Best Western Courtyard Resort Jacksonville

... cooked some dinner, and then went by the the banks of the Neuse River. This KOA sits with a dock on the river. Spectacular views of the sun setting.
This is our 6th campsite so far....and we have another Cabin. Up early tomorrow to get an early start for our next to last stop.

Until tomorrow...

We went to the Sea Turtle Sanctuary. It was great! We saw the biggest turtles ever:) The only unhappy moment was waiting an hour to get in while standing out in the blaring sun. It was cramped, but seeing the turtles was worth it!

The kids got some stuffed animals and we were on our way.

We werent able to take pictures because they wouldnt let photography in the area with the turtles so that was a bummer.

WHEN WE LEFT WRIGHTSVILLE TO RUN TO SWANSBORO WE HAD SEVERAL OBSTACLES.THE FIRST WAS THE WRIGHTSVILLE BRIDGE.IT IS A RESTRICTED BRIDGE THAT ONLY OPENS 7A-7P ON THE HR ONLY SO BOATS STACK UP BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH BOUND SIDES AND IT REALLY GETS TRICKY WHEN THERE IS COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC LIKE A BIG BARGE THAT REALLY COMPOUNDS THE PROBLEM.SO WHEN THE BRIDGE OPENS EVERYONE HAS TO COMMUNICATE TO EACH OTHER TO AGREE WHO ...

... 6:00 we were on the west side of Kentucky. We'd driven through North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. This is probably the most boring part of the trip, especially this time of year. Two months ago, the leaves were orange and red and it was actually a very nice drive, but now there are no leaves on the trees. So far, we've been pleasantly surprised with the kids' ability to get along in the back of the truck. The ...

... capital of miniature golf, but the kids could care less as they had a great time with their friends. We bid farewell and started back to our temporary home in the dark. It seemed odd as we were definitely going "home" but we didn't have a sense of where we were or where we were headed. We hunkered down for the night in a most peaceful Wal-Mart looking forward to the adventures of tomorrow.

... up in Sneeds Ferry NC...66 whole miles! (It's about the journey, not the speed...) We ended up at a very rustic marina and as we speak are grilling our dinner on the deck...with toddy in hand...just doesn't get any better than this! Gene did a fabulous job of maneuvering the boat and I got a few lessons in navigation, helming, currents, etc. from Maggie. The sun was out all day and we had no major incidents. Great first day!

Steve & Mary took us on a tour of the nearest larger city, New Bern. It is 30 miles from Oriental with a population of about 40,000 within the city limits. One of its claims to fame is it's the second oldest city in North Carolina. Another and more important claim is it's the birthplace of Pepsi! I guess that's a claim to fame for some people but I'm a Diet Coke girl! We strolled through the streets ...

... Outer Banks, in South Carolina and Georgia they're now those posh golf meccas like Hilton Head, There are only the barest few of these islands that haven't been filled up with homes and playthings for the very rich. Don't ya love capitalism? Any way, back to the Estuarium. Washington was a really charming town filled with huge historic homes. The waterfront along the river as it widens ...

After our trip to Graceland we started making our way to North Carolina. We stopped at a great place called Stone Mountain. It is a large granite mountain a bit like a grey Uluru (Ayers Rock)only the US version has a theme park at the bottom, skylift to the top (for our fat American cousins)and a Macdonalds on top ruining the view of the ...

... in North Carolina. We would often eat our MRE's together when we broke from training. One night Scott and Ray had fallen close to hypothermia. It was late October and a cold front had moved in, mixed with lots of rain. We were performing offensive and defensive fighting positions. Scott and Ray shared a fox hole together and had gone out on patrol early that evening. Another bootcamp friend, Eric ...