Traveling all over the country, we fall asleep to varying sounds. There have been places where trains blow in the night (all hours), where traffic keeps us awake, places where the surf of the ocean lulls us to sleep, and places where a rolling brook soothes us into dreamland. We've lain in bed listening to elk bugling, moose grunting, owls hooting, coyotes yipping, rain pounding, wind howling, and sometimes the most wonderful sounds of near complete silence. Most of the time humans partying and kids squealing is not a problem, much to my surprise; although, depending on the season and location, it's unavoidable. Most recently we've been in South Carolina and had very different night sounds and very different camping experiences - both very good though. We spent 8 days in Myrtle Beach, a childhood favorite of mine...a place we vacationed when I was a kid, camping at Lakewood Campground on the beach, a place where I spent a Summer after college one year, and a place Terry and I got engaged. We stayed at the Myrtle Beach State Park which is on the south end of the Grand Strand - right on the beach not far from Lakewood Campground. It's also very close to the Myrtle Beach International airport and some days there are military flights overhead. So we heard planes quite a bit in the park, but fortunately not at all hours of the night. There are over 300 sites here - all with WIFI, electric and water and some have septic hookups also. This time of year, the sites are only $21.00/night (until you add all the taxes which make it about $25). However from Dec-Feb, if you reserve a month at the beginning of the month, you pay for two weeks and two weeks are free - the Snowbird Special (something we'll consider next year; we couldn't get the special coming as late in the month as we did). It's a nice park with some hiking trails in the maritime forest, access for horses to ride on the beach (Rocket loved this), the WIFI was really reliable (not so many people using it this time of year), and the beach is wide and not too crowded. We were fortunate to enjoy some really warm days on the beach, one 75°. However I had a bad cold for 5 days and some days were rainy. But on the rainy days, I did enjoy seeing some of the Academy Award best picture contenders: LION, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, and FENCES. We also found a great used book store (Two Sisters in nearby Murrells Inlet) and we both got quite a bit of reading done. ( We both loved THE INVENTION OF WINGS set in 1830-60's Charleston. We also both read GIRL ON THE TRAIN.) As for camping, I highly recommend the state park, especially in the off season. From Myrtle Beach, we headed south to get closer to Charleston so we could visit our niece Serena. Except by then, Terry got the cold I was over. We decided to camp in the Francis Marion National Forest at a free campsite, Elmwood Hunt Camp. It's a beautiful spot which we had virtually to ourselves (one other camper stayed this week in a site several hundred yards away). Our site is in an open green space so we generate solar, with the woods surrounding us on all sides. The temperatures have been high sixties and seventies, and even today reached 80! The forest is named for the revolutionary war hero, nicknamed "Swamp Fox" who led the Brits into the swamps - well known to his men - where they were defeated on many occasions. Apparently he is the inspiration for the movie the PATRIOT with Mel Gibson. Falling asleep here has been heavenly, completely quiet except for some frogs and forest soundtrack - last night a Barred Owl and his mate were calling! Poor Terry has been staying in the RV reading and watching movies at night since he doesn't feel well. While I was sick, he took long bike rides and took Rocket on long beach walks. While he's been sick, I've been running with Rocket off leash on forest service roads and doing some sight seeing. I went to the SEWEE (Southeast Wildlife Environmental Education) Center about 25 minutes south toward Charleston which is 40 miles away. There are hiking trails, a visitor center, and captive red wolves. I spoke with the animals' caretaker about my film for National Geographic about red wolves (2003) and he let me go into the pens with him to see one of the breeding pairs. Lilly, the nine year old female was more complacent than her new mate, a two year old wolf who ran the fence border and ran past me super quick, before settling down after about 20 minutes. The captive breeding program was started back in the 1970's when the US Fish & Wildlife Service determined there were only 17 pure red wolves alive. (They had ranged from PA to FL and west as far as TX). In the early 1980's USF&W began releasing wild wolves into NC, TN, & a couple on Bull Island in SC. Since then the program has struggled to keep the wild wolf numbers at or above 100 while breeding facilities and zoos across the country have breeders. Red wolves are beautiful animals, slightly smaller than Gray wolves, much more elusive and shy, and their pack sizes are generally smaller. All these years later after making the film for Nat Geo's Explorer series, I'm not so sure we should continue tinkering with nature. Because the gene pool is so small and the animals stressed, they will breed with coyotes when there are no female wolves in the area. This has created a hybrid wolf which many folks in NC (where they roam), are no so comfortable with. Wolves in the Smokey Mts have been removed, and there are no wild wolves in SC. At the visitor center, I enjoyed seeing the wolves and watching their behavior, but I felt sad they were captive. In addition to the breeding pair, there are 2 other wolves in a separate enclosure - one is an 11 year old male who is now neutered. Another day I drove to Charleston where I toured the city by bike, talking to sweetgrass basket weavers, stopping for photos of the horse drawn carriage rides, the colorful row houses, parks and old homes. But the best part of my day was meeting my niece, Serena Barden, for dinner at 167 Raw Bar. If you go, I highly recommend the shrimp tacos and the soup special of cream of cauliflower with crab and citrus dollop! We Finally, today Terry is well, so we hiked in the forest taking part of the Swamp Fox trail (51 miles in total) and the Shell Ring interpretive trail which is by the salt marsh showing where 6000 years ago Indians piled up clam shells over the years. Also nearby are oyster mounds where Indians 4000 years ago piled up shells. The sounds in this area were really interesting as we heard small crabs entering and exiting small mud holes as birds chirped on the nearby maritime forest. This area is part of the Cape Romain National Refuge which includes Bull Island and is mostly only accessible by boat. But what a beautiful area, part of what is known as the low country of SC. An area that is shrinking, falling into the ocean...and an important area for endangered loggerhead turtles who come here in the Spring to lay their eggs. At least it's protected from humans blundering along with flashlights interrupting the nesting habits. Apparently even though the females lay clutches of hundreds of eggs, only 1 in 1,000 hatchlings will live to adulthood! Tomorrow we continue west in SC to Columbia to see niece Melanie who soon will be moving to Austin, TX. But we have enjoyed both sights and sounds of SC, in spite of having head colds!
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It's really nice to be back in the RV again! Our first stop was ever so brief in Cary, NC but what a treat to spend time with our niece Amanda and the Douglass family. We had wonderful grilled salmon, played outside with the kids (75°), lingered for a nice soak in the hot tub, and enjoyed some Thai food before hitting the road the next day. Unfortunately we were a few days early to meet their new puppies, Sandy and Duke, adopted 3 days later. Next we drove just south of Wilmington, NC and set up camp in Carolina Beach State Park so we would be near our nephew Brendan who lives in Wilmington. It was really nice to have dinner with Brendan and his girlfriend Ashley and also hang out with Brendan the Sunday morning before we left. We had wonderful warm weather at Carolina Beach after the first night (Thursday night our heat came on) and stayed at the state park which has some nice hiking trails to Snows Cut (a waterway off the Cape Fear River). The park is about a 2-mile walk to the Atlantic and has nice size sites for $21/night this time of year for no hook-ups; although, they have a few full hook-up sites for about $25 (off season rates).
We left Carolina Beach Sunday afternoon and are now in Myrtle Beach, SC. We thought it was fitting that we spend Valentines Day in the same town where we were engaged over 30 years ago. I was 23 and we were really poor. Terry was a bank teller, and I was a Page at NBC working weekends and holidays and also waiting tables to make ends meet. Somehow we had managed to save up $1200 (due mostly to Terry's saving and the fact he lived at home) for a week at the beach, and we rented a tiny basement room in a cottage on the beach. In storage in VT I have b&w photos of us grilling burgers and posing in our swimsuits (back in my bikini days). We went out on a boat cruise on the inter coastal waterway, had drinks at the Afterdeck (a favorite outdoor bar of mine -live music, a sandy beach and tiki torches right along the waterway); and Terry asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. He was so nervous he dropped the bottle of wine! I was over the moon. The next day we bought a seashell ring for $1.00 as my engagement ring, and Terry called my dad to ask for my hand in marriage. Who knew then what life would look like for us more than 3 decades later. I'm writing this on Valentines Day and wish you all a very happy day, whether you celebrate it with a valentine or not. There's a phrase that keeps lilting melodiously in my head today, and while it's simple, it should be remembered more, every day. In the words of John Lennon, " All you need is love." According to Beatles Manager Brian Epstein when asked about the song, "It was an inspired song and they really wanted to give the world a message. The nice thing about it is that it cannot be misinterpreted. It is a clear message saying that love is everything."
I think it's the most powerful tool we have to bring to each other and a gift I want to share. I learned from Wikipedia that journalist Jade Wright said this: "Lennon was fascinated by the power of slogans to unite people and never afraid to create art out of propaganda." When asked in 1971 whether songs like "Give Peace a Chance" and "Power to the People" were propaganda songs, Lennon answered: 'Sure. So was All You Need Is Love. I'm a revolutionary artist. My art is dedicated to change.'" Thank you John and all the Beatles for sharing such a wonderful message, one I'm reminded of on this day and I hope many days to come. Vermont in January is, well, unpredictable. At best, it’s cold and snowy – at least that’s the way we see it. At worst, there’s a thaw and all the snow melts, making skiing difficult. This year, at least while we were there, it was a mixed bag. We rang in the New Year at Terry’s sister Patti’s house in MD by the bonfire along with her family (the Warrens), our niece Amanda and her family (the Douglasses) and friends Patti & Joe Devlin. It was a fun celebration, complete with noisemakers and hats, and the next day we headed to Vermont for 24 days. We arrived in Cambridge, VT after a 10-hour drive on New Year’s Day and had a nice dinner with friends Bob & Sue Arthur before they headed back to MD, giving us a chance to stay in their home while we reconnected with friends and enjoyed Vermont until 1/25. Having lived in VT for 10 years, we knew snow totals in January could be sketchy. We were able to ski, but not as much as we wanted because Mad River Glen (MRG) - where we ski had some rain, sleet, thin cover, a bit of a thaw, and closed for a few days, with some snow a few days too. MRG is able to make snow but not on the entire mountain like other resorts. Mad River Glen is a co-op, the only ski area I know owned and operated by a group of 2000+ skiers who manage the mountain which offers varied and challenging terrain with wonderful skiing - when there’s natural snow. There is no overnight lodge nor rental condos, no golf course, swimming pool, saunas, snow tubing, fancy restaurants, etc. to bring in extra money, so money earned is used to create a fun, family atmosphere that relies completely on snow and skiing. (There is a bar & grill, rental shop and store, but that’s it.) Terry and I are shareholders and prefer to ski there when in VT; but, sometimes we enjoy other resorts. Cambridge where we stayed this trip, is a small town about 1.25 hours north of MRG and about 15 minutes from Smugglers Notch, another fun ski area. We didn’t ski Smuggs even though we were close, but we did hike the Notch road with our friend Lisa Burt on a cold and snowy day. The Notch road, closed to cars in Winter, cuts through a mountain pass leading to another ski area, Stowe. This route during prohibition was a popular path for smugglers bringing in contraband from Canada. As the road winds up the mountain and curves through the pass, it passes lots of caves and notches in the rocks where bootleggers used to hide their booze. Just off the road lie forests and hiking trails, beautiful back country skiing routes and sweeping views. The day we hiked, the Army’s Mountain War Division was out doing avalanche training, there were quite a few dog walkers (like us), and skiers and snow boarders were using the road to get to the backcountry and enjoy fresh powder. Being in Vermont was nice for us because we did more than play in the snow. We had dinner with old friends and neighbors, hiked on the common land in our old neighborhood (sprinkling Shady’s ashes on a trail named for her), and attended church at the Community Church of Huntington. We also went to a Nordic competition and watched some of our neighbor’s children ski to first and second place in their divisions! In addition, we got caught up on dental visits, eye doctor visits, and podiatrist visits, etc. I took photos for the Women’s March and Unity Rally in Montpelier for the organizers and heard some wonderful speeches and performances as a result, including Bernie Sanders and Muslim Girls Making Change. And Terry and I had a really fun time doing an Escape Room in Burlington. If you haven’t heard of these, I highly suggest you Google the term and consider trying one. Basically it’s a game where you and 7-10 other people go into a room set up with clues and locks developed around a theme (ours was a spy theme). You each pay about $25 for the experience and together you work to uncover all the clues, open all the locks and solve the puzzle – i.e. escape the room, before time runs out. You have 1 hour. Generally there are about 20-25 clues to be uncovered and we found all except one, so we did not escape. But all of us who went (Lisa Kory, Eveline Kennedy, Brian and Kirstin Valentine, Terry and I) agreed we would love to play again. There is a franchise in Williston, VT but we went to one in Burlington that has 2 separate themed rooms with a 3rd to come. We also enjoyed some really sweet skiing at Mad River, just on fewer days than we would have liked. And wouldn’t you know as soon as we came south, the snow began to fall; a week later, MRG had 3 new feet of snow! After leaving VT we landed in Annapolis, MD where I got 2 wisdom teeth pulled, then we headed to Clarksville, VA for about 10 days with my folks. We celebrated my dad’s 85th birthday, and my birthday (guess which one) on Groundhog’s Day! We enjoyed visits from both our niece Heather and niece Melanie on separate week-ends. Now, it’s finally time to resume our RV travels, and we plan to visit NC this week followed by SC as we see more nieces and nephews. We hope you’re enjoying the season wherever you are and that 2017 brings you a wonderful new year! Peace-out.
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AuthorFormer documentary film producer, wife and mother of one...I'm taking time off to see the US with my husband Terry. Here's where I'll write about our adventures RVing until the money runs out! Archives
August 2021
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