In my first post about our North Carolina assignment I mentioned how we had to jump campgrounds every few weeks due to area regulations, and I detailed our stay at Oak Hollow.  In this post I’ll share our second North Carolina home, Lake Reidsville.

A quiet little campground further from the city, Lake Reidsville had a beautiful lake and wonderful hiking. There was plenty of wildlife here to keep us busy. New insects to discover. Turtles and fish in the lake, along with an elusive pied billed grebe. Short walks in the cool autumn air to watch bats swoop down for their supper. And who can forget Ziggy the traveling piggy who elicited squeals of utter delight every morning when he wandered into our campsite rooting through the woods. He’s probably one of the more exciting ‘neighbors’ we’ve had.

 

 

But Ziggy was soon deposed as the favorite by a winsome band of bus dwellers . On our second stay at Reidsville we pulled in to the campground and immediately I spotted a skoolie and got excited (if there had been more time for renovations I would have truly liked to have one). Then I spotted a couple with a toddler who appeared Ocean’s age, and got really excited. Soon we noticed the couple belonged to the skoolie, and that our assigned campsite was next to theirs. They came over to introduce themselves and it was clear we were all delighted. You see, lots of families with young children are out there full timing. I’m sure of it. But evidently they’re doing it somewhere else, because up to this point we had yet to see anyone in the campground under the age of 60 (and hey, we’re not ageist, we would have loved some mature friends, but a majority of the time it seemed everyone was lounging inside; so we were equally excited to see this young family out of doors).

Over the next few days as we got to know each other it was clear this friendship was destined to be. She and I shared our educational background (both having a degree in psychology), and we were both married to engineers. We shared our faith and our views on parenting and nutrition. We breastfed together, swapped fermented goodness and scripture.  We enjoyed bonfires, a Christmas parade, and they gave me a new found love for locally brewed beer. We built (what I hope will be) a lifelong friendship in just a few weeks.   Sadly it had to end when Tom’s assignment was over and we headed home (though we did get to squeeze in a little extra time together when they followed us back to Cincinnati and bought our van).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although we’ve traveled to many places since then, North Carolina still holds a special place in my heart. Maybe it’s because this was our first true trip as full timers. Maybe it was the beautiful landscapes from mountains to ocean, or the inviting community. Definitely it was in part due to that lovable family that became the first lasting connection we made on the road. Whatever it may be, I’m already plotting my return (and pleading with the troupe of now-former-bus-dwellers to install RV hook ups on their homestead).