Rain, Rain, Go Away

And it did!  And it was replaced by high winds.  This is how I am spending my retirement.  In the RV reading and playing at the computer.  At least tomorrow should be a nice day!

 As soon as the rain storm was over, I put my head out the door and took this picture of the standing water.  The picture of course doesn't do it justice - it was a lot of water.

 Then the wind came and just a little over 2 hours later, the standing water was gone.  I know the earth here is very absorbent but my, that was fast!

 We took a bike ride to look at the flooded wetlands when the sun came out.

Isn't this a beautiful campground?  Can you imagine what it looks like in the summer?  Too bad we won't be here to see it.

Divesting Part II

Friday was my last day of work!  Hooray!  Getting closer to our departure.  Three weeks ago we sold the car and I rented a nice Honda for my final weeks of work.  Today we returned the rental car and are now a "One Vehicle Family"!  We have been this way before.  In fact when we met, Kirby had a boat and no car - I had a car and no boat.  Perfect fit!

We still don't have a schedule because of the warranty work we need to have done to our RV.  They had to order the parts and seem to have NO IDEA when they will be in.  That's OK - we are both retired!

Nothing Broke!

I guess I did a good job with my preping to travel as when we returned Myrt to her home space and inspected the cupboard, nothing was broken and only a couple of things even showed any evidence of having moved.  Yea!  That was the best part of the day!

We left here on Monday morning, with me following Kirby in the car so I could go on to work after we checked our rig in at Camping World for repairs.  I don't know why the whole thing stressed me like it did, but I was really, really stressed by the time I got to the office!  I kept telling myself that I have comfortably traveled the oceans in a 35 foot sailboat and never felt like this.  Is it that it is all so new?  Probably.

We had packed bags for two nights max.  Packed clothes, pillows, dog bed, wine, slippers, vitamins....all the little things we need to be comfortable.  Then, the service rep at Camping World told us it may be a week.  I freaked over that one and went back to work panicked over what we would do. And - made plans not to work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with Friday being my last day.

What really happened is that they did some work and said we could come get her on Tuesday morning, which we did!  Hooray!  Not so bad after all!  But we will need to return next week when they get the parts in for the rest of the repairs.

At this point I could write a book about the day we had, all the newer looking rigs getting repaired,  my frustrations with the whole process.  All of this is so new to us!!

We were there to get Myrt by 9:15, trying to be nice and remain calm!  Then we headed back to Oak Plantation Campground with 'our girl'.

Oh, what fun it is to be new to all of this.  Sailing just came natural but I am sure there was a learning curve in there somewhere, I just don't remember it.  It took us two tries to get the rig where it needed to be, get it leveled and all hooked up again with water, power and sewer.  By the time we finished the rain was beginning....we got it done just in time.  Hopefully the next trip won't be so nerve wracking on me!

First Repairs

I am trying to keep this blog like journal for myself.  So, I need to say things like - We have to take our brand new rig in for repairs this week!  I am not a happy camper right now as I pack a bag because we can't stay with her while they work on her.

There is something wrong with our slides.  A technician came out on Thursday and took a look but then they decided that they need the rig at Camping World for 2 days for MORE diagnostics.  I thought that was why he came out but I guess I was wrong.  So, the first time we go someplace with our rig it is to the repair garage.  And this is just diagnosis.  Next week when the parts come, we will have to do it again.  Good practice I guess. I can find out what is going to break and what rattles too much!

The silver lining is that we are going to stay with our daughter and her family!  We need more time together before leaving.  I will miss her so much because she is my best friend.  So, this is the good part about having to have repairs made to a brand new rig!

Preview

You have to remember that we are new to this RVing game and we are excited to get it started.  Not too many more days now!  We have reservations beginning March 2 to stay at Buck Hall Recreation Area which is about 30 miles northeast of Charleston.  We have been there quite a few times for short visits and first saw it from our boat as we traveled south on the Intracoastal Waterway in 2006.  I can remember commenting at the time about the campground being right on the ICW.  So that will be our first stop on our adventure.  We are paid up til the 2nd and Kirby has one more doctor visit before we leave so we will just go up there and rest and relax!

We were there last June for a Father's Day cookout. You can see those pictures by clicking HERE.

So, yesterday we got in the truck and drove up there!  Anxious.  Excited.  We found the slip we have been assigned - Number 4 - and Kirby checked out the water and power.  I checked out the showers - or, excuse me - shower.  It will be spit baths for me unless it warms up.  No heat in there at all.

Here are Kirby and Jake checking it out.  Love that solid surface pad!  No dirt and gravel like we have here.  And - the rate is half price for us because we are old.  Hope WiFi works there!  If it does - you will be treated to more pictures when we get there!!

Biking on James Island

Yesterday we tried out the new bike rack that goes from the rig to the truck.  Kirby loaded up our bikes and we drove over to James Island County Park for a morning of exploring that gorgeous park.

We found the bike rack at Camping World and so far have no complaints about it.  It is pretty cool that it can fit either the truck or the rig.  Some of them get soldered on - and probably are more stable but this seemed to work just fine. So, with just one rack we can have it on the truck to go exploring and then we can have it on the rig to travel to a new destination.

The recent storm had moved on east and the skies were clearing.  It was still pretty chilly out - not even 60 degrees F, but the sun was warm when we left the parking lot.  James Island County Park has three loops for biking that all meet up so you can have lots of variety.  We found some really awesome spots for quiet and private picnics that we would love to try.  We saw marshes and tidal creeks and trees of all sorts.  We passed the dog park where all the dogs were chasing and splashing in the pond.  What we didn't see were crowds of people!  I love that we got to go during the week as I wind down my working.  (No Fridays!)

The only part that wasn't good was that Jake didn't get to go with us.  When we walk, of course he joins us but not on a long bike ride.  Kirby takes him on his bike here at the campground.  I don't approve but he rides his bike and Jake runs along with him.  They both love it and it helps keep Jake in good shape.

When we finished it was almost lunchtime so we headed over to one of our favorite spots on James Island, Smoky Oak Taproom, for a pulled pork sandwich and a cold brew.  Life is good!