Our Wander Years

STS wrapup

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Sparky

At rest at Seminole Campground

3,209 total driving miles, 2,011 total towing miles, 39 nights in 12 hops.

This, of the 5 long-distance trips we have taken, had the most stress per mile. Yes, our first trip (GTW) began with a month of ding-a-day mishaps, but evolved into a very pleasant and relaxing 3-month cross-country adventure. This one began with badly timed (and very expensive) truck problems which resurfaced less than 1,000 miles into the trip. More than any other trip, we had to rearrange, reroute and reschedule. It wasn’t a lot of fun.

Both Jett and I also had to deal with serious family issues and tenant problems along the way. So when the truck wasn’t presenting us with issues, family and tenants were.

And I had to work my way through the maze of Medicare enrollments.

Retirement? Hardly.

The lowlights:

The “check engine” / “limp mode” truck problems at the start and in Virginia.
The noisy campsites in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The rain in South Carolina and Georgia.
The total lack of TV reception in Bushnell, FL.
The near-collision north of Tampa.
The loss of about $300 in campsite deposits due to our need to alter our original schedule.
Failing to get our residency chores completed in Bushnell.
Family issues.

The highlights:

Chester Carter, the mechanic who saved the trip by correctly diagnosing and fixing the engine problem.
Charleston, SC – what a great city!
Myrtle Beach – camping next to the surf is a treat, even when the weather isn’t great.
Visiting with family in Virginia.
Visiting Steve and Elaine, our friends in Georgia.
Meeting a bunch of new Escapees friends in Bushnell.
Getting the rig weighed.

We are now in North Fort Myers where the plan is to remain until mid-April. However, the site is very cramped (see above) and we will have to look into options, including moving to another campground. So the need to alter our plans continues.

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STS Hop 12: Bushnell FL to North Fort Myers FL

Posted on November 15, 2015 by Sparky

STS Hop 12

167 miles, almost entirely on I-75.

This would have been a simple, uneventful trip in sunny weather had it not been for the idiot young woman who cut us off north of Tampa and who damn near caused a catastrophic accident. I guess she was missing her exit, so, at 70 mph, she swerved in front of us – less than 40 feet, I would say – and then slammed on her brakes, to avoid the other guy who was going down the off ramp at the same time. Which meant that I also had to slam on my brakes, then swerve into the left lane to avoid creaming her left rear corner. Fortunately, there was no one in that lane (probably because she had just blasted past me there). No accident, but it was as close as we have come to one in all our travels.

I saw her as we blew by – late 20’s. Old enough to know better. She just ignored us. She apparently had no idea how close she had come to dying. Being rear-ended by a 10-ton rig would not have gone well for her.

Sumter Oaks RV Park

Site 41 at Sumter Oaks

Sandhill cranes wandering by

We stayed at Sumter Oaks RV Park for a full week. The plan was to use that week to get our Florida driver’s licenses, register our vehicles and register to vote as newly-minted Florida residents. However, that plan got short-circuited by Jett leaving her glasses in the Yaris, which will be delivered to us in Ft Myers. She failed her vision test without them (no surprise) and because registering the vehicles required both that they be physically in Florida and that we both have licenses, we had to abort our plans. We will complete the process in Ft Myers after the Yaris arrives next week.

I did, however, get all the vehicles – including the RV – fully insured. The now have dual coverage. As the Florida rates are considerably lower than the Massachusetts rates, it will be nice when I can drop the old coverage.

Anyway, I am now a Florida resident and Jett still resides in Massachusetts. I guess we will have to carry on a long-distance relationship for a while.

Sumter Oaks is an “Escapees Rainbow Park” – one of 8 in the US. This means that it is owned and operated by the Escapees RV Club. Which, in turn, means that it is an inexpensive destination for members. Our cost for the entire week: $151. About $22/day.

The park doesn’t have a lot of amenities. It has an indoor pool (which was closed), a basic dog park and a small but inexpensive laundry room (conveniently located just a few steps from our site). But what it has in abundance is camaraderie. The Escapees there were wonderful, just as they were in Livingston TX (aka “the mother ship”) which we visited way back in 2012. Though we were there just a week we feel like we have a bunch of new friends. We learned to play Hand, Knee and Foot which is a variation on canasta but uses a lot more cards – 6 full decks for 4 players. I couldn’t find a link to the rules, which are fairly complex, but we obtained a printed copy for our use. We may experiment with playing this, as a variation on canasta, while we are in Ft Myers.

Puzzled dogs

We also got the new rig weighed. We did well. We were well within limits for each axle and just slightly over the rated weight for the truck. But the weighmaster (yes, that is his official title) said that overall we were fine.

The park has a natural beauty which I found soothing. The park’s back side was bordered by a cypress swamp and there were pastures on either side. It also had a family of sandhill cranes which seemed very comfortable wandering around the park in close proximity to the human residents. They reminded me of the family of turkeys that visited us in Littleton, MA, but were larger and a bit louder. They didn’t like our dogs but our dogs seemed to be only puzzled by them. They didn’t even bark.

One thing the park lacked: TV reception. Even after adding a second booster, we managed to pull in only 2 not-very-interesting channels. We gave up and went without TV for the entire week. We caught up on Perry Mason (season 2) and started on Mad Men (season 1). I thought we were going to miss our daily TV fix more than we actually did.

Bushnell is a town of about 2,000 that is pretty far from any major city. Ocala is about 40 miles north and Orlando is just over 50 miles east. It is large enough to have a Walmart, a CVS and not much else. The best meats were found at a gas station (really!) in the adjacent hamlet of Webster (population 800). It did have a sports bar which I visited on Sunday to watch the Patriots improve to 8-0 while all the other patrons cried in their beer over their mediocre Florida teams.

We also found a local dog groomer and took both dogs there to be bathed. Rusty also got a summer cut – he now looks like his bald brother. The groomer was on a farm which also exuded the serenity that permeates the region. The two horses in the front “yard” made the place a bit different from your average PetSmart.

At the groomer’s

The swamp

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Madison and Greensboro SC

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Sparky

Madison Chamber of Commerce

We stayed for 3 nights in Madison SC primarily so that we would be able to visit with our good friends Steve and Elaine who came off the road last year to live in a Del Webb community at Lake Oconee SC. The highlights of our stay were (1) playing cards (we LOVE to play cards and so do Steve and Elaine), (2) lunch at the Madison ChopHouse Grille, (3) dinner at the Bone Island Grillehouse and (4) a tour of the Del Webb at Lake Oconee “active retirement community.”

The weather did not cooperate – it rained all three days. The best weather was when it was simply cloudy and damp. The pictures I took were, consequently, a bit drab and didn’t do either town justice. Both Madison (the larger of the two towns) and Greensboro exhibited an abundance of southern charm. Both had some interesting antique shops. But the meals were the real highlights for both.

For lunch at the Madison ChopHouse I chose the Cajun shrimp po-boy. It was tasty but quite spicy. But I had to do it – I think it was my first po-boy ever. My dinner selection at the Bone Island Grille was jambalaya. Again, very spicy, but good.

Jambalaya

Madison courthouse

Cajun shrimp po-boy

Walking path

The Del Webb tour was an eye-opener. I was impressed by the quality of the construction, the size and décor of the community buildings (including the indoor swimming pool) and the beautifully landscaped grounds. Jett and I are not quite ready to come off the road, but when we do we will have to consider a Del Webb community. Very high quality for a very reasonable price.

Indoor pool

Community (free) dock

Antique shop

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STS Hop 11: Cecil GA to Bushnell FL

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Sparky

STS Hop 11

198 miles, almost all on I-75.

It doesn’t get much simpler than this: get on I-75 at the exit from Cecil Bay RV Park and just keep going until exit 309 in Florida, then travel 1.5 miles on county 673 to our destination. It was a flat, pleasant trip in 90-degree sunshine. I-75 has traffic, but not as much as I-95 and is generally in better repair.

We saw our first billboards for businesses in Ft. Myers. We are getting close.

We will be in Bushnell for a week, trying to get our Florida drivers licenses, get our vehicles registered (except, probably, the Yaris, which is not yet in Florida), register to vote and anything else that goes along with becoming, officially, residents of Florida.

Cecil Bay RV Park

Fire ants

This was just an overnight stop, so we didn’t care much about the amenities. Good thing, because there aren’t any. It is basically a large plot of land populated entirely with large pull-through sites. It does have cable TV.

The place was maybe 20% occupied (see photo above – we are just to the left of the right-hand tree). So with all of those empty sites you would think that we would get one in great shape. But you would be wrong; they gave us the one where the 50 amp electrical hookup was broken. That was not a real problem as we operate quite well on 30 amps. But why?

One thing Cecil Bay has in abundance is insects. Small, annoying flies that won’t leave you alone. And fire ants. LOTS of fire ants.

We were glad it was just an overnight.

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Charleston bus tours

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Sparky

St Matthew’s and the farmer’s market

As mentioned previously, we LOVE Charleston. The city claims to be the most popular tourist destination in the US, if not the world. I don’t have any references to back that claim and it has some tough competition in Las Vegas, Orlando, New York, LA, Paris, London, Dublin… name a few more. But after spending 5 nights in Charleston I have to agree that it is in the running.

I took a lot of photos, which partially explains why it took so long to complete this post. Just editing the photos and selecting the ones to use took some time. I chose to lead with a photo of a church – St Matthew’s Lutheran Church – because I was struck by the sheer number of churches in Charleston. Churches of all denominations, all in buildings strikingly beautiful and all seemingly historic in some way. St Matthew’s is notable for its 300-foot spire and its location on Marion Square, the Central Park of Charleston. Another notable church, on the other side of the square, is “Mother Emmanuel” – the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal church which was formerly known for its standing as the oldest A.M.E. church in the southern US but lately has been more famous (or infamous) as the site of the June, 2015, Charleston church shooting in which 9 people were assassinated during bible study.

Emmanuel A.M.E. from the tour bus

Methodist church

We took two bus tours of the city – a generic one on Sunday and a “black history” tour on Monday. The black history tour was a bit of a disappointment as it covered many of the same sites as the generic tour, but did offer additional insights into slave life in Charleston before the Civil War. But the most interesting aspect of that tour was the focus on the Simmons gates, the beautiful wrought iron gates created by Phillip Simmons, a black artisan. The town is filthy (not the right word) with Simmons gates, each more beautiful than the last. We also visited Simmons’ house and workshop, now operated by his nephew (Simmons died in 2009). The house is shockingly shabby and his workshop is nothing more than a small wooden shed. It is hard to believe that works of such beauty had such a humble birth. When we return to Charleston (and we will), I want to spend a day wandering the city seeking out these gates. Maybe several days. There must be hundreds of these Simmons gates in the city.

Simmons’ home

Simmons’ workshop and our guide

Other highlights:

Marion Square. This is a beautiful urban park, surrounded by beautiful buildings, including the original site of The Citadel. We visited on a perfect day and enjoyed the Saturday farmer’s market that was there that day. It is also the site of the iconic statue of John C. Calhoun – known as “Killhoun” by the slaves of the era.
The Fort Sumter National Landmark which offers scenic harbor vistas as well as interesting exhibits on Fort Sumter and the Civil War. It is arguably more interesting than the fort itself.
The market area which was vaguely reminiscent of Faueuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, but more authentic. We had dinner at Tommy Condon’s which is an Irish pub/restaurant. I had, for the first time ever, shrimp and grits. Very tasty.
The South Battery – the southern tip of the peninsula – which offers both views of Fort Sumter and many historic mansions.
The Building Arts building, which, ironically, looks like an abandoned (and about to collapse) jail.

Anyway, we had a very fine time in Charleston. We will be back.

Parking lot cemetery

Shrimp and grits

Calhoun statue

Building Arts building

Battery mansion

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STS Hop 10: Madison GA to Cecil GA

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Sparky

STS Hop 10

190 miles, mostly via US 129 and I-75.

There was no epic GPS/Google battle on this one; it was a pretty simple trip down US 129 to Macon where we hooked up with I-75. The geography was mostly gently rolling hills and the weather, though overcast most of the way, didn’t produce much rain. Just a few sprinkles, which was a nice change after the wetness of the past week.

The biggest change was the temperature. The forecast high for Madison yesterday was 77, which was 10 degrees above normal. The high in Cecil was 89. And very humid.

I think we have arrived in the Deep South.

Country Boys RV Park

We stayed at Country Boys RV Park in Madison GA for 3 nights. My expectations of this place were low because it seemed to be the best of the bad bunch that were within driving distance of our friends, Steve and Elaine, who lived in Greensboro. I would say the park exceeded my low expectations. The roads were newly paved, the sites were gravel, but were large and level, and the hookups – including the 32-channel cable – were more than adequate.

But the park was trashy. It appeared that about 75% of the sites were occupied by permanent residents, some in RVs more than 20 years old.

I would rate this a 6 on a 10 scale. It would have been higher if not for all of the derelict RVs.

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Charleston harbor tour

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Sparky

Ft Sumter

Arthur Ravenel Jr bridge

During our five days in Charleston we took two sightseeing tours – a combination bus tour of the city, a boat tour of the harbor and a walking tour of a historic mansion, and a “black history” bus tour that focused on the parts of the city that figured prominently in the slave trade and other major incidents in black history. This post is only about the harbor tour. Another post (or two) of the land tours will follow.

The harbor tour was a narrated 90-minute circuit of the harbor. The highlights were (1) Fort Sumter, (2) Fort Moultrie, (3) Patriots Point and (4) the striking Arthur J Ravenel Jr bridge. The bridge is beautiful and looks like the big brother of the Zakim bridge in Boston. It is an impressive entrance to the city, but is even more impressive from below.

Patriot’s Point is a tourist destination that includes hotels and various attractions, the most obvious of which is the USS Yorktown, a WWII aircraft carrier. It is now a floating museum which includes, on deck, numerous aircraft, most of which have nothing to do with naval warfare. We didn’t tour the Yorktown, but it is an impressive sight from the harbor.

USS Yorktown

To balance the Yorktown, the opposite (Charleston) side of the harbor has a passenger cruise terminal. The cruise ship in dock that day – the Carnival Fantasy – is as imposing as the Yorktown. In fact, it is both longer and has a much larger displacement than the Yorktown. Obviously, shipbuilding technology has come a long way in 60 years.

Fort Moutrie – which was difficult to see from the harbor – is more interesting for its role in the Revolutionary War (it kept the British out of Charleston) than in the Civil War (it was a fort abandoned by the federal troops before the shelling of Fort Sumter began, then was one of three place from which the shelling originated. It is interesting because it was, in the Revolutionary War, made of dirt and palmetto logs. This simple construction proved to be impervious to the British shelling and forced the British to attempt a landing behind the fort, which was also repelled. This was, arguably, the first American victory of the Revolutionary War.

The “highlight” of the tour, if you can call it that, was Fort Sumter which has an iconic place in American history as it was the site of the first shot of the Civil War. We could have taken a tour of the fort, but I assumed – correctly – that the structure there now bears almost no resemblance to the fort that was on the site in 1861. Three months of bombardment tends to destroy stone structures. Still, it was interesting to see the site and to get a feel for the geography (which has not changed).

It was a worthwhile investment of 90 minutes of our time. But not a “must do” if you go to Charleston.

Carnival Fantasy

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STS Hop 9: Charleston SC to Madison GA

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Sparky

STS Hop 9

270 miles via I-26, SC 6, SC 178, I-20 and US 441.

This was supposed to be a 256 mile hop, but we got embroiled in a battle between Google and our Rand McNally GPS. Usually when I plan a route with Google the GPS agrees with it, more or less. Not this time. When we got underway and made it to I-26, the GPS told us that we would be exiting after 43 miles while the Google route had us staying on I-26 for over 80 miles. We decided to stay on I-26. In retrospect, this was probably a mistake.

Even after we exited I-26, onto SC 6, the GPS continued to disagree with Google. We tried to follow the map directions but got confused somewhere along the line, then switched to the GPS which routed us on a very roundabout path to I-20. The net result was that the route became 14 miles longer than planned.

In a driving rain.

This was not one of the more enjoyable hops in our journeys.

Fortunately, the rain pretty much stopped before we did, so we set up in a light drizzle rather than a downpour.

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The Campground at James Island County Park

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Sparky

Site 29 at James Island

We LOVE Charleston. We have already resolved to return for a longer stay. We need to invest at least another week to explore it to our satisfaction. I will follow this post with several more about the city. This one is focused on our home for the past 5 days: The Campground at James Island County Park. It is a relatively small campground – about 100 sites – on James Island, just over the Ashley River from downtown Charlston. It was about a 10-minute drive to the center of the city. Very convenient.

And very comfortable. The sites are HUGE. The photo on the right shows our site (#29). We not only had room for the RV and the truck, but could have parked about 7 more cars on the site (there is more room in front that you can’t see). This is possibly the largest campsite we have ever had.

The park itself is huge – probably over 500 acres. It has, besides the RV campground, a primitive (tenting) campground, at least four shelters which can be used for group activities, athletic fields, a fishing dock, a climbing wall, a meeting/game room with a lending library and a large office staffed by very friendly park employees.

Grace taking a dip

It also boasts one of the largest and nicest dog parks we have seen anywhere. It may rival the dog park at Balboa Park in San Diego in size. And, unlike, Balboa’s dog park, it has beaches where dogs may swim. Needless to say, Grace availed herself of the opportunity to take a dip. Multiple times. Rusty did not.

The dog park from the opposite shore

The park is also host to the “Festival of Lights”, a holiday tradition in Charleston. The park roads are lined with hundreds of figures outlined in lights. Some are animated. Most are relatively small, but some are huge – like the 25-foot tall owl that marks the entrance to the campground. The festival was just getting set up – it doesn’t official open until November 13 – but portions of it were lit every night we were in the campground, as the setup crew tested the lights. The owl was lit every night. It was impossible to miss the entrance to the campground.

This was a great place to stay. If you are coming to Charleston in an RV, this is the place!

Owl at the campground entrance

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STS Hop 8: Myrtle Beach SC to Charleston SC

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Sparky

STS Hop 8

94 miles via mostly US 17.

The only thing difficult about this trip was ignoring the GPS when it told us to make a U-turn.

I don’t know what is going on with our (relatively) new Rand-McNally GPS, but on the last two hops it has insisted that we make a U-turn when none was needed. And the GPS was set to “avoid U-turns”. Makes no sense.

And there was a tight right turn about a mile short of The Campgound at James Island Park. We ran a tire over the curb, which seemed to be a better choice than colliding with the traffic waiting at the light. But the tires tolerated it well and we made it to our destination in just under 3 hours. That is an average of about 30 mph which is very slow for a trip with no stops. But US 17 has a lot of lights and about a dozen construction zones. About the only good thing about the route was that it was flat.

We will be in Charleston for 5 days. The weather promises to be good and James Island Park looks very interesting. Should be fun.

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