Four Nights and a Change of Plans
Five hours later, we crossed into the beautiful mountains of South Carolina with one reservation, four nights, and no idea what would happen after checkout.
The drive into South Carolina couldn't have gone any smoother.
For the first time, we were hauling the camper for a true road trip instead of a quick move between job sites, and if I'm being honest, I was a nervous wreck.
Zach led the way in his truck, towing the camper through the winding mountain roads while I followed behind in my SUV with Banks and the girls.
Every now and then, I'd catch a glimpse of our little home rolling through the curves ahead of me, and I'd smile.
Missed the previous post? Read it here → The Last Campsite Left
We were doing it.
Our first real adventure in the camper as a family of three.
Five hours later, we pulled into Devils Fork State Park and one of the prettiest campsites we've ever had.
We were in awe. How did we score the perfect site — and on my birthday weekend, of all times?
Towering trees surrounded us on every side, making it feel like we'd stumbled into our own little corner of the mountains. We'd traveled through the Appalachians plenty of times before, but something about being there with Banks made this trip feel entirely new.
It was peaceful.
Quiet.
Exactly what we'd hoped for.
We spent that evening walking around the campground, pushing Banks in his little tricycle, stretching our legs after the drive, and excitedly chatting about the adventures we planned to have over the next few days.
We had plans.
Big ones.
We wanted to hike.
We'd moved our inflatable paddle boards to the front of the camper, ready to get them out on the lake, with a life vest for Banks already tucked away in one of the carry bags.
For a moment, it felt like we'd outrun all the uncertainty we'd left behind in Tennessee.
The questions about work...
Where we'd go next...
How we'd make everything work...
Those could wait.
Tomorrow was my birthday.
And tomorrow was for adventure.
When the Plans Changed
The next morning, we woke up to find Banks covered in hives.
I’m not talking about just a few little spots.
The poor little fella was entirely covered in hives, from his little rump to his little piggies, wrapping around his trunk and up under his little armpits.
He was miserable.
Bright red patches stretched across his skin, and the eczema we’d recently been struggling with seemed to flare all at once.
The rash that changed our plans overnight.
As any parent knows, plans go out the window the moment your child needs you.
The mountain we'd picked out to hike no longer mattered.
The paddle boards stayed rolled up.
Instead of searching for trailheads, we searched Google.
Instead of packing hiking snacks, we mixed oatmeal baths.
Instead of celebrating my birthday on the lake, we spent it trying to figure out what had happened to our little boy.
We spoke to his pediatrician.
We gave him Zyrtec.
We watched him closely.
We waited.
And we hoped.
Thankfully, after the Zyrtec, he wasn’t acting like he felt bad. He laughed, played around the campground, and was his usual happy self, even though his skin told a different story.
So, little by little, we started to relax.
The rash didn't disappear overnight. In fact, it stayed present for months — but that’s a different story to tell.
Somewhere in those rashy, oatmeal-bath-filled moments, we realized something important.
Our adventure hadn't ended.
It had simply changed.
The hikes would still be there next time we returned — because we will plan a trip back.
The paddle boards could wait for another lake.
Instead, our days became slower.
We wandered the campground.
Watched the breeze dance across the water.
Ate messy meals by the campfire.
Let Banks explore every stick, pinecone, and patch of grass he could find.
Some adventures looked a little slower than others.
Sometimes adventure looks like climbing a mountain.
Sometimes it looks like slowing down long enough to realize that being together is enough.
Four Nights Weren't Enough
Although we didn’t hike the mountains or float the lake as planned, my birthday still turned out to be a successful and relaxing one.
Minus the one gnarly rash.
By the end of our stay, we were sad to leave such a beautiful place. We would have happily stayed longer if they had more available spots, but it turned out we'd been incredibly lucky just to score the one we had.
The day before we were supposed to leave, we even tried talking the rangers into letting us move sites.
No luck.
Everything was fully booked.
We’d have to leave anyway.
By the time our four nights were coming to an end, Banks still wasn’t improving. The Zyrtec wasn't doing enough, and we knew we needed to take him to an urgent care.
So, the moment we started packing up, two questions were waiting for us again.
Where do we go now?
And is there a doctor there who can tell us what is going on with our little Banks?
East Again
Campgrounds across the Southeast were filling as fast as we could refresh the reservation websites.
But somehow, we managed to score another site — this time for just three nights at Lake Norman State Park in North Carolina.
It didn’t feel quite as promising as the place we'd be leaving behind, but it was only three hours from where we were in South Carolina, and more importantly, it put us in the direction we needed to move.
By then, we'd also realized we wouldn't be traveling eight-hour days like we used to in our van conversion. We'd certainly done our share of ridiculously long travel days before, but traveling with a toddler, two dogs, two trucks, and our entire home in tow was an entirely different ballgame.
Our five-hour trip from Tennessee to South Carolina had turned into something closer to eight hours with all the extra stops we'd made along the way.
And it felt like an eternity.
Suddenly, three hours sounded pretty good.
At this point, our plan was to keep making our way east toward New Bern, North Carolina, where there was potential work for Zach.
Whether that was actually going to happen...
Well, that's a story for next time.
