SUN!

Second cup with sweatshirt and socks but outside in the sun!

The sun is so welcome.    Even though the temperatures haven't really arrived at the season's normal highs, the sky is blue and the sun is shining.   It makes us happy....all of us.   We're able to sit outside for second cup (we're warm enough with our sweatshirts on) and Lew enjoys playing with his fish on the patio and stalking squirrels in the dense foliage behind Beluga.

he thinks they don't see him.....

There are so many good restaurants here that I've had to curb my enthusiasm and only go out for dinner every other night.     We just may sneak in a few lunches on the "off" days.

 We've slipped into our favorite, relaxing routine.    We enjoy slow and easy mornings followed by some afternoon exploration.      Here, our explorations usually involve a beach.

I wonder if last night's shrimp dinner came from this boat?

Yesterday, however, they included a little off-roading!     As we were heading toward - the beach - I thought I saw a Bald Eagle on a power pole.    We were in traffic and couldn't just stop, so my driver made a quick right hand turn and found a way to get us near enough to see if it really was an Eagle.

The rutted track followed the power lines and ended at the edge of a swamp but we were able to see that it was, indeed, a beautiful Bald Eagle.   He sat there long enough for us to see him before lifted off and flew away.

We realized how much we missed being off the road and exploring unknown paths so we decided to follow another sandy track into the jungle to find out where it went.   I could see sun shining on water up ahead so that's where we pointed the Jeep's nose.

In a beautiful clearing we discovered an old cemetery.    Jenkin's Island Historic Gullah Cemetery to be exact.

Just a handful of old headstones along with one or two fairly new ones adorned with plastic flowers.

We couldn't believe that the "road" we drove in on was the only entry to this cemetery.   It looked like the sand track continued along the water so we followed it, thinking it was probably the entrance road.

the end

Nope, it just ended in the jungle and we had to back all the way out.   So....the only way in to that sweet old cemetery was along an unsigned,  muddy, rutted, weedy track below the power lines.   It doesn't seem right to me.


Today's exploration took us to a new to us beach with a funny name.   Fish Haul Beach.    It was accessed from a pretty park, Fish Haul Park.

  Just a short walk through the salt marsh and we were on sand.

This beach is more natural, more shorebirds, lots of "stuff" to poke through and less people (actually only two or three).   Perfect!

my first Marbled Godwit

 Back home in time for a late Happy Hour and left over dinner.    Ah......

still moving south

The rest of our time in Myrtle Beach was rainy and cold.   We ate well, went to the movies (first time in a very long time) and otherwise stayed inside. 

We thought the rain was over today as we started our drive south.  The weather guessers said it was over.     It wasn't.   Rain, wind and cold rode with us almost the entire drive from Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head Island.    Dave wore gloves, I covered myself with a blanket as we drove along.   Did we do something wrong, did we anger someone, are we living an inauthentic life?      Sigh.

Perhaps we've turned the corner now....finger's crossed.      Or, more accurately, crossed the bridge.

The skies cleared as we crossed over onto Hilton Head Island.    We're here for a couple weeks so I hope we'll get a few sunny days to enjoy our beautiful site and the miles of nearby beaches.    I'm not fool enough to think we'll be able sit on the beach in our swim suits, but a few nice long walks would be lovely.

Tonight is Monday night..... On Monday nights, Charlie's Etoile Verte's entire wine list is half price. The whole wine list. 

That fact, coupled with their knockout menu of the freshest seafood, made Dave and I very happy tonight.    burp
       

Dave, three ways

I caught the Rose Robber sneaking in this morning.....

the boys fight over the warm blankie

he begins to tackle the ridiculously HUGE dinner offering at Umberto's tonight

good news, bad news, ingenuity and success

The good news - Beluga's slide repair part came right on time, as promised.    While we waited, we enjoyed our extended quiet stay at Van Hoy Family Campground, taking advantage of some lovely walks around the farm.

 Our last night there the sky gave us hints on what would come the next morning.

The bad news - the on-time parts were wrong.

Mr. David's Creative RV Repair Associates, LLC, had the entire weekend to think about the slide problem and when the new parts were wrong, the company's owner had a "go around" in mind.   The President Mr. David himself,  proceeded to use it to get the slide back in and us on the road again.  Thank you Mr. David's, you're always dependable and cost effective.

As soon as we discovered the error, I ordered the correct pin from the same company and they said it would probably arrive at our next stop before we did.     They kept their promise.

Tuesday, after a very long and tiring day driving in heavy traffic, rain and strong winds, we arrived at our next stop, Briarcliffe RV Resort in North Myrtle Beach.      Our site was waiting as was the correct slide pin.   Phew. 

We received some sad but expected family news last night and that, coupled with a bottle of delicious Klinkerbrick, sent us all to bed early.

Today the final fix on our slide was accomplished so Dave and I explored the area while we had a sunny window in an otherwise dreary weather forecast.    The temperature only made it up to 46 degrees, but the sun buoyed our spirits.   We attempted to take a beach walk, but the cold wind chased home.

I don't know what happened to this photo, but I like it!

no other brave souls on the beach today

  We're here for a week before continuing south to our next stop at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Lew is happy to be here too

Best laid plans

The plan was to get up early today and move south to Myrtle Beach.    Tonight we have a different plan.

One of the last things on our check list is to bring the slides in.    This morning only one side of the living room slide would move.    Uh Oh           Dave put his coveralls on and squeezed under Beluga to see what was wrong.

not what he wanted to find.....

One of the roll pins in the slide's drive gear had sheared into pieces and, of course, we had no spare parts with us.     Alrighty then, we're not going anywhere today!

Dave thought these pins were fairly common so we set out to find one in the area.    When he went back to unhook the Jeep he discovered another problem.   Because we're parked on a little hill, the tow bar was taut and because the Jeep was low on the hill, he couldn't move it forward to release that tension and unhook.

Hmmmm.    !!!!!!      The winch, use the new winch!

Worked like a charm.   Our little Warn pulled the Jeep forward enough so that Dave could disconnect the tow bars and free Rocky for today's mission.


 Once again, best laid plans.   We drove all around Charlotte, Statesville, Troutman, etc. stopping at 8 different hardware stores/rv service shops/industrial fastener facilities only to find that no one had what we needed.

So, we're here at Van Hoy until Tuesday morning (finger's crossed).   I was able to locate the proper pins on-line at McMaster-Carr (bought several extra for insurance) and they will be delivered here on Monday.    Hopefully it will be a relatively quick fix and we'll be on the road Tuesday morning.   Stay tuned.

Our little Carolina Wren friend is happy we're staying a few extra days

 

birds

We took advantage of one more beautiful fall day for an alfresco lunch along the banks of Mountain Island Lake and a visit to the Carolina Raptor Center.

We entered the Latta Nature Center and Preserve and parked near the historic Latta Plantation.

Latta Plantation

The restored 1800 cotton Plantation offers tours but we decided that we just weren't in the mood.   We wanted a quiet lunch in the sunshine. 

We followed a short trail to the water's edge and sat on a swing to share our lunch.

lunch with a view

The Carolina Raptor Center is in the same Nature Preserve so, after putting our lunch remains back in the Jeep we headed inside to see the birds.

It was a weekday so we practically had the Center to ourselves.   The Raptor Trail is well planned, You wander through the woods for about a mile, stopping at many enclosures housing various raptors along the loop trail.

My camera just wouldn't cooperate when I asked it to focus on a bird behind the fencing. It evidently thought that the fence was my intended subject.  As a result, I got very few pictures.   grrrr

which one is real and which one is the emotional support owl?

Crested Caracara

fluffy Eagle

Today was inclement so we stayed in, did some cooking and cleaning, and generally got ready to move south again in the morning.   North Myrtle Beach next stop.