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| Marion South Carolina one of many small rural towns along the way great little antique shop in former bank |
South Carolina
Campground: Mr Z's Rv park, Gilbert
SC. $20 50 amp service, full-hookups. Cable TV and wi-fi available
though I wasn't able to connect to either one. A small park, with
swimming pool and laundry facilities. 40+ over the air tv stations.
Excellent Verizon signal.
Campground: Little Pee Dee State Park.
Electric 30 amp/ water, $18 plus $7.76 reservation fee. Dump station
at exit. Lake is empty. 40+ over the air tv stations. Marginal
Verizon signal.
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| from N Georgia to South Carolina |
Augusta Georgia
While waiting for the repairs to be
done on the camper wheel, I drove over to Harlem Georgia, the
hometown of Oliver Hardy. Hardy was born in Harlem in 1892, but
after his fathers death in the same year, his mother moved the family
to Milledgeville where she became the manager of a hotel. One of the
few acceptable careers for a woman. The young Oliver was enthralled
with the many troupes of entertainers passing through. Starting him
on an early career as an entertainer. The little museum honoring
Laurel and Hardy and the many movies they were in. The Columbia
theater in town is being remodeled to house a larger Laurel and Hardy
museum. While I was at the museum, a group of “mentally
challenged” folks came in to watch a Laurel and Hardy movie.
Something they often do on a regular basis. Enjoying the slapstick
humor and simple stories. A little museum providing a service to the
community and special group of people.
After repairs to the camper were made,
at a cost exceeding one thousand dollars, I was ready to head out of
town. Well not really, I could have easily stayed at the COE
campground as the lake views were awesome. But I did head out onto
Interstate 20 and only had to put up with a minor delay due to
construction on the highway.
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| camper repairs channel bearing cracked destroyed brakes |
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| the parts weren't all that expensive it's all in the labor costs.... |
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| little me |
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| on the road with Laurel and Hardy |
South Carolina, Lexington
Distance Traveled: 89 miles
This is a minor stop, being that I
didn't get on the road till after 1:30 in the afternoon and I didn't
want to drive all that far. During my short stay at Mr. Z's
campground, I'm making reservations and discovering that North
Carolina in particular has had lots of recent flooding and many of
the campgrounds I'd normally stay at are closed due to damage from
all the flooding. At this point I have all but 5 days reserved. And
I may just wing it and try staying in a National Forest campground
along the way. Possibly with no electric but with my solar panels, I
should be able to handle it. Of course that depends on how hot it
will be. Temps are expected to be in the 90's this week and onward.
RV camping info: I rely heavily on a
couple of internet web sites and apps to find suitable campgrounds
along my intended route. Recently I've been relying heavily on
Passport America, Rvparky and Ultimate Campgrounds. I usually follow
up with RV Park Reviews to see what others say about a campground I'm
considering, as well as using Google maps/satellite images to zoom in
on a campground to get a better feel for the place.
Distance Traveled: 134 miles
on the boarder between South Carolina
and North Carolina
notes:
- roads in South Carolina are in terrible shape. From major highways, state roads, county roads and even the state park roads look like they haven't been paved in 20 years or more. A 2 cent tax increase on gas was just approved and will go towards road improvements. Long overdue.
- While in Columbia SC at their history museum, it mentioned how cotton was king. But around 1920 or there abouts, the boll-weevil arrived and decimated the cotton crops. Not only destroying the cotton, but closing the hundreds of textile mills throughout South Carolina
- The museum also has a large exhibit on India's culture. Why you ask? Because their recent governor, Nikki Haley was born in India. After her parents moved to the U.S. She eventually became the governor of South Carolina and is now the U.S. Representative at the U.N.
- I previously mentioned the bark beetle as having destroyed many of the pine trees in the norther Georgia. One of the camphosts said he and his wife had a house built about 6 years ago. A couple years later, he discovered the entire back of the house was infested with pine bark beetle larva. The original contractor had to tear out the entire back wall to his two story house and replace it.
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| great collection of telescopes from the 19th century |
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| the Indian influence in South Carolina |
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| Nikki Haley, former Governor, U.N Representative born in India and migrated with parents to SC |
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| solid silver |
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| South Carolina Science/history Museum in former textile mill |
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| a cypress canoe, still attached to the tree stump unfinished and found at bottom of river |
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| oh how I remember my first transistor radio the beginning of my love of all things tech... |
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| big displays, weak on followup info |
I ended up driving a portion of I-20,
but got off when it merged into I-95, an interstate highway I try to
avoid at all costs. The final rural route to Pee-Dee State park was
very remote, traveling past small country farms with everything from
corn, rye, wheat, cabbage, strawberries, onions, I saw it all.
Including a number of small cattle farms. The campground, named
after the Pee Dee Indian Tribe is much like an old country campground
or fish camp in appearance. The main road leading into the park is
so worn down that the gravel is poking through the once paved road.
The campground loops are all sandy with mainly pine trees between
sites. The main feature being the lake, which is currently empty as
the earthen dam was breached in two spots during last years hurricane
Mathew and it has not been repaired as of yet. Even part of US 41 is
closed due to repairs being made to a bridge.
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| Hurricane Mathew damage |
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| the earthen dam was damaged in two places |
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| Pee Dee State Park, 30 amp electric/water |
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| the lake is empty after damage from the hurricane of last year |
I drove into Mullins, a small southern
town worn down and tired. Had lunch at the Garden Alley. One of
those local places in the south noted for their buffet lunch with
lots of collard greens, catfish and fried chicken. The building was
most odd, it that it was probably only about 15 feet wide and a
couple hundred feet in length. Definitely a local hangout and of
course I enjoyed a simple hearty meal. Barely visible from the main
street.
You might be wondering about the name
of the park I'm in, Pee Dee State Park. It's named after a local
Native Indian tribe who were so named by the English who first
arrived in the area. Giving the Indian tribe the name Pee Dee as
well as the river and region it's name. It wasn't until 2006 that
the U.S. Government gave certified recognition of the tribe. The
tribe having only a small population as with most Indian tribes who
perished due to European diseases etc.
Heading into North Carolina next week
Thanks Doug for another interesting travel blog!
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