Going to Carolina in my mind...

We had a nice time in Wilmington North Carolina... ate fabulous sushi at the Bento Box and then spiffy burritos at Flaming Amy’s. We miss real restaurants so this was a treat! We also took a day and walked around the Wilmington historical district and marveled at the fact that places downtown seemed to just open apparently when they felt like opening. For example, a sign on a shop would say open at 10 am... well, it was like 11 a.m. when we hit town and there was no signs of life.

Too bad. I was looking for a squashed penny machine.

So we did a little of the river walk, and then we took to driving the pickup around the historical area and found some great looking houses....

We did not ride with this fellow although he might have been fun.

Later David hit the ball a bit...

and we visited the course we came to see. As it turns out, this particular golf course is not what we were looking for. So... off we go again chasing the sun southward.

It rained a little through the carolinas but both the North and South Carolina highways were fantastic. Clean, clear, well maintained, not crazy busy. When you notice how nice a freeway is... you realize they have been taking good care of it.

I think I mentioned I got a kick out of the fact that there were palms beneath the pines instead of ferns like back home. Anyway, from Wilmington, it was a short ride past Myrtle Beach and then down to Huntington Beach State Park which is right on the beach. This park is a super popular area for bird watchers because of the marshes in the area... and at the edge of the marsh near the front gate of the park I immediately noticed the sign that really bummed me out:

Do not feed the alligators.

Oh.. ok... I better put away the bucket of raw chicken or raw poodles that

I have been packing around for just such an opportunity.

Dang... the man is always a-ruinin’ my fun!

Delta didn’t let it ruin her fun though! Silly gators!

You should have seen the hair down the ridge of her back

when she first saw this fellow!

She snuck up on him all careful and slow.

Back at the camp we wandered down the path to the beach around sunset and goofed off a little.

We made such a score of great shells that upon our return to camp we quickly checked out the tide table so that we can be some of the first on the beach in the morning to score some more.

Turns out we had no problem finding shells that next morning. We were alone out there (it was like 6 am) and found quite a few more very pretty ones.

However, after taking pictures of the shells etc. my camera decided to run out of batteries

so I did not get a picture of the sunrise.

As far as the camp, it is definitely off season so there are very few people... but the park is not empty by any means. This campground might actually be at half capacity and there are bird watchers galore wandering around all the time. It has been nice, quiet, clean, and very pretty. Just what you'd want. We might go check out Georgetown in the next couple days. Will keep y'all up to date.

Ringing in December out of the snow... so far.

Well, the first leg of our trip is out of the way. We made it out of Sidnaw just in time as a cold front came in right behind us. You can see the snow behind us in the rear view mirror

and the storm brewing on Lake Michigan near the Mighty Mac bridge...

and here it is....

last chance for a pasty!

No thanks.

Our first night we stayed at a casino that provides RV parking. Great idea actually for the casinos! No plug ins but they are open all night. Walmarts are good options for parking over night if allowed but they close at 9 pm so if you need a real bathroom you are out of luck until 8 am the next morning. We have a real bathroom in our trailer but we thought our trailer was winterized so we needed to have a real bathroom available.

Just FYI- when a trailer is winterized... like a house... RV antifreeze stuff has been poured down and worked into the piping systems so the freezing weather does not burst the plumbing. We were told the trailer had been winterized when we drove it off the lot so we had not planned to flush the system until we go to warmer weather. I guess you can tell by my comments that in fact...we learned it had not been winterized. Hopefully, no harm occurred while it was parked in our driveway in Sidnaw in the 27 degree weather.

So, the first day we made it to lower Michigan and then because someone ::cough cough:: forgot to change the time on his travel alarm we actually woke up an hour earlier than normal. I was up at what I thought was 4:30 am. It was 30 minutes earlier than I usually get up but I figured what the hell. I got Delta around, fed her, went up to the casino and got breakfast and coffee.

Turns out it was actually 3:30 am. We ate and did not realize our mistake until we got out on the road and saw the time on the truck dashboard. No wonder casino security was looking at me like some wild eyed crankster... or wild eyed casino robber. I was one of 6 people in the entire casino at that time. Sheesh.

It was not so bad though because we watched the sun come up buzzing down the highway and

rolled into our spot near Ravenna, OH around 2 pm. It gave us time to go to the store, get some goodies, and play a little frisbee with Delta at the park. We left that next morning... at a normal human time... got back on the turnpike and headed out of Ohio, through Pennsylvania, and Maryland and back into Virginia.season all through this area and we kind of chuckled about it. We thought it was bad in Michigan... the hunters in Ohio and Pennsylvania simply park their cars by the road and you can see them standing out in fields or walking through the woods in their bright orange. In a few places you see one hunter on one side of the hill and then you see another around the corner. I sure hope they know the other fellow is there.

The weather was fine, even though a cold front has been rolling in like a tide behind us. We did hit some snow at the peak of the mountain near the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel in Pennsylvania but then when we dropped back down we came into the rain.

I loved it when we got into Virginia as we immediately started seeing the bright green grassy horse fields and the black fence posts. I noted that on our last trip through Virginia. Very pretty.

We passed several battlefields...

Gettysburg, Antietam, Manassas, etc. They are simply all over the place here. A lot of civil war history in this area. As our next stop is at Bull Run we will most likely be going over to check out the Manassas visitor center.

This is me and Delta at Bull Run by the fire... full moon coming up through the trees... imagining that we hear the footsteps of the many ghosts that wander through these forests. It gets kinda spooky at night.

Yeah man. S'all good. Cool.

We have been washing, and dusting, packing and draining water for days now. It has been unusually warm and except for that quick blast we had in October, it has been snowless. The old timers in the area have been arguing that the last time it was this warm during deer hunting season was in '58... no no it was '59!

The exact date has been the topic of heated debate lately and these debates have been taking place mostly down at the newly opened cafe! I am pleased to report the restaurant... fondly known as 'Mom's Cafe' received it's clearance from the health department and the new management re-opened it yesterday!

I worked at the Post Office yesterday and it was nice seeing cars actually stop on their way through town. The loss of the bar, although not really a busy place most of the time,and a source of continuous gossip and disdain for the non-bar appreciating folks was really a big loss to the town. It made Sidnaw just one step closer to being a ghost town. But then the cafe opened back up and it looks like Sidnaw is going to hang on a bit longer after all!

However, cafes, bars, snow, dancing girls, hunting season... we see none of it. We have put on our blinders and have a new focus... and while it is warm we are going to take full advantage of this good fortune. After Thanksgiving we are going to hit the road! We have decided to become gypsies and get the heck out of Dodge before we are iced in and can't go anywhere! We remember perfectly well the 7-8 month winter last year and don't plan on a repeat.

I mentioned in the last post that we traded in the camper for a pull behind travel trailer. It is 22-ish feet long and it seems like a luxury liner compared to the camper! There is a regular bathroom with a full door and in the kitchen area there is a dinette, and the fridge has a separate freezer, and the stove... it even has an oven and a microwave!

Heck, we could live in that thing... and plan on doing exactly that for several weeks... maybe a few months even. We will be living it it at least until

• the snow is starting to disappear in Sidnaw.
• the house sells.
• we find a new place to hang our hats

Who knows... whichever comes first!

In any case, it is very exciting and we have been working very hard to get ready. We had to go through our stuff see what we needed to pack, clean, and stage the house in case someone comes to buy it. At the same time we have to winterize the house so it does not freeze solid while we are gone. Additionally, we have folded washed and packed the trailer, and ordered a couple of bikes to enjoy on beach strewn bike trails where ever we end up on our travels.

I can wait to save my nickles and PeeWee Herman out my bike!
I need a basket and a bell and a rack.. I should get a cart to haul Delta around... maybe some of those reflector things for the spokes, a bright orange flag, lights.... hmmm.

I can tell you one thing for certain. We are headed southeast through 'the middle' out to Virginia again and then south... south.... south... DEEP south until we see the white sandy beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.

There is one thing I know I definitely do not want to see while I am sitting in the sand down south... and it is these two fellows below. The first one is body surfing for criminy sakes:



I thought the freshwater crocs did not like salt water.

He is breaking the rules!

... then then there is this wise guy just out for a stroll in the sand:

No thanks.
No.. seriously, no thanks.

Anyway... I am pleased to report that we will have computer access thanks to a combination of some lovely mouthwatering technology:

This way we will be able to stay in touch with the world and update my blog as we go along . We will be able to get emails and do business etc. I promise, I will let y'all know if I do happen to see a gator wandering along the beach.

(I gotta practice my 'y'alls', before we get down there...
They might wonder about my combination
'oooo you betchas' and 'like... ya know... it's cool... s'all good.')

We are just so excited about the whole situation we can hardly sleep at night nor seem to take breaks during the day! We have lists of things to do, pack, see, etc., spinning through our heads. Primarily what we are doing now that we are 80% packed is planning our route, keeping our eye on the weather, and crossing our fingers.