Atlantic Ocean, Here I Come

 Location: Poplar Point Campground, North Carolina State Park, about 30 minutes west of Raleigh, North Carolina

This campground is massive in size with over 400 campsites. But it is surprisingly quiet and peaceful since the sites are separated, and the heavy woods act as a sound buffer. Most of the time when I reserve campsites, I can make an educated guess as to the condition of the site by using one of several apps. This one was a shot in the dark. It's been so long ago that I don't even remember why I chose this particular campsite. But I got lucky. It took two boards to level side to side but that was easy. My worry was the peat moss on the campsite. That was a first for me. I was concerned about ticks and such but after googling it, I found out ticks don't like moss. However, other insects do but in the four days I've been here, I haven't encountered any. That may be because I sprayed my stabilizing jacks, tires, cord etc with an extra dose of ant/roach spray. One bad thing about being camped in the heavy woods is the trees hold the smoke in and yesterday it smelled as if some dumba$$ was burning old creosote timbers. It lasted about an hour. Oh well, as with most things, it can always get worse.

This is from western North Carolina. As I head further east tomorrow, the hills will be left behind.

 

Campsite G6. I'd rank it about a 5 of 10

The view out my back window. I've only seen a couple squirrels but no birds. A little eerie when it gets dark.

This campground is the 20th one I've stayed at on this trip. Tomorrow is moving day and I'll see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in many years. It will also be creating some flashbacks to my Navy days. I'm really looking forward to this next stop. I have boat reservations and hope for a nice sunrise.

I'm at campground 20. The next two will be near the coast. Campground 21 is for 6 days and 22 is for 4, so I have 10 of hoping for a sunrise but the weather doesn't look good. 

The short story I posted yesterday prompted a few questions. I posted it here and on my facebook feed, so I got some in comments and emails. To answer a few of them publicly, the short stories I post may have an inkling of my life but in no way is it a majority. They aren't autobiographical. A lot of times the subject matter of the story comes to me when I see something or someone and I try to figure out what they are going through or what they are feeling. Once that happens, that thought gets stuck in my head and I start expanding on it until I have to type it out so it will stop growing up there. It sounds kind of crazy, doesn't it? Once I start typing, I can empty the story from my head in a couple/three hours. I never had this affliction until I retired. Probably because there wasn't room for all this nonsense up there while I was working. Plus, Engineers aren't supposed to think this way. Everyone is a little crazy, so I'm not alone. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.