Myrtle Beach State Park, SC

The little but important things you forget on a camping trip! Discovered that I forgot my laptop power cord, my toothbrush and water flosser chargers. My daughter found them and put them in the mail to be delivered to my friend Joe in Florida who I will be seeing in a few days.

Enjoyed a full day at Myrtle Beach State Park. It is a beautiful park with a well kept campground. After the wet weather the previous evening, today was sunny but still cold (40s) and very windy at the beach. I walked along the long stretch of beach, collected shells, went on the fishing pier to see what's biting (nothing). Had a nice chat with a fisherman on the pier who came from Virginia.

After a light lunch, I went on a hike on one of the trails in the park. then back to the pier to try fishing. Got a few bites, no catches. But the beautiful sunset made up for it

Jockey's Ridge State Park, NC

The morning was warmer and less windy than the previous evening. I decided to stopy by Jockey's Ridge State Park, NC which was just down the road after I checked out of the Cape Hatteras Oregon Inlet Campground at 7:30 am. I was so glad I did! Jockey's Ridge is the "tallest natural sand dune system in the eastern United States". I got there just as the park opened, and followed the well marked trail to the sand dunes. It was a pretty surreal landscape and took me about an hour to hike over the dunes towards the water (Roanoke Sound).

After a refreshing hike which was much needed after being cooped up in the minivan all evening, I drove south towards Myrtle Beach State Park, SC. It rained almost all the way. Got to the park about 5:30 pm; most of the campsites were occupied. I had reserved a site with electricity and water, and was able to get power into the van via an external extension cord. The rain let up a little to allow me to heat up some soup with the gas stove. The campground also has wi-fi, it was slow but allowed me to update this blog!

Cape Hatteras National Seashore, NC

Left on my camping trip with Millie yesterday! Not the best of weather -- on the way to Cape Hatteras, I stopped by the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Admission was $10 but free with the Senior Lifetime National Parks and Recreational Lands Pass. It was rather cold and windy, so I just toured the museum/visitor center and drove the loop around the monument.

I thought I could do a walk-in reservation at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore campground but nobody was at the ranger station. Fortunately, I was able to make the reservation via my mobile phone right there, I got a basic site with no electricity since I was only staying for the night and I did not feel like trying to hook up to the power outlet. By then the weather had turned pretty cold and windy, with light rain. On the positive side, this was a great test for Millie and the camping additions I made. The insulated window shades did a great job to keep the heat in, so I did not have to turn on the heater. Still I had to wear two layers of clothing plus the blanket and quilt. Luckily I packed a sandwich so I did not have to cook. It was quite a learning experience to figure out where to place stuff with the bed frame pulled out. Well, I survived the night (actually slept pretty well), even managed to crochet a dish sponge to add to my future Etsy store (more on that later).

Got power and water

Received my Jackery 1000 battery and the accompanying solar panels a few weeks ago. I have been testing it with various gadgets I plan to take on the road. It came about 35% charged, so the first order of business was to hook it up to the solar panels on a sunny day on the patio. It took most of the afternoon to get it all charged up. The battery itself was nicely compact and not too heavy for the amount of power that it packs.

The first test was during a cold night in the house: ran my twin electric blanket from the Jackery. It ran most of the night (about 6 bours) on a low setting -- the battery level went down to 83%. On a recent weekend road trip to visit friends in Delaware, the Jackery powered my Setpower AJ40 40 qt portable freezer/fridge. The 3 hour drive barely made a dent on the battery, the power level was still at 97% and the fresh trout fillets in the fridge were kept nice and cold.

The last test was a 250-watt personal heater in case I run into a cold snap while camping. The heater used up about 35% of the power in an hour. Clearly not something to run the whole night. On an interesting note, the solar panels have USB ports that can charge cell phones, etc. while the panels are charging the battery. The panels did not come with a carrying case; fortunately my daughter has a number of art portfolios from her undergraduate days and the two folded panels fit into one of them (see below). Azula, one of our cats, insisted on being in the photo.

It would be a challenge finding space for the portfolio in Mille. It looked like I will have to put the portfolio standing on the floor of the front passenger seat. Or, I could leave the solar panels at home since most of my campsites have electricity and the Jackery can be charged using Millie's DC outlet. I also prep'd for water supply. Got a 5-gallon water bottle and a manual dispenser, to avoid using lots of bottles. Thought about getting an electronic dispenser (charged via USB) but after reading stories about rogue electronic dispensers turning themselves on when the owners were not around, I decided it was safer to get a manual one. My daughter helped to put the dispenser in place, there was a little spillage in the process. It will be interesting to see if I can replace the water bottle (or refill it) by myself on the road. The bottle is currently in the dining room, did not want to move it into the minivan because the night temperatures have been going down to freezing.

I am so ready to hit the road. The weather was rainy with sleet in the forecast, so I have delayed my departure until Saturday.

Trout fishing

Last Wednesday, I got an email alert that the Maryland Dept of Natural Resources (DNR) stocked Myrtle Grove Pond with 1,200 rainbow trout. I texted my fishing buddy Jane and we decided to go fishing the next day. It took me about 50 minutes to get to the Myrtle Grove Wildlife Management Area which is located in LaPlata, MD. The weather was nicely warm and sunny. When I got there at 11:30 am, the DNR truck was on the ramp releasing another 200 trout.

It did not take us too long to catch our limit that afternoon! I filleted the trout and gave them away to friends and neighbors.

The DNR also stocked two ponds in Bowie. This afternoon I took the 10-minute drive over to Governor's Bridge Pond to see if I can get a couple of the 400 rainbow trout released last week. Took me about 90 minutes to catch my limit of 2 nice sized trout. I kept these for myself, pan fried them and had one for dinner. Jane and I plan to go to Myrtle Grove again on Thursday, when the temperature is expected to go up to the mid-60s.

Millie's new furniture

Yes, I finally decided on a name for my minivan! Got a call from Fedex early this week that my conversion kit has arrived at their freight center near Baltimore. I can pick it up myself for free or have it delivered to the door for $200+. Guess where I went on Wednesday. Fortunately, the Fedex staff who brought the big box on a forklift was willing to take off the outside cover and helped me load it into the van.

I drove very carefully home since the package was not tied down nor anchored to prevent sliding about. Wednesday was unseasonably warm, which was great for setting up the camper box in the driveway. The instructions that came with the package were not very clear, it would have been helpful to have a video, but I finally figured it out. I also laid out the carpet I got from Walmart over the WeatherTech liner so that it is comfortable walking barefoot in my new camping bedroom.

The bed frame folds into a third of its 72" length, with two thirds under it available for storage. The hole in the middle is where the bed converts into a dinnette/sofa. I plan to store the awning tent, beach chair and umbrella in that space.

My small and medium plastic totes fit perfectly under the frame. Unfortunately the toilet was just an inch too tall and will have to stay out. It was a good thing that it has a color-coordinated cover!

The next challenge is to figure out how to store all the stuff I want to bring on the road. I thought of getting over-the-seat organizers, but the affordable ones on Amazon were made for kids and appeared flimsy while the "business" organizers were rather expensive (over $70). Why not use the bagpacks and organizers that I already own? I ordered these hooks for $6.99 (pack of 4) instead: they even have the right color 😃

Oh, after I finished tying down the camper box, I found out that I needed access to back left wall of the van where the integrated car vacuum basket/filter is located. I just got a replacement vacuum hose from the car dealer and needed to connect it to the unit which is now blocked by the camper box. *Sigh* Will have to wait for the next good weather day to re-do this, it's cold and rainy today.