Winter Excursion 2, Day 62

Moving Day. We got up around 0800, packed up, and were on the road by 1030. It was a short drive to our other campground in North Charleston. Got to Foster Creek and were all set up by 1300.
Kevin came over (our friend from the last time here) and he and I took a little tour of the area. He wanted to see Buck Hall. On the way home we stopped by the Kiddos to say Hi and invite them to dinner at Evo's Pizza. Of course the Kiddos said yes. We all meet at Evo's at 1730 and as usual had a great meal. Kevin was impressed.
Nicole and the Kiddos headed home and Kevin, Cath, and I spent the evening in the camper watching football and yakking.
Here's Kevin with his normal pose (beer in hand).

Got to bed around 2200. Headed to the Kid's tomorrow. We will spend the next two nights with them to celebrate the New Year and stay off of the roads.

Winter Excursion 2, Day 61

Cath & I got up around 0700, got the laundry ready to go and headed to the Kid's around 0800. Stopped at the Outpost on the way and picked up Ham Biscuits for everyone. We had freezing rain last night and this morning, everything is covered in ice as the temps got down to the high 20s. All the bridges in Charleston were closed so Bri was still home when we got there.
Cath got the laundry started and I played with the Kiddos and helped Bri with a few house projects. Bri headed off to work around 1000 and the rest of us went to lunch at Hometown BBQ.
Here's everyone at the table.

Food here is very good and they even had hard cider on tap.

A [ic of the restaurant.

Back at the house I got the truck washed. The neighbors thought I was nuts as temps were still in the high 40s, but the sun was out.

The hit of the day came after Kennedy finally decided to pull out her loose tooth. This was her first one. she was a real trooper.

Here's snagle-tooth after the big event. The tooth fairy will be alive and well tonight.

We were back at the camper by 2030 and in bed soon there after. Tomorrow is moving day back to Foster Creek.

Winter Excursion 2, Day 60

I woke up this morning lonely. Cath was gone to a 5 star hotel in Charleston. Kaylee and I managed to get through the morning. Did some camper maintenance and headed to the Kid's around 1300. Cath and Mary got there about 1400. Spent a few minutes with the Kiddos and then headed to the camper. Our plan is to try our new Sous-vide for dinner.
Here's the steak vaced-up ready to go into the hot water.

Here's the vac pouch with the steak in the 129 deg water. I never imagined I'd "boil" a steak.

This is what they looked like after 45 minutes in 129 deg water.

Next, put them in a hot cast iron frying pan with canola oil and butter. This only takes a few minutes.

Comes out looking fabulous.

And here's the finished product. It tastes as good as it looks and has a great texture.

Off to the Kid's early in the morning. Laundry day, and Rick (Nicole's dad) is cooking dinner. Tonight it's almost bed time and I'm sure we will sleep well.

Winter Excursion 2, Day 59

Chilly morning. We got up and Cath started getting ready to go to downtown Charleston with Nicole's Mom Mary. Drove her over to Nicole's and guess how I fond Wesley.
He thinks he's funny!

Cath and Mary left for their overnight and shopping around 1330.
Here's a few pics of their hotel room.
Very nice!

I headed back to the camper and had a very relaxing afternoon and evening reading and watching some TV. It's going to be a chilly one tonight, lows in the 30's. Off to bed, I'll sleep good with a warm Vizsla next to me.

Winter Excursion 2, Day 58

As predicted it was a sleep in morning, we were wore out from all the activity yesterday.
Bri, Nicole, Kiddos, and Nicole's parents came out to the camper around 1400. The Kiddos immediately went for the skittles, but later got into the pistachios.
Here's Wesley with his guilty look after eating 2 pounds of nuts.

The evidence.

We spent some time by the fire and some time in the camper as it's chilly (45 deg). Great North Country dinner of Jerk Pork, Salt Potatoes, and Corn on the Cob. We had both Kiddos and 6 adults in the camper for dinner at once!
Cath and I did a little clean-up and then hit the sack. It's been a nice day.

Winter Excursion 2, Day 57

Christmas Day! The Kiddos have been waiting for this morning.
Here's Mom & Dad waiting for the Kiddos to get up. This pic was taken about 0600. Cath & I had to get up early to get here before the Kiddos arose. Notice the plate of cookies and glass of milk that Santa devoured.

 Here's the tree with all the presents Santa brought last night.

Here's the Kiddos on their Kid-O-Bunk. This thing packs up into two cases that the Kiddos can carry. The adults were impressed with how stable it is.

Here's Mom with her new (unexpected) phone, Pixel 2, I'm jealous. 

Here's the Kid-O-Bunk after most of the presents were opened. Wesley's is the top bunk and Kennedy chose the bottom. They separated their presents by bunk.

Wes played with this car and track for hours. Kaylee got bored watching.

We had a nice Christmas breakfast, then back to the toys again.

Here's Granddad Rick (Nicole's Dad) getting the beauty treatment from Kennedy. Nicole's Mom, Mary, is waiting her turn.

Here's Kennedy with her "goop" mustache. 

A good time was had by all. Dinner was excellent with a wonderful roast from the grill.

Cath and I hung as long as we could, but we were home by 2200. Sleep will come quick and I'm guessing sleeping in will be the order of the morning tomorrow.

Winter Excursion 2, Day 56

Christmas Eve!
The Kiddos are so excited. Cath & I arrived around noon after doing some last minute food shopping. The Kids and Kiddos headed off to church at 1530.
They were all dressed up and I got a great pic.

But of course they had to have a crazy pic too.

Nicole made a nice dinner: Low Country Boil....yum yum!
After dinner we watched a little football and finally got the Kiddos in bed and asleep by 2030. The adults got all the presents under the tree while we were supervised by Bri & Nicole.
Here's the new "Kid-O-Bunk" that the Kiddos will use camping. Mom & Dad had to try it out.

Cath & I headed to the camper and were in bed by 2230. 0500 will come early in the morning on Christmas day. 

Winter Excursion 2, Day 55

Had an easy morning and a nice breakfast at the camper. Went over to the Kids house around 1200. Cath started baking again, I think between Nicole, Cath, and Mary, we have a lot of cookies, but I'm sure the Kiddos won't mind.
I helped Brian a little in the yard getting ready for the "Polar Express" showing in the backyard. Bri sets up a screen and can project video from Sat or PC. A few friends and neighbors came over for the festivities. There was pizza, cookies, eggnog, hot chocolate, popcorn, and much more. There must have been 25 or 30 folks there, but the Kiddos enjoyed it the most. We had tiki lights and a fire going and plenty of adult beverages also.

We helped clean-up a little after the guests left and were back at the camper by 2130. Bed will feel good tonight.

Winter Excursion 2, Day 54

Lazy morning and then went and ran all our errands. We were back at camp by 1300. Had a nice afternoon being lazy and puttering around camp. We decorated the door for Christmas.

We had the fish I caught yesterday for dinner with parsley potatoes and salad. The Whiting was excellent done on the grill, we didn't even have to add any seasoning. We have one large one left and we'll have fish Tacos with that one. Nice campfire this evening and watched the crazy tent campers across the way, (4 Dads with 4 sons) they had a blast. Off to bed around 2100.

Winter Excursion 2, Day 53

The rain finally stopped around 0100. I got up at 0600 to get ready for the fishing expedition. The campground was soaked from all the rain last night, but it turned into a beautiful day. Fishing was slow, but it was great to see Bull's Bay from a boat. Tom and I had a really good time yakking and telling stories.
Here's Tom in the boat.

The fish finally started biting around 1500 and we boated 3 Whitings before heading back to the dock.
Cleaned up a little then headed to the Kid's to pick up Cath and get some dinner. Nicole made some great spaghetti and the Kiddos shared their hand painted cookies for desert.
Afterward we had our evening entertainment courtesy of the Kiddos.
Notice the red bow on his belly.

The dance routine!

Got back to the camper with Cath around 2000. Had a shower and a toddy then hit the sack. It's been a great day!

Winter Excursion 2, Day 52

Picked up Wesley early this morning to bring him to the camper as we had Bsing duties. When I showed up to the house at 0700 I think I surprised Nicole when I walked in the open front door. It was a hoot to see the look on her face!
On the drive to camp Wesley had a chocolate peanut butter bar in the car, but we had the "automatic hand washer" (Kaylee) with us so there was no mess,

Wesley spent the day with us watching shows, helping around camp, and just generally being Wesley. We took a nice hike in the afternoon. Wes decided he was a little tired and needed a break.

Brian, Nicole, and Kennedy came to camp around 1600 for dinner and to rescue us from Wesley. Nicole made a yummy turkey enchilada and Cath added some homemade refried beans to the menu. They all left around 1900 and took Cath with them as I'm going fishing in the morning with Tom, who was one of our camping neighbors, who just happens to have a boat. I hit the sack early and listened to the rain till I fell asleep.

Winter Excursion 2, Day 51

What a fun day!

Started out at Kennedy's school for a "book sharing". The kids authored stories to share with parents and friends. They would read their story to you and then ask you to write a comment about the story.

Here's a pic of all the kids in her class. Notice Wesley in the lower right. He thinks he is part of the class by default.

Here's a close up.

After the reading pizza, hot chocolate, and deserts were served. The kids all had a good time.

Back at the house I had a real helper washing the truck.

Early evening we all went to the James Island Festival of lights.
The Kiddos got their picture with Santa.

They rode on the carousel.

Got pictures with a reindeer.

And then we all rode the train on the 3 mile trip to view all the lights.

Kids fell asleep on the way home. The adults got some calzones for dinner and then had some yummy banana cream pie (Thanks Nicole!) to celebrate Brian's Birthday.
Cath and I got back to camp around 2200 and went straight to bed.

Winter Excursion 2, Day 50

Got up early to do some fishing from the pier here, as high tide was at 0700. Caught a beautiful sunrise as I left the camper.

Didn't catch any fish, but the dolphins were in the area. There must have been at least 8 of them and they put on quite a show.

Cath and I ran some errands in town and then had lunch at SeeWee's Restaurant.
We drove north on RT 17 to  McClellanville a few miles north of our campground. Not much going on in this little town, but the houses and the live oaks were something to see.

Another view of the oaks.

Back at camp by mid afternoon we relaxed and sat by the fire until 2100. Headed to bed and slept like babies.

Winter Excursion 2, Day 49

The Kiddos slept in until 0730, then the belly flopping began. Breakfast of pancakes and they were off and running.
Bri and Nicole got here around noon. We had lunch and Bri helped me re-level the camper. It's really nice now.
Here's Bri and all the dogs. The weather was perfect today.

Here's Mom and the Kiddos at their favorite sport; Hammock Jumping.

Bri got in on it too.

Then it was the whole family.

Dinner of steaks, burgers, and crab cakes.
Here's Kaylee warming up after an evening by the campfire. When the sun goes down it cools off quick.

Kids and Kiddos left around 1900. Cath and I sat by the fire, then off to bed.