October 12th - October 21st
This trip started off on a bad weather note. We left the house at 6 AM in heavy rain. It was also the first time I had driven the RV in the dark or rain. I gave us plenty of time to get to the Molly Pitcher rest stop on the Turnpike where we were to meet the rest of our group. I laid down and fell asleep for an hour. I woke up just as they arrived.
This trip started off on a bad weather note. We left the house at 6 AM in heavy rain. It was also the first time I had driven the RV in the dark or rain. I gave us plenty of time to get to the Molly Pitcher rest stop on the Turnpike where we were to meet the rest of our group. I laid down and fell asleep for an hour. I woke up just as they arrived.
We did not follow I-95 or any of the interstates until we got to Richmond. We used US 301. It was much better than when my family used it many years ago. We stopped for the evening at a motel/RV park just below the VA/NC border. We made it to the campground in South Myrtle Beach around 2PM. I got the rig level and went out to hook up the water, electric, and sewer when I felt like I had stepped off a cliff. The front tires were 4 inches off the ground and the bottom tread of the steps was over a foot off the ground. It stayed that way for the time we were there. We did get a little plastic step to make it easy to get in and out.
This place is huge. There are 3500 sites of one sort or another. I rode my bike around part of the campground and put 4.3 miles on the bike without covering all of it. They have almost a mile of beach. Our site was the third in our row from the beach. We were less than 100 yards from the ocean at low tide.
Monday, I played golf with Donald, one of our group. I started off very badly, but got it together towards the end. I refuse to total the scorecard. I'll just remember I did badly and not put a number on it.
Tuesday, Joyce and I went kayaking at Murrell Inlet. We paddled past a bunch of beautiful homes and some that probably will be knocked down to put up more beautiful homes. One that is under construction had to be a hundred feet long, had 7 chimneys. Across the channel from where we launched the kayak was Goat Island. It was named that because there is a small herd of goats living there. It is also home to a bunch of peacocks, including one that is pure white.
Wednesday, Joyce & I picked up some stuff we needed for the RV at Camping World and Wal-Mart in the morning then went to the Tanger Outlet stores in Myrtle Beach after lunch. This was my first outlet experience.
Thursday, we went down to Georgetown, SC, the fourth largest city in South Carolina. It dates back to the late 1700's. It had one main street with unique shops and restaurants. Off the main street was a residential area with old, historic homes. We took a tour of the town and had lunch there.
Thursday, we went down to Georgetown, SC, the fourth largest city in South Carolina. It dates back to the late 1700's. It had one main street with unique shops and restaurants. Off the main street was a residential area with old, historic homes. We took a tour of the town and had lunch there.
That afternoon, the group went up to Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach. This was another area with shops and restaurants. We looked in some of the shops then headed to a German restaurant for dinner. Today was Joyce's and my 37th anniversary.
We rode up to NMB again this time to see "Broadway at the Beach". This was another group of shops and restaurants, but with a twist. It has an aquarium and an amusement park. We had lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant. Good food. We headed back to the RV to get ready to leave the next morning.
We bought a sun screen that attaches to the awning of the rig. It blocks about 50% of the light coming through it. We had it up for two days until the wind came up. There were two girls that made them at their campsite. They were kept busy the whole time we were there.
We had a great time with the group. We all went our seperate way during the day and either dined together for dinner or cooked for ourselves. We dined out every other night. Every night, we took our group dog walk on the beach. This included one couple that didn't have a dog. Pogo was well behaved most of the time. He would stop and stare out at the ocean like he was deep in thought. There were a few times when he would get agressive with other dogs, usually those bigger then himself.
We rode up to NMB again this time to see "Broadway at the Beach". This was another group of shops and restaurants, but with a twist. It has an aquarium and an amusement park. We had lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant. Good food. We headed back to the RV to get ready to leave the next morning.
We bought a sun screen that attaches to the awning of the rig. It blocks about 50% of the light coming through it. We had it up for two days until the wind came up. There were two girls that made them at their campsite. They were kept busy the whole time we were there.
We had a great time with the group. We all went our seperate way during the day and either dined together for dinner or cooked for ourselves. We dined out every other night. Every night, we took our group dog walk on the beach. This included one couple that didn't have a dog. Pogo was well behaved most of the time. He would stop and stare out at the ocean like he was deep in thought. There were a few times when he would get agressive with other dogs, usually those bigger then himself.
Sand. This stuff seemed to get into or on everything. Our woven patio mat had about two pounds of sand in it. The main storage bay of the RV was loaded with it. We vacuumed the rig a couple of times, but I need to get in there with the shop vac and do it once more.
We left Saturday morning and drove to Petersburg, VA and set up camp for the night. Darryl asked the owner of the park where a good place to eat was. There is an Italian restaurant just outside the park. She said the food was great, but the service left a bit to be desired. Boy, was she right. It took an hour and a half to have dinner.
Sunday was an awful day on the road. It seemed like half the people in southern Virginia were going to the Redshin's game. I have never seen so many decals, flags, helmets, and football dolls in my life. We had intended to take I-395 to skirt around D.C., but an accident shut down the highway, completely. Try driving through downtown Washington as a caravan of three RVs pulling two cars. Don was leading, Darryl in the middle, and I was bringing up the rear. Don got ahead of us and completely lost. My GPS guided us through. I would call Darryl on the CB and tell him when to turn. Eventually, we all got together again.
Our biggest concern was avoiding the two tunnels through Baltimore. RVs fall into the catagory of HAZMAT vehicles due to the fact that we carry propane. We had to take I-695 across the Francis Scott Key bridge. We did get to the bridge OK. We ran into heavy traffic on the NJ Turnpike. Some guy driving a pickup and pulling a trailer cut in front of me and his trailer hit my rearview mirror. There was no damage to the mirror. Thank Ford for making them on pivots.
We left Saturday morning and drove to Petersburg, VA and set up camp for the night. Darryl asked the owner of the park where a good place to eat was. There is an Italian restaurant just outside the park. She said the food was great, but the service left a bit to be desired. Boy, was she right. It took an hour and a half to have dinner.
Sunday was an awful day on the road. It seemed like half the people in southern Virginia were going to the Redshin's game. I have never seen so many decals, flags, helmets, and football dolls in my life. We had intended to take I-395 to skirt around D.C., but an accident shut down the highway, completely. Try driving through downtown Washington as a caravan of three RVs pulling two cars. Don was leading, Darryl in the middle, and I was bringing up the rear. Don got ahead of us and completely lost. My GPS guided us through. I would call Darryl on the CB and tell him when to turn. Eventually, we all got together again.
Our biggest concern was avoiding the two tunnels through Baltimore. RVs fall into the catagory of HAZMAT vehicles due to the fact that we carry propane. We had to take I-695 across the Francis Scott Key bridge. We did get to the bridge OK. We ran into heavy traffic on the NJ Turnpike. Some guy driving a pickup and pulling a trailer cut in front of me and his trailer hit my rearview mirror. There was no damage to the mirror. Thank Ford for making them on pivots.
The trip home took 12 hours. Even with this, we had a great time.
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