March 25, 2025
NOTE: Date blog written and date blog posted may not be the same 🙂
My mantra when I started this adventure was “doing” wine at sunset and coffee at sunrise. I think I’m more of the first – a wine at sunset kind of gal. However, I am very pleased to report that on my final day on the Atlantic Coast, I set my alarm (yuck), made coffee and made it to the beach in time to watch the sun rise. I will say even if that is the only time I have that experience on my journeys, it was worth the effort. I left me feeling whole, balanced and at peace – sensations that can be hard to come by in today’s world. I sat long enough to say goodbye to this ocean for a while, knowing that once I did my stowing and departure preparations I would be turning westward and soon would enter landlocked states.
But before this special moment, I spent a few days at the largest RV Park I’ve ever seen – possible one of the largest in the USA. Ocean Lakes Family Campground in Myrtle Beach, SC. 850 RV sites, 300 rental units on 310 acres of ocean front property – I could be on the beach after a 3-minute walk from my campsite. And the beach was great – clean, nice white sand – over a 3-day period, Audy and I walked 23 miles on that beach. It had its own water park with huge slides, a village with a grocery/gift shop and little lakes throughout where kids could fish. Quite a set-up – a great way to finish my visit to the Atlantic Ocean – and also the site of a tension-filled day!
I was at this site when the storm that generated the devasting tornados in the mid-west headed my way. At first, it was predicted as high-winds and severe thundershowers for Myrtle Beach. The National Weather service toyed off and on for a nice, sunny day with Tornado warnings coming our way. I knew I could deal with wind and rain, even some boomers (my rig felt protected by trees and RVs close by) but when I woke up Sunday morning, there was a tornado watch in place! I grabbed my safe bag with my personal papers, put together another bag with water, snacks and flashlight and made sure my laptop and phone were in my backpack. I harnessed and leashed the cat and had his carrier set-up for quick loading. The brochure for this location stated that the concrete restrooms were storm shelters, and they weren’t far away.
The warnings remained for hours, but in the meantime, I walked Audy around the neighborhood under clouds and in a warm, humid atmosphere. I listened carefully to external noises; I had the weather channel on TV. Waiting and ready to run for it if needed! By 8 pm, we got sprinkles. Between 9 pm to 11pm, there were some distant infrequent booms with some brief monsoon like showers. By midnight, it was all over – the storm had fizzled out and went gently out to sea. All warnings were dropped. And I went to bed. Every good story needs a little suspense and drama, even if the denouement is pretty lame.
When I turned west, homeward, I felt some melancholy knowing this first half of my travel was over. And yet, I knew there was much more to come – the whole trip back. And then the second journey east in the summer. I refocused on my next major park visit, the Great Smoky Mountains where I am as I write this chapter – but I’ll leave the narrative for this visit to a future blog.
Let’s talk briefly about my journey to eastern North Carolina. Part of my journey includes connecting with new people I didn’t know before. I’m thankful for my Harvest Host membership, because it gives me the opportunity to make such connections. I had two wonderful experiences I’d like to share along the way, staying at a farm and a horse rescue. In general, the hosts who participate in this program are just naturally kind and hospitable people. They open their fields and parking areas to sojourners looking for a stopping place overnight – at no cost. The program works because the RVer’s are encouraged but not required to spend a little money on the host’s business or to make a donation. In many places, this means having some good wine or beer and perhaps dinner, in others it might be purchasing sausage, eggs, fruits or veggies from the farmer, or as in the case of the horse rescue, it was making a donation to their non-profit.
At Wilde Rose Farm, I met Kenneth who runs an organic meat operation – chicken and pork. He supports his family through the sale of his organic meat and honey (well, almost, he also does some property management to cover living). I bought some kielbasa from him, but more importantly I learned a lot about his newest venture into bee keeping and honey harvesting. He is very educated and has done his research into the apiary business and takes loving care of his queens. It was fascinating to learn how he creates new hives by taking a certain type of egg and cultivating it into a new queen bee.
At Curtis Creek Ranch, I met Karen and her husband Lenny and the two ponies and two elderly horses she cares for. It’s a small operation, and I was happy to help feed the horses that evening. She is pursuing her passion which came to her after reading a book written by a woman who runs a horse therapy ranch in my home state. Karen only has one guest at a time and had a nice concrete pad under a tree for the rigs. However, on this night high winds and snow were predicted, so she had me park Wandering Spirit in a little protected cove next to her brick house to buffer the winds. And it worked, I didn’t hear or feel a thing although I didn’t put my slide out for additional stability that night. Instead, Audy, Spirit and I shared the “couch”, where the table converts to a bed. We slept soundly, warmly and comfortably while apparently the wind raged around us.
We woke up to a dusting of snow the next morning, and Karen arrived with a cup of coffee for me. We shared a wonderful conversation about our life journeys. It was like talking to a dear friend. I did feel bad for her, for she told me that her electricity was acting funny, going in and out, working in some areas of the house, then in others – but not at the same time. By the time I left, a good neighbor had done some checks of their electrical circuits and pointed out a wire hanging off the power line on their property when it should have been attached. I left as they were contacting the local power company to come fix it – a causality of the windstorm I slept through.
Karen also shared the story of her community during last year’s hurricane, Helene. She talked of waiting it out in her basement. She also talked about how her community came together to help each other out. She was on a well and after her power was restored, had ample access to water. Many of her neighbors, who were on municipal water systems did not. She welcomed community members to her home for showers and to do laundry. She also helped with supply distribution and coordinating donations of pet foods to the supply locations. I am awed by her kind heart and generosity, which seems to come to her naturally. The nation needs to learn about kindness from people like her.
She also talked about the transition back to normal life, how the closeness is dissipated among neighbors – they are still friendly, but the glow of pulling together has faded. I can relate to that feeling, I remember my peers and I had similar feelings as we navigated through the COVID epidemic with daily changing directives – our objective was to help a workforce through this serious national health crises in their transition to remote work and social distancing so we could keep the agency running. Contrary to some recent statements made at the national level, public employees are not lazy. I’ve known many of them, including myself, who work long hours to get things done.
Along the way, my spots included the only national park in South Carolina, Congaree National Park, an RVP with an outstanding lazy river, the Boones Plantation (used in 3 movies) and a brewery where Audy met his girlfriend – another goldendoodle who didn’t want anything to do with him at first but then arrived at our door the next morning ready to play.
Life is good, my adventures continue, and I hope that if the black bears roam this park tonight, they pass by my rig. That will be part of the next blog, with perhaps some stories of tasting moonshine in the Smoky Mountains? Again, a good story needs a little suspense…