Around mid-day on Monday, September 18, 2017 we pulled into grandson-in-law Randy’s business in Salt Lake to unload his car dolly that had served us so well. A while later we were at our daughter Heather’s house and the trip was finished. Over 6,000 miles and some twenty states and it almost seems like we never left.

We were in Connecticut until August 31st and had a delightful visit with family and some great sight seeing. For me one highlight was touring the USN Nautilus submarine in Groton, Connecticut. Another was going through the house in New Haven where Nina’s grandmother had lived a part of her childhood. The sunflower field was a delight. We spent more time in Connecticut than anywhere else on the trip and it was time very nicely spent.

Our next stop was in New Jersey for four nights. The Sea Pirates Campground had a minimum 4-day stay over holiday weekends. We were there as it was partway between Connecticut and Corella, North Carolina on the Outer Banks, our planned next stop to be with family. The trip was too far to do in one day so we split it up and took a brief respite in New Jersey. The biggest frustration was getting onto and across the George Washington Bridge. We spent a couple of hours to go four miles on the approach to the bridge.

To get to the Outer Banks we took the Cape May-Lewis ferry across Delaware Bay, drove down the length of Delaware into Virginia, and drove then the long bridge / tunnel across the Chesapeake Bay. Taking this route shaved several hours off of the alternative route. The ninety-minute ferry ride was very nice. I booked a 10:30am trip online, but traffic (surprisingly) was very light and we were there shortly after 9am and were able to get onto the 9:30am ferry. In fact, we were the 2nd vehicle to get onto the ferry. The ride was smooth and pleasant.

Our son Daryl had rented a house on the Outer Banks beach in Corolla, North Carolina. We had planned to park the motor home in the rental house driveway, but then discovered that was prohibited. There are two campgrounds on the upper end of the Outer Banks and we were able to secure a place in Kitty Hawk. This campground was about a 40-minute drive south of Corolla where Daryl, Laura, Lily, and Laura’s parents were staying.

We arrived on Labor Day Monday. Daryl had to vacate his rental on the following Saturday morning. We originally thought we could we would leave that day as well then thought better of it! We decided to spend a couple more days, do some sightseeing on Saturday, go to Church at the Nags Head Ward on Sunday, and then head west on Monday, September 11th.

In addition to spending time at the beach, in the pool and two hot tubs at the rental house, eating at several restaurants, and visiting, we had some other fun times. Daughter-in-law Laura ran in a 5-k race coming in 32nd and first in her age class. We took a fun tour on four-wheel-drive beach to see the wild Spanish ponies. We played eighteen holes of miniature golf. Nina’s brother-in-law Billy drove up from South Carolina to spend a day with us (and go on the wild horse tour). We were quite delighted to be able to visit for a bit with Billy and hope to get out to see him sometime in South Carolina.

We made a couple of significant stops on Saturday. First was at the site where the first powered airplane flight occurred. We also stopped at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse which was much more interesting than I thought it was going to be. Seeing all of the kites flying across the street from the Kitty Hawk Kite Store was very impressive. There are several lighthouses along the Outer Banks.

This was another of the lighthouses. We headed the warnings! We’ll likely never go back to the Outer Banks and one week is not nearly enough time to explore everything available. I can see why our son Daryl and his family return there for vacation each year. It is a beautiful and varied place.

We headed west on September 11th. We stopped at three campgrounds on the way west and arrived in Colorado Springs on the 14th. We stayed at the Garden of the Gods RV Resort for two nights while visiting with our good friends Bobby and Duane. You can always tell who the really good friends are when conversations just pick up after years absence as though we had never left. Saturday we drove to Green River, Wyoming and spent Sunday with my favorite brother Perry and his wife Chris. We enjoyed going to Church with Perry as well as taking a nice drive east of Green River to see the wild horses (!) out on the high desert plains. Then it was finally back home. We had a great trip.

Here’s some pictures (in random order) from the trip.