A Different Life II

[Lily&Me]

Heading out of here in the morning, and just in time for me as temps in the 90’s are due later this week.

Been a very, very relaxing stay, with lots of friendly fellow campers and dog lovers here.

Met a couple the other day in a van they converted themselves, who are traveling full time with a gorgeous, sweet Newfoundland named Harry…175 lbs, I believe they said he was.

Have dumped my tanks (thank you again, Al) and topped off the fresh water, laundry is done, will do morning things then just unhook tomorrow and we’ll be off.

Have a Blue Beacon in my sights, a lab appointment and a couple of more planned stops, but will mostly be roaming around the next 10 days or so.

Kinda looking forward to that, as temps have moderated to the point that the furnace will not be critical.

All is well.

[TouringDan]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Okay, you two, I will put a (small) hike on the Appalachian Trail on my to-do list.

Maggie

Maggie

If you want to walk some on the AT there is a small parking area at the intersection of 664 and the Blue Ridge Parkway (close to the Wintergreen Resort).

If you want to camp close to the AT two campgrounds in the Shenandoah National Park are outstanding- Loft Mountain and Lewis Mountain.

As usual I enjoy reading about your winter wondering.

Dan

[Lily&Me]

Hi Dan, and I will keep those spots in mind.

We are roaming coastal Georgia a bit, and I got as close to St. Mary’s as the Kingsland WalMart, where we spent a very noisy night.

Have a SP reservation for the holiday weekend, but until then am enjoying a little poking around and finding free sites while the temps are mild.

This is such a gorgeous part of the country.

Had a fried catfish special from a little diner on Monday, and looking for something equally delicious today.

Maggie

[Al and Missy]

Hi Maggie,

If you are still in the area there is/was a great barbecue place at exit 3 from I-95. I think that is St. Mary’s Road. It was a trailer next to the Chevron station on the eastbound side. Coming off the northbound exit go straight at the light and turn left on the service road. Originally it was Blue’s Barbecue, then had another name, then went back to Blue’s. They had several big smokers on the east side of the trailer kitchen. It is mostly take-out but there were a few tables out front. Haven’t been there in a while so I don’t know if it is still there but the pulled pork was great!

[Lily&Me]

Hi, Al, and great to hear from you!

We are north and west a bit of Kingsland, now, and have just settled into a Georgia SP campground thru the holiday weekend….because it was available, and because they give 20% off to seniors.

We spent last night at a Welcome Center, and with the temps mild my vent fan on low masked the traffic noises outside quite well.

Lily will be glad not to be driving for a few days, and I have bought food to actually cook tomorrow.

Have a chicken lo mein precooked entree in my HotLogic heating up, so we’ll see how that suffices for today.

I’m getting the urge to grill, and when I get to Edisto am going to do one of Kings Market chicken pies outside in my Dutch Oven.

I’m ready for Edisto…everything else at this point is just filling time.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

In a foil pan, this little entree heated in the Hot Logic to steaming hot in about 1 1/2 hours…on the counter, while I walked Lily, tidied up and did a few other things.

I will save the little pan to use again.

Tho lite on the veggies, it was very tasty, and only $5.00…from the limited selection of fresh entrees at the WalMart I visited this morning.

I would eat this again.

When I say things like that, I am instantly taken back to American Bandstand of my high school years, and the reviews/ratings by the dancers of newly-released singles played on there for the first time.

“It has a good beat”, “I can dance to it” was the equivalent of 5 stars.

[Lily&Me]

My neighbors just sent me this picture of the little house, a blizzard in progress as I type, telling me not to come home yet.

And I see that I forgot to take the Christmas wreath off the door before I left.

And my son this one from the news, of a 100 vehicle pile-up on the interstate about 20 miles north of us.

[TouringDan]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

My neighbors just sent me this picture of the little house, a blizzard in progress as I type, telling me not to come home yet.



And I see that I forgot to take the Christmas wreath off the door before I left.



And my son this one from the news, of a 100 vehicle pile-up on the interstate about 20 miles north of us.

Maggie

Aren’t you glad that you are wondering around down south where it is warm!

Edisto is on our bucket list. I know it is one of your favorite places to camp.

Happy wondering, Dan

[Lily&Me]

I am, indeed, Dan.

Slept with all the windows open last night, and tho it is raining now we are on a gravel pad so no mud to deal with.

Going to clean and do some laundry this morning, start a loaf of bread for a piece of pan bread tomorrow and actually cook today.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

The pile-up north of Normal made CNN and other national news, and is a reminder to a) get,off.the.roads in this kind of weather, and b) keep your fuel tank topped off and a spare jug or two of drinking water.

I remember sitting out that Hurricane that blew thru the northeast last September, on high ground at a rest stop somewhere.

Truckers rarely seem to feel the need to pull off in severe weather, but their shear mass and ability to jackknife anything in their pass frightens me.

I don’t understand why your average motorist chooses to muscle thru these storms, then find themselves in a mess like this.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

We are enjoying cool nights and sunny days, walking a lot, crocheting, reading…sitting out the winter in a warmer climate, basically, like so many others.

I got on this website for the first time last week, and there are some interesting options I have not found listed elsewhere.

https://freecampsites.net/

Free is good, especially when temps are mild.


Drove into the little town near here yesterday morning, got a coffee and a piece of “Chewy Bread”…which I had never even heard of, much less eaten, but it was yummy.

Found this recipe and picture online, and in the Midwest we would call these “Blond Brownies”.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/11...as-chew-bread/

Looks like a recipe farm wives might have come up with during the Depression for their children, eggs being plentiful when you have farmyard chickens and always needing new ways to get their nutritious selves into hungry kiddos.

I remember Doug’s Mom talking of being a farm kid during the Depression, when they were never hungry but ate so many pancakes when there was nothing but eggs, milk and flour that she refused to touch them ever again.

I will try this recipe out on the grands when I get home.

(their picture)

[Lily&Me]

We are in South Carolina, due into Charleston on Thursday.

A beautiful, backroads drive up into here today, and we are settled for the night in this large, paved boat ramp area on…the very beautiful Edisto River.

Lots of locals in and out, in vehicles and on motorcycles, a county Sheriff’s deputy, and currently a group of older men…locals, they tell me…sitting down by the river, shooting the bull, smoking cigarettes and solving the problems of our country and the world.

A Class B of some ilk came thru a bit ago, and passed by my rig so closely that if the window had been open I could have touched theirs.

Looking very closely, very slowly, can’t see me inside because of the windows, but I’m thinking do they not realize that even tho they can’t see me, that I can see them???


Walked Lily a bit ago, went down to say hello to the guys…because, speak to everyone and smile, ya know…and they assured me this area is well used, patrolled by local LEO’s and we are quite safe.

We are in sight of the main road, and pointed out, just in case.

The woods are kind of inviting, but since I don’t know exactly what is back in there we will stay to the periphery of the lot.

(Signal is not good enough to get the pictures to load)

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

We have spent a very peaceful and beautiful two nights here on the Edisto River, undisturbed by human or beast.

I just made myself stay here another day and night, because there was simply no place better to be until today.

Good to practice being without hookups, run the generator, put the systems thru their non-hookup paces regularly…make sure everything works, so that when you need it, you know.

I saw an egret early yesterday morning as my coffee percolated, otherwise no wildlife of any kind.

Tho I’m told there are alligators in this river, they “mostly stay up in the swamp”.

There is a clear trail, or perhaps it is a road, that goes west into woods for as far as one can see, tho I have resisted the urge to take Lily and walk back in there.

It just seemed unwise.

[Lily&Me]

Kind of interesting to see the mens group that gathers in the evenings here, from late afternoon until darkness has firmly fallen.

They bring chairs, just hang out and talk, don’t seem to be drinking, and who shows up apparently varies some from day to day, as there were some different vehicles here last night than the night before.

They’ve been gathering here for more years than they can remember, and said they would look for me to come by on my way to Edisto next year.

This also seems to be a spot that many locals routinely come to with their coffee in the mornings…just to apparently sit in the quiet and look at the River.

I don’t know what it is that draws us to water, but it seems to be something deep and visceral, if not instinctive.

I love it.

[Lily&Me]

Looking recently for a lightweight crochet project to get me thru the milder temps and to home, I fell back on this pattern that has become a favorite of mine, and which I have posted a couple of times, I think.

Not only is it pretty, but the stitches are varied enough across the pattern that my fingers don’t cramp up.

I then decided that whatever color I could live with and I could find 6 skeins of the same dye lot, that’s what I would get.

The bin for this one was full, and I immediately thought “Edisto colors”, so decided it was meant to be.

With my shell collection on the picnic table, from last year.

Edisto colors.

[Lily&Me]

I have posted these while waiting at Orangeburg Collision, in Orangeburg, SC, which I pulled into after a pipe to the generator came loose and was dragging.

I tied it up on the highway with a piece of Velcro.

They took me right in, crawled underneath to diagnose and fix it, and were only going to charge me $25.

I gave them $40, they helped me back out of their very full parking lot and wished me a blessed day.

Thank you to the good folks at Orangeburg Collision.

Maggie

[tallytwo1994]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Thank you to the good folks at Orangeburg Collision. Maggie

Maggie,

How fortunate you are to find just the right place to get assistance and repair work done while on the road.

Looks like you are doing ok and having some new adventures, which means we are having some new adventures… and yes it was wise not to venture too far down that trail by yourselves, although I just read something someone wrote saying that during the month of February, because of the cold not the month, the alligators aren’t eating. Not sure I’d take the chance that the temperatures would stay low enough for them to indeed continue their dormancy.

Carol

[Lily&Me]

I have been fortunate to find help of some kind when I really needed it, tho have also had experiences of being told appointments were being booked weeks or months down the road.

Go inside, plead my case, and ask politely for help.


Easier to get mechanical emergencies dealt with than something like a water pump, it seems.

Both of which are emergencies to me.

We are in Charleston until Sunday, and starting over an hour out traffic was pretty darned crazy.

But, when we get to Edisto…it will not be.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Tanks have been emptied, fresh water filled, laundry done, staples including dog food replenished, and after a quick wash and rinse at the car wash we are off to Edisto this morning.

That green pollen or whatever it is that comes off the trees is all over the Interstate and everything else outside.

I like to start out clean for the beach.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

It is nice that park staff allow one to occupy their reserved site as soon as it is emptied, and so we got in here about 11:30 this morning…after a stop at Kings Market for shrimp and crab casserole.

It is chilly and overcast, but there is no such thing as a bad day at Edisto Beach.