I’m ecstatic to be on this adventure and to see all of the incredible places we’re visiting, and all of the friends and family that we are finally going to see after two years of my being ill, but after being able to return to Myrtle Beach three months ago, we both realized that, though many of the people we adore are scattered across the country, and even the globe, our hearts and some of our dearest friends are right here in this tacky little beach town.
So today is Day One of a fourteen-ish week countdown to our return home, and Day One whipped us both like a couple of wet noodles.
Really, the last week was a frenetic orgy of panic, periodically interspersed with fun visits from friends and nightmare filled night of four-hour sleeps...
The RV is in storage for the next three-and-a-half months (Yes, we put a perfectly good camper in storage to travel the land in the back of a pickup. No, the irony is not lost on us) and the truck is full to overflowing with crap that we think we need for this adventure.
I won’t be surprised if we make it to Utah and mail stuff to Houston for my Dad to put in the back of the Jeep for storage until August.
We were supposed to leave MBSP at noon today. We left at 2pm.
We called ahead yeasterday to make sure the storage place was ready for us. They were yesterday- but today, not so much.
They fortunately found space for us and I, fortunately, previously drove eighteen wheelers for a living and am an accomplished backer, otherwise we would not have made it into the space the cleared for us.
It took us about forty-five minutes to secure the camper and attach our hitch platform, cooler, gas can, porta potty and beach chairs to the truck.
We were hot, hungry, tired and very grumpy. Neither of us had eaten breakfast this morning and it was now 4:10.
It was Bo-time! A little Bojangles fried chicken, biscuits and unsweetened iced tea (sweet tea beats all but I’d be as big as South Carolina if I drank it) and everyone was in a good mood again.
On a separate note: I started sweating today!
A short explanation- I haven’t sweated since my bone marrow transplant and they said it would take about two years. I’m around eighteen months- Yay!
You may think not sweating is wonderful- if you live in places like Texas or South Carolina, I can assure you- it is not. It is dangerous and unbelievably limiting and uncomfortable.
I’m only sweating in my forehead and scalp so far, and it’s not much to speak of, but as summer approaches, it’s a huge relief.
We knew we wouldn’t make it too far today, so we focused on our South Carolina Ultimate Outsider goal, as we are rapidly approaching our goal and will be completing it before the end of the year.
We made it to Santee State Park around seven tonight and will assuredly be returning for a longer visit in the future.
Not only are our friends Graylon and Debbie hosting there (we didn’t see them this trip), but this is a gorgeous park.
Situated on the shores of the enormous 110,000 acre lake Marion, which boasts a mid-lake Cypress forest, it also has yurt-like cabins built out on piers overlooking the lake.
It’s absolutely breathtaking and the road into the park is nicer than any SC State Park road I’ve ever seen. I kept teasing Katrina that we must be lost and on the wrong road because this couldn’t possibly be a park road in SC.
Our next stop, and where we knew we would end up spending the night tonight, was Aiken State Park and we made it here just about 9pm, coincidentally at the same time as the torrential downpour and lightning storm.
So far, there are only a few things I can tell you about Aiken State Park, since it’s midnight and the rain has just recently stopped and I’m already in bed:
1. It smells like steer manure. I don’t know if it’s proximity to pastureland, a dairy or indicative of the park itself, but it’s awful.
2. It’s very buggy. This can be said for most inland SC parks in mid-May, so no surprises there.
3. The campsites are packed sand and are wooded and level.
4. In the dark, the campground slightly resembles Croft State Park in feeling, with a little less charm (I am biased, so please take that into account.
5. Our site has electric and water, which is nice because we have fans for us and Norm for ventilation.
Tomorrow, we go to the visitors center and get our stamp and then we will visit Hamilton Branch State Park. Score crossing the border into Georgia. Then we will have to wait until August to finish up our Ultimate Outsider.
We did see a few interesting gems today in Orangeburg, SC:
- Trumps Inn- Read the reviews online. Pretty funny. I’ll say no more.
- Git-er-Done Tires- pretty unsurprising in the same town as above...
- Gagsta Auto Detailing- apparently a town divided.
Best part of today was after dusk when we saw lightning bugs in the fields and brush. Katrina calls them ground stars and we haven’t seen them for two years. It was as if they were saying goodbye and reminding us to come home soon.
Trumps Inn in Orangeburg, SC
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