Medoc Mountain and Big Foot!

All the comforts of home...

Diggin' a hole in the shade

Did I mention that we went from nearly flooding to extremely hot and dry almost over night? There are so many campers on the road these days, I plan and book my trips in January and trust  the weather will allow me to enjoy most of them. And most years mostly it works. Back in January, I booked  two nights at Medoc Mountain State Park near Littleton, NC for the last weekend in May. Jessie had been intrigued with the nearby Big Foot Museum, which was closed on the day she took to drive up there last fall. So together we planned this trip to enjoy the park, paddle Little Fishing Creek within the park and check out the museum. And part of the plan was for Jessie to practice driving the rig before our trip to Canada in June.

So it all went well but the weather. Jessie did well driving. Ruthie got a site near us. Ben and Sydney brought the rest of the kayaks and their tent. I brought the large screen room and an electric fan. And thank goodness the trailer has AC. It was hot as, well, you know. Even Franklin was subdued. We did manage a good meal that evening and eventually enjoyed a camp fire once it got dark enough to really cool off some. 

Little Fishing Creek

Storm damage

We planned the next day to avoid the heat. Little Fishing Creek runs the length of the park and is billed as a 1 - 1.5 hour paddle. We started out early and it was an absolutely lovely trip, punctuated with downed trees and portages over mess left from last summer's hurricanes. The park service has tried hard to keep the creek clear and we saw plenty of evidence of chain saw work, but with heavy spring rains, weakened trees have continued to fall. With good teamwork, it took us about 2.5 hours to complete the run but we all agreed it was worth it. The creek is narrow and intimate and full of wildlife and one of the loveliest places we've been. And as far as I am concerned, anyplace we can go together is extra special.

Sydney and friend

Something I learned about Sydney on the Eno is that she loves to play Catch and Release with baby turtles. And she's good at it. There were lots of baby turtles to enjoy. We also saw a copperhead swimming the creek and disappearing into the bank. But mostly we saw beautiful, deep woods and the occasional hiker on the streamside path.

Plan your next visit!

It was after noon by the time we got back and still cool enough to enjoy lunch outdoors (with the help of the fan). After a little clean up, we headed to Littleton to find the Cryptozoology and Paranormal Museum, which happens to be in the home of a retired newspaper journalist who got into the paranormal writing documentaries for the New York Daily News.

Oh no!

Big Foot Ben

Prints from Medoc Mountain

Clearly, we had lots of fun. The museum guy had just been to Medoc Mountain State Park the week before taking castings of fresh Big Foot tracks. I'm not sure how much I believe any of this but Jessie got a great T shirt and we all enjoyed the AC.

This doll looks creepy even if it weren't haunted...

Had it been cooler, we could have stayed for a ghost tour of the house and neighborhood. Our host offered little electronic devices that pick up "abnormalities" indicating ghostly presences. Apparently nobody knew just how haunted the town was before he and his wife moved there, but scary as it may be, paranormal tourism has helped the local economy.

Ben in Halifax

We weren't quite ready to go back to camp and take on the heat so we checked the map for a cool drive and decided to head over to Historic Halifax. According to the web, "Halifax, NC is the nation's birthplace of independence.  The historic document Halifax Resolves was signed here on April 12, 1776, predating the Declaration of Independance by almost three months". The kids had been there years ago when I went to retrieve an antique loom I'd restored and loaned to State Historic Sites. The person who used it at Halifax for demonstrations had retired and they wanted the space back. It's now on display at Cedar Rock Historic Farm, but I digress. We needed a cool destination and we found it, and a Dairy Queen nearby. Another good cookout and we packed up for home and left out early the next morning. We'd love to come back for the ghost tour and the creekside hike, and we will--when it cools off!

Ancient Chinese Chestnut at Halifax