Touring South Carolina

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” --Mark Twain

       In the passed year September to September we drove the truck towing the 5th wheel about 5,400 miles. The truck averaged 10.1 miles per gallon. We drove the car about 19,975 miles. The average mpg for the year was 28. On the highway we average from 38-40 mpg. The 3 months we spent in Pigeon Forge TN really brought our mileage down with the heavy traffic in the area. These averages were for the passed 12 months.

      What a surprise, we got gas for $3.25 a gallon. Then it went down to $3.21. Disel was $3.61.  When we left PA we paid $4.19.

      We spent two weeks in Myrtle Beach. While there the town of Loris had a Chicken Bog Festival. What is "chicken bog" you ask. Well it is chicken, sausage and rice. The chicken and sausage are cut up into small pieces. The rice is cooked with the meats and different type spices to make the "bog". This is "low country" cuisine.There was a contest where we bought a ticket to test 14 different entries. They were quite different. Most were very good, a few bland tasting. The festival was very busy with many booths with different craft items. There was also a large car show with some really neat restored cars. Here is a recipe, but there are many many variations.
Traditional Preparation

A coastal South Carolina delicacy with chicken, sausage, and rice - This authentic recipe was contributed by the Loris Chamber of Commerce.

INGREDIENTS:

6 cups water

• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 1/2 pound smoked sausage of your choice, sliced
• 2 tablespoons Italian-style seasonings
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon

PREPARATION:

Place water, salt and onion in a large pot. Add chicken and bring all to a boil; cook until chicken is tender, about 1 hour.
Remove chicken from pot and let cool. Remove skin and bones and chop remaining meat into bite size pieces.
Skim off fat from cooking liquid and measure 3 1/2 cups of this chicken broth into a 6-quart saucepan. Add rice, chicken pieces, sausage, herb seasoning and bouillon to this saucepan. Cook all together for 30 minutes; let come to a boil, then reduce heat to low, keeping pan covered the whole time. If mixture is too watery or juicy, cook over medium low heat, uncovered, until it reaches the desired consistency. Stir often while cooking.
    A large pot of Chicken Bog,

 The first photo shows the winner, our pick also, large crow tasting, Bob getting a sample

Some of the many cars

      We also toured many of the beach towns in the area. Then we moved over to the beach to Ocean Lakes RV Resort. We were parked less then 100 yards from the beach. The resort has about 3500 sites. One of the largest RV parks we stayed in. There are about 900 transient sites, the rest are permanent or Homes on stilts. A very nice park.
    The county were Myrtle Beach is Located

    A beautiful river walk

     Just reduced, beach front, anybody want to go half?

       The reason for the move to Ocean Lakes was to attend a Carriage Rally. There were 28 Carriage rigs that attend the Rally. We had a great time reconnecting with some friends we haven't seen since last February at another rally. We had a great time playing dominio's, pot luck dinners, breakfasts and of coarse going out to eat. We also got in some great beach time. The weather was perfect, but the water was only 72-74. Too cool for us, other then getting our toes wet.

       Here comes hurricane Sandy. We were only 100 yards from the beach so we had to decide what to do. We were glued to the TV weather channel. We saw Sandy was about 350 miles off the coast so we decided to stay. We had rain all day on Saturday and soon heavy winds. At high tide we went to the beach and watched the waves coming in. The waves almost covered the beach. Just a small area of sand above the waves. The waves almost came up to the dunes.
We were asked about making our pictures larger. You can, just click on the photo and it should enlarge to fill your screen.
      Murrells Inlet

Dave, Pat, Linda, Bob, Lance and Andrea, celerbrating Lance and Andrea anniversity at the "Dead Dog Saloon in Murrells Inlet

A BBQ we ate at in Roanoke Rapids NC

     Saw this licence plate on the road

Some touring around PA

Crossed this bridge many many times and until this year back in PA noticed this plaque. Sometimes there are many things in your own home town to discover.
      While in PA we did a little touring in the area. Many drives in Lancaster and York counties. Two of the prettiest  counties in the U.S. We did a factory tour of Turkey Hill. This tour is for kids, not at all worth the $9.50 charged for seniors. You do get to sample some of the different flavors of ice tea and ice cream and see pictures of the making of these products, and do get to read about the factory, but no actual factory tour. But its great for kids. They can make their own flavor ice cream and make a commercial. See www.turkeyhillexperience.com

 Touring Columbia PA, the Clock museum mural, neat church, dying downtown, neat home, Safe Harbor power plan.

 See Bob and see how big the cement arches are.

       After leaving PA we traveled to an overnight in NC. It was about 350 miles. Not our usual travel distance. We usually only do 200-250 a day. But we wanted to get below Richmond VA on Sunday, a lot less traffic. We stopped at The RV Resort at Carolina Crossroads, a Passport of America park. But Sunday night is not one of the nights we could use our membership discount. My bad, we paid about $40. instead of the 50% discount price of $20. Originally we intented to arrive on Monday, but since we traveled further we got there on Sunday instead.
       On Monday we left for Myrtle Beach. It was a easy drive of about 250 miles. We stayed at a new RV Park called Cypress Campground. It just opened in June and sits on the inter coastal waterway. A super nice park that is very big rig friendly. It is also a Coast to Coast park. So our rate was $10. a night. We did some of the touristy things in the area, and also just relaxed a bit. On the following Sunday we moved about 5 miles to  Ocean Lakes RV Resort for a Carriage Rally. Ocean Lakes is one of the top rated RV Resorts in the country. And that it is. Our site is about 100 yards from the beach. More on the rally in a later post.

Thousand Trails Hershey

                           Above our site, a 30 amp full hookup. Date of stay9/9-9/23/12.
       Below, looking across the lake at the 50 amp site, the activities center, typical back in site. Bottom row,other sites, top of hill looking down, this is the 50 amp area, one small flock of the many geese. They are a problem, too many geese, many droppings.
     See our review of this park in our archives RV Parks PA of 4/2011. We enjoy this park and there is much to do in the area or just sit back and relax.When we came into the park it was almost full, then we were told all sites were booked. It was the start of the big Hershey RV Show. The next week the park did thin out a bit, but still at least 2/3's full. The stink bugs were overwhelming. Four weeks later and there are some still with us. They are a problem in central and eastern PA and other places. We could only get a 30amp site, but our power management system showed we were getting only 20 amps the first week when the park was full. The following week it went to 30 amps.

Outdoor World/Thousand Trails Circle M

Above is our site, down 3 sites from the last time we were here. Our date of stay was 9/23-10/14/12.

Below-Mini golf under cover, shuffle board with chip n putt behind it, indoor pool and water park. Next row, typical back in for mostly transients, sites along creek, water and  electric, laundry. Bottom, Sites on loosely laid out circles. Note the center photo if on the right your door in on the road side. These sites are smaller. The ugly storage center you see before the sites.
     See our blog for this RV Park in the archives under RV Parks PA, 6/2011. The cable didn't work the first 19 days we were there. Then it was "fixed". The laundry was good and clean, looked like new equipment. It looks like about 2/3's of the park are seasonal/permanent leaving only a third for transients. There at least 70 cabins for rent. The one rest room I checked out had a lot of graffiti in it. This was near one of the cabin loops. Draw you own conclusions.

 

On the road soon

     It has been 11 weeks since we have arrived in PA. We will be here for less then a weeks before heading south. We will be attending the Carriage rally in Myrtle Beach SC.  Carriage is the manufacture of our RV. After the rally we plan on spending a week in the Charleston area. Then on to Savannah GA for a week. After that we are going to another Carriage rally in ST Augustine FL. Hope to connect with some friends there who will be volunteering at Anastasia State Park. After that we plan on being in the Orlando area for about six to eight weeks.
      While in PA we have been poked and prodded by more doctors then we wanted. But the results are over all good. Nothing to bad. A few more check ups and we should be good to go, hopefully for another year till our next yearly checkup.
       While in PA we did get in some good family time. We also got to reconnect with some friends in PA. Not a whole lot of new adventures to report about, just good times with family and friends.  Sorry to those friends we didn't get to see. It was a very busy 10 weeks for us.