South Carolina

We left Mt. Airy, NC on Sunday and traveled to Sumter to visit our sister-in-law.  We had a great visit with many cups of coffee.  We left her house on Monday and made our way out to Myrtle Beach.

We are staying at Ocean Lakes Campground.  This place is huge.  It has 2,400 annual lease sites, around 900 transient sites and 100's of vacation home rentals.  A lot of folks were leaving on Labor Day when we arrived.  Thank God for small blessings, because even with the last of the summer weekends over, there are still so many people here.  It is right on the beach and the beach is beautiful.  Dogs are allowed before 9:00 am and after 5:00 pm so Jesse and Jackie get some beach time, too.

Doug found a life guard chair to sit in and take in the sights.

Our site is only a few steps from the beach.  We can hear the waves day and night.  A little bit of paradise!

Mayberry Lives

Mayberry lives on in Mt. Airy, NC.  Who knew?  I certainly didn't, but there it was, big as life.  Mt. Airy is the town where Andy Griffith was raised.  It is small town America at its best.  A walk down Main Street showed us.  Take a look.

Looking up Main Street

Floyd's Barber Shop and a line of folks waiting to eat at Snappy's Lunch.

The Blue Bird Diner

Emmett's Fix It Shop

The Sheriff's office

And, of course, Wally's Service Station where you can take a tour of  Mayberry in a patrol car.

We had an ice cream cone at Opie's Candy Shop and sat on a bench out front and watched the world go by. An older gentleman sat down next to us and spun a few tales.  It was the perfect day in Mayberry.

Making a list and checking it twice

We leave in one week, so off I went today to buy a few "necessaries" for our MH.  I found the coolest space saving gadget.  A collapsible dish drainer!  I've seen collapsible colanders, mixing bowls, etc. but I had never seen a dish drainer.   Also got a set of measuring cups and measuring spoons.  I have these great visions of doing some real cooking on this trip now that we have an oven.  Sure expands meal choices as our previous "usuals" were tacos, spaghetti, burgers, steaks, or whatever we could cook on the cook top or grill.  Maybe I'll make something from one of my Paula Deen cook books (better add those to my pack list).

I also want to take a couple of potted plants from the patio.  I was thinking about these.  What do you think?

I especially want to take the bonsai palm.  It got 4 new fronds this summer and it's done really well.  Of course, I probably should have trimmed the new fronds to keep it a true bonsai.  The rose moss keeps blooming and the ivy is a no brainer.  Now all I need is a small box to keep them from tipping over in the storage compartment.

Doug hasn't asked yet, but I suspect he may want to take a few Texaco items.  We met a guy in Maine last time we were there who had an old gas station full of Texaco items.  Maybe that guy will want to buy something to add to his gas station.

Stepping up to a motor home.

My husband retired in the spring of 2008 due to medical problems.  At the time, we had a Coleman pop-up that we had pulled all over the country from the northern tip of Maine to the California coast.  When we took it west last year, we realized it was getting too hard for us to use.  Crank it up, pull the beds out, set the supports and on and on.  So this summer, we decided that life is short, sold our old pop-up and bought a 36 ft 2005 Jayco Seneca.  What a difference!  We can now be set up in 15 minutes with the coffee brewing.

We dreamed (well, maybe I dreamed) that one day we would be full time RVers.  While that may still happen some day, for now we will take our twice a year vacations on the road and some weekends as well.

We will hit the road on September 3 for a 3 week trip up the east coast, starting in Myrtle Beach.  We will post about our journeys and maybe some other stuff, too.