Travel Archives - Build Your Own Adventure

Jordan Lake- Poplar Point

We’ve made a lot of progress in Big Red over the last several weeks. The kitchen is coming along, and we put most of the wall panels up and painted them. It’s actually starting to look like a camper inside, and we’ve been itching to take it out of town for a few days. Our buddy Eric has been wanting Adam to detail his camper, and he happens to live just a few minutes from Jordan Lake- a perfect excuse for a camping trip!

We all took a day off from work and school so we could spend an extra day away. We loaded Big Red up with all our camping supplies AND all of Adam’s detailing equipment, and we headed towards Raleigh at rush hour! Thankfully, traffic wasn’t too bad, and we got to Jordan Lake- which is about 20 minutes outside of Raleigh, North Carolina- just before dark. It had been several years since we had camped there, going way back to our tent camping days! There are several campgrounds around the lake, all of them state-owned. We tried one we hadn’t been to before, but had been highly recommended, Poplar Point. We were not disappointed!

The campground felt huge. It is pretty densely wooded, and the winding road through the campground seems to go on forever. There are several different camping loops off of the main road. We stayed in Loop F, which has about 60 sites, 20 or so that are waterfront. Our site, F45, was not supposed to be a waterfront site, but the water levels were so high that the lake had crept out to about 50 feet from our site! It was an awesome site, probably 80 feet long, with a few little steps leading down to a separate picnic area. There were trees all around us, and especially that first night, we felt like we were alone on the lake.

Friday morning, we lounged around, enjoying making coffee INSIDE Big Red for the first time! We walked and biked for miles around the campground, enjoying the wonderful fall weather and the beautiful views of the lake and falling leaves. We left the campground and explored a bit that afternoon, forgetting just how close we were to civilization!

Adam’s sister and her family live only about 20 minutes from Jordan Lake, so they came to visit us Friday evening. I enjoyed cooking dinner for everyone on my new Blackstone that Adam got me as an early Christmas present, which I absolutely love! The boys got an awesome campfire going, and the adults spent the evening laughing and reminiscing by the fire while the kids ran and played. It was a great night.

Saturday morning, Adam left for his detailing job and the kids and I got caught up on some schoolwork we missed on Friday. We spent the afternoon with my sister-in-law and nephew, and when Adam got home we made an easy dinner on the Blackstone. We enjoyed one more relaxing evening, knowing we would have to pack up and head home in the morning.

When we left on Sunday, we promised ourselves that we would be back soon! It is a beautiful, serene area, on the water, close to friends and family, and only a few minutes from the big city. It was the perfect weekend, and we can’t wait until the next time!

Big Red’s First Trip- Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park in Tabor City, NC

It has been a rough few weeks. Remote learning has been tough, both as a parent and a school employee. To say I was ready for a break is an understatement! It has been a big adjustment for the kids, too. We were all ready to get away for a few days.

Adam had been working hard to get Big Red ready for the trip. As you probably know (if you don’t, start reading here), we still have a huge amount of work to do on our cargo trailer conversion. But we were antsy to hit the road, and we had planned our annual Yogi Bear trip with some good friends months ago. So Adam pushed hard to get the air conditioning installed and the walls back up. We figured if we had air conditioning and electricity we could at least get by for a weekend.

Adam’s sister generously gave us a futon she wasn’t using anymore, and we had an extra mattress in storage. We loaded them up into Big Red (that big door in the back really comes in handy!) and packed all our necessities into plastic tubs. Getting packed up was a lot more work than we were used to; usually everything is already nicely stored in the camper. It reminded me of old times when we would go tent camping, and something about that just made me happy.

When I finally got off work that Friday afternoon I was so excited to leave! Everyone else was at home waiting for me, so we hit the road immediately. We were a little nervous about how Big Red would do on the two hour drive, but thankfully, the trip was uneventful.

As soon as we pulled into Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park in Tabor City, North Carolina, the kids went wild! This is their second favorite place to visit, followed only by Fort Wilderness at Walt Disney World. There are all kinds of things for them to do, and the place is full of kids and families.

We got set up quickly, and we spent the evening riding the golf cart we rented from the park and spending time with our friends who had come down, too. Since Big Red isn’t really set up very well for cooking quite yet, we ordered pizza from the on-site café. It was delicious and satisfying, and I was grateful for the break from cooking for the night.

We had designated Saturday as water day for all the kids. The campground has an outdoor pool, indoor pool with a water play area, and the most amazing Aqua Play area I’ve ever seen. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, we had to sign up for hour time slots at each water location, but we still had plenty of time for swimming. It was actually kind of nice because the pools were not as crowded as they would usually be.

After we tired out the kids at the pools, we went and got ice cream at The Creamery. They make their own homemade ice cream on site in all kinds of creative flavors, and it’s delicious! No trip to Yogi Bear is complete without a scoop of ice cream, and the kids never let us forget.

Usually they have a “Hey! Ride” through the campground for all the guests on a retired fire truck, but again, due to COVID-19 restrictions, this was a little different. Instead, Boo Boo rode on the fire truck through the campground, blowing his horns and waving at all the kids. I was a little sad that we couldn’t take our usual ride, but it was kind of exciting to see Boo Boo riding through, and kids started following the fire truck on their bikes and it turned into a kind of parade through the campground.

On Sunday morning, Boo Boo delivered breakfast to the kids at their campsites. This was also new for us. It was a great way for the kids to see the characters up close without the usual lines and crowds. Each child got an individual bowl of cereal and carton of milk, and a souvenir color-changing bowl that my kids were super-excited about.

We packed up shortly after breakfast and headed home, tired but refreshed and excited to continue our work on Big Red. Everything went so well with the trailer and we didn’t run into any problems. However, we all agreed that the next step is the bathroom. We are not big fans of bath houses! So I guess we know what’s next…

Our Camping Journey

We sold our camper this week. It was bittersweet. I am so excited to continue working on Big Red, and I just know it’s going to be amazing when we get done. But it’s going to be a long, hard road to see it to completion, and we are only at the beginning of this journey. Also, the camper was cozy and comfortable, and it was the vessel for many great adventures.

Now another family is going to make their own memories in the camper, and I am so excited for them. They are a young family just starting out on their camping adventures. Hearing their story made me reminisce over our years of camping.

We started out tent camping at Jordan Lake when Paige was just a toddler. The days were so much fun, splashing around in the lake and exploring the campground. But the nights were long and sleepless. Have you ever tried to sleep in a tent in the summer with no air conditioning on a cheap air mattress with a toddler? It’s not fun! I’m a little spoiled, and I told Adam if he wanted to keep camping then I would have to have a bed and air conditioning. So my dear husband sold his beloved fishing boat so we could buy a pop-up camper.

The pop-up camper had two huge glorious beds that folded out and an air conditioner that was cold enough to make your teeth chatter. It was heaven! We started venturing out to new places, and I fell in love with camping. I had never really enjoyed traveling much before, but something about being able to take my family and our little home on wheels and set off anywhere our hearts desired just made my soul happy.

We had caught the camping fever, and it wasn’t long before our hearts desired something bigger and better for our traveling pleasure. We bought a brand new Keystone Springdale travel trailer, and we may as well have won the lottery! The pop-up camper was more like a glorified tent, but the Springdale was like a tiny house. It had all the comforts of home, and we loved it. We traveled more in that camper than anything before or since. Any weekend we could possibly get away, we would hook that thing up and off we’d go.

Our Springdale on the way to Disney World

We traveled so much in it, though, that we began to make a wish list of features we’d love to have in a new camper. As that list grew, we decided to list ours for sale, just to see if there would be any interest. We sold it almost immediately, and quickly picked out a newer camper with all the bells and whistles that checked off most of the items on our wish list. The Grand Design Transcend was in many ways nicer than our house. It had all the finest finishes and the perfect layout for our family. I thought that it would be perfect, and that we would never want anything else. But I was wrong.

The Grand Design Transcend at home base.

I think that we just enjoy changing things up, trying something different. It’s just part of the adventure for us. We also began to realize that camping is less about having the finest things and more about enjoying the journey and making memories together. So here we are, with our biggest adventure yet sitting in our backyard, getting the makeover of a lifetime as we make a whole new kind of memories.

If you have ever thought about giving camping a try, I hope this is encouragement for you to start, at whatever point you are in life. You don’t have to have a big, fancy camper or the latest and greatest things to get started. We had just as much fun and made just as many memories in our first tent as we did in our big, beautiful camper. Start wherever you are with whatever you can afford. You can build your own adventure!

What Does Travel Mean To You?

What does travel mean to you? For some it’s an escape, a chance to get away from the stress and pressures of everyday life. For others it’s an adventure, a chance to try something different or see something new. Others enjoy the social connections of traveling, meeting new people or catching up with friends or family.

For me, it’s a little of all of it; and my reasons for traveling have changed over time. Traveling, and camping specifically, has always been an escape from reality for me. I have a busy job at a school and our family has seemingly unending social obligations on the evenings and weekends. I am by nature a solitary, introverted person, and setting off with the truck and trailer has always been a way for me to escape all these demands and enjoy some quiet time with my husband and children.

For the last ten years, I have had a baby or small child on my hip. This stage of life has been the most challenging and rewarding years of my life thus far, but it is all too quickly drawing to a close. My youngest baby is almost four, and I am not needed in the ways that I have been in the past. I don’t have to stand constant watch over my children, they have a little more independence and free reign now. This has changed our travel style, too. In the past, it took all of our focus and energy just to make sure everyone stayed alive, didn’t jump into the campfire or wander away from our site. Now that everyone is a little older, we can do some adventuring together. We go on bike rides and short hikes, do a lot of swimming and exploring. It’s quite a different experience, but one I am finding that I really enjoy.

The social aspect of traveling is one that I never really cared for. After a stressful week of working and caring for my babies, spending the weekend entertaining friends and family just felt overwhelming to me. But then 2020 arrived in all its glory and sent us all for a tailspin! I hate to even say it, because I know it has caused many people much grief and heartache, but quarantine and staying at home has been good for our family in many ways. We’ve been able to spend more time together and focus on what’s important to us as a family. Our social obligations have become virtually non-existent, and I don’t feel so overwhelmed and stressed by life. Once we were able to start camping again, we found ourselves actually seeking out the company of friends and family, which was a first for us. I’ve been enjoying this time with others in a way I haven’t been able to before.

Traveling and exploring new places is such an important part of our life that I can’t imagine life without it. It brings us together and helps us to grow and learn as a family. It keeps us active and engaged in the world around us. It leaves me with a sense of good in the world, even during these difficult times. What about you? Why do you travel, and how have those reasons changed over time?

Country Roads Take Me Home

West Virginia has always held a special place in my heart. I never lived there, but it’s where both of my parents were born and raised, and most of my family still lives there. Growing up, we visited frequently, and some of my most vivid childhood memories are from there- catching tadpoles in the creek that ran by my cousin’s house, riding four wheelers with my grandpa and uncle, big Thanksgiving dinners at my grandma’s table.

As I have gotten older and busier raising my own family here in North Carolina, my visits to West Virginia have gotten fewer and farther between. But this week, my darling husband grudgingly dragged the giant camper over 400 miles through the mountains to my dad’s hometown of Point Pleasant, which is in the western part of the state, right on the Ohio River.

Just getting there was an adventure in itself! We started off the trip with a flat tire- luckily, Adam found it before we even left home. We had never really pulled the camper through the mountains, and we were nervous about how the truck would do. No worries there, though- the truck pulled like a champ and made it up those mountains with no problem at all! Thank goodness, because once we got over the fear and worry of towing through the mountains we were able to really enjoy the sheer beauty of the drive. Just looking up at the tall mountain peaks and down into the lush green valleys leaves me in awe every time. I haven’t had the chance to travel much past the southeastern United States, but looking out over those mountains, I feel like it has to be one of the most beautiful sites in the world.

The first few days we spent some long overdue time with family. It was so good to see my uncle, aunt and cousins. My children barely remembered them, which broke my heart a little. But after a few days of some serious fishing, ice cream dates, and water balloon fights, we were all best friends again! We stayed at Krodel Park, which is a city park there in Point Pleasant. The campground was older, with mostly permanent and seasonal residents, but they welcomed us with open arms, and the kids had a blast in the park’s splash pad and on the zipline!

After one last evening of Mothman pizza, adults hanging out on the tailgate of the truck, children running through the park, we said our sad goodbyes, promising it wouldn’t be so long before our next trip. We left Point Pleasant and headed to Princeton, in the southern part of West Virginia, a good halfway point on our journey back to North Carolina. Princeton is an awesome little town, with picturesque mountain views, friendly people, and all kinds of outdoor activities. The area is well known for its ATV trails, and we were wishing hard that we had our own ATV so that we could go riding! But the children are still a little young for that, so we decided to go to a local state park instead.

The gorgeous waterfall at Brush Creek Falls State Park.

Brush Creek Falls State Park was just down the road from our campground. We read online that it was just a short hike to the waterfall, so we decided to give it a shot. A few miles down a winding mountain road, we almost missed the turnoff and the small parking area for the trail. Thank goodness we didn’t though, because it was one of the highlights of our trip! The trail was wide and easy to navigate, nestled between the creek and a mountain ledge in the woods. It was cool and refreshing on that hot summer day. We all enjoyed stretching our legs, and even the kids were amazed by the beauty around us. The waterfall was breathtaking, the kind of view you see on a postcard, and the sounds of the water falling into the rocks just brings peace to your soul. We trekked down a steep ledge because we just had to put our feet in that water! A kind local hiker advised us that the trail continues several miles to where the creek empties out into the Bluestone River. We followed it for a while, but of course the kids got tired, so we reluctantly turned around. Still, it was a perfect escape and a wonderful glimpse of the beauty of the world around us.

Chilling out at the pool at Brushcreek Falls RV Resort.

While in Princeton, we stayed at Brushcreek Falls RV Resort, a privately owned campground just a few miles from the state park. It was a little slice of heaven tucked away on a hillside right by the interstate. They had a fabulous pool, playground, putt-putt, gem mining, and all sorts of fun stuff for the kids. There was a go-cart track on the property, and we were told that they hold races and events there, although nothing was going on that weekend. After all the traveling and visiting of the prior few days, we adults were pretty exhausted, and this was the perfect place for us to rest and relax while the kids blew off some steam.

We left Princeton and headed home, feeling refreshed. It had been a perfect week, a good mix of spending time with family, adventuring, and relaxing. It’s always nice to get home, but the heat and humidity of eastern North Carolina had me wishing for those mountain breezes. I guess it’s time to plan our next adventure!