We were scheduled to drive all the way to Boston today, and head into the city tomorrow, but the weather is looking bad so we decided to stop on the way for a couple of days to let it warm up. We found a nice campground in Sturbridge, MA, just across the border from Connecticut. Andrew and I got out for a run in the afternoon and we found a nice spot for our after-dinner walk.
After spending Friday on our own in New York, we spent Saturday with the Foley-Murphys. Susan and Andrea have been friends since second grade and John (Murph) was one of Susan’s first friends in college. They have lived in Brooklyn since graduating from college.
The kids found a fun beach on the shores of the Elk River that is on a hike from our campground (our campground is on a peninsula, with the Elk River on one side and the Chesapeake Bay on the other). We walked there yesterday and they all had fun playing. The older kids built a raft out of driftwood – it almost floated. They had a lot of fun.
We spent this afternoon at the National Zoo. We arrived just after lunch and the Thompsons met us around 2. Highlights included the panda bears and the new baby gorilla.
This afternoon we braved the elements and went for a hike in a state park near our campground. It was nice. Trees, mud, bird blinds, swampy areas, a big bay, the sun came out for 5 minutes, playground.
Today we moved from North Carolina to a regional park in Virginia, just south of Washington, DC. It is nice to be in a campground, rather than an RV park. It is nice to be back in the deciduous forest of the Northeast United States. It is nice to be in warm weather.
Today after work we headed the The Point, in Emerald Isle. It is a cool, huge beach where the ocean connects with the Intracoastal Waterway. It was a beautiful day today, but the wind made the beach very cool.
Yesterday and this morning it has been cold and rainy, so we have been stuck inside. This evening we took a some time to explore Emerald Isle, a nice island just across the intracoastal waterway from our campground. We found a nice public beach to play at.
I had the day off work today, so we spent the day exploring the Charleston area. In the morning we visited the Charleston Tea Company, where we had a trolley tour of the farm and then learned about the factory. We enjoyed a picnic lunch at Angel Oak and then head to Charleston to explore the historic city. I think everyone was impressed.
