Last Adventure of The Year! And Our Summer on The Natchaug River!

Deb
Nov 1
4 min read

Updated: Nov 2

It’s been a wonderful season of travel, meeting old friends, making new friends, visiting with family and enjoying the beauty of our country! And of course enjoying the Natchaug River in Chaplin, CT! We are blessed to be able to own two RVs so one takes us on our travels and the other sits on a seasonal site 40 minutes from home.

This last trip brought us to South and then North Carolina. Our main reason for the trip was to attend the National Dutch Oven gathering in Shelby, North Carolina held October 23-26 but we decided to go early and visit with family and see Congaree National Park! We have to see a National Park or it’s not an official adventure!

I loved Congaree’s sign and of course we had to have our “Bill’s Country” flag with us! An interesting speed limit sign caught our eye!

The shut down left the visitor center closed and no rangers in sight which made us mad and sad but we downloaded a self-guided tour and pressed on. We love visitor centers and talking to rangers to learn the history and geology and other interesting facts so we didn’t have the full experience.

The National Park is in a floodplain and named for the Congaree people who once lived in this region of South Carolina. Not much is known about these people as many are thought to have died in the 17th and 18th centuries, likely due to warfare and disease brought on by European colonization. Archaeological evidence suggests humans have inhabited the area for at least 10,000 years!

Rapid industrialization after the Civil War caused a need for lumber. The land was logged for cypress trees and many of the massive trees were lost. They were difficult to get out, however, and by 1917 logging had ceased. There was still danger of losing the forest. Harry Hampton who was a member of a local hunt club realized the value of the area and worked to save it from destruction. With the help of activists Congaree Swamp National Monument was designated in 1976 and in 2003 it was redesignated a National Park.

This is one of the most biodiverse forests in the nation. It is the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest in the southeastern United States. The flooding carries nutrients and sediments that nourish the ecosystem.

The boardwalk loop trail is an iconic feature of the park and we were able to walk on a part of it. The water level was low when we visited so no troubles there but a part of the loop is closed for construction. We managed to get a flavor of it though! With it being under water a lot I can see how they have to repair it often!

We really loved the Loblolly Pine trees! We don’t see them up north. In the national park they grow to exceptional heights in the floodplain environment. They thrive in muddy, swampy conditions. The park contains a champion tree that is 170 feet tall! The interesting fact about the Loblolly is the seedlings cannot grow due to the dense canopy. They need a major disturbance that would open up the canopy to bring the sun in!

The bark is amazing with so many layers! I said it reminded me of Baklava!

The Cypress Trees have an incredible root system! The “nubs” look like little aliens!

There is a lake in the park called Weston Lake and we were able to see it from the boardwalk. It is an oxbow lake which means it was part of a bend in a river but got cut off from the river at some point and is now a free-standing body of water. Another visitor told us they saw an alligator but we didn’t see one. We did see some cool turtles!

Next up: Sesquicentennial and Andrew Jackson State Parks

We enjoyed our stay at Sesquicentennial State Park or “Sesqui” as they call it. Nice site and full hook ups.

We moved on to Andrew Jackson State Park. More full hookups and a nice lake and trail along the lake.

We found wood and in typical fashion we had a nice campfire. We took a walk around the trail and halfway around we came to a closed boardwalk over a muddy area. Maybe not the best decision to try and bushwhack around the boardwalk!

Tom was able to play golf with his brother Matt who lives in South Carolina. It was a fun visit with them!

Next up: National Dutch Oven Gathering!

This was our 3rd National DOG and a fun time. We met some old friends and made some new ones! People came from all over the country. There were many black pots, sharing of recipes and a ton of eating!

Tom and I both went to workshops and learned some new things! We ate a lot too!

On our way home we found a church in Huntersville, NC and found a Bills Backers Bar to watch the Bills game before hitting the road. Unfortunately we had a battery issue again so we drove 834 miles to get home! It was a long night but hey traffic was pretty good!

We got home safely and the next day it was time to bring Evvie our 5th wheel home from a wonderful summer at Nickerson Park Family Campground in Chaplin, CT.

Here is a photo dump of our summer: