The Camera Couple is back out on the road for a little weekend warrior trip! We were headed to Hamilton Lake in South Carolina for a couple days to enjoy some good lake time. The only problem was, we picked one of the hottest weekends of the year...

We were in site 76, which ended up being awesome because you had a little private beach to yourself and could launch the paddle boards right from the site! After the ride down, we enjoyed dipping our feet in with a cold beverage in hand for a little bit.​

The next morning we got up with full intentions to enjoy some coffee and our books by the lake. It wasn't long before I was interrupted by a slight work debacle that ended up taking up a good chunk of our morning peace and quiet. By the time it was sorted out, it was already scorching out so we packed up the cooler and headed out on the lake for the rest of the afternoon! ​

The paddle boards have been such a great investment, especially in the summer months were we can paddle, float, and then hop right in the water easily to cool off! We spent the afternoon enjoying the water with some music and cold ones, while getting some good sun burns! 

We decided to head back to land and rest in the shade for a little bit. Cameron graced us with some tunes on his little dulcimer (another great investment!). The heat of the day was upon us, so we had to keep using the outdoor shower to hose down whenever we started to over heat. We also had to check on Luna frequently and keep reflective shades in the windows to try and keep the trailer cool. The only problem with our site was there was no trees to block our camper in the prime heat of the day. 

After a little rest, we went back to catch the live band and happy hour at the bar. Unfortunately, the band was taking FOREVER to set up so we didn't even get to see them play. Cameron was really intrigued though, they had an upright bass, a guitar, and a saxophone....quite the combo, right? We enjoyed some cold drinks regardless.

After a nice lake day, there's nothing better than going back and relaxing in the cool air. We hung out for the evening and enjoyed a nice sunset walk with Luna before calling it a night.
The next morning we took our time packing up and enjoyed a walk around the entire campground. It was looking like another beautiful, albeit, hot day. We sweated our way through cleanup and headed back to the Concord homestead, but definitely enjoyed our new found lake spot...Next time we just might book it in a different month! 

Well... it never takes long for the Camera Couple to be back out on the road. After an incredible summer stint, we came home to no AC at the house, while trying to get re-packed to go photograph a wedding on the Carolina coast, and our adventures don't even stop there. But hey, do you really wanna read a blog that's just a list of our misfortunes!? 

Well... It's been a little while, but your favorite Camera Couple is back at trying to catch up the world on their travels. Living and working on the road is a wonderful time, but it does leave a lot of room for "I'll get to that later..." aka these blogs.

Well, it was six days into the new year. We had waited long enough to go on another camping trip, so we booked an impromptu weekend at Paris Mountain State Park in South Carolina. Not only would it fix our insatiable itch to go camping after such a long hiatus (a week), but it was also a park we haven't been to yet! We packed the trailer and headed to the mountains.

Another year, another Christmas trip. This has become quite the tradition, and this year, we headed down to Murrells Inlet on the Carolina coast—the Seafood Capital of South Carolina. Hopefully Santa got our change of address!

It had been a while since we last visited our favorite camping state. Between going up north and a quick trip to test the truck, we missed good ol' South Carolina. It was time to go back! This time, we went to Oconee State Park for a quick mountain retreat—and to hit a state park we hadn't been to yet.

Since our first work trip up north turned out so well, we decided to give it another shot after a whopping one week recovery period. That's right, the weekend after we got back from our three week trip to Maryland and Massachusetts, we headed down to South Carolina for another weeklong trip to three more state parks.

Another holiday camping adventure had arrived! This time, we were headed back to Hamilton Branch!

In the fall, we took a weekend visit to the park and absolutely loved the campground (if you missed that blog, you can read it here!). So, when the SC state park system did their 25% off deal, I snatched up our amazing waterfront site again for Easter weekend. We were heading down Thursday night and didn't have to leave until Monday! And the weather looked PERFECT for camping.

The greatest feeling in the world might be heading back to work on a Tuesday knowing that you only have to make it until Friday again to go camping. It was a quick turn around for us. After a great trip to Georgia, we were headed back to the lake, but this time to Sadlers Creek State Park.

For the fourth weekend in a row, it was time for another camping trip. This time, we were headed to nearby Lake Wateree State Park in South Carolina! And was it pretty...

When we started out this year, I made it my goal to book as many trips as I could for free weekends. Cameron and I prefer to be away from the world in our camper whenever we can, so I filled our calendar with little trips at the beginning of 2021.

This weekend it was Poinsett State Park. It was 2.5 hours down in South Carolina, which normally is nothing, however my work had a spontaneous vaccination distribution pop up, and I ended up getting out of work fairly late. Turned out Cameron also had a long day, so we were not as well packed as we normally are to just roll out after work.

After we "accidentally" bought the new trailer, time was of the essence. We scheduled a trip months in advance for the very next weekend! How were we to know we'd end up buying a trailer!? 

That week, we got a quick rundown of how the trailer works, we brought it home on Wednesday, loaded up all our stuff on Thursday, and set off for our next camping adventure on Friday. It was an action-packed week, but we got it done. 

Next stop: Croft State Park in good ol' South Carolina. 

Sadly, it was time for the final campground stop of the trip (insert crying face). It was such a fabulous journey thus far, and we were excited for our final stop at Lake Hartwell Sate Park.

Hotdogs roasting on an open fire.
Jack frost nipping through your tent.
Yule tide carols being sung by the shore.
And folks dressed in shorts and flops.​

This year, we decided to do Christmas on the coast in lovely Edisto Beach State Park, South Carolina!

It's here!! Our biggest trip of the year! Christmas was a little hard to plan family visits due to COVID (still), so we decided to keep it simple and safe by roaming to some new state parks for two weeks! If you're one of our 3 readers, you probably remember that last year we went across the country and hit Texas. We had so much fun camping for the holiday season, it only made sense to do it again.

Free weekend?! You all know what that means. It's time to book another camping trip! Thanksgiving festivities had wrapped up, and after a great week of food, drinks, and fun with Randy and Keith, it was time to hit the woods and have more food, drinks, and fun! 

We were on our way (finally) to Hamilton Branch State Park! After almost two years since one of the campground hosts at Baker Creek state park suggested Hamilton Branch, we finally decided it was time to go! All I can say is we spent the whole time wondering....what the heck took us so long!?

It's really called Kings Mountain State Park, but I thought "Mountain of Kings" sounded more dramatic.

Woo! We had a weekend off. You know what that means!? Camping trip! 

We didn't want to go too far during such a busy time, so we called John up and made our way to Sesquicentennial State Park in Columbia, SC.

In many of our previous South Carolina camping adventures, we passed this massive rock formation and wondered what it was. Well, thanks to the power of Google and its all-knowingness, we discovered it was called Table Rock and that it was a state park complete with camping! Naturally, we had to check it out.

Its real name is Keowee-Toxaway State Park, but I couldn't pronounce that.

When social distancing measures go into effect, run to the woods!

The park so nice we visited twice.

The beginning of 2020 was a busy time for the CameraCouple. We had several camping trips back to back to back, which is exactly how we like it. This weekend, we were heading to Andrew Jackson State Park in South Carolina. Get it... he was the seventh president.