Alligator!

Huntington Beach State Park
Murrell's Inlet, SC

We are with a group of folks,

fondly known as the 'Carolina Clan'.

George and I are having the best time :-)

Today was spent by first

taking a nice bike ride

around the campground,

and the day use area on 

the other side.

We went down a path into

the freshwater lagoon

and I got to see a baby alligator!

We then came back across

 the causeway,

where we saw nice

snowy egrets

There were beautiful boardwalks

that jut out into the lagoon

After the nice ride,

we came back to the RV,

and gathered our chairs,

for the short walk to the beach.

It is so beautiful!

Mr Gnome was very happy

to get his toes in the sand..

..his feet in the water..

and play a bit :-)

Eventually the clan ended

up hanging on the beach..

..then at happy hour..

Bill was diving for the candy

in the bowl...it was Halloween, after all..

All this fun led eventually

to a campfire..

It has been a great few days

so far...

what's next!?

Among friends

Huntington Beach State Park
Murrell's Inlet, SC

Yesterday morning we were still

in Maggie Valley, NC.

George took the truck to

the local Chevy dealer,

and got the turbo fixed.

In the meantime I was doing wash,

and watching the news 

about Hurricane Sandy,

and the cold front that

was marching into our area.

Since the forecast was for 

4-8" of snow,

we decided the best thing

would be to get the heck

outta there.

We figured we might as 

well stick it out and

finish all the wash,

get hooked up,

and then drive 3 of the 6 hours

to our next destination.

3 hours put us in

Columbia, SC.

The Flying J was full..

so we found a Walmart,

pulled in..

ate..

then surveyed the 'neighborhood'

and thought to ourselves..

we only have 3 more

hours to drive..

;-)

We finally made it 

to Murrell's Inlet..

to a very nice Walmart

where we spent the night.

I'm happy to say that

today we are in site #20,

at Huntington Beach State Park..

There are 23 couples here,

most of them RV Dreamers..

After we got settled in,

we stood around and

got reacquainted with

some old friends,

and met some new ones.

As the sun was going down,

we sat around,

and shared some laughs..

We're looking forward to 

spending a week,

having some fun with everyone,

and exploring the beach!

A bit of bluegrass y'all

Creekwood Farm RV Resort
Maggie Valley, NC

Yesterday we did as planned..

we started out with a good

breakfast at 

Joey's Pancake House

I had their special

sweet potato pancakes..

they were great!

We took a short drive around

to see what we could see..

and find where the Walmart is :-)

The rest of the day was spent

lounging around a bit.

The weather wasn't the best..

cool and windy.

We did get a walk in around

the campground,

and talked to a few campers.

After a healthy dinner of salad..(finally!)

we took off for the

Maggie Valley Opry House.

It was pretty much the only

place that we could go to

hear some bluegrass.

The Opry House is the love

of Raymond Fairchild,

a '5 time world champion banjo picker'.

He's 73 years old,

and a pretty good picker!

(I apologize in advance for the

picture quality..cellphone :-(

We got a bonus..

the bluegrass band

Grass Backwards

was there to play also..

They were also pretty good..

At the end, Raymond brought up anyone

who had anything to do with

the bands..(hehe)

to sing

'Will the circle be unbroken'

It was worth the $12 apiece to

hear some local 'grass..

and lots of great y'alls :-)

Today we're gonna get that

Walmart shopping done..

and keep an eye on Sandy.

There are a couple weather watches..

a winter storm watch (ugh)

a high wind warning (ugh)

and a freeze warning (not too bad).

Not so much worried about

the winter storm watch, 

but high wind warnings.

There a lot of trees here 

in the park.

We'll keep you posted!

Blue Ridge Parkway and BINGO

Creekwood Farm RV Park
Maggie Valley, NC

Another beautiful day in 

North Carolina!

An update on the truck:

George took it to a Chevy dealer

in nearby Waynesville.

They changed the oil & fuel filter..

..to the tune of $234.00..

and determined that the problem

is a turbo-boost sensor and control valve.

The good news is it is covered under warranty.

The good/bad news is the part won't be 

here until Monday, so we've extended

our stay in Maggie Valley one more day.

Now we'll have a long day's drive

to Murrell's Inlet on Tuesday.

That's ok, though, because

SANDY can get her butt outta

the area by then :-)

So today we drove up to the

Oconaluftee Visitors Center

which is in the Great Smoky Mountains

National Park.

We dutifully got our passport stamped..

then wandered around the

Mountain Farm Museum.

It really was an interesting place!

Since we got a taste of the Smokies..

we wanted to get a taste of the 

Blue Ridge Parkway.

We plugged a destination in our GPS,

and took off for Mt. Pisgah...

...or so we thought :-)

It took us to the 'destination'

but there was no Mt. Pisgah there :-)

Oh well when we figured out our mistake, 

it was getting too late in the day to

turn around and go the right way.

We did, however,

get to be on a small portion

of the Blue Ridge..

We felt as if we were on top 

of the world up there.

When we got back to the campground..

we saw this sign..

BINGO!

We high-tailed it over there at 7:15.

The cool part?

I won 2 games, and George won 1.

For our $10 investment, 

we won $62!

Enough for breakfast tomorrow

at Joey's (and their famous pancakes)

and to see some bluegrass

at the

Maggie Valley Opry House

Very cool!

We keep finding color!

Creekwood Farm RV Park
Maggie Valley, NC

It seems we can't outrun Mother Nature.

The colors have not faded the 

farther south we go.

Nice!

We had a good trip from

Granville, TN to

the Maggie Valley area of

North Carolina.

We drove into NC

through the Great Smoky Mountains..

The truck pulled Harvey well,

but the 'check engine' light

came on halfway through the mountain.

George didn't think the truck

was running quite right.

We made it to our campsite,

and got set up,

then ran up to the local

Chevy dealer to find out

what was up.

It may be that it needs a new

fuel filter..

so George will get an oil change

done tomorrow.

When we got back,

I thought Bloody Marys were in order..

so we sat outside with Mr. Gnome..

 ..and pondered what tomorrow will bring.

Time to move on

Made in the Shade Campground
Granville, TN

Yesterday and today

we played lazy :-)

Yesterday George and I rode our bikes

down to our favorite little park..

and sat on the swing

and checked out the river again.

Then George found pecans in the campground!

The owner said we can have all we can crack :-)

Today we decided to ride down 

into Granville again.

The plan was to get an ice cream at

the Sutton General Store,

but we saw they had lunch...

so..

It was so good!

But we gotta stop this eating :-)

Tomorrow we are moving on..

to Waynesville, NC..

Maggie Valley.

We hear it's going to be nice!

Nashville

Made in the Shade Campground
Granville, TN

Today, George and I celebrated

our first anniversary!

One year ago we were married

in Salinas, CA, 

and 3 weeks ago today 

we started our journey together.

We decided to go to Nashville

 for a nice day trip.

It's only about 60 miles 

away from Granville.

We started out at the visitor's center..

..where George decided to ham it up..

We walked around checking

out all the buildings..

The Ryman Auditorium

The Country Music Hall of Fame

There are a lot of places that

offer free music..

This guy played all kinds of

'road' songs for us

after he found out

we are full-time RVrs :-)

We decided to save our money

for a nice BBQ lunch,

instead of paying for all

the admissions to the museums.

Saving that for next time we're in TN..

We definitely will be back..

:-)