Friday, October 14: I joined my Bennington, Vermont friend for breakfast (and reattached a button to the sweater I knit for her a while ago), and headed west through Troy, New York and southwest down to Pennsylvania. The above photo was taken at a New York rest area; the colors were great. Driving does get in the way of photography, though – I would have liked a photo of the tree that was so bright a hot pink/red/dayglo orange I had to close my eyes when I looked directly at it! It was in a small suburban yard, with busy traffic and no place to stop, though. Great color continued into Pennsylvania, with the leaves becoming less intense as I drove further south. My goal for the day: a friend in Montgomery Village, and that’s where I spent the night.
Saturday, October 15: In the morning, we went our separate ways – but not before I took photos of the red tree in his front yard,
and the “fox” hunting the neighbor “geese” –
I was headed to Bowling Green, Virginia, where three of us converged, from Vermont, southern Maryland, and Richmond, Virginia. It was Harvest Festival in town – wall to wall people, a car show, live music, crafts and local farm products, and fair food. We shared the most odd egg rolls I’ve ever met, filled with chicken, mac and cheese, and collard greens!! Dipped (gently) in a spicy sauce, they weren’t bad, but not something I’m likely to crave. I walked a little further than my joints were happy with – and one of my friends caught a golf cart ride for me back to the camper, for which I was very grateful. And then on to Interstate 95 – boring boring boring driving, through Richmond and Petersburg, and exiting Virginia into North Carolina.
I really like how North Carolina highlights symbols of their state in the terrazzo floors in their welcome centers – this is not the first time the cardinal and dogwood have appeared in the blog. I slept in a couple of rest areas, making it about half way through the state – I wanted to be in Conroy, South Carolina by late morning. And I was; the driving was much more interesting once I left the big highway and headed down the secondary highways.
Sunday, October 16: It was HOT! I sat outside with the cousins for a while, but the heat (82 F, 28 C) – even in the shade – eventually chased us inside. (I am not posting the photo I took of the three of them, two adults and dog, all napping while I knitted!) We went out to dinner in Murrells Inlet, seeking and finding seafood at The Claw House; great food, excellent service in a very busy restaurant with a water view. This is one of a couple of large fish tanks.
These are the greeters as you arrive:
Having spent a week longer than planned with the North Carolina cousins, while the response to the corona pandemic evolved, I headed north, for home, rather than continuing on to Santa Fe which had been my plan. Driving the Roadtrek means I have my house with me, and physical distancing is really easy – and kayaking is, by definition, a distancing activity.
It was another beautiful day. When one leaves the launch, the first thing of note is a boardwalk with rentable tree houses – closed, presumably because of Covid-19.
Going under this bridge, things became more confusing; the course of the river was not clear. I wandered into several dead ends, 
before getting tired of dodging the rampant poison ivy! I did find the primary course of the river, and headed up it. There were lots of turtles, but only a few were willing to have their photo taken.
There were lots of interesting reflections: 
The water was high – this dock was under water both coming and going, the entire time I was out.
And a return to the launch – and the Roadtrek. 
Why am I not kayaking today? Oh, yes – tornado watch, severe thunderstorms, horizontal rain and strong winds!
The river is lined with cypress trees, and their knees.
And the water was the color of coffee, with milk – anything more than a couple of inches below the surface was hidden. 
I couldn’t resist the reclining recliner – 
I turned around when Momma and her 10 or so babies were clearly unhappy with me behind them. No point in stressing out a new mother! Those little guys were really kicking up some spray. 
It’s obvious that humans have been wielding chainsaws to keep the river open. Or maybe for firewood, as clearly not all that was cut is still there. 
But there are also beavers at work here. 
And then there were more reflections: 
There was a lot of bird life: some hawks and vultures, owls calling loudly at each other, lots of woodpeckers that I heard but never saw. I could see some of the results, though. 
While out, I saw one other kayak; there were boat trailers in the lot, but they were clearly heading downstream, not up. Social distancing made easy, fun, beautiful.
In Morehead City, one of several launch sites: 
I went upstream/up tide/up wind up Calico Creek. Good exercise! This is very inhabited, although less so once one gets up beyond a small bridge – 
There were lots – LOTS! – of gulls and terns and cormorants. 
Not all were practicing social distancing. Most impressive were the egrets, both Great and Snowy: 
I wonder who dresses his hair?!? I sat and watched him fish for quite a while, although I had to wedge myself between some of those mollusks 
to not drift rapidly out with the tide. It made photography challenging.
It’s hard to read – it says “DOCK OF INDECISION” at the head of the dock. 
And then it was back to the waiting Roadtrek. This is definitely not a ramp in the civilized sense of the term, but made for a great place to launch. I wouldn’t want to do it without shoes, though – lots of sharp shells, and some glass. 
Last time I went east; this time I went west. Again, I was out as soon as the sun was up.
Small craft warnings – it’s metal, so looks like it’s always blowing! 
Apartments and condos:
This is the same Atlantic Beach bridge from the other day – but about five miles further west! It was taken in color, but it doesn’t look it! 
And the snow birds are heading north.
A Year of Kayaking 