Topsail Hill Preserve State Park to Virginia

We arrived at Topsail on Thursday early afternoon during a small break in the weather so we were only connecting things like electricity and water during sprinkles in between thunderstorms and heavy rain.  This is the most commercial feeling of any the parks we have stayed in and we have water, electricity, and sewer...so much for "dry" camping like we do in most of the national parks.  All if the campsites are on concrete pads, much spiffier than other parks we've visited.  As a matter of fact, the park advertises itself as an "RV Resort" (and has commensurate fees.)

This is our site on Friday am...no rain at this time and it is supposed to get better/drier and sunnier but not warmer (highs in the low 60s and lows in the 40s).

We kept out of the rain most of Thursday but on Friday am we headed to the beach which is a bike or tram ride from the camping area.  It was gray and windy but still nice to be on the beach.

There are dunes between the shore and the campground that are protected to protect nesting birds.  This is a larger dune area than what we found at St Joseph's Peninsula SP.

There is a board walk over the dunes and at the end of it is a sign and flag indicating the danger status for swimming.  No life guards are present on these beaches.  Today's warning was moderate risk for rip currents.

 Having had a storm on Thursday the Gulf was still showing signs of the storm even though it had passed us.

Paul and Dee walked barefoot in the sand and got their feet wet, Dee commented that she needed to go into the water to warm up her feet.

Dee used the iPad to take this photo of Marty and David.

The park beach is the Santa Rosa Beach and it is tucked into the space between beachfront communities with high rise apartments.  

One of our joys has been seeing the pelicans fly over the water, skimming just over the breaking waves and sometimes rising up a bit to avoid the breaking wave.  Sometimes there were only two birds and other times, like this, seven or even more.   

This campground will not be ranked as one of our more favorite ones because it is so commercial in feeling and has little to offer for privacy.  Many of the other parks we have stayed in have been really lovely with lots of space between sites and if not lots of space, enough vegetation for some privacy.

On Saturday afternoon we got a visit from David Schumacher who has been in Panama City avoiding the cold and snow of Maine as well.  We had dinner together and topped it off by going to a sports bar to see the second half of the Wisconsin basketball game and watched them win and progress to the Final Four.

On Sunday we are headed to Peachtree City and have crossed this bridge over the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway.  

Interesting downtown in Eufaula, Alabama.  Old buildings in the downtown followed by a beautiful divided boulevard.

We had no traffic issues and arriving in Peachtree City we got beautiful trees in bloom.

Spring is here if no where else.  

We stayed with Paul's nephew, Ben, and got to catch up with his family and his two charming sons who are becoming quite accomplished USS age group swimmers.  Plus, we watched two more of the NCAA Elite Eight games, Michigan State vs Louisville (and won) followed by the Duke/Gazanga (Duke winning).  Paul and Dee will spend another night there and we will head up the road.

Monday am we were on the road at 5:10 am.  We breezed through downtown Atlanta with no traffic issues at all, only a surprise electrical storm and heavy rain but that didn't last long. We found a Starbuck's on the NE side of Atlanta, where we loaded up on caffeine for our long drive.  The route took us on I-81 to Spartanburg, where we turned up on I-26, which is a wonderful hilly and scenic drive up to the southwestern tip of Virginia.

Just onto the road into the mountains.

North Carolina hills

Either North Carolina or Tennessee

Road view in Tennessee

The road into Hungry Mother from Marion.

Our campsite.

We've stopped at Hungry Mother SP for the night.  A couple of years ago we stopped here, but today we opted for Campground B, a smaller and more remote campground than the one we'd used before.  Other than the hosts, we were the only occupants, and enjoyed the serenity of the place.

Tuesday, and we have arrived in McLean.  For all intents and purposes, our trip is done.