I keep a spreadsheet that shows where I’ve been by year and day, partly to remember where I was when and partly because it’s fun to look across the years and see the extent of my travels. Turns out September 30 has been a pretty good day for me since I started the vagabond life…
2016: Bullards Beach OR
At this point in my vagabond life, I was just over a month into full-time vagabonding without the constraints of a full-time job. I was heading down the coast of Oregon and that’s where I discovered the magical landscape of Bullards Beach. With sea stacks, long sandy beaches, and ever-changing weather, it was a photographer’s paradise as well as a beach-lover’s dream come true. I’ve been back three times and it still isn’t enough. I’ll be back here someday; the pull of the ocean and that scenery is too strong to ignore forever.
2017: Trumansburg, NY
The next year found me on the east coast, sharing a weekend vacation with friends at an airbnb near Ithaca. I loved seeing friends after what had been a challenging year (broken hand, blown tire, cracked windshield…). Notable highlights of this weekend were my first visit to the Corning Glass Museum (very good) and a very slow, mostly walked half-marathon (not so good). And we also did some wine tasting and purchasing because we were in the Finger Lakes wine region.
2018: New River SP, NC
By the last day of September in 2018, it felt like I had been dodging hurricanes for most of the month. I had a reservation in eastern North Carolina canceled and headed west to another campground in Virginia that had a vacancy. Halfway there, the camp host called to say they were closing the park. Yikes. So I headed even farther west, where I managed to stay for two days before the little river next to my campsite threatened to get bigger from hurricane rainfall. This time, I picked a campsite at the top of a mountain so far west in Virginia that I went through a bit of Tennesee to get there.
I ended the month at New River State Park, in NC, where I just sat and enjoyed the trees and not having to move.
2019: Kalaloch, WA
By the time September of 2019 rolled around, I had been down South for the winter and then across the western US and British Columbia, finally making my way back to Kalaloch, one of my first camping spots way back in 2016. I love the wild Pacific Northwest Coast, from Vancouver Island down to Oregon, and Kalaloch is one of my favorites: long, long beach with beautiful light, tide pools, and driftwood.
Related Link: Closing the Loop (2019)
2020: Kerr Lake, NC
Oh, 2020 wasn’t the year anyone had thought it would be, was it? My camping plans were in disarray after the lockdown started, and it wasn’t till mid-July that I ventured out, staying self-contained as much as possible (my shower, my bathroom) and isolated as much as I could. I mostly chose campgrounds I’d been at before, so I could pick sites away from other people, and one of those places was North Bend Park, near Boydton, VA. I snagged a waterfront site and enjoyed the sunsets and the water views, a nice break from the news and the pandemic.
2021: Zion NP
After the time lost in 2020, I was determined to get to Utah and see the Big Five National Parks, so everything I did was routing to that goal. I left Zion till last and it was the right call: magnificent mountains, scenery so breathtaking that I literally cried as I drove down from the tunnel to the campground. I’d finally made it to Zion and it was worth the wait.
2022: Cape Charles, VA
I’m still finding new places to camp, but the place I was aiming for wasn’t where I actually landed, thanks to the everchanging weather forecasts around Hurricane Ian. With predicted winds of 30-45 mph, I decided to move a day earlier and go a bit farther to a place not so close to the water (and storm surges). Let’s hope I avoid being kicked out of the campground. So far, so good, at noon 🙂
I’m hoping to explore the eastern shore area once the stormy weather passes by, we’ll see how that goes. 2022 continues to be the year the weather keeps changing my plans.
With the time you’ve got, choose to make your life bigger.
We were supposed to be headed to Assateague Island, MD today but Ian put the kibosh on that! Instead we’re camping closer to home at Pillsbury State Park in Washington, NH for a few days. Got a site on the water. Will paddle and hike and chill. This is our last trip until March when we head to Cedar Point State Park in NC. Camping has been disappointing for us this year — weather mostly. We did manage to have one good trip to the coast of Maine in September.
It’s hard to believe that Trumansburg was 5 years ago! Fun trip and great photo. I hope you avoid the hurricane effects and have safe travels south!
OMG, let’s hope you can avoid having to outrun Ian. No fun. Take care.
We were heading to PEI, prime spot in the National Campground on the ocean, then Hurricane Fiona came along.. headed home to Maine. sigh.
I am really starting to want to get out on the open road reading all your great posts. And that’s even in the midst of all this bad weather! Stay safe.
That was fun to see.
Thanks for the memory of Trumansburg, NY 2017. That was a lot of fun and I still use the bowl I bought at the Corning Museum. It was also my last long driving trip, I made it out from MA in one day but it took me two days driving back as my eyes decided that they did not want to focus much so I spent the night at a very nice hotel in the Berkshires.
Annie,
I hope you find a special place on your special day…October 10! Will be anxious to see where that is..cousin Judy L
Oh, I have a special place lined up, and given this week’s weather, I’m betting it will be good for October 10th! You’ll see it on the day, I’ll share a photo in our cousins chat <3
Annie, I so enjoy following you around! Happy September 30th and I bet October will be a fabulous month for travels,
Thanks! I’m under a five-alert weather front right now (tornado watch, high wind warning, coastal flood warning, storm warning, and beach hazard statement). Gotta love hurricane impacts, even from 400 miles away!
Be safe!