beautiful with wide, shaded lots. Our campsites were in Holly Point Campground. The was our opportunity to get in touch with nature. We biked the park, took a few short hikes with the dogs and spent a lot of time outside just breathing in the fresh wooded pine smell. On Monday, we had a nice visit with Joan’s brother who works nearby. On Tuesday, we had planned to rent a boat and spend the day on the lake but that didn’t work out so we spent time visiting with friends who live in the Raleigh area. Kathy’s friend Kaky came by for a visit in the afternoon then after dinner, our good friends Kelly and David Eggebeen came to visit. On Wednesday, we all packed up to head west. We are heading to Four Paws Kingdom Campground in Rutherfordton, NC and Leonard and Marty are headed back to Asheville. It’s been a lot of fun traveling and camping with these two and their three dogs! Stoli is REALLY going to miss his buddy Trapper!

Kitty Hawk and Corolla

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“Travel doesn’t become adventure until you leave yourself behind”

Thursday, August 8th – Kitty Hawk, NC

The day started EARLY with hopes of seeing a sunrise off the Atlantic Ocean. While the clouds were present, Leonard and Joan observed an ever-changing scenery of reds and oranges, which turned out to be a beautiful sunrise. After breakfast, we all loaded up in the truck (dogless) to explore Kitty Hawk. We stopped first at Bodie Island to check out the Bodie Island Lighthouse then moved up the coast to Jockey’s Ridge. Jockey’s Ridge is the largest natural sand dune on the east coast. Kathy and Leonard explored Jockey’s Ridge for a bit while Joan and Marty hung back in the shade. (It’s REALLY hot in the Outer Banks right now). From there we did a bit of shopping in the Kitty Hawk area then returned to our campsite. As sunset approached, it looked to be a beautiful night so Joan and Leonard took off on the bikes for the Pamlico Sound and watched kite surfers while the sun set behind them like a big orange ball. What a terrific day!

Bodie Island Lighthouse
Bodie Island Lighthouse
Turtle at Bodie Island
Joan, Leonard & Marty
Jockey’s Ridge
Handgliders on Jockey’s Ridge
Jockey’s Ridge
Sunset over Pamlico Sound

Friday, August 9th – Corolla, NC

As stated before in an earlier post, Kathy’s main goal during our trip to the Outer Banks was to see the wild herds of Spanish Colonial Banker Ponies, which are descended from Spanish war horses abandoned in the 1500s. Corolla, NC has one of the largest herds of these ponies, so Kathy booked at 10:30am tour. We were also meeting two friends (Terri & Karla) from Chesapeake, VA whom we met on our Alaska Cruise last September. Karla is also a photographer so she was excited to do the tour with Kathy. While those two jumped on the wildlife exploration truck, Joan & Terri explored the local area – visiting the wildlife museum and some local shops. These ponies are totally wild and they roam the northern island freely, often taking shelter from the heat underneath stilted houses. People are not allowed to stop or be within 50 feet to make sure there is no contact that might impact their continued existence as it has been since they first arrived. The ponies roam freely among the cars on the beach, as well as throughout the dunes and on a preserve. The photographers returned a few hours later with large smiles on their faces, having had many opportunities to photograph. We stopped briefly at the Currituck Lighthouse so Kathy could get pics of our last of the 4 lighthouses we were able to see on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, then returned to camp for dinner and another batch of homemade ice cream.

Stoli and Trapper romp around at the campsite. They have become close buddies!

Exploring the Outer Banks

“Travel is not reward for working. It’s education for living” – Anthony Bordain

Tuesday, August 6 – Waves, NC

Our first day at Waves was a rather low-key day. We took a mid-day bike ride down the coast on the trail to a nearby park. Then Leonard and Joan attempted to take the Rad E-Bikes out on the beach. What a short-lived adventure that was; I think the beach got the best of us!

For the evening we had a nice dinner out at Dirty Dicks in Avon, NC. It also gave us the opportunity to grab some groceries and try the famous Duck Donuts (nope, none of us got the bacon maple donuts). But they sure were delicious!! But the best was coming home and the guys making homemade vanilla ice cream for our bedtime treat. Ahhhh, the RV life!

Wednesday, August 7th – Waves, NC

Our reservations at the campground were supposed to be together but for some reason they moved us apart before our arrival. So on Wednesday morning, the spot freed up next to Leonard & Marty so we moved the RV. This gave us the opportunity to have a community pen for the 7 dogs and 4 humans. Fortunately, all 7 get along well.

Early afternoon, we loaded up 5 dogs (Guido and Houdini stayed home to guard the RV) into the Jeep and headed south to Cape Hatteras. In the Outer Banks, you can drive on the beach with a permit. We stopped first at the Cape Hatteras lighthouse to observe the beauty and so Kathy could photograph it. Then we headed onto the beach with the Jeep. The beach was extremely crowded with vehicles and people, and the water was pretty rough. We let the dogs play in the waves for a bit. As much as Stoli likes water, he is scared of the water coming towards him, so Joan helped him get used to it. We soon decided it was WAY too crowded for our liking, and the tide was coming too close to the Jeep, so we decided to head back to camp. We had to release pressure in the Jeep tires to ride on the beach but when we were filling the tires back up, we drained the Jeep battery. Fortunately a friendly local was nearby and quickly gave us a jump and we were on our way. After dinner at home, we rode our bikes over to the sound hoping to catch a sunset, but a rather strong storm rolled in and put an early end to the evening.

The ride up through the Outer Banks, NC

“Time wasted at the beach is time well spent”

Monday, August 5th – Cedar Island, NC to Waves, NC

We woke up to an amazing sunrise, which we literally could see from our bed! Kathy was up early getting ready for her second horseback ride to try and spot the herd of wild Banker ponies while Joan packed up the camper for our ferry ride. To her great disappointment, no ponies were seen, but she enjoyed just riding along the beautiful sound and marshlands. At 10am we were loaded up on the Cedar Island to Ocracoke Ferry – a 2.5 hour trip the 23 miles to Ocracoke. Once we arrived, we made a few quick stops – at the visitors center and the Ocracoke Lighthouse. Kathy’s goal is to photograph as many Lighthouses on OBX as possible, and this was the first one. We also stopped at the Ocracoke Pony Pasture, where a herd of the Banker Ponies are kept, so Kathy was at least able to see those, though it wasn’t like seeing them roaming wild. She’s still hoping to catch a glimpse of them before the end of our trip, as there is a wild herd in Corolla, about 2 hours north.

Ocracoke Lighthouse
Banker Pony – Ocracoke

On the north side of Ocracoke, we were loaded on the ferry to Hatteras, which was about a 60 minute ride. Then we finished our drive with a 40 min drive to our campground – Ocean Waves Campground in Waves, NC where will be will for the next 6 nights. This also begins our 10 day travels with our friends Leonard & Marty from Asheville, NC.

Cedar Island to Ocracoke Ferry
Ocracoke to Hatteras Ferry

Once set up, we enjoyed a nice dinner with our friends then took the pups (our 4 plus their 3) on the beach for a nice evening stroll. Of course ours were wide open in the water – splashing, chasing and rolling in the sand. The rain put a quick end to our night.

Guido, Peanut and Nemo play in the water

We believe our RV is carrying enough sand to form our own beach…. but I guess that comes with the territory!

Heading north to the Outer Banks

“It is not the destination where you end up but the mishaps and memories you create along the way.”

Saturday, Aug 3rd – Jekyll Island to Dillon, SC

We started the day off bright…. errr…. dark and early. We wanted desperately to catch a sunrise at Driftwood Beach and although the radar showed a rather large storm off the coast, we gave it a shot anyway and headed off with Stoli. But alas, the sun never really showed up through the clouds, although it still presented a very eery look to the dead oak trees that give the beach its name

We packed up rather early and got on the road to Dillon, SC. When we travel, we try to limit our drive to about 5.5 hrs or 340 miles (equivalent to 3/4 tank of gas). We stopped at a campground that was easily accessible off the interstate and we were able to spend a quiet relaxing evening sitting outside in the low-humidity temps. We finished the night with a nice steak & baked potato dinner and several glasses of sangria.

Sunday, Aug 4th – Dillon, SC to Cedar Island, NC

Again, another lazy morning allowed us to sleep in and take our time packing up. We headed off by 11am for the 4.5 hr drive to our next destination – Cedar Island, NC. We arrived around 4:30 in this very small town (if you can even call it that), which really consists of the Ferry Terminal. But the campground is at the end of the island by the terminal and RIGHT on the water. While the campground is going through some major renovation, it did offer us some of the prettiest views we could’ve asked for in a campsite! Kathy saw nearby horse stables and quickly scheduled a 1.5 hr sunset horseback ride in hopes of seeing the wild ponies roaming freely. Unfortunately, no ponies were spotted on this ride though the scenery and sunset were beautiful. She scheduled a 7:30am ride for the next morning, when the ponies are more likely to be seen. There is a herd of about fifty ponies that are theorized to have descended from Spanish horses that came ashore after the ships they were traveling on sank off the coast.

Our ferry ride departs at 10am on Monday morning and will take us to Ocracoke where we will meander across the island and jump on the ferry to Hatteras, then off to our campground in Waves, NC.

Jekyll Island, GA

“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey”

Thursday, Aug 1st

We arrived on Jekyll Island around 4pm on Aug 1st. It was about a 5 hr drive from Gulfport. Unfortunately, we arrived in a downpour! But by the time we got to our site, the rain had tapered off. The Jekyll Island Campground is nice – very wooded but lots of campers and tents.

We had enough daylight left to take the dogs down to the beach. We attempted St. Andrews Beach since it is one of the best sunset beaches but there were too many fishermen. So we opted for another nearby beach. The dogs all got to run off leash (except for Stoli who was kept on a 75′ rope). After a LOT of sand and running, plus a really pretty sunset, we returned to camp and bed.

Friday, Aug 2nd

We could tell the day was mostly going to be a washout due to rain so we attempted most of our beach time in the morning. We loaded the dogs on the jeep and headed off to Driftwood Beach. This beach is covered with old, dead trees everywhere. I only wish we could see a sunrise here (maybe tomorrow??). But the dogs all got a chance to play again in the sand. We then headed to Clam Creek park for another beach walk.

The afternoon was supposed to be wet so Joan headed off for a long bike ride before the rain set in. Jekyll Island has some nice bike trails. As the day came to a close, we caught dinner at Tortuga Jack’s on the beach then headed off to see what turned out to be a pretty stunning sunset.

Our First Blog Post

“Not all those who wander are lost” – J.R.R. Tolkien

As a way of journaling our travel adventures, we decided to start a blog to allow our friends & family to travel vicariously through us.

Since we can both now claim ourselves as “retired”, we want to make sure we take advantage of every healthy moment of our lives – to explore this beautiful world, starting with the United States.

Our first trip is a 21 day voyage – From Jekyll Island, GA, up to the Outer Bank of NC, across the state to Rutherfordton, NC. Then we’ll head south to GA to spend a few days with family before returning home. We will stay at eight different campgrounds during this trip.

We are just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.