Our first stop was a night in Niagara, where we enjoyed fireworks by the falls and another Walmart parking lot. Then we crossed the border to warmer climes. We explored State parks and stayed at a Brown’s Orchard and Family Farm, a Harvest Hosts location.
Then it was time for a mini family-reunion in Baltimore where we visited the aquarium and explored some neighborhoods and coffee shops. We met the next day at the Mall in Washington for some more museuming.
That night we stayed in a driveway in Arlington, a Washington suburb, arranged by a social networking app, Boondockers Welcome.
Next was a chilly but spectacular visit to Assateague State Park where we camped a couple of nights right on the beach and enjoyed meeting the wild ponies.
Then, further south, Holden Beach in North Carolina and Myrtle Beach, Huntington Beach State Park, Charleston in South Carolina, more Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts and genuine warm weather.
We returned via Stone Mountain State Park, where we camped for a night.
Disaster struck the next day. The van was still winterized, so we were using a five-gallon water canister for our fresh water. When we were driving around the park, we left the canister on the counter and it fell onto the floor. We addressed the issue when we got to the trailhead because we did not realize that the water was soaking my two laptops that were locked in a compartment on the floor. Both laptops, my primary and backup, were fried.
We white-knuckled home to get a repair and replacement figured out. We spent the night boondocking in a lakeside park in Toronto, picked up a replacement laptop in the morning and headed home.