NC/SC

Last week (Monday 11/8 to Sunday11/14) was spent in North Carolina visiting with several friends. We went hiking and thrifting and stayed up way too late! I didn’t have a minute to blog (I was so busy that I still haven’t read a real letter I received while we were there!) The kids all ate (cold) Krispy Kreme donuts. Gary and I just sniffed as we are still sticking to our vegan diet.

Our friend took the kids four wheeling in their jeep and they got stuck in the river necessitating a hike out, a lawnmover ride back in, and a wench to pull them out. I almost got a ride, but as I climbed (way) up into the cab, someone stepped on the fire extinguisher and it appeared that something was on fire, causing our usually calm friend to scream, “EVERYONE OUT!!!” I guess it was a pretty funny sight as three adults and a gaggle of kids came flying out. He was able to use the leaf blower to clean it up, but that was enough excitement for me for one day!

Another thing that the kids couldn’t get enough of was riding the zip line into a pile of leaves. Our North Carolina friends really know how to keep our kids well entertained!

It’s Monday (11/15) and we are spending our second night in South Carolina. We had planned to visit with a friend in Georgia for a few days, but she was unavailable last minute so we decided just to head to Florida. As we went through South Carolina it’s beauty just sort of drew us in. We spent a night at the Walmart in Orangeburg and now we are sleeping in the parking lot of the Mount Pleasant Walmart.

We spent the day enjoying all that Mt. Pleasant has to offer. There is a beautiful new bridge with a wonderful park underneath. We played at the park, walked out on the pier, and had the pleasure of watching a cruise ship depart knowing that our friends were on board. We didn’t (couldn’t) plan that and were so excited to be able to wave to them (even if they couldn’t see us!).

This area feels like someplace that we could all be happy living near, and what is really interesting is that my best friend spent many years living here, and is planning a move back with her family within the next couple of months. I don’t feel like I’m quite ready to settle down anyplace until I at least get myself out to the west coast, but that would be pretty neat to live in the same state as my best friend of 25 years!

Gary called about a house we saw for sale here. It was very nice and near the beach, but 2.4 million (short sale for only 1.3 million!) is just a little more than we’d like to spend.

The trip is going really well. The space is really (really, really) tight, making it hard to navigate inside, but I like being so free. So far we have found free water and dumping, and have not been to a campground once in the two weeks that we have been gone.

Onward…

Monday, November 8, 2010

Yesterday we stopped for a couple of hours in Hershey Pennsylvania. The kids and I spent two days there last year and we wanted Gary to see it. We were in need of a driving break so it was perfect timing.

Milton S. Hershey is one of the greatest American heroes, in my humble opinion and not because he made the best chocolate, but rather because he failed several times in his business endeavors and never gave up, built an entire city and kept people working through the depression, and created a school for disadvantaged boys that is still operating today. If you get a chance, read up on his biography, it’s fascinating.

Last night we stopped for gas and found FREE water and FREE air. Woo Hoo! When we started this trip I was under the impression that we would only be able to travel for a night or two before requiring a campground visit in order to “reset” everything, but it seems like we might just be able to travel indefinitely without hooking up. It’s all very exciting to me and I feel like we are finally getting some experience under our belts.

I am hugely regretting not buying the travel coffee pots that Marden’s was selling for $10. Right now we need to turn on the generator to make coffee, but if we had that nifty coffee pot we could run it off the batteries. Oh well, I guess I just got caught saying, “I should have bought it when I saw it at Marden’s!”

We slept last night  in a Virginia Walmart, and today we travel to visit with some North Carolina friends.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

I lost my entry from last night. Sigh.  I was all excited because we found a FREE dumping station that caused me to do a happy dance of joy in the parking area.

Also, leaving "first thing in the morning" translates literally as "3:00 in the afternoon". We got lucky this morning because no one remembered the time change so we got out early.

Last night we stopped in Poughkeepsie New York because it was home to the nearest Walmart to where the children’s complaints/baby’s crying started. I was so excited to be staying in Poughkeepsie and offered 10 points to whoever could tell me who lived in this wonderful town. Of course no one had the answer so I had to tell them; Poughkeepsie Phil!

While shopping in the Walmart I offered to cheer up a grumpy teenager by offering to ask every Walmart employee if they knew Phil personally because we had traveled all this way and hoped to meet him.

Later, in the camper after singing “Poughkeepsie Phil” out loud for the four hundredth time that “Puxatony Phil” came out instead. Ooops. Then of course everyone claimed they would have known who lived in Puxatony!

We had a great time last night laughing way too hard. I know it’s only been a few days and our trials have been few, I’m really enjoying this.

Katherine would like to give a shout out to Amanda and the Gang. I’m going to have to see about setting her up with a user name on this blog so she can post. She has a lot to say; her journal is filling up quickly.

Massachusetts has a hold on us.

We are embracing this new freedom. While we only planned to be here for one night, we keep staying, simply because we can. The kids are having a blast with their friends, Molly is getting in some good Grandma time, and Gary has been helping my mother with a project.

Noah’s best friend Stevie was told that we would be gone by the time he got home from school today. We of course are still here. I heard the school bus arrive, then I heard Stevie yelling, “Yes! Yes! Yes! Noah’s still here!” I looked out to see him running and jumping with joy.

We debated the merits of borrowing my mother’s car tomorrow so we could head into Boston to purchase a museum membership that could be used reciprocally throughout the country, but as I head to bed tonight the plan is to just drive south.

MA

It's been a looooong day (heck, it's been a long week!) but we are finally on our way and have successfully landed in Massachusetts.