Day 4 - Travel to the East Coast

Friday, June 9, 2023
Posted from: Yemassee Holiday KOA, Yemassee, SC
Miles driven: 536 
Total trip miles: 1277

Today we leave the central time zone and head all the way to the east coast. It was one of our longer travel days of the trip so we got on the road at a reasonable time. We also lost an hour on this day by moving into Eastern Daylight Time, so that didn’t make the day feel any shorter. 

The trip tools us around and through a few cities so we took advantage of the Camping World in Chatanooga, TN to pick up parts to fix the hitch that has continued to give us problems. (No more zip ties!…which is good because we were running low…oh and also good because…well, safety and stuff.)

After Chattanooga, we drove over/through the Appalachian Mountain range. I’m not sure why this felt unexpected, but I had completely forgot we would need to get to the other side of these mountains on this trip. First, it was gorgeous. Second, there were miles of steep grades and reduced speed limits for those pulling, which we would have done anyway, but it’s a good reminder to take these passes seriously. It wouldn’t take much to overheat the truck or burn up the new brakes! 

It was beautiful, and Matt did a great job managing the truck, but even so, the truck did not protest when we pulled into a rest stop about halfway through. The truck was doing fine and has pulled this camper through much more strenuous mountain passes out west, but some passengers drank too much water and needed a break…okay it was me. 

It also gave Matt an opportunity to perform his famous rest stop stretches. 

More pretty views…


And then flat as can be. 

We travelled alongside a train track for several hours. Matt thought these signs were both funny and cringy. 

And finally we made it…to Atlanta. Where we spent some quality time in traffic, but considering we had to go right through the middle of downtown (no bypasses?) it really wasn’t too bad and only added about 20 minutes to our trip. 





I had to include this guy (tow truck below). It isn’t unusual for someone to cut us off and Matt locks up a few tires. But that is usually a very small car…historically a Prius. (Nothing against Prius drivers, but it has happened too many times to be ignored at this point.) Which is maybe why we didn’t see this guy coming. Matt slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting him. It’s like he didn’t even see us. And then soon after switched into this lane. I suggested that maybe he was trying to create some junk cars to buy. I don’t know, but we really could have done without that experience. 



Getting closer to the coast! 





And finally, we arrive at the campground. We chose a campground directly between Charleston and Savannah to give ourselves flexibility each day as to which direction we might go. It also allows us to set up  camp for a four nights, which is nice on longer vacations. 

This campground was very small for all it offered. They had a pizza place, a bar, gift shop/groceries, plus all of the normal amenities. It was full of trees and very shady. 

And then we found this. Hmm. We have a little Iowa stowaway. We never seen or heard it, and maybe we won’t again after he ate all of these tomatoes. 

We stopped in to ask the locals for suggestions on things to see while we are here, but all of the employees were from out of town. Mostly retired couples working here for the summer. So we picked up some brochures, Matt ordered a local beer they had on tap, I got a local wine and we walked back to the camper. 

We started a campfire, and finally ate dinner around 9:00. It was a long but good day.