South and North Carolina

I’m back!  Please excuse the very long period between this entry and my last – I spent the last stops on our trip really living each day so taking time to blog wasn’t on the agenda.  And once I got home, I had one day to get my act together (can that really happen in one day?) and it was off to Colorado to help Mallory move back from college.  It’s been a very busy several weeks!  But back to our story.

Having left Jekyll Island, Georgia, land of the relentless carnivorous bugs, we landed in Santee, South Carolina at a shady park that was next to a huge lake.  (And by shady I mean tall trees, not skeevy people.)  But somehow the bugs weren’t so bad!  I never thought I’d be thrilled to see a mosquito but boy was I.  A mosquito I can see and have half a chance to kill, and the bite only swells and itches for a few days.  That’s a day at Chuck E. Cheese Pizza compared to the chiggers and other noseums I’d been battling so bring on the mosquitos!

I’ll say it outright – not much happened in South Carolina so here are a few hightlights:

I saw a billboard in Congaree, South Carolina, advertising coffee at Hardee’s:   “Ever heard of too awake?  Us neither.”

Driving from Georgia to South Carolina:

Dave:  “This road is really rolly.  It has all sorts of undulations.”

Me:  “I bet you had no idea when you woke up this morning that you’d use the word undulations.”

Dave:  “Yes I did.” 

(See?  Scintillating conversations.)

We met a couple who were next to us in the park named Albert and Theresa.  He was a good old boy who was born and raised in the deep south and should have come with subtitles his accent was so thick.  Every year he and his wife come to this park to fish for catfish and have for years.  He was a nice guy and chatted us up quite a bit.  He asked us that night if we’d like to go to dinner with them and Dave and I, both being lifelong introverts, immediately thanked him and declined.  The next morning we looked at each other and said, “We should have gone.”  From now on, we toss our hermit like ways aside and go to dinner, shoot the breeze with the neighbors and enjoy the people we meet.  Lesson learned.

Here’s our site:

There was a little bird who tried to annoy the dogs while they were in the pen and it got to be pretty funny.  First it would gather up all its courage and get close to the pen.

Then when he realized Maiya isn’t into birds (only squirrels), he hopped inside the pen for a better look.

I thought squirrels were jerks who liked to mess with the dogs but this bird gave all the squirrels we’ve met so far a run for their money.

We took everyone on a long walk through crunchy leaves and tall trees and came across what looked to me like a pinecone graveyard.

Maiya doesn’t like pine trees because squirrels don’t live in pines.  We need to go someplace that’s an entire park full of oaks.  She’d lose her mind with excitement.

And then we were off to North Carolina.  I took this picture of our drive between the two states.

And then a few hours later took this one.

Notice anything?  It’s the SAME.  That makes for a long ride.

We arrived at New River State Park in North Carolina, stepped out of the car and it was literally about 50 degrees.  Whoa Nelly!  I’m not sure what happened but our temp dropped considerably and it was rather refreshing.

And here’s the gist of what we’ve learned (looking back).  We love North Carolina.  Seriously.  North Carolina is beautiful, it has beaches, it has mountains, it’s green, it’s got a thriving tech industry, it has so many things to make it awesome.

Here are some trail pictures from our walk.

I took about forty more that I won’t bore you with and as you know from being on vacation yourself, pictures never do it justice.

That afternoon I was lying in the sunshine and looked up.  This is what I saw.

When I showed it to Dave he thought it was a blue screen on a computer so I took another as a reference.

That’s how gorgeous the sky was.  Maiya was enjoying her day in the sun too.

And I know this seems funny but I had to zoom in on what I see many times a day.  Dog boogies.  Small RV, dog hair, dog paws, dog boogies.  And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Know what these are?  Fiddlehead ferns!  The only reason we recognized them is Ted Allen introduces them as a basket ingredient on Chopped!

There were plants that looked like umbrellas to me but Dave knew what they were and I’ve already forgotten the name.

We booked New River as a quick stopping point before heading to our main attraction in North Carolina and as I’m learning more and more, you just don’t know what to expect when you get someplace you’ve never been.  Jekyll Island was our main attraction and while it was lush and green, it was also my most miserable spot.

Who knows?  Maybe I’ll end up in New River, North Carolina again someday.  But for now, it’s on to Mama Gertie’s Hideaway Campground!