We left our lovely oceanside site at Flagler Beach with one goal in mind – head north to cooler temperatures!
With temperatures reaching into the upper 90s in much of the southeast, we knew it would be many miles before we saw relief, but we had to get them done sometime.
Driveway Surfing in Georgia
Many years ago when we were passing through Savannah, we had a blog reader reach out wanting to meet up. It was amongst our first of such invitations, back when maybe a 100 folks a month even read along.
That meeting has turned into one of our more cherished friendships we’ve formed on the road.
We’ve now meet up with Ann & Elliott all over the country as we intersect with their personal travels. Five years ago they graciously loaned us their Le’Sharo motorhome after we sold our travel and embarked on our bus hunt. They’ve hosted meet-ups at their home with my parents.
It was of course a given we would be stopping in on our way north again.
We never know if it’ll be a quick visit or a lengthier one. And that’s ok, because they’re so super flexible and go with the flow, just like us.
We converge on dinners together, enjoy board games, sitting around laughing & sharing stories and just in general enjoy being temporary neighbors. We can do our thing, they do theirs and when it works out – we hang out.
This visit, was no different (except we did make a quick video about how we use our flexible electrical system to run an AC while driveway surfing.)
But it also turned out to be way too short.
We arrived on Friday afternoon, with flexibility to stick around a few days. But on Sunday morning it was clear Tropical Storm Colin had his eye on passing over the area.
And if that happened (as we prefer not to drive in inclement weather if we can avoid it), we’d potentially be staying a bit longer than ideal.
We looked at our various weather tracking tools (we’re loving the Storm app by Weather Underground), and spotted a window of opportunity to safely get out of the storm’s potential path.
And that opportunity only lasted a few hours that very day. If we left, like, now.
We made a quick visit to say our ‘until next times’ to our friends, and got back on the road.
Santee State Park – Santee, SC
As I had been plotting potential next stops anyway, I had already done research on state parks on our way north that would be both pleasant and not too far off direct routes north.
Santee State Park (our review), along Lake Marion in South Carolina, was just about 2.5 hours north (just enough to get us out of the projected path of TS Colin) and we could reach it by sun down. And I knew they had wide open availability.
Storms with heavy rain and lightening were already forming in the area, but we managed the sneak onto I-95 just in the middle of two major cells.
They were pretty much riding along with us up the interstate as I tracked them on my iPhone along with our position.
Except for passing through one short cell with intense rain, we did well keeping nicely tracked in clear weather.
But those in front of us where not so fortunate – as we passed several semi-trucks and rental moving trucks who had slid off the interstate in one of the cells ahead of us.
We pulled into Santee State Park, found a lovely pull-thru spot to call our own.. and waited out the rest of the storms for the next couple of nights.
It mostly just rained on and off . We got work done. And snuck out for walks in-between rain drops. Nothing too exciting.
The park is lovely, easily accessible off I-95 and perfect for our needs.
What’s Next?
We’re currently continuing our way north, and will catch you up soon on the path we chose.
We have an appointment next week in Vineland, NJ at US Coach. It’s the place we call to order unique parts for our 1961 GM 4106 bus conversion, so we’re excited to have our annual service done there. We’ve heard nothing but glowing reviews of them, and Luke is legendary in the bus conversion community.
After that, we’ll be spending some time catching up with friends in the Philly area. We’re currently scoping out options to find some place to be over the upcoming 4th of July weekend in the general area that might still have availability.
As always, if you think we might be coming to your area and you’d like to meet up (or even have parking space for a big ole bus) – drop us a line.
Next Live Video Chat: Driveway Surfing – Being a Temporary Neighbor
When: THIS Thursday, June 16
8 pm EDT / 5 pm PDT
Topic: Driveway Surfing – Being a Temporary Neighbor
When we first hit the road, we started getting invitations to come park in people’s driveways. We were reluctant at first, as our goal wasn’t saving money — and this felt like mooching. Over the years, we’ve gotten much more comfortable accepting these generous offers.
For us, it’s about some truly awesome experiences being temporary neighbors while we deepen friendships. The luxury of being close by for spontaneous hang outs, getting local knowledge and not being a guest in someone’s home. It’s pretty priceless actually.
In this video chat, we’ll share some tips on being a good driveway guest to make sure you’re invited back again. We’ll also share some things hosts might need to know about having a RV guest on their property.
You will need to create a quick free account with Livestream to view the video cast. Just click the link and setup an account in advance… a couple minutes ahead of time should be sufficient, but you can do it anytime. At the end, we’ll be happy to field questions. And if you can’t make it, you can catch the archive later.
Great ideas for both parties! Thanks for sharing!
We’ve had guests here a couple of times, but our driveway is really sloped, so they have to park on the street. We’ve gotten away with it, but it’s probably only a matter of time before the HOA nails us if we keep doing it.
One of my favorite trips involved driveway surfing at friends’ — in their truck camper in their driveway. It worked out really well. We had lots of time together, but also had time to separate, get some work done, and give each other (and our kids) some down time.
My driveway is not suitable (long, curved, many trees, etc.) for RVs, but my RV is on a campground with available spaces around it. I have met friends out there under the trees enjoying our RVs together. Suggestion for those of us who do not have a suitable drive for guest RVs.
Convergences with RVing friends are awesome 🙂
Hey say hi to Luke and Bill and Bill for us! Spent 3-4 days there the year that we saw you guys at Cedar Key. Ed & Stevi
Hi to you both! We enjoy your blogs and have learned much from your web site including the info about Santee State Park. I retire from teaching in May 2017 (my husband is already a retired educator and keeps busy servicing and repairing generators). We will be on the road from October to April once I retire and we hope to cross paths with you. Thanks again for everything you provide in your web site! Safe travels- Jim & Melinda Shaum
Less than a year to go! You have some awesome adventures ahead of you for sure. See you out there.
Hey guys,
We are in Pasadena MD so if you are in this area and want to driveway surf, ours is available. We live on the water on Bodkin Creek (just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. (plenty of good kayaking right from our yard. By road we are about halfway between Baltimore and Annapolis if you are interested in seeing any of those areas.We also have 50amp service as well as water of course.
Oh wow.. that’s such a sweet offer, and wish we had known earlier. It sounds lovely. We actually ended up routing via the Delmarva Peninsula.
So glad you got out in the nick of time…I too have Storm app but need to really look at it to figure out how you have it going along with you and tracking while you are driving…wish I had ideas for you for the 4th…it has always been a challenge on the east coast but I have complete faith that you guys will end up exactly where you need to be…
Chris has been using the app for a while, and actually downloaded just as we hit the interstate. I was surprised with how easy it was to get right into. Very intuitive.
The Jersey Shore is our old stomping grounds! If you have time, be sure to check out Cape May County Zoo – its free for a donation and VERY nice for a zoo (I don’t usually like zoos!). Also, our fav boardwalk is Ocean City – get some Shrivers Salt Water Taffy and Manco & Manco Pizza! Also – be sure to try some Kohrs Bros frozen custard – the Orange Twist is the BEST! All the above are truly NJ traditions that shouldn’t be missed! If you like the rides – head to Wildwood – they have just about any thrill-seeker thing you could want – and water park too! If you like a quiet beach – park at 58th Street in Ocean City and walk south about 10 mins – you will be in Corson Inlet SP and it’s quiet with a lot less people. Hope you get to take advantage of some of these things! Let us know!
Not sure we’ll get out to the shore this time around.. but sounds like some fun adventures! Thanks
We love driveways surfing. We have adult children and grandchildren. Driveway serving gives us an opportunity to enjoy the company of family members and skate to our own quiet guest room on wheels.
Driveway surfing is awesome indeed. Always nice to retreat to your own home.
Hey Guys! If you’re taking 301up from Richmond, try this route after the Potomac River bridge into MD. MD234 to MD236 to 5 to 231 into Prince Frederick, then 4 and 2 into Annapolis. Scenic, relaxing, avoids multiple traffic lights on 301. We took this route in our 35 ft Class A. Also, Tuckahoe State Park just over the Bay Bridge was very nice. Safe travels in the crazy northeast traffic.
Sounds like a great route… thanks for the tip. Might come in handy on future ventures up this way.
I believe we actually stayed at Tuckahoe a few years back, it was lovely.