… you gotta take the ocean to Dory!
End of the teaching semester at Penn State is a hectic time for me. So we thought.. why not make it more hectic than usual? Make sense, right?
We embarked on our journey down south on the last day of my classes. Picked the kids from school and we were off. The destination(s)? Smokey mountains, Atlanta, GA and the Outer banks, NC. Dory, our camper, was parked outside the house and duly packed.
Our first stop was the Warrior’s path campground in Tennessee right before the Smokey national forest. We reached there on Friday and it was overflowing with campers with kids. Our girls quickly formed their groups and disappeared. Ah, the bliss!!
We proceeded to drive through the Smokey mountains and then reached campground #2 called Stone mountain campground in Atlanta, GA. The place was quieter than quiet, but we had a water front spot, so it all worked out!
After bolting out of busy Atlanta as fast as Dory could take us, we drove until we reached the border of Georgia and South Carolina. We decided to stop for the night when we saw a campground there. This turned out to be a hidden gem. The lake Hartwell campground and was spectacularly beautiful. We again got a water front spot, but it was so much nicer than the previous one in the way you could access the water. We stayed there just one night. We then went on to the Outer banks, NC. We reached Ocracoke, or Pony island, on Thursday and took up a camping spot by the beach. It was off season and simply lovely. We had originally planned on staying until Saturday noon, but then stayed on Saturday night as well. We even contemplated abandoning our responsibilities and sticking around on Sunday night. But we got rained out on Saturday night and it rained all of Sunday, forcing us to grow up and face the world again! We quickly left the island after that and drove homewards. We reached home at 11 am Monday, drove straight to school and dropped the kids off! The trip was officially a success.
Dory got pretty close to the ocean. Since she couldn’t make it across the beach, we brought a piece of the ocean to Dory. She looks pretty happy, doesn’t she?!
Happy Dory. The pictured Dory the fish is the official mascot of Dory the bus!
elfhut 
Your photographs have caught the moments perfectly. Description and photographs put together has created a web where I felt as a part of actions. Without Dory things might not be same. Johan deserves special appreciation for his efforts. I feel these are best moments for Thea as being part of larger family considering her age and health conditions. Rosy adds flavor to perfect setup. Children must be rejuvenated for her school. I feel very happy for programs you people are able to execute. Wish many more such events as children will certainly cherish them when they grow.