Travel Update 9

We started the week by heading down to see more coastline, this time in southern North Carolina. We found some free camping that we wanted to check out in the Croatan National Forest, but wanted to find a reasonably sized population center first to watch the Sounders win the MLS cup. We settled on Morehead city and asked around there for good activities to do in the morning.

Fort Macon State Park was recommended to us at the visitor center, and we're really glad we found it. We spent three hours there, but definitely could have spent more time if we had it. We started by doing a really nice walk around the park.

  

After that we had about an hour to check out the visitor center and the actual fort. They had a video, which is usually one of our favorite things but we didn't get a chance to watch it. Instead we attended a live demonstration of some WWII weapons that they were doing as park of their Veteran's Day weekend. Even though the fort was primarily a civil war fort, it was also used during WWII. They also like to say that the lost shot of the civil war happened here in 1942, when a cold soldier rolled a cannon ball into the fire where it exploded.

After leaving the park, we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings, to watch the Sounders game. Which they did indeed win. It may have been a bye for Duck Football, but we did get to get our sports on.

Unfortunately we didn't have as good of luck with our free camping that night. The first place we tried to go was full. We thought we found a spot but then someone came back, telling us that they had in fact been there and just left to go to the store. It was a bummer. On the road up to the other free campsite in the area we ran into a big truck warning us he had gotten stuck in a huge mud pit in the road and had to have his buddy pull him out. He said we could probably make it around if we stuck to the side. Given our vehicle we were skeptical, but we thought we would check it out.

The mud pit that we found was indeed massive. There was no way we were going to make it past. In fact we passed a ranger on the way out who told us that the road was supposed to be closed because of the pit, but someone had taken down the barricade. We asked him for other places, and other than the full campground we tried first he didn't have any ideas. In the end we ended up at our default. Walmart.

The next night we had more luck in the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge. We found a really pretty spot, next to a fascinating marsh. 

 

Our big event during this time period was our trip to Congaree National Park, which absolutely beautiful. We spent a lot of time in Columbia, South Carolina because we were waiting for a new tire.  We finally decided it was time to replace the spare that fell off in West Virginia. Unfortunately, the wheel that we ordered didn't work out so this saga isn't over. We'll have to tell you the full story after we get it all worked out.

We spent a lot of time in the Columbia library, in part because the weather was wet and cold. In part because we had a lot of internet work to do. We've been looking into figuring out insurance and Kathleen is starting to work on fellowship applications for next year. And of course this blog. By the time Saturday rolled around we were very ready to get back on the road and try to move south out of the nights with below freezing temperatures.

Saturday night we ended up getting a room at the Travelodge in Walterboro. Partially because the football game was another late game that didn't start until 10:30 PM, and we didn't want to relay on the kindness of the local Applebees to stay open until the game ended. But we also calculated that we would actually be saving money on a $40 motel room compared to the food/drink costs of a game, plus showers for both of us. We also did some hand washing of laundry in the bathtub, and got to spend some time on the internet. Including watching a women's basketball game, in which Sabrina got her 19th triple double. Throw in the breakfast and it was a great deal.

The breakfast however was not quite up to Kathleen's "hotel breakfast" standards. The drink options were passable with coffee, black tea, water, lemonade, cranberry juice and a funny tasting orange juice. The food was a little strange though. They had Fruit Loops and Rice Krispies but no milk. They also had a yogurt machine. We made cereal parfaits and were satisfied, but it was definitely an odd breakfast.

Given that football season is almost over, we probably won't have another super late game, but maybe there will be a basketball game that will justify another motel.

Congaree National Park

Congaree National Park sits in the heart of South Carolina, within 30 minutes of the state's capital. It was protected because it is was one of the last places in the country to have a large hardwood forest on a flood plane.

The flood plane, which floods an average of 10 times a year, provides the trees with fresh nutrients from upstream allowing them to grow incredibly tall. The park features 25 "champion trees" - trees that are the tallest of their species in the country.

The most interesting of the trees to us was the Bald Cyprus, which features "knees" - roots that grow back up out of the ground. Scientist's best guess as to why they grow these is to provide stability during high wind, but that remains just a guess.

Because the park is on a flood plane, water sits around making the perfect spawning ground for mosquitoes. Luckily for us, the temperatures have been close to or below freezing, so we had the "All Clear".

 

In the park, we went on a 7-mile loop hike. There are only a few hikes in the forest, most of them loops that expand on each other, a 2-mile boardwalk trail, a 4-mile loop follows the boardwalk then branches out. The hike we did  branched out from that 4-mile loop, all of them ending on the boardwalk again. The boardwalk is nice because there are 20 sign posts referencing you to the boardwalk tour where they tell you facts about the history and biology of the park.  Pets are also allowed in this park, so Aiden was able to join us again!

 
  

All-in-all it was a  unique park that we're super glad we visited. There just wasn't too much to do to warrant more than a day or two without going fully into their designated wilderness.

For our science nerds out there - good news! The amphibians of Congaree have not been hit very hard by Chytrid. We asked the ranger and the front desk who had no idea what we were talking about. But he kindly called their wildlife biologist who said that they have not been hit very hard. We were pleasantly surprised. 

Here's a bonus picture of Declan contemplating a beverage.