Thursday, November 5--Although our trip started today, in a sense it started last night when we drove to the Columbus Marina to meet Charles Burke and his wife, Bonnie, who were making the Inner Loop waterway in their boat, Sonata, for the third time. We enjoyed a sushi dinner with them while catching up with about 50 years of life and then drove home.
We got up at our usual time on Thursday and then had to get ready for our trip since we had not done anything yesterday except get the RV up to the house. The refrigerator didn't want to start on propane, but with a little effort we were able to get the generator started and run the refrigerator long enough on AC that it could switch over to propane. After that I was lucky enough to find someone at the propane station who could fill our tank. We managed to get ready to leave by noon, and took Zoe to the Shaggy Hound where she is staying for this trip. We're both really missing her and a little sorry we didn't take her with us and board her in Myrtle Beach. After leaving her we ate lunch at Pepper's and shopped for groceries at Kroger. We realized after we left the grocery store that we forgot orange juice! We then drove on to Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park. We barely made it before full dark shortly after 5:00. To bad we're on Standard Time now. We were able to get a site with no trouble, ate supper, and played with our computers until bedtime. No Zoe! ($18.45)
Friday, November 6--We were ready to go a little after 9:00 and decided to look around the park. There was a creek behind our RV and ducks in the creek.
It was a big and mostly full campground. First we drove to the Pioneer village passing the train tracks and depot. Everything looked closed, but we decided we didn't have time to get out and examine things too closely. We then drove back to the Museum and looked around briefly.
We were going to the forge, but two bus loads of first graders arrived and we were so limited in time that we decided to leave and return another day--maybe with some grandchildren. The park and ironworks seemed well worth another, slower visit. On the way out we admired several very elaborate Halloween decorations.
We had lunch in the RV at the Georgia welcome center leaving Alabama. It rained off and on as we drove. We stopped in Thomson to go to the grocery store and meant to get gas, but missed all the stations. Rather than turn back, we drove on to another little town where it took half an hour to get the gas because of waiting in line and then having to go into the store to get the receipt. Unfortunately the only reasonably good campground I could find was in Lexington--almost in Columbia. It was 7:30 and very dark by the time we reached the Barnyard RV Campground and then at least another 15 minutes before we found our "overflow" place. We ate supper and went to bed. The good thing is that we have only a short distance to drive tomorrow.
Saturday, November 7--We took our time getting ready to leave the campground, but were away a little after 9(00. The drive to Myrtle Beach took only about three hours. When we reachedthe Myrtle Beach State Park we were told that the campsite we had reserved was now water front in that the water had now made it unusable and they were moving us to another site. The site we ended up with was a pull through and out of the water. It's really a beautifully campground and it's a pity we aren't really staying here. We ate lunch and called Martha Ann and Charles to tell them that we would be ready to be picked up in about an hour after we packed. Charles picked us up, but he had a little trouble finding us although he could see the RV from the sign in station. When we reached the condominium we found that Ellen and Phil had arrived. Martha Ann fixed some delicious soup for supper. Charles took Tom and me for a grocery run and after visiting we all went to bed.
Sunday, November 8--We woke up with no particular hurry and ate some breakfast in our condo unit before going over to the other unit where the Hogrefes and Baers were staying and having some eggs and bacon. It was raining so we didn't feel much like going outside. We stayed in and visited until time to go for lunch and then went to the Sea Captain's House where we had a very good and very large lunch. We returned to the condos and napped and then visited again until a light supper. Martha Ann had made a light chicken and noodle soup that was very good. Afterwards we had more visiting and then bed.
Monday, November 9--We again ate breakfast on our side and then went over to the other side, but we had eaten enough not to eat more. Afterwards all except Tom and Charles went to the Aquarium. It was a good aquarium except that there were 50 Christmas trees--one for each state--and loud Christmas music. We met Tom and Charles at Abuelo's for lunch and then returned to the condos for rests. Charles had suggested that he and Tom go see a model railroad layout, and I went with them. It was an impressive layout with trains in every gauge although the largest space was for HO trains. See pictures from Grand Strand Model Rairoaders by clicking here. When we returned we all visited, ate some leftovers, visited, and went to bed.
Tuesday, November 10--We were a title more active in getting up and getting moving because we were all planning to leave at about 9:00 because of Harley's flight time. Marthan and Charles drove her to the airport and we went with them because the State Park was in the same direction so they could drop us off without backtracking. Ellen and Phil were driving and left at the same time. Although it had rained a lot while we were here, our RV was on relatively high ground and dry enough so that we had no trouble driving out of the park. We headed home and then Tom decided that he really wanted some Krispy Kreme donuts so we went almost all the way back to Marthan and Charles' condo to get them. There were about twenty police cars with sirens blasting and lights flashing speeding past us, but we never saw what the problem was. We finally really started home after getting the donuts and drove on to Hard Labor Creek State Park near Rutledge, Georgia. We called ahead to reserve a site and reached the park just as it was getting dark about 5:40. Our reservation was not site specific so we took the first site we saw. We didn't see anyone else.
Wednesday, November 11--Our first contact with anyone was with the camp host who came by walking his dog just as Tom was going to the shower. He took our license plate number and told us that the office opened at 8:00. When we stopped at the office, we found that we would get a discount for being seniors. Tom bought a mug, and I bought a bat to add to my animal collection. We were on the road by 9:00 and should have no trouble getting to Starkville in time to pick up Zoe.