November 26, 2004 –

We went into town to buy groceries in the early afternoon and to see the remnants of the day-after Thanksgiving shopping madness. Their were cars pulling out of the campground at   5:30 AM to be in line for when the stores opened – as many opened their doors early and had big sales promotions. The local Wal-Mart for example had cloths irons, hair driers, toasters and fondue kits on for 4.99 each, coffee makers, food processors for 10.00, etc.

Thankfully – we have very little room in the RV to partake in much of this – so we only picked up groceries and headed for home.

There was a little church just down the road from the Campground – that as we were driving by there was a small service – with a flag draped coffin – and a small military honour guard. It quickly brought back how real the war was for so many of the families here. One of the things that we have noticed that people have been doing is putting little electric candle lights in the windows – to show that they are keeping the lights on for the soldiers to return home. Many of the homes have gone to the point of having a candle in every window – and it can be quite moving at night in some areas.

Back to the campground for the afternoon – where the kids worked on their school work and Dad started working on some of the genealogy stuff he brought along. This is the material that he had all loaded several years ago and then lost in a computer crash – so needless to say he is backing up the information on a regular basis. Most of the time he sat outside at the picnic table – but there was a bit of a wind so he ended up being pretty chilly by dark. However it was nothing that hot chocolate and winning at Canasta didn’t cure.

November 27, 2004 –

It was a cool overnight but up to a clear morning. Down to the club house for a breakfast of egg, sausages, biscuits and grits – the grits were not a big hit with the kids. The Club House is a large 1900’s log house – complete with dining room – TV Lounge, and Bathrooms with large cast iron claw foot tubs. Quite a nice treat.

The kids then spent a couple of hours in a craft program that the campground ran – and when they came back they wanted to go an play at the basketball court with a boy they had met there. As Mom had seen the boy’s interactions at the craft program – she initially limited the time – however the boys came back early – having walked away from the kid – as he was pushy and destructive. Keelan ended up with a sprained ankle as a result of the kid’s antics.

The boys spent some of the afternoon doing up their school lessons – and getting a package ready to send back to the school. They worked hard – and then headed down to the store for ice cream.

Dad continued to work on the genealogy material throughout the afternoon – outside at the picnic table – the temperature made it very comfortable.

Started to cloud up and rain again this evening – with some fairly significant downpours. Hopefully it will clear up again tomorrow.

November 28, 2004 –

Although it rained off and on throughout the night – woke up to a clear and sunny morning. This place is obviously used to torrential downpours – as it has rock lined banks built up to direct the water down channels and away from the campsites.

We went into a little old style diner for breakfast / lunch. Great food for cheap – however it seems unusual walking into a restaurant that still allows smoking – let alone to have the staff smoking in the kitchen. Oh well – this is the golden triangle of the tobacco companies – and you see their advertising everywhere (supporting the community, parks, living museums, etc.). This will probably be one of the last places that will be able to get a smoking ban in public areas.

I am beginning to understand why the Carolina’s produces so many good race car drivers. The rural roads around here – although paved – are about 2.5 feet narrower than an ordinary road, and do not have any shoulder. They tend to be somewhat windy and have flat banked corners. The speed limits vary – but are frequently the same as the interstates. As a result – if you are able to survive the first couple of years of driving – you probably become pretty good at it. It is nothing to see the local drivers – putting their outside wheel at or over the shoulder – in order to use it as a bit of a track to “pull them around the corner”. However driving these roads in the motor home can be a bit unnerving – as there is no where to move over for someone. The locals don’t seem to mind at all – as they just go whizzing past at every chance they get.

Carolina is also the first place that we have seen a motor home pulling a restored ’57 Chevy as their tow vehicle. When he fired the Chev up to “idle” around the campground – you could hear the deep rumble for a quite a distance. You kept checking around as you could almost imagine the Federal Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco to come charging in looking for the moonshine …

Deb and the boys went down to the “Hen House” to make cookies and do more school work. The cookies seemed to be a big hit with everyone that stopped in – and Deb had to give away the recipes a couple of times (Thanks to Jan (Mickey’s best friend’s mom) for the great cookies recipe we’ve always enjoyed – and know that the recipe is spreading further a field).

We have decided to stay an extra day at this campground – while we try and make reservations – etc. for our next few stops. As we are getting closer to where the Snowbirds go – we need to be a little more careful to find campsites with vacancies before we head into an area. Depending on what is available will depend on which way we will head. However, with the Thanksgiving weekend coming to an end – over 2/3 of the campground has cleared out.

There seems to be a far amount of anxiety around the local area today – as more of the local troops from Fort Bragg (just down the road) are bring shipped out tomorrow for Iraq. We ran across a number of people that were talking about friends or family that were leaving and all the concerns that this brings with it.
November 29, 2004 –

Again its a nice clear day – cool first thing in the morning and then warming up. The kids spent their day, alternating between doing school work – and playing (mini-golf; RC Racing, etc.). Dad continued to work on the genealogy – and has finally gotten to the point he was at before the system crash – several years ago (800 some individuals). He can now start adding in his mom’s side of the family.

In the afternoon we went out on the campground’s small lake in a couple of paddle boats. We explored the lake and marshes – and then the kids went out on their own and did a race around the small lake. Both have learned to steer the boats with the rudder and enjoy the feeling of independence that it has given them. This worked out well – as mom went out in a paddle boat to be close by – and dad lay on an easy chair on the dock.

Mom spent the afternoon – tracing out the route and booking our campgrounds and locations until after Christmas. The plan is to move the motor home about every 7 days, if we can find one of the cheaper RPI resorts in the areas we want to see – even better. The average travel on our travel days will be about 500 Km – so it will allow us to be a little less rushed.

As it looks now – we will be heading west – through South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, for the next couple of weeks and then head back down through Florida in early January. (So much for our original plan to be in the everglades at Christmas.) It now looks like we will be in Disney World about January 4th and then do the Everglades after that.

November 30, 2004 –

Well, it’s moving time again. Up this morning and off towards Hartwell Lake – on the South Carolina – Georgia border. Within a half hour of leaving the campground – we drove past the grandstands and parking area – for North Carolina Speedway – at Rockingham. With the wind storms that they have around here – I am not sure if I want to be sitting on those grandstands – as there are probably 80 rows up!!!

Next we traveled through Peach country – with lots of orchards dotting the countryside. There was even one town that had a huge water tower – painted like a peach. In the areas that were not cultivated there were vines growing in fields along side of the road. Some of them grew over fences and bushes and up into the trees. In the summer time when they are all green – it must be very attractive – but now with it being brown and the vines visible – it looks like something out of a sci-fi horror flick – “The Plant that Ate … ”

Passed through an area with a lot of manufacturing plants, clothing manufacturers – and more being built – that seemed to be doing well. There was even an American assembly plant for BMW complete with the visitor center – where you could watch your “beamer” being built. However, about 30 miles down the road – there were plants that were closed up – and big billboards asking people that had lost their jobs through free-trade or off-shoring – to call a 1-800 number. Things seem to be very dependant on the tax breaks and incentives that each country / state provides.

We pulled into the campground and got set up fairly quickly. We are starting to get the routine down to a science – with the boys pitching in. We took a walk around the area. At one time it was a very nice resort – with several club houses, cabins, and swimming pools – all on the edge of lake. However, some of the things now look like they have been let go. There are still a large number of semi permanent sites on the one side that are full – but other areas are not quite as nice. Also the roof on the one swimming pool had to be taken down due to previous storm / hurricane damage and therefore the pool is now closed for the season. Oh well – it’s clean, cheap, and close to a number of things. Clemson University is about 20 minutes down the road one way, and Atlanta is about an hour and a half the other. We will see what we can find around the local area to do. There is even a “Cabbage Patch Doll Hospital” listed in one of the nearby town – but the kids have given a resounding “NO” to going there.

December 1, 2004

We took a little run into Fair Play (the nearest town) looking for a grocery store to pick up a couple of things. There was a selection of stores to choose from – all of which were not great. One store was a general store, hardware, restaurant, gas station combination – in which they seemed more interested in getting updates on deer hunting from the locals coming in to get beer and lotto tickets than doing anything else. Another store that mom went into had a couple of old men sitting around talking – and had very little of anything to sell. Deb said that when you were looked into the freezers – that you were not sure if you were looking into his private food or not. Cans of collards greens were next of a pail of nails, down the next aisle were canned peaches and corn and electrical cords etc… They did however wish her a nice day. There was another place that advertised itself as a bakery / dairy store – and the dairy just made its delivery (in a Subaru Outback). The lady said that the boys would have to shake up the chocolate milk – as it wouldn’t have been stirred up enough in the 20 minute ride in from the farm.

There was a Dollar General in town – which the boys were happy to find and looked around for some more treasures. Dad also seems to find things at these stores – much to Mom’s regrets. His latest purchase was a drink whipper for a dollar – and mom does not know where she is going to put it and it would not be polite to tell him where to stick it.

However, given the state of supplies in the local stores – we will probably have to go further a field tomorrow for a more complete grocery shop as well as to get a WiFi connection.

December 2, 2004
After a leisurely breakfast – we headed off to towards Clemson. Stopped at a local Bakery that advertised WiFi – and Dad sat in the car doing up email, and updating the web page while the boys went with mom to do some minor shopping.

From there we went to a large grocery store – and let mom stock up on essentials while Dad and the boys hit a Big K to pick up some things for the motor home. On the way to the store – dad and the boys came across African-American man in a van who had his hood up and jumper cables attached. He appeared to be standing in the mall parking lot for some time. Dad and the boys hopped back into the car to go over and give him a boost. He was so surprised that we would go back to the parking lot to get our car, and would stop to help him. It was then that he noticed the license plates, and grinned. He made a point of circling around the parking lot to get his van charged up – and then came back by us and honked his horn and waved before he left. Maybe there is an advantage to being naive – as this is the same town where someone fired a rifle at three cars on the highway the night before (however we did not hear that until we got back home and listened to the news). We are beginning to think that not listening to the news may be therapeutic or at least more calming.

Following the grocery shop – went to Clemson University and their Botanical gardens. As Clemson’s reputation is as an agricultural school – they have set aside a vast area of rolling hills and valleys that are covered in many different trees and plants. Most are marked with stakes identifying the variety, etc. They also have programs in landscaping architecture – and have put considerable work into ponds, archways, and a variety of displays on “backyard” gardening options. About 10 years ago, Clemson had a group of artists come in and make some living sculptures in the gardens. These are scattered throughout their vast green area – and you really need a map and some luck to find all off them. Some have broken down over the years as the trees and other things continue to grow – others are more spectacular when different varieties of flower are in bloom – and others look great right now. The kids enjoyed walking through the woods and finding these living sculptures. One of the sculptures was called the crucible turned out to be the kids favourite. Mickey says he has lots of ideas for the cabin landscaping including a stone wall and a waterfall….

There was also an area by a pond and water falls that had over 300 hundred varieties of Camellia trees in bloom. It was really nice to see things blooming at this time of year – and we were extremely lucky as apparently the blooms last only a couple of days.