It was hot. Very hot. Extremely hot. Did I mention that it was hot?
In her ongoing effort to keep us active and healthy, Molly had registered us to run in the Historic Beaufort 5K Road Race.... in July. (Did I mention that it was hot?)
We decided to spend the weekend camping in the Croatan Forest, then drive to Beaufort for he race. And we took April!
Driving East towards the coast is a lot easier than driving in the mountains. There is a lot less for me to worry about. One thing though, was water. This was to be our first outing without a city water hook-up. I was worried about filling the tanks, using the pump, and generally everything. But, as usual, Molly assured me that things would be fine.
We arrived at the campground at 7pm. But before we could unhitch and set up, we had to get water. Luckily, there was a potable water source at the dump station. Unfortunately, this water source was on the driver's side, but our fill opening is not.:(
So, I had to "go around" and enter from the DO NOT ENTER side in order to fill up.
Once we had water, we made it to our site: a lovely, paved, flat spot with perfect hammock-hanging trees. I backed in (not gracefully, but I made it) and we set up camp.
Even though dinner that night was only hot dogs, Molly managed to make them fancy (Asian rice, bag salad, etc.). We went to bed early, knowing we had to be up at the crack of dawn to drive to Beaufort for the 5K.
Did I mention that it was hot? All of us (April included) were thankful for Roxy's AC.
The race... was hot. And long. And hot. We really hadn't practiced as much as we should have. Molly walked with April (who was one of the only dogs there) and I ran/walked. We survived the 5K and spent the rest of the morning at Atlantic Beach. April really doesn't like the waves very much, and she likes them even less when Molly or I are in them!
Back at the campsite, we relaxed and just hung out. It was too hot to do any hiking (besides, we had just run a 5K) and April didn't object to staying inside Roxy (with the AC).
Molly mentioned (more than once) that having a TV would be nice. I really don't want to become "one of those people," but we'll see. The AC kept the heat at bay and once the sun started to set, it actually became quite nice... nice enough to take April for a lap around the campground and sit in the hammock with a beer.
Steak and potatoes and veggies on the grill for dinner rounded out the day. It rained heavily all night, but Roxy never leaked!
Sunday morning was a typical, lazy day for us. We woke up late and relaxed. It wasn't quite as hot as before, but we were both sweating as we broke camp and packed up.
A quick stop at the dump station (strangely, this is one of Molly's favorite things!) and then it was on to US70 for the drive home!.