Wednesday, October 31, 2012

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!?






Tuesday, October 30, 2012

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!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

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 


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

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!

Friday, October 26, 2012

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

Very cool!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

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.




Wednesday, October 24, 2012

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!

Monday, October 22, 2012

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..


:-)