Raleigh - Finally!

Here we are, back on the road again. I'm really getting used to eating in the camper on the way. These three goofs always keep things entertaining!

And the dogs. They are all about the comfort. I think it's safe to say they like the ride. 

We took our final trip of the summer and finally made it to Raleigh. I think we have been looking forward to this trip since we planned them out last spring. I don't know why. Maybe it's a gentle nudge from the Holy Spirit, but this trip we just felt like we were going home. Our language changed this trip. We had always planned to go back to our top two places this fall to try to narrow it down. We will only be making one trip. Raleigh is number one and the other cities gave us great memories.

We started off Saturday morning visiting Apex's Farmers Market. And we fell in love. 

Sydney has always struggled with the sun. I think we were three days into this trip before I got a picture with her eyes open. If you are ever in the area, this old stretch of Apex is worth a visit. It is filled with shops, cafes, restaurants and bakeries and this little stop where you can leave or borrow a book. Apex is a big(ish) city, but this street makes you think you are back in time 60 years ago. 

Apex gets its name from being the highest point on a portion of the Chatham Railroad, which extends from Richmond, Virginia to Jacksonville, Florida. 

Our campground this trip was Raleigh Oaks, about 40 minutes southeast of Raleigh. It is by far the nicest campground we have stayed at yet. It was clean and large and the employees were all so kind and helpful. While we'll probably try to find an RV park closer to Raleigh while we look for a place to live, we already know we'll be back to Raleigh Oaks for a visit. 

We did deal with some disappointing weather when we were there. A front line sat right over our campground, east to west, our entire stay. This created the muggiest most humid mornings I have ever experienced and thunderstorms each afternoon. But we still saw the sun every day, at least for a bit, and the kids got plenty of pool time in. 

One day they were playing in the pool when we heard thunder. Of course, this over protective mom made them get out of the pool immediately, much to their dismay. However, it wasn't 10 minutes later that a full on thunderstorm had moved in. Mike and I got the kids back to the camper and decided to work on some laundry while we waited out the rain. We had just made it into the wash room when torrential rains and winds, along with flash flood warnings on our phone, moved in along with some pretty serious and nearby lightning. I could barely see our camper out the door through the pouring rain. Thankfully, Corban had his phone and we stayed in communication with him until the storm moved past. But it was a little crazy there for a few minutes. And then sun.  

On Sunday evening we headed to downtown Raleigh for a food truck rodeo. What a great memory! And everyone was happy because we each found our own favorite food and desserts. Yum! We even made some new connections with locals who were so friendly and encouraging in our journey. 

My dad had been telling me about this picture of him sitting on a canon outside the capitol building in Raleigh as a boy. He sent me this snapshot and asked me to find the canon, if it was still there. 

And it sure was! This is the canon on the right side of a monument. The one where Dad was sitting on the left was in the hot sun and I didn't want to make the kids sit on it. What a special memory! 

These two. I have about 15 pictures like this on my phone now, thank you very much. 

On Monday we met up with some friends in Raleigh where we went through the North Carolina History Museum and then had lunch together. My kids are excited to already have friends in North Carolina. I met Reese and Ruby's mom when Corban and Reese were babies. They were both born in June 2003 and Stacy and I met in a moms' group online. It seems crazy for then, but normal now. Ruby was born between Sydney and Jared, so they are all close in age. Sydney and Ruby are pen pals, too. It's so cute and we are so thankful for them! 

Tuesday found us back in Apex, visiting Buttercream's Bakeshop. What a perfect way to start the day!  We did a little more exploring, finding several suburbs of Raleigh that we would be very happy to live in. What an adventure we've had - and it's only just beginning!