When 171 Miles Takes 7 Hours to Drive

We had been rain-bound for the last two days so we were anxious to get on the road...even though the weather finally got nice again.  So we were moving out of our campsite by 9:15 am.  First stop:  propane fill-up.  Second duty:  hook-up the car in the RV.  Third stop: fill up the RV with gas (we're excited to have found $1.81 gas at Raceway).  And this is when things started to go wrong...and just 4 miles from the campground.

I forgot to take the parking brake off on our tow vehicle. 

There I said it.  Andy got out to fill up the RV and smelled the smell we never want to smell again - burnt brakes.  Somehow we committed two Rookie Mistakes.  We didn't push the car back to lock the tow bars (which I always have the parking brake off for) and I didn't do a walk-around the car to make sure brake lights were off**.  We were joking about how off-center I pulled up behind the RV and discussed changing the sensitivity on Brake Buddy, so I think that was my distraction from the routine.

(**By checking the brake lights, I can see if BrakeBuddy is too close to the brake and therefore applying unwanted pressure.  But I also thought the brake lights would come on if the parking brake was on.  Ooops!  Guess I was wrong!)

We only dragged the car for four miles, so we were hoping that was not far enough to cause damage to the tires or rotors.  But we detached in the gas station, shifted her every few minutes til the brakes cooled off (so as not to warp the rotors), checked the tires, etc. 

We also called Honda of Columbia.  Larry in the Service Dept. was so nice.  We talked on the phone, then we took Ele to him to test drive and look her over.  He did it all immediately upon us showing up so we could continue on our way.  Wow, what great customer service!

We drove separately for about 40 miles just so we'd be comfortable that we didn't cause any damage.  Then we hooked up at a rest area and ate lunch.

As we approached the North Carolina border the scenery changed.  Hills.  Lots of 'em.  Longer and steeper.  As we chugged up the big one, we also noticed that the leaves have changed - there weren't any!  SC was in full bloom, and NC only had buds.

Then a traffic boondoggle on the highway caused us to have a knee-jerk reaction - to exit immediately.  We looked at our options and decided on detaching (again) before continuing on the Interstate.

We finally arrived at our destination at 4 pm.  And you wonder why it takes us weeks to leave the state of Florida?  Days like this.

Signs We're in the South

There are always little signs that let you know when you've arrived in the South:

• more Country Music stations on the radio
• Confederate Flags flown proudly
• Azaleas, Dogwoods, and Magnolias
• "y'all"
• Piggly Wiggly
• Menus offer:  fried pork chops, fried steak, fried shrimp, fried okra,...you see where I'm going...

We were joking how we have to drive north to reach the South.

Columbia, SC - On Easter Sunday

Going to Mass on Easter Sunday ended up being a four-hour event. 

We left the house a little early for the 11am mass at the chapel near University of South Carolina's campus.  We wanted to walk around the grounds of the South Carolina State House (aka The Capitol) before Mass.  The building, with it's copper dome, was very pretty.  Unfortunately we couldn't go inside for a tour today (knowing we won't have time later to do it). 

The garden was in full bloom.  I wish I knew what some of these trees are the flowers were so breathtaking.

We arrived at the chapel a few minutes before 11, but were too late.  Even the foyer was full.  So full, I couldn't even see into the chapel itself.  We decided to leave to allow those with children an opportunity to stay.

The next Mass we could find was at St Peter's Church at noon.  So we took a detour to Finlay Park til then.  Great open green space with a pond and man-made waterfalls.  The rock steps meandered to the top of the falls with views of downtown Columbia.  I loved the metal swing benches at the top.

Unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures of St Peter's (since Masses were in session), but this is one of those historic, ornate, cathedral-like churches that I do like to wander into when I can.  It had the spires, and walls filled with floor-to-ceiling stained glass, vaulted ceilings, and a big pipe organ.  The full choir (10-12?) sung like angels.  Probably the most professional singing choir I've heard in a church.  Most of the music was from Mozart's Coronation Mass, so it was in Latin.  Even part of the Mass was given in Latin.  The Parish of St Peter's dates back to 1852.  What a wonderful accidental find...especially for Easter Sunday.

Click on any of the photos to see more from our day.

Columbia, SC - Congaree National Park

Congaree just became a National Park in 2003.  Prior to that it was Congaree Swamp National Monument.  This park preserves some of the last remaining hardwood forest floodplains.  It looked a lot like home with the Bald Cypress trees and knees, the palmettos, and the raised boardwalk over a swamp.  But some things were different.  There was a visible current in the water and there were Dogwoods and other trees and plants that we didn't recognize.  Familiar, yet unsettling unfamiliar.  We had to keep reminding ourselves we weren't home.

After a visit at the Visitor's Center to gather our maps and recommendations, we walked the boardwalk trail, and then tacked on the Weston Lake Loop Trail.  Probably about 4.5 miles total.  Good thing we wore our hiking boots since Weston Lake Loop was pretty muddy in spots...and under water in others. Considering it's a 'floodplain', we should've presumed this. 

From 2009_02_SCNC

We don't know if we walked past any of the Park's Champion Trees, but we did 'ooh and aah' over some wide trunks and had to do half-backbends to try and see the tops of others.  The park has some record trees (Loblolly Pines, Cherrybark Oak) over 160 feet tall.  The largest bald cypress is over 27 feet in circumference. 

After the hike, we ate lunch in the park and then put our kayaks in at Cedar Creek Landing.  We paddled upstream, back towards the Visitor Center.  One paddler told us that he had to turn around 10 minutes upstream because of a fallen tree and he didn't want to portage.  We did have to become contortionists to bend under a couple of fallen trees, and shimmy over some logs, but we were able to make it without portaging over the muddy banks.  What worried me, though, was that shortly after our put-in I saw a snake in a tree.  At first I thought it was just part of the branch - but the pattern caught my eye for a second glance.  After that we kept yelling "snakes in trees" every time we had to cross under low branches.  I love snakes, but not in my lap.

The best sighting of the day was seeing a Barred Owl.  He was sitting on a low branch and was a full 21" tall.  A stout bird with large circular dark eyes.  His coloring makes it look like he has a hood over his head.  And when he flew it looked like his wingspan could've been four feet.  How can a bird this big be so silent?  Barely a 'whoosh' when he flew across the water to sit on a branch just above the water and only a couple of feet to my side.  Just before he took off to the other side I told Andy we were about to witness something tragic.  A duck (or water bird of some kind) and her multitude of ducklings were just frantically escaping down the river - half running on water, half swimming under water.  But two of the babies fell behind.  One of them was being intently watched and followed by the owl.  Our presence only deterred the inevitable, but I hope we gave the baby an edge in surviving.  Nature can seem cruel at times...and it's hard when you want both sides to win and survive.

It was a great paddle.  Quiet and serene.  The return trip was an easy coast, mostly requiring steering and an occasional paddle to make the turns and get past obstacles.  The water level on our trip was 4.60 feet - in the "perfect" category.  Too low and you'll have to portage frequently.  Too high, and you'll lose sight of the creek since the water will spread out over the floodplain and you won't know where the Canoe Trail is.  The small brown marker signs would be impossible to find once you're off the trail.  That would be interesting to see, though.

Click on any of the above photos to see more on WebAlbums.

Initially we weren't sure where to stay in order to see this National Park.  There is no camping in or just outside the park (except tenting and backcountry camping - but no place for RVs).  We didn't realize how small the scale was on the SC map.  It just took us 40 minutes or so to drive from Lexington, which is on the west side of Columbia.  The scale of miles for Florida's map is much different!  Just one of those things we have to remember to look at again now that we're on the road.

Charleston, SC - Exploring the Town

We stayed about 45 miles outside of Charleston in a small town called St George.  We needed an RV Park with WIFI for just two nights, but wanted to be close enough to day trip in to Charleston.  This would be a city I would like to spend a long weekend in.  The details in the architecture were just wonderful.  And it seems to be a walk-able city, which I enjoy.  From the Visitor Center to The Battery is only 1.3 miles.  We only had a couple of hours to walk the streets and eat dinner so we primarily stayed in that small section of the city.

Here are just some of the reasons I liked our little tour of the city:

Homes with full-length porches and balconies overlooking gardens.  Most of the homes had two or three levels of outdoor living.

The alleys separating homes were (sometimes) secret gardens:

Ornate gates accentuated the small gardens or courtyards:

Gas lamps and Rainbow-colored row homes:

The history.  With homes and buildings built in the late 1600's and 1700's, preserved and in-use you can find fascinating facts on almost every block we walked.  Many of the historic buildings had plaques on the outside noting the dates and some historical facts.

Perhaps next time we'll take advantage of some of the museums and tours inside these beautiful homes and buildings.