Winter Excursion 8, Day 60

It's hard to believe we're two months into this winter's trip. The time has gone way too fast.

We stayed in camp today except for a quick trip to McClellanville seafood market for some shrimp and to gas up the truck on the way back.

We spent the day slowly packing up as we want to leave early tomorrow. It's a four hour drive to George L. Smith SP, GA. We plan to leave here around 0900 so we have the whole afternoon to set up. We are looking forward to four months of Full Hookups! 

We start work on 1 Jan and the "Find of the Day" will be alive and well. We are anxious to see what treasures we happen upon this year. 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 59

We left camp for the Kid's house for the last time on this winter's trip.

Cath did laundry and I cleaned up the truck.

In the afternoon we played dominoes with the Kiddos and Mary (the other Grandma). A good time was had by all.

We stayed for dinner and then waited for Brian to get home. It's a busy weekend for him and he didn't get home until 2130. We hung out for awhile and then said our goodbyes. We hope to see them either at our host job or drive up to them on a long weekend.

It's been a fun six weeks with the Kiddos and we will miss them.

We got back to camp around 2300 and will sleep like bears tonight.

Oh yea...if anyone was wondering the campground dump station is open for business! Never thought a dump station would be on my list of worries! 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 58

We left camp and drove to the Naval Weapons Station to do some commissary and PX shopping. 

On the way we stopped at a Bojangles for lunch. I was all set for some chicken strips and fixins'. Cath said she wanted the same. The strip combos come in 3, 5, or 7 strips. We both wanted 3. So I ordered a #3 with fries and a #3 with dirty rice. The girl at the counter handed me a bag, we got our drinks and sat down. When I opened the bag there were two breakfast sandwiches, fries, and dirty rice in the bag! On my way to the counter to complain I glanced at the menu and it seems the strip combo is #9 (not #3). Now I know I'm gettin' old!

After shopping we drove to Yeaman's Hall to meet up with Brian. He gave us a tour of the entire place including the clubhouse, golf course, maintenance areas, "on property" houses (mansions, but they call them cottages), and some of the walking trails. The highlight for us was the houses and the Live Oaks. There are groves of these giant, old trees and they are breathtaking!

This pic gives you an idea of the size. That's Cath and Brian under the tree.

There are walking trails all through the groves.

This one has a pine tree growing up through the branches. You can see part of the golf course in the background.

It was a perfect day for a tour and a ride in the golf cart!

We left around 1700 and met the entire family at EVOs, one of our favorite brick oven pizza joints. Their local beers on tap and pretty good also!

We got back to camp around 1930. It's been a long, fun day.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 57

It did rain most of the night, but it was clear when we finally got up.

We did a little camp maintenance, but for the most part just relaxed and enjoyed the dry weather for a change. Now if the campground dump station leach field would just drain a little life would be perfect. Weather is forecast to be dry for the next week or so.

We played some cribbage in the afternoon. Cath came up with a new trick. Seems that when she is losing she will just tip over the table, and dump the cribbage board, so we don't know where our pegs were. Then we have to start the game over! What a tatic!😂 

The campground filled up yesterday and today. Most folks are staying through the New Year. We will be leaving New Year's Eve heading to Georgia and hosting.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 56

The day after Christmas.

Everyone was finally up by 0900. We had a nice breakfast that included chocolate croissants. I'd never even heard of them. It was quite interesting to taste some keesh, a sip of coffee, then a bite of dark chocolate!

Cath and I headed back to camp around noon in between the rain showers. Then it rained almost all afternoon. The campground is once again flooded as it had never really dried out from the last drenching we had. The dump station is once again closed because the leach field is flooded. We hope it reopens before we leave as the tanks are filling up and our "blue tote" is full of gray water! The forecast is for rain all night, but clear for the next week.

We spent the afternoon setting up Cath's new Pixel Smartwatch 2. See got it from Santa!

After all the feasting the past few days we had spaghetti for dinner. Then a little TV and off to bed. As usual we will sleep good tonight! 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 55

Christmas Day!

Amazingly enough the Kiddos did not come out of their bedroom until 0730!

Then the fun began.

Here's a pic of the tree with all the gifts neatly stacked by Santa. That didn't last long.

Wesley got to play Santa and hand out all the presents. 

FatHeads for Wesley's room.

Both Kiddos got their Bug-A-Salt guns! They were disappointed there is no bugs around. It's been too cold.

The last gift opened was the ping pong paddles. The Kiddos realized what was going on and rushed to the garage. The new table was a big hit.

The rest of the day was spent playing with all the new things (the adults too).

Christmas dinner was a huge hit. The beef filet was fab. Nicole's Mashed Potatoes were a hit before and during the meal!

Another fun Christmas was had by the Boss Family!

Winter Excursion 8, Day 54

We didn't leave camp for the Kid's house until 1400. We spent the morning eating a nice breakfast, cleaning up the camper, and getting ready to be at the Kid's house for the next two days.

We had a very nice Low Country Boil for dinner, After the game we watched a little football and a Christmas movie. 

It seems Santa left a really nice ping pong table in the garage. Problem was it was not assembled. So Brian and I tackled the job after the Kiddos were in bed. We finished up around 0100 Christmas morning.

Everyone will sleep very lightly tonight because Santa Claus is coming to town!

Merry Christmas to all who are reading this.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 53

We left camp and drove to the Kid's house. They are having a cookie decorating party for the neighborhood Kiddos. Cath and Kennedy baked all the cookies yesterday. The party was supposed to be at the neighbors, but everyone in that house is sick. There is a lot of flu around this area. 

The party started at 1100 so Brian and I left at 1055 to do some errands. We made it back as the party was ending.😈

Mary (Nicole's Mom) arrived yesterday and she also brought some cookies. We will not want for cookies this year!

Brian, Wesley, and I hung out at the house after dinner. The girls headed to the Charleston Symphony for a two hour Christmas show. The boys settled down on the couch to watch the Bills Game!

After the girls got home Cath and I drove back to camp for a good night's sleep. We will be at the Kid's house for the next two nights.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 52

Cath & I spent a lazy day at the camper. We did leave for a little while in the morning to get some dog food, gas, and shrimp from McClellanville.

We did a few camp chores, but for the most part just relaxed. 

Kaylee did get a nice off-leash walk.

In the evening we did some bacon wrapped scallops on the flattop. Watched a little TV and then off to bed.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 51

We all slept in a little, but finally made it out of the house around 0915 and headed just down the road to Big Bad Breakfast. The food was really good. Cath and I had not seen one of these since Alabama, a few years ago. Wesley (our picky eater) decided the steak and eggs looked good. 

He bet me he could eat it all (steak, eggs, fries, biscuit, and bacon). I said "no way" and ended up releasing him from the bet. He did say it was the best steak he ever had.

Back at the house Cath and Kennedy finished the cookie baking! It's been a long arduous journey. The last batch came out of the oven around 1400.

Brain and the Kiddos came back to camp with us and we enjoyed a nice sunny, warm afternoon.

Kennedy did Cath's nails for Christmas. We could hear them from outside the camper having their giggle fest!

We did Tacos on the flattop and then they all left for home.

Cath and I cleaned up a little then hit the rack. 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 50

We left camp for the Kid's house around 1000. Cath continued with the CCBM and Brian and I cleaned out his garage and did a few other chores around the house.

We all did dinner at Home Team BBQ. The brisket was great!

Back at the house we watched a little TV and just relaxed. Ringo was especially worn out.

We made it to bed around 2300. It's been a long, fun day!

Winter Excursion 8, Day 49

We left camp with the Kiddos at 0930. Kennedy has a "Playdate" with her girlfriends at 1100. Nicole left for work around 1100. Cath continued with the CCBM and Wes and I just hung out. Wes did go to his buddies' house for awhile, but made it home for lunch.

In the afternoon Wes and I hit the card shop and did a few errands

Today is Brian's Birthday and he got home around 1700. Here's a pic of his new bike.

We had a nice dinner and even got into the Christmas Cookies for dessert. Brain and Wes left for basketball practice and Cath and I drove back to the camper.

A little peace and quiet, some TV, then off to bed. 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 48

I woke up at the Kid's early and grabbed a cup of coffee to start the day. As I was waking up reading the news I noticed Brian and Nicole outside. I didn't think too much about it at first, but then I noticed They were moving the Corgi House (homemade Christmas Decoration) into the garage.

Seems the wind from the storm last night blew the house over and crushed te Corgis! We immediately went into the Emergency Corgi House Restoration Mode. After a little modification the Corgi House made it back into the yard and all was well again!

We left and headed to the grocery store for some supplies. Nicole arrived at camp with the Kiddos around 1200 and we did some smash burgers on the flattop. The Kiddos are spending the night with us. The weather was wonderful after the storm we had yesterday, although temps are forecast to go into the low 30s for the next few nights. We did some walking, riding, and relaxing. Kennedy got this pic of the camper while playing with my phone.

Then she modified it to look like a water park!

I had no idea you could do this on a phone, but it's like second nature to the Kiddos.

We did dinner and a movie and finally got to sleep around 2300.

 
 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 47

It started raining last night around 0100. This was a hard steady rain. It lasted until 1500 in the afternoon! We have camped at this campground many times, but have never seen rain like this. It rained hard for 14 hours. There was wind to go with it. Even the locals said it was like a mini hurricane. The campground totally flooded. At times we had over 10+ severe weather alerts including tornado warnings (not watches). Here's a pic, but I took this out of the camper window and it does not do justice to what we had going on. The campground was a lake!

Around 1500 it started to slack up a little. So we left camp and drove to the Kid's house. 

We are celebrating Brian's Birthday at a super fancy restaurant tonight in Charleston.

We got an Uber from the house to downtown CHS and had one special meal. It was a multi-course dinner with multi-wines. The meal included crab, tuna, monkfish, waku beef, scallops, octopus, and more things I don't even remember. It was called the "Feast of the Seven Fishes". Good thing we Ubered.

Back at the house the girls were in bed by 2100, Bri and I made it until almost 2300. 

Sleep will come really good tonight and I'm not looking forward to morning.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 46

We woke up this morning hoping to get a call from the Camp Host at Buck Hall, but first breakfast was in order. Here's a pic of my new "go to" breakfast treat.

Mix the hash browns with a little flour, an egg, some chopped onions, and salt & pepper to taste. Mix it up and put it on a hot flat top. When the first side is browned, flip them over and use a biscuit cutter to make a hole. Let the bottom side brown, then crack an egg in the hole, flip for "over-easy". Serve with sausage or bacon. YUM YUM!

Spent the rest of the morning slowly putting everything away in preparation for moving. Just after noon we got a call from the Camp Host at Buck Hall. Due to the weather forecast the folks in Site #3 (our reserved site for tomorrow) have left and we are welcome to occupy that site today! That speeded up preparations for moving. We left at 1400 and rolled into Buck Hall at 1500. We did minimal setup as we are forecast for some severe weather tonight and tomorrow.

We drove to SeeWee for dinner for another Fried Food Fix. Back at camp we watched some TV and hit the rack.
 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 45

After everyone left for school and work Cath continued with the CCBM. 

I drove to Buck Hall to see if any sites were open. We have to move Sunday, but there is a big storm forecast for the entire day. I would be nice if we could move on Saturday. There is one site open, but not the one we have reservations for on Sunday. There is no guarantee we could get the open site as it is "first come walk -in" We can't make a reservation. The host has our phone number. We will see tomorrow how this all works out.

Back at the house I helped Cath with the CCBM. Here's the result.

Chocolate cookie with white chocolate coating and sprinkled with crushed candy cane.

Lemon coated cookie sprinkled with crushed pistachios. 

Cath still has two more batches to go. I'll get a pic of the serving tray, but that won't be until Christmas Eve. Cath won't let us eat any till then. There will be around 30 or 40 dozen when she's finished!

After Nicole and the Kiddos got home we drove back to camp. We had a nice dinner and a little TV, then off to bed.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 44

The CCBM is continuing so we went back to the Kid's house this morning. On the way we stopped at "Chicky" (Chick-fil-A) and picked up lunch. Cath got her peppermint milkshake fix and was happy the rest of the day.

In the evening we went to Kennedy's concert at the middle school. She was "first chair" Viola for the sixth graders.

That's her in the middle.

There was close to 90 sixth graders. They played four short Christmas songs and did a good job.

Then the 7th and 8th graders had their chance. There were around 50 7th graders and 30 8th graders. It was amazing how much they had progressed in a few years.

The lower number of students each year is attributed to kids dropping out.

Back at the Kid's house we watched a little TV and yakked. Then off to bed as we spent the night.
 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 43

Back to the Kids' house again today. Cath continued with the CCBM. Here a pic of just one of the many batches.

I put the finishing touches on the truck wash and then ran a few errands.

Brian came home early and we did a few minor projects.

While I was doing errands today I picked up everything we needed for a Fried Rice Dinner on Brian's Blackstone. We did the prep and Brian cooked it all. It came out very good and with the eggrolls and dumplings it made for a nice dinner.

We didn't get back to the camper until almost 2100. Once again sleep will come quick!

Winter Excursion 8, Day 42

We did all the grocery shopping for the Christmas Cookie Baking Marathon (CCBM) this morning. 

After that we headed to the Kids' house. Cath finished two of the multitude of batches for the CCBM. I finally got to wash the truck. Other than rain storms it was the first truck wash of the trip. The inside was particularly bad due to a certain dog whose name I won't mention.

We left to go back to camp around 1600 and fought rush hour traffic the whole way. In the future we will leave earlier or later, but the traffic during rush hour is something to behold!

Dinner and a little TV, then of to bed.

All is well in the Boss Camp.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 41

We left camp this morning in search of a new sweater for Cath and a few things I needed from Lowes. She needed something for this Sunday as we are going out to dinner with the Kids. She had some luck at the local Belks. 😂

Back at camp we had a lazy afternoon, a nice dinner, and some TV time.

The RV park continues to be mostly empty. In years past it has been packed. We are starting to wonder if the "camping thing" is starting to wear off for some folks. We don't see as many rigs on the road or campers in the parks as in years past. Time will tell.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 40

After we all got up we had a nice breakfast on the flattop. We got the camper all cleaned up and everything put in order. As usual when the Kiddos are here it was a fun morning.

Around noon we left for the Kiddos house. 

Brian and I spent part of the afternoon doing a few chores. Most important was replacing the inner tube on the Kiddos' E-Bike.

Cath started the Christmas Cookie Baking Marathon (CCBM) and got the first batch of dough made. 

Mid afternoon we all settled down and watched some football.

Brian made some yummy "smash burgers" for dinner which we devoured during half-time.

Got this cute pic of Kennedy in here new Miami Dolphins' hat. She has really nice long hair, but tucked it up under the hat! It reminded me of a hair stye from the 50s..LOL

Cath and I drove back to camp around 2030. The camper seemed quiet without the Kiddos. We will sleep good tonight.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 39

We left Barnwell SP at 1100. Had an easy drive on RT 78 to Foster Creek RV Park (83 miles). This is a military RV park at the Naval Weapons Station at Goose Creek, SC.

We arrived at Foster Creek around 1400 and spent the afternoon setting up. Made a quick trip to the Commissary as the Kiddos are spending the night.

Here's a pic of Site #12.

Dinner, a movie, and some fun is in store for the evening with the Kiddos.
  

Winter Excursion 8, Day 38

We had a lazy morning and played some cribbage.

Kaylee decided to do some surfing. That's what we call it when she gets into her bed and the front sticks up.

After lunch we took a walk on the park's nature trail. We noticed how the pine needles nest in the holly trees. It almost looks like nature's tinsil. 

Got a pic of Kaylee on the trail with her new Thundershirt. I thought I'd posted a pic with her shirt on but I guess not.

She seems to like it. She "asks" for us to put it on and it seems to calm her down a little.

Back at camp I helped our host to do some more Holiday decorating. He asked when we were going to be at George L. Smith SP and said he wants to visit us while we are there. We obviously get along really good. Ray is a super host and has done all the decorating himself, cutouts, blowups, and lights.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 37

We left around 1000 to do laundry, YUK!

When we got to the laundromat they was only one other person there. We were surprised.

When we went in the place was very clean, we were happy. 

Then we noticed the signs are were a little confused at first.

At first read we thought it meant for X amount of dollars you could do x amount of loads. That was not the case. The signs meant for example that a 2 load machine costs $4. Their idea of a load size and ours are two completely different things. We ended up using two 2 load machines at $4 each, and four 3 load machines at $5, so washing cost $28!

Dryers were $2 and we needed four of them. All said and done we spent $36! WOW!

That's a lot of quarters, but they had change machines that dispensed Susan B dollar coins and all the machines took them.

OK enough about laundromats!

On the way home we got these pics of a corner house decorated for the Holidays. We'd like to see it after dark!

We got a new camper at the park this afternoon, so we now have 4 in the park including the host.

Tomorrow will be a lazy day at camp. We will do some packing up and run into town for a take-out dinner and gas for the truck. Saturday morning we are outta here...LOL!
 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 36

The weather continues to be perfect, 60s and 40s. It is forecast to go to 31 tonight. There is no rain in the forecast for the next 7 days!

We took a nice walk on one of the park trails. Once again Kaylee was off leash and smiled the entire time. The only other camper in the campground left, so we have the whole place to ourselves.

We did run into Barnwell for a few supplies and some propane.

Throughout the park and probably the area there are tons of American Holly Trees. Right in front of our site is one of the taller ones. It's a least 50 ft tall.

We are really looking forward to tomorrow! It's our favorite! Laundry Day! NOT!
 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 35

We were up with the sun, but this time of the year that's not too early!

We left camp around 0900 and drove to Magnolia Springs State Park, GA. We had two friends there hosting. Charley and Dale were in camp and we talked with them for awhile catching up on old and new things. They left for errands as they were off today. Our other friend, Carolyn (we hosted with her last year) was working. So we headed to George L. Smith State Park, GA.

We wanted to meet the current hosts and find out what site we will have when we arrive on 31 Dec 23.

We stopped in the office, but everyone we knew was either at lunch, retired, or away today. So we picked up some subs and drove back to Magnolia Springs SP and spent a few hours with Carolyn. She has a new puppy! It's a miniature Daschund, 4 months old and quite the pistol.

We left for home mid afternoon and made it back just in time to feed Kaylee. When we got home Dawn (from GLS office) called to say she was sorry she missed us.

It's been a fun, long day. We had a good time.

Back at camp it will be a good evening and sleep will come easy.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 34

After breakfast we took a nice walk around part of the park. There is no one here so Kaylee was off leash the whole time and thoroughly thrilled. Here's a few pics.

This is the walkway/pier to the fishing dock. You can see the events lodge across the lake.

Two views from the fishing dock.

Back at camp we got a few more pics of some more of the Holiday blowups the Camp Host has put up.

Early afternoon we took a short drive to Rivers Bridge State Historic Site.

This is a Civil War Battlefield. It's small, but interesting. The battle took place just a few months before the end of the war and lasted only two days.

This is a pic of the nearby swamp the Union Troops attacked from. It's fairly dry now as this area is in drought. We thought all the "knees" were interesting.

Back at camp we relaxed and had a nice dinner. Then off to bed as we have more exploring to do tomorrow.