March 2010 The Carolina's - On the road again.

Thursday March 18 2010. 285550

This is the first "real" trip since selling our business and house in 2008/2009.  Economy hit bottom so it all took a while to fall into place.  Through 2009 we managed quite a few very interesting and enjoyable long weekends away.  Now for the real thing!  We are heading to Charlotte, NC to see Vince, Barb and Kayleigh.  Also stay at Lake Marion SC.

Being a "poor" semi-retired couple we were lucky enough to get Mike's three work days changed to Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, enabling us to leave early Friday Morning.  Well, BONUS, Mike got finished early Thursday, so we finished packing and were ready to leave at 4.45 p.m.

Headed into Fergus to leave Joey [our Killer Budgie] with Natalie.  He sang all the way.  Guess he likes vacations too.  After a nice supper with Natalie we left Fergus at 6.45, heading to Buffalo to cross the border.   It was a good evening for a drive, nice, bright and not too busy on the roads.  Arrived at the border at 9.15 p.m.  That crossing took all of one minute.  From there we headed to Angola NY for the night.

Friday March 19th - 285843 - 8.15 a.m.,
Woke to a nice bright, but cool morning.  Took toll road to SiIver Creek Exit then into PA [9.30 a.m.].

From here we decided we would try to stay off the Interstates for as long as possible.  We took the road running along the side of the Allegheny River and Mountain Range.  Very picturesque area.  Something different to see around every corner.

   Travelled through small villages, and lots of narrow mountain "Z" bend roads.  The weather was perfect too.

Oil City PA

 Franklin PA - Town Hall / Court House

Getting nice and warm now.   Headed into West Virgina to Flatwoods KOA for the night.  Been a very good day, beautiful scenery, even managed some shopping, but it was tiring.  Now time to relax.  Supper time, a couple of drinks then off to bed to wait and see what tomorrow will bring.  286452

Saturday March 20th - 286452 - 10.45 a.m.

Really nice warm. sunny morning.   Stopped in Summersville for some shopping.  That was good too, some deals to be had here!   We still want to stay off Interstate if we can.  Our next stop was New River Gorge.  So nice there we did not need jackets now.

                                                                  




New River Gorge.

Our Camper

From the Gorge we headed onto the Interstate to Virginia and Wythville KOA.  We had to go through tunnels first.  Once again a great travelling day, the weather almost perfect.

  Virgina

Tunnel

Sat around in sunshine, relaxed before supper.  Chatted with Natalie on Sype - it was snowing in Fergus. Didn't chat with Vince, because we hope to surprise Kayleigh Monday.  After supper we sat around the camp fire before retiring for the night.

                                                                                                                   

Sunday March 21st - 286714 - 10.30 a.m.

Another beautiful sunny, warm morning and they still have snow in Fergus.  After breakfast outside we got all packed up and headed to the Interstate.  Still quite hilly in this area.

 By the time we reached Fort Mill SC it was very cloudy and rain was threatening.  It was nice to relax for a while even when the rain started.  2.30 p.m.

288953.

Chatted with Natalie in Fergus, still snowing there, and Andrew in Australia.  No snow there.  Watched some TV before trying to sleep through the heavy rain and gusty winds.

Monday March 22nd -286953

Very cool damp morning so we took our time doing some cleaning and then planning the rest of the day.  Weather permitting we hope to surprise Kayleigh and turn up at her soccer practice at 6.00 p.m.

Headed out at noon to Charlotte to go to the Hendrick's Motor Sport Museum.  It was fantastic, well worth the visit.  Being Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon fans we did manage to get quite a few pictures.

      #5 Mark Martin

       Jeff Gordon # 24

Still wet and cool when we finished there, so headed to Lowe's Speedway.  Bit too damp to go around the track - too bad, it would have been my third time around.  Whole section of clearance goods there, so we did very well.

Headed back to camp for late lunch.  Got text from Vince letting us know the soccer was cancelled due to the weather.  So we went to their place to surprise Kayleigh.  Kayleigh answered the door when we got there, and yes, she was really surprised.  She has grown into a lovely young lady.   Spent a great evening there catching up on everything.  Had a lot of fun.  Headed back to camp and decided to stop in at the Pub on the site [very civilized camping here].  Did some e-mails and skyped Natalie as this will be the last "internet" day until the weekend.   It had been a fun day, although the weather wasn't the best.  And we look forward to the rest of our trip to Santee and Lake Marion.  Then returning to Charlotte for the weekend with our kids.  

Tuesday March 23rd - 287120 - 11.15 a.m.

Weather much improved today. Took leisurely drive to Santee SC and to Santee State Park, Lake Marion.

287364, 3 p.m.  Beautiful Park.   Many different sounding birds around here.  We will be needing the bird book!

Lake Marion.

Our site overlook the lake.  How beautiful is this?

Firewood was not for sale at this park, so we had to find wood ourselves for the campfire in the evening.  That proved to be a lot of fun. 

About 6 p.m. the lake went really calm, and the wind dropped some.  The weather much nicer here, but still cool.

We could here the raccoons being very busy hunting for their supper.  After our supper we had a great evening around the fire.

Wednesday March 24th - CAMP DAY

Finally a day to relax, well for some of us!  Very warm. sunny morning.  BBQ breakfast, bit later than our usual breakfast time.  Then we have to have a "Hiker Mike" story.  For those of you who are familiar with the "real" Hiker Mike - this is not he.  It is not Mike Kirby, it is Mike Clements.  But the title fits.

On our way down here we had a muffler problem.  I had to save the soup can from our lunch for repairs.   Mike jacked the camper up and progressed to repair the muffler.  He had soup can, muffler tape and clamps.

 Did not take long and certainly sounded like it was working very well,  Will find out when we are on the road next.

After coffee we went off hiking around the lake.  This really is a beautiful area to camp.  Nice and warm now too.   Had to go hunting for fire wood again too.

      The Prize.

Lit the fire after supper and had a fun relaxing evening.  It was a fabulous day.

                                  Nice fire.

Thursday March 25th.  [9 months to Christmas Day - thought you might like to know that]

Woke to another great day.  Cool to start but soon got very warm.

Decided to walk to the Office to go through the Nature Room there.  It was very interesting with many fabulous displays.

So far at this park we have seen Blue Jays, Cardinals, Robins, Mourning Doves, Chickadees, Cat Birds, Tufted Titmouse, Fly Catchers, Red Headed Woodpeckers and a variety of ducks.

Our Site at Lake Marion.

Had light lunch then ready to sight see before we met up with Duane and Marylou in the evening.

287365 3 p.m.

Stopped in Elloree SC.  Very small quaint place, but very quiet.

Main Street, Elloree SC.

Met up with Duane and Mary Lou about 5.30 p.m.  Did some catching up before going out to supper.  Then back to their place for a visit.  We really enjoyed meeting up with Daune and Mary Lou again.  We had a lot of fun. 

Headed back to camp about 9.45 p.m.   On the way back to camp we saw 5 deer along the road and woods and 1 Bob Cat.  Very interesting day.

Friday March 26th - 287486 - 10.30 a.m.

Guess what - another spectacular day!

Not in a big rush today, so took 2 lane road into Charlotte, which was very pretty.  Quite hilly too.

     Heading to Charlotte.

Stopped for late lunch at PJ O'Reillys Irish Pub - great place!  Did some shopping before heading to Vince's.  5 p.m. 287761.

We chatted and enjoyed a nice hot dog BBQ supper. 

Mike and Kayleigh challenged each other with TV games.    

 Spent evening chatting and being silly like families do.

Saturday March 27th

Cooler today, but still sunny.  Barb, Kayleigh, Mike and myself took the train to down town Charlotte.  Very interesting and enjoyable. 

After lunch Mike helped Vince in the "studio" before Kayleigh took us for a walk to her school.  That was fun - we had Kayleigh to ourselves!

  Fun afternoon!

Barb cooked a great Rib Supper, then we spent the evening lazing and just having family fun again.

Sunday March 28th

Rain in the forecast for today.  Not sure whether to get going today or stay until tomorrow.  Check the weather a bit later to decide.  

Forecast of storms on the way, so decided to stay.  Got very windy and cool and threatening skies.  Hung around the house all day.  By mid afternoon there was a Tornado warning for Charlotte.  Supper time funnel clouds had touched down in north Charlotte.  There was some damage, but nothing too bad.  Mid evening the funnel clouds had touched down around Charlotte airport and Concorde.  Pineville area seemed clear of it - lucky for us.

Had interesting evening listening to all the reports on the police scanner.  Then played cards with Kayleigh.  By bed time we had the thunderstorms, but nothing very bad.

Monday March 29th - 287761 - 7.45 a.m.

Up and after Good Byes on the road at 7.45 a.m.  After last nights storm the weather wasn't too bad, very misty though,  damp and cool.  Traffic not too bad.  Rain on and off all day.  We stopped a few times along the way.Charlotte in the morning mist.

Cloudy mountains, but still nice to see. 

Pulled into Washington PA for the night.  6.00 p.m.  Weather not too bad, but with in an hour it had got very cold.  E-mailed kids and let every one know where we were and how our day had been.   It was a good day, although a bit tiring.  We do have the same distance to travel tomorrow too.  288482

Tuesday March 30th -288482 - 9.45 a.m.

Very cool, bright sunny day.  Stayed on Interstate for quickness.  Did stop at Grove City to shop - always fun!  Picked up liquor in Fredonia NY.  Good ride though Buffalo NY.

         Buffalo NY  

Crossed Border at 4.30 p.m.  Very good crossing, not very busy at all.

 Now have to head on home.  Pulled into Fergus about 6.45 p.m. Had nice visit with Natalie, collected Joey and on road again to Durham.  Got home at

8.15 p.m.  289157.

This has been a fantastic and interesting trip.  Really looking forward to the next one.  But now we really should get some work done around the house and gardens.

We have done 3600 km in 12 fun filled days, can't wait for the next trip  on the road.  

Oh! By the way, the soup can is doing a fantastic job.