November 17 Through November 24, 2001

The last trip report was sent from Morehead City NC. We were busy digesting LOADS of oysters......:-)

Really enjoyed email from one of you suggesting we may soon be in danger of not fitting through the RV door.... . :-) This trip has been highlighted by delicacies from the regions we pass through, but I do not THINK we are adding girth (yet) as we walk or bicycle to see the sites we visit. This lifestyle is an active one, and we retire to sleep soundly most nights, despite occasional strange noises from nearby vehicles, cats romping in the RV, and yes, even a call from our house alarm system (more on this later).

On Saturday Nov 17 we left Morehead City headed for New Bern NC; we were amazed that all the businesses lining Rt. 70 could find customers. We did laundry at a Laundromat just west of Morehead City. This one was disappointing in that the dryers were not hot, so we will never use them again; yeah, I know; big threat.... :-). We passed a few farm stands advertising COLLARDS on big hand painted signs, but by the time we decided we wanted some, we never saw another. We continued on to New Bern, passing many more businesses, and found the Walmart parking lot CROWDED with shoppers. With no room at our usual "inn", we elected to use the Lowes Home Improvement center next door. We noticed a tractor trailer resting there, and in the morning we noticed another RV had joined us. In the morning I went looking for a "whole house" surge protector for the RV in Lowes and was told there were none. We try to patronize our parking hosts when they can satisfy our needs. I'm sure that SOMETIME in the future we will hit rain, and in the south that often comes with lightning; we want to be prepared. There is way too much electronics on board this RV to lose to a close strike. We then moved to the empty early morning Walmart parking lot to resupply. New Bern is a pleasant place with nice folks; it would be nice to spend more time here, but a look at the calendar shows we must continue if we want to be below the frost line in time to be back home for Christmas by December 10th, our goal.

Sunday Nov 18 we moved on to Myrtle Beach SC on Rt. 17. These secondary roads are much more interesting driving than the interstate highways for us; less traffic, often 4 lanes, more things to see, and speeds between 55 to 60 mph, ideal for best gas mileage with the RV. Myrtle Beach did not look busy, but there were SOOOOO many businesses competing that crowds may not be too noticeable. One thing that was most noticeable; GOLF COURSES! Everywhere you look there was a golf course, and the weather is ideal. We noticed a distinct warming as we reached South Carolina. We ran the RV air conditioner as we drove; the sun coming in the windows was quite warm. The air became Summery. We parked at the Myrtle Beach Walmart nearest the center of town. Although the Myrtle Beach Walmart is listed on an Internet list as a "No Overnight" place, there were no signs posted, there was plenty of room, and there were other RV's for company. We stayed, and in the morning we bought the Thanksgiving turkey breast, and all the trimmings; even a bag of whole cranberries Claire will turn into sauce. After this feast we might not fit through the door......or even be able to walk to it. :-) I walked next door to the Home Depot and inquired about a whole house surge protector; after declining several GFI units offered by a sales person, the department manager pointed out the one surge protector they still had left on clearance at half the price it had been in MA. I parted easily with my money.....

Monday Nov 19 we decided to move on to Charleston, and take a day to see the city. We booked a Passport America campground north of Savannah for Wednesday and Thursday; for all this holiday cooking we need HOOKUPS! The campground indicated they were busy for the holidays, so we were happy to get one of their last spots for $14 a night. The drive toward Charleston was interesting and easy; we stopped in historic Georgetown, and found on street parking. This town was just off the Intercoastal Waterway and we had passed it by a number of times on the boat in our push to get North or South; not this time! There were very interesting pre-Revolutionary war and civil war buildings, but even more interesting was the commercial port; and they even an operating steel mill. This town had the look of PROSPERITY about it, with a bustling waterfront downtown that even included an oriental rug store with LOTS of inventory; a strong contrast to some of the other towns we had passed through along the coast.

We walked all along the waterfront, and found the sign pointing to "oysters" that Claire had spotted during our search for parking. We found a GREAT dockside seafood market, a fisherman's cooperative, where the fish was right off the boats (tied at the dock) and the smell was totally un-fishy. 

After much soul searching, we decided on shrimp, and bought two pounds of medium ones for $5 a pound; they volunteered to pack the plastic bag with ice too, a suggestion we were happy to accept. The ice would stay in the bag in our refrigerator vegetable keeper until dinner time.

The easy drive and fun tour of the morning was paid for by a rush hour drive through Charleston, complete with large vehicle detour we felt compelled to follow; we are almost twice the 5 ton limit placed on Rt. 17 through the city. After a wrong turn, we reversed direction with a turn around the block, and encountered a poor section of the city; we barely fit on the road, and were shocked by the contrast with the more prosperous parts of the city on the main route. This is reality in most cities but here we blundered into it a block off the main through highway. Driving an RV through these areas is not a comfortable feeling; the contrast with the local living conditions is so stark it just invites expressions of anger, though we saw none; just mild curiosity. Folks were slow to move out of the street, but probably would have been similarly slow for a car. After completing the detour successfully we were happy that the bypass we had to take was short compared to what we expected (Charleston is really not large in area). We found the Walmart parking lot here uncrowded. We were soon joined by a pair of truck tractors spending the night; it is always comforting to us to have company close by when spending over night in a strange area, and I'm sure the truckers feel the same. Claire steamed the shrimp, and they were DELICIOUS served with a soysauce/chopped onion dipping bowl; I could not bear to stop eating until every one of those l'il guys disappeared.  

I think perhaps I over did it a bit, as I awoke with a splitting headache that night; but perhaps it was the Charleston malaise too. By Tuesday evening it was gone without a trace.

Tuesday Nov 20 we awoke to find a porta potty and dump tank next to us in the Walmart lot.  The "equipment" had been ordered for a Christmas tree sales operation nearby, and mistakenly dropped with us.  The operator graciously offered to let us dump free, but we declined, as we were headed for a campground tomorrow.

We drove the RV downtown to the visitor's center to tour Charleston. After inquiring, we found the RV parking garage, collected our usual pile of pamphlets. We took the bicycles down from the rear ladder where they had been since Gettysburg; even though the plastic bags over the seats were covered with a bit of grime, we were quickly off touring Charleston. This city is filled with historic homes with charming enclosed gardens.

The climate is mild and the flowers are still in bloom. Bicycle is an ideal vehicle for touring the city; it is easy to stop for pictures, and yet we had the mobility to see the whole downtown area from river to river. We had sailed through Charleston many times, and had walked the streets near the marina; the bikes allowed us to see much more of this interesting historic city that had been largely spared destruction in the civil war. I was quite tired after the bike ride, and after tying the bikes to the ladder we returned to the same Walmart parking lot (which we found from yesterday's GPS track record that we had approached by a different route than we thought we had). It was early to bed for me, but shortly after midnight the cellphone rang; the house was calling us, but it had hung up before we answered. I anxiously called back, and found Matt had accidentally set off the alarm; at least the system really works as intended! We also found that the furnace was working normally and the house was happy; worth waking up for. :-)

Wednesday Nov 21 we slept late,  then moved in a leisurely way toward our holiday campground 100 miles away, West of Savannah GA. We decided to pass up Hilton Head Island in favor of more time in the holiday campground to try out the cooking facilities on board the RV. We switched drivers at a cider stand on Rt. 17, and could not pass up a half gallon of ridiculously expensive, but delicious, cherry cider (well, it would not seem expensive if it were called wine..... ). Rt. 17 joined I95 and we drove a while on the Interstate; gasoline prices are MUCH higher near the Interstate; we decide to fuel elsewhere. We stopped at the Georgia welcome station for the usual pamphlets, then on to the campground. It turned out to be a delightful place with a small lake, lots of grass, friendly people, clean showers, and free cable TV. Purry quickly decided this was a good place to walk, and led me all the way around the lake on the leash (remember, dogs have masters while cats have servants; Purry's servants are learning their roles well). I was interested in the okra patch with its huge stalks (8 or 9 feet tall) that were mostly devoid of leaves, but still had numerous green seedpods attached. I doubt that the area has had frost yet, but the leaves were gone. I am not sure if the pods were woody, but they had deliberately been left when the rest of the garden area had been mowed. Someone thinks they might have value.

 Dinner was pork and collards (which we had finally bought at a supermarket in Charleston; we now have Food Lion MVP cards, which we signed up for to get the greens for 50 cents instead of $3; isn't it GREAT to have the time to do anything you feel like?). Claire baked a squash pie in the convection oven; it came out perfectly baked and delicious. The night was much cooler than the previous week; heat ran fairly often. A big RV tow truck came into the campground after midnight and idled most of the night, spoiling the quiet, but by morning he was gone. We are not sure, but he may have towed an inoperative converted bus RV onto the campground for the holiday.

Thursday Nov 22; HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! We enjoy the cable TV with all the Thanksgiving festivities. The campground has a nice clean laundry room, (WITH TV) so we do take advantage of that. I met a couple living in a National Tradewinds RV (big 38 foot diesel powered brother to our Seabreeze). They had two cats and a good sized dog sharing their space, so I expect they do use the 38 feet. They shared their flat tire experience (hope we never have one, but they were able to drive for service slowly on the remaining dual wheel; the tire sidewall had been cut by a road hazard); I shared our Verizon cellphone experience. They are still working and living mostly in this campground, so have a permanent phone line installed in the campground. When they start travelling a lot, they will get cell service. After laundry duty, Claire returned to cooking, baking a pecan pie, then stuffing (done in a casserole as the turkey breast has no place to stuff ....), then finally the turkey breast itself. The microwave/convection oven seems to do a perfect job at everything we try; the stuffing is cooked soft, but not scorched dry as we find it done outside the bird in a regular oven. Later we find the pecan pie is done to perfection, with a firm surface but soft gooey interior, and the turkey breast is fully done, yet juicy and tender. This is a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, with all the trimmings; Turkey, stuffing, boiled sweet potatoes, broccoli, fresh cranberry sauce....topped off with a slice (or two) of pecan pie; once again Claire comes through with the yummy goodies!!! The turkey may not have been stuffed, but we sure were.

Friday Nov 23 we make the hard decision to pass Savannah by for this trip, and elect to head toward the Okefenokee swamp 118 miles away; our attention is increasingly focused on the calendar and our desire to be home by Dec 10. We must get below the freeze line in Florida before we can safely store the RV (without winterizing) for the month around Christmas. There are so many nice places to see in this country and really not enough time to see them all :-(   (at least not before Christmas). We have a few chores to do in the campground with their water and electricity before noon checkout. It rains briefly in the morning, and remains balmy and cloudy, so that eases the RV washing chore; it is only the SECOND exposure to rain of any sort we have seen since our departure in late October. No wonder the whole East coast is complaining of draught. We still hose off the engine radiator to remove any possible salt residue from the ferry rides, wash the windows, and try with mixed success to wash the bugs off the windshield and front of the RV. Filling the water tank, interior vacuuming and finally, the last chore; waste tank dump, prepares us for the road. We timed our departure carefully for exactly the noon checkout time, with time for a last shower in the fine campground facilities. We were thrown off schedule by our campsite neighbors struggle with a flat tire on their van; we offered our 12v compressor and they accepted when their spare turned up flat also. As you'd know it, the next site occupant was coming in at 12:02. The manager was quite gracious and insisted we stay in place until the tire problem was solved. We left as more rain began; Whispering Pines is a place we would like to return to! The drive to Waycross is about 118 miles on numbered state roads after the first 25 miles on I95. We needed fuel, but the prices along 95 were consistently 7 to 15 cents higher than we had seen along Rt. 17. We held off, expecting them to get better on the secondary road. They did! We noticed a Walmart with Murphy's gas station attached in Jesup GA advertising 95.9. Claire had noticed earlier in our trip that Walmart's offers a "Gift Card" that you buy at their register with any amount of money you choose to put on it. This card gives a 3 cent a gallon discount at participating Murphy's gas stations. We bought ourselves a gift card and filled the tank for 92.9. Murphy's is busily constructing stations on Walmart and Sam's Club properties throughout the South; hopefully elsewhere too. This should offer a REALLY good price on gas for those in the know. We arrived in Waycross and found the Walmart lot a bit full on this busiest shopping day of the year. Claire also noticed an ad for "Harry Potter" playing at the local cinema, so we parked there instead. After dinner of leftover turkey and trimmings, the movie was a fine way to spend a rainy night. I am PLEASED that we have a STRONG digital cellphone signal in Waycross, as I have much business to do on the internet and phone this weekend to plan the trip home. The local culture in Waycross seems to involve driving through mall parking lots repeatedly with loud mufflers, but the folks are friendly, and the clatter diminishes rapidly after midnight; I guess it IS Friday on a holiday weekend. :-)

Today we will drive 10 miles to Okefenokee Swamp Park, and plan to take the recommended boat tour through the park. Tonight may well be again spent in Waycross as the cellphone signal is strong. Now I must get this ready to send! Hope y'all had as nice a Thanksgiving as we did; we missed friends and family, but did not suffer for lack of food, and we're having a blast! ENJOY!!