Spring in South Carolina - Short Update

Hi all -- Dianne here:

Just a quick update, mainly because I wanted to show just how lovely spring is here in South Carolina! 

 We spent one night at Magnolia RV Park and Campground outside Kinards, SC on our way to our next stop.  The flowers were SO pretty here that I just had to take a couple photos.  This is a nice, quiet campground; fine for an overnight stop.  It's a Passport America campground, so with the discount it was only $12 per night.  It is convenient to I-26.  They do have some pull-through sites, and the site we are in (site 39) allows our satellite to work.  (It is an issue in many of the sites here, though).

It's obviously a former KOA and is under recent new management.   Nice, shady sites, with some pull-throughs.  

 Check back soon as we return to Four Paws Kingdom in Rutherfordton, NC.  It's a very unique campground for dog lovers.  We stayed there on vacation once, back when we had our little Sunline travel trailer.  At the time, Four Paws was brand new.  It will be fun to make a return visit to see how the place has evolved over the past years.  I'm sure "the boys" will have a great time!   They deserve it, after being cooped up in their crate much of the time during the rally.  Gotta hit the road, so bye for now!

Nothing Could Be Finer Than to be in Carolina.... RV Dreams Rally

Hi all - Dianne here.  Roger and I had an uneventful trip to Longs, SC and got settled in at the Willow Tree RV Resort, site of the 2010 RV Dreams Rally.


South Carolina is beautiful in April!  The azaleas and dogwoods are in full bloom, and everything is my favorite shade of spring green.  The weather has been perfect.

Willow Tree RV Resort is a beautiful facility.  The sites are large,  private, and beautifully
 landscaped.   It's very quiet; I love hearing the wind rush through the tall pine trees, the mockingbirds singing, and the woodpeckers drumming.   Last night I listened to Whip-poor-wills singing their evening song.

There is a lovely lake with a paved one-mile path for hiking, biking, and walking our dogs.   Fishing and paddle boats are available, along with a swimming beach and large pool area.

There are even some sites at this resort with individual hot tubs!  We are getting a special rally rate, so we're not in the deluxe sites, but even the site we have is large, private, and very, very nice indeed!  We opted to stay a few days after the rally just to enjoy this beautiful place.


 Howard and Linda Payne, who have the RV Dreams web site, are hosting the rally.  Howard and Linda hit the road back in 2005 after quitting the corporate rat race in their early 40s.  I came upon their web site in 2006, because that is about the time Roger and I started thinking about his retirement and how to hit the road ourselves.  


Howard does a better job of 
describing the events here, so if 
you would like to learn more about
 what we've been up to this week, 
check out his blog by clicking on
 "RV Dreams" on the left sidebar.  There's even a photo of Roger helping out with registration on the first day!


Here are a listing of seminars we've attended:

• Emotional Aspects of the Full-Timing Decision
• Selecting a "Home Base" and Insurance Considerations
• What Does it Cost to Full-Time?
• TV Options for RVers
• High Speed Internet for RVers
• Buying an RV - Pros, Cons & Must Haves
• Boondocking/Solar
• Working on the Road
• Manage Your Digital Photos With Google's Picasa 2
• RV Tire Safety
• RV Weight Safety
• (Roger: I have now been to three of these presentations.  This one, including the tire safety, by Walter Cannon may well have been the best.  Loved his sense of humor and very clear explanations.)
• Choosing a Camp Site
• Every RVer Needs a Blog

Even after a year and a half of full-timing, Roger and I learned some very important things in each and every seminar.  It also helps to refresh our memories on things we had already heard.  I had already taken the "blog," "Picasa," and "internet options" seminars last fall at the Gypsy Journal Rally.  These were presented again by "Geeks on Tour."  Their tutorials are available on line for everyone, not just RVers, so if you need help on computer issues, you can click on the link in the left sidebar and go to their web site.  I highly recommend them!   They are also living this lifestyle and traveling and working from their RV.


In addition to the educational seminars, there were social activities as well:

• Catered Welcome Dinner
• Chili Cook-Off
• Roger here...  Dianne won't tell you this, but the organizers of the rally had her stand up for an ovation for the chocolate eclair dessert that she brought.  Mmmm!  I married a good "cooker"!
• Favorite RV Gadgets "Show and Tell"
• My anal-retentive system of storing and finding "stuff" drew a lot of comments from the other RVers.  People from my former employers (Hamilton Southeastern Schools) will probably not be too surprised by this.  By the way, Dianne referred to me as anal in front of the entire group.  Very embarrassing!  (Dianne:  If the shoe fits....)
• We did a blog on Roger's organizational system when he did it; if you want to see that, click on "organization" in the left sidebar to bring that blog up.
• My "show and tell" included two of my favorite gadgets that save weight and space in the motor home.  I'm including a link if you want to learn more:  
• Potluck
• Dianne's BLT salad was scraped clean before we got in line.
• Family Feud (what a blast that was!)
• Open Rig Walk-Throughs
• Catered Steak & Shrimp Dinner
• Golden Oldies Sock Hop
• Dianne actually danced with me several times.  What fun!  Felt like I was in college again.
• Catered Full Farewell Breakfast

As my friends will testify, I'm not usually all that "social," but I have to say, we really had a lot of fun at each and every activity!   I'm usually one to try to cut out early or skip, but I found myself wanting to attend every activity and staying to the end.  Roger even got me to dance at the sock hop!


We loved meeting and talking to folks who are going through the same process we just finished.  We actually felt like so-called "experts" as we answered some questions!  The people, including Howard and Linda, were great - fun people with common interests who felt like friends. 

All in all, it has been a great experience and we're really glad we came.  We have met some real characters and wonderful people this week and hope to stay in touch and follow their progress as they begin their own adventures.

Florida Friends + Summit Lake State Park

Hi all, Dianne here.

Our two weeks here at Summit Lake State Park have gone by so quickly! We finally had a chance to take some photos so that we can describe this park for you.

We have so many places to see and travel to all over the U.S., but I know that I will always have a yearning for springtime in Indiana.

Best of all, our new friends from Franklin Lock Campground in Florida, Harry and Bobbi, came for a quick visit and set up camp next to us for a couple of days.

It was so good to see them! We always learn SO MUCH talking to them when we are together. For instance, this time they knew we plan to go to Texas next winter, so they brought their photos from their winter Texas trip. They gave us lots of good ideas of places to see and camp. They also gave us the idea of perhaps taking an extra day to get to New Orleans and following the Natchez Trace instead of just zipping down the interstate next week.

Harry can fix anything and has a lot of RV knowledge, and he even showed Roger how to fix a pesky bay latch that had been driving us nuts. We expected to have to replace the lock and spend big bucks on it, but Harry fixed it for us and showed us what to do if/when the other latches act up. This has been bugging us since we left Indiana last December, so we are thrilled to have this new knowledge!

Yesterday, the four of us hiked on one of the trails with the dogs.

The wildflowers are in full bloom here, and the weather was mild and sunny. A perfect day! Bobbi and I took lots of photos. I'm sure she will post hers on their blog (see our blog links for Have Trailer Will Travel).

Last night we enjoyed a pitch-together supper outside and a campfire and more good

conversation. We know we'll cross paths again, probably in Michigan next time (where they live).

Spring is Here! Lake Lanier, GA - Bald Ridge Campground

Hi all - Dianne here.   We arrived at the Corps of Engineers Bald Ridge campground on a lovely spring day; dogwoods blooming, beautiful views from all windows of our RV.  

Spring 

has always been my favorite time of year, mainly because it means the long, cold, gray days of Midwest winters are over.   If you've ever been to any of our homes over the past 37 years, you know my spring obsession has caused me to plant hundreds of spring bulbs at every house we've lived in.   (If you need a tulip fix, click on "Photos of our House for Sale" in the right margin).  I'm hoping to time this trip so that we enjoy spring as long as we can, following it north back to Indiana.

Our time here has been pretty laid back (even the "boys," as you can see). 

  Our view from our patio area is blooming dogwoods, early spring leaves, Lake Lanier as a backdrop, and sunny, blue skies.   We set up Roger's hammock,

 and both of us have made good use of it and our Kindles.  

We like it here so much that once our first 7 days 

were up, we reserved a second week, even though it meant moving to a different site.  That wasn't much of a hardship, because we needed to unhook and make a trip to the dump station anyway.

There are high

 hooks here to enable you to hang your food up and out of the way of lurking critters if you're tent camping.  The hooks are a perfect place to secure Charlie the Cat on the expandable leash.  He is in cat heaven here, rolling in the red Georgia dirt and

 stalking birds, pretending to climb trees, and sleeping under them.   We now have an orange-and-tiger cat

 instead of a white-and-tiger cat. 

  He gets a good brushing and wiping down with wet wipes before he's allowed back inside each night.

Speaking of birds, there are hundreds of songbirds right here, singing their hearts out.  I started a list of all the birds I've seen just sitting outside here, but can't find it, so you won't have to endure plodding through it after all!  Some of the more interesting ones have been male and female Eastern bluebirds, a small flock of cedar waxwings, blue-gray gnatcatcher.  Also, tons of mockingbirds, brown thrashers, blue jays, cardinals, robins, gold finches, chickadees, chipping sparrows, rufous-sided towhees (male and female), the list went on and on.  There, you had to endure it anyway!!  :-)   There are probably more, but I'll spare you.

Our new camp site does not have a waterlogged fire pit.  After my chimney log success in St. George, last night I decided to try my hand again at building a camp fire.  Roger was very impressed with my fire-engineering effort!  

 I think the key is that there is lots of kindling around here, and unlike most campgrounds, you are allowed to gather it up so long as it is dead wood.  I am now the pyromania queen of our family.

There is a perfect place to launch the S.S. Minnow here, but after today it is supposed to rain and then turn cold, so it's doubtful we'll get it done.  Today is beautiful, but once again we have frittered away the day just relaxing outside.   

We had another house showing the other day!   Not only that, but our realtor called yesterday with news that a reporter from the Anderson Herald-Bulletin wants to feature our house in a weekly series that she does about homes.  We spoke with her on the phone yesterday and have an appointment lined up for May 11 for her to photograph the house, interview us, and hopefully give us some free publicity.   Since we arrive back in Indiana May 4, that gives us a week to make it perfect for her arrival.

I know, I know, we should be there now sprucing it up and planting annuals, but we're just not ready to end this winter journey.

In fact, our five-month trial of full-timing has gone so well that we are convinced we've made the right decision for us.  

 We've decided we don't want to move back into the house when we get home.  Instead, we'll camp in surrounding state parks and work in our yard at home during the day, returning to the motor home each night.   In other words, there's no going back to our former lifestyle!   

Our future plans so far include another week here, then up to Chester Frost park outside Chattanooga for several days, then home again, staying first at Summit Lake State Park starting May 4.  

Stay tuned 

for our future adventures, including a quick trip to New Orleans in late May, South Dakota, then various Indiana state parks.