Jeremiah's 100 Nights

Just back from a trip which pushed us over 100 nights total and we stand at 102 at the moment. We left Necedah on March 31, 2015 and began camping at Oconee State Park (14 of our nights have been here) and got into rain on that first night and spent 2 nights getting used to our 560 Ultra. We also found out our, at the time new dog, does not like to camp. As we were planning a Long Haul that first summer we wanted to get on another weekend and hit Chau Ram County in SC for Memorial Day weekend.

Long Haul #1 - camped in Ringold, GA - Cape Girardeau, MO - Greenwood, NE - Larmie, Wymoning. 2 nights at Colter Bay in the Grand Tetons, 2 at Bridge Bay in Yellowstone and then moved to Tower Falls (Loved this place) for 3 nights. Glacier NP with one night at St. Mary's and then moved up to the beautiful Many Glacier campground. After a quick visit to some relatives in Spokane with no camping we made back home with stays in Billings, MT (original KOA), Sioux Falls, SD with a stop at Wall Drugs and Paducah, KY.

Mt. Pisgah and Linville Falls, both on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina later in the summer to end our first summer and 2015. I have no idea why we did not camp that fall.

Back to Oconee to start 2016 as I need to be in that area for a bike ride and to get us going as we are planning on another Long Haul in 2016. Little Rock, AR - Amarillo, TX and Santa Fe, NM for 2 nights at Santa Fe Skies RV which has great views and the area behind the office is actually set up like a park campground. Ended up at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and the only place we could get a site was the Kaibab RV Village. So packed in, we had a 5th Wheel's awning over us. On the way to the Grand Canyon we stopped at the Hubbel Trading Post in Arizona and met another Camp Inn couple. The only time on the road we have met another owner. They were from Santa Fe.

Hard to believe it was this hot at 8000 ft elevation. Bryce Canyon in the North Campground with some great hiking there and got to see the full moon rise while the sun was setting which was beautiful. (We liked this a lot). There was another Camp Inn at Bryce but the people were gone the next morning early and we never met them. The campground was a former owner but was full timing and switched to an Airstream. Capitol Reef National Park and Fruita Campground. More hiking, apricots picked and this is one of our favorite campgrounds anywhere. Gotta love a place with good pies within walking distance. Oh, yes and the lady in the tent next to us got up the next morning and confidently walked to the bathroom in her negligee in a very full campground. Won't forgot that.

From there we moved to Moab, UT and camped in Canyonlands RV park since we could get a sight Arches. We visited Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park - Islands in the Sky District. Mesa Verde National Park was next and toured both Balcony House and Cliff Palace cliff dwelling. Drove to Bernadillo, NM and stopped at the Four Corners on the way. Elk City, OK and then Hot Springs, AR. Did Buckstaff Bathhouse for an old school spa treatment. Wall Doxy State Park in Mississippi and the home on the 4th of July. Two more trips that fall at Twin Lakes on Lake Hartwell not far from our house and then 2 more at Chau Ram County park with some apple picking to end 2016.

Started out with a couple of stays at Oconee State Park and then that summer we ended up at Smokemont in the Great Smoky Mountains near Cherokee, NC. Tubing on the river, visited the Cherokee Museum and some hiking. October we camped at High Falls County Park on Lake Keowee and started our quest to visit all the South Carolina State Parks at Oconee Station Historic Site. End of 2017 which was kind of slow for camping.

Discovered a new favorite in 2018 at Keowee-Toxaway State Park (7 nights total here) and visited some of the other nearby parks on this crazy Ultimate Outsider quest to visit them all. Sadler's Creek for 4 nights on Lake Hartwell, Oconee State Park and then an out of state trip. Visited the Richmond, VA area and stayed at Pocahontas State Park for 3 nights to go see something at VCU and tour some Civil War sites. Trap Pond State Park, Delaware came next which took Jeremiah over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel. Back to Keowee-Toxaway State Park and Oconee Park to end 2018 camping.

2019 started back at Keowee-Toxaway and Oconee State Parks like usual for us. In June we caught a break with normal weather here in SC, so we went to Lee State Park in the Pee Dee region of the state park and used it as a base to knock out 10 of the state parks on our quest. Next we camped at Givhans Ferry State park for 3 nights to get into the Charleston area to visit some more parks. And for our 98th, 99th, & 100th night we ended up in North Carolina at Rolling View Campground in Falls Lake State Recreation Area while visiting our daughter. We celebrated by heading to the beach for a couple of more nights.

Top 5 Nights - Oconee (14 nights), Keowee-Toxaway (7), Chau-Ram County Park (4), Many Glacier (4), Smokemont.
National Parks visited - 12
The dog is better about camping. The other dog, the Corgi, will go anytime and barks at the gate if you pull off without him.
Number of people you can squeeze in a 560 Ultra -3 and sometimes with 2 dogs.
Looking forward to the next 100 and the 100 after that too.

Mt. Moran

 

Congratulations! Great summary of your great adventures! The pictures are great. Thanks for sharing.

-David & Treva

 

Such great adventures - sounds like lots of fun. Thanks for sharing your memories.