Last Day at HBSP

     Well, we've sorta packed up in preparation for heading home tomorrow.  It was cold (relatively speaking) this morning...38 degrees, but it warmed up nicely in the afternoon sun so we wandered over to the causeway between the fresh water marsh and the salt water marsh.  It's a birder's paradise, and it's pretty convenient for those who feed on them.  There were hundreds of birds: pelicans, egrets, ibises, herons, assorted ducks and, lurking in the bullrushes, a sizeable old alligator.  We had left the dogs in the bus, which probably was a good idea.
     We are still eating Thanksgiving leftovers, so tonight I'll saute up a pan of smoked turkey sausage, veggies and rice.  Tomorrow the bus goes into storage for a couple of months.  The next trip will be to Red Bay, AL and points south in February

Thanksgiving 2010

     What a great day!  Eat your hearts out, SkipnDonna.  Everything went like clockwork.  We ate at 2:30 and all ingredients and the weather cooperated perfectly.  Jeri's stove has three burners and ours has two.  We used them all.  Mashed potatoes, butternut squash, turnips (rutabagas, if you will), cornbread stuffing, gravy from Trader Joe's, a bottle of Riesling and, of course, a fifteen pound fresh turkey (deep fried).  There was just enough peanut oil and just enough propane so disasters were averted.  After a suitable respite, Jeri produced an apple/pecan streusel pie a la mode for desert.
     The first picture shows Cindy and our next-door neighbor campers watching the Patriots.  As regular readers know, I'm usually behind the camera.  Thanks for the third picture, Jeri.  As you can imagine, we will be doing a replay tomorrow.  Nobody wanted any turkey sandwiches tonight.

Thanksgiving at the beach

     We decided to spend Thanksgiving week at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrell's Inlet, SC.  Cindy and Jeri Johnson are joining us, but Skip and Donna Anderson had to cancel out.  I'm going to fry a turkey, but the rest of the ingredients will be pretty traditional.  I suppose a 70 degree, barefoot walk on the beach would not qualify as traditional in some circles, but you make do with what you have.  I'll get some turkey pictures tomorrow, but today you'll have settle for Baxter.  We didn't feel that an energetic romp in the water would be too good for Belle, so she stayed in the bus.  The caption for the middle picture is,"Oooh, a jellyfish!  Do I eat it or roll in it?"  Actually, when I called him off it, he left it alone.
     We hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

More backyard wildlife

     This morning I was putting the finishing touches on a nice breakfast when Durelle said,"We've got a photo op if you're interested."  I put down the spatula, picked up the camera, slipped outside in my bathrobe and snapped the shot of the eagle with a nice blue sky background.  The picture of the two deer was taken yesterday.  They are out there many mornings. 
     The breakfast was to fortify Durelle for her first round of golf in three (!!) months.  She and Cindy played at the Charleston Naval Weapons Center (in shorts for my Maine readers).  With the help of a mulligan she recorded a 93.  After golf I met them at a favorite Mexican restaurant.  No supper tonight.

Two weeks at "home"

     We have been back for two weeks and it is past time to post a blog lest my loyal readership forgets me.  We are getting caught up on all the usual chores that follow a long jaunt in the bus.  We've been to the doctor, the dentist and the vet (for Belle and Baxter).  Prescriptions have been renewed and some have arrived.  Teeth have been cleaned and I have a new temporary crown.  The pups are doing fine although Belle is slowing down unless there are geese or a deer in "her" back yard.  The bus is at the shop, mostly for wash and wax, but Dometic will ship on Monday a new toilet to replace the cantankerous one we lived with all summer. 
     Last Saturday we had a pass to the Nationwide golf championships at Daniel Island.  Mostly we sat in the bleachers behind the 17th green.  Bud had a promotion whereby a birdie on 17 meant 15 minutes of $1 beer.  The birdies kept coming all afternoon.  Bud wasn't suffering, however.  At a buck for an 8 oz. Bud Light, they were still making money.  When I got up to get our first beer the folks behind us tapped Durelle on the shoulder and said,"Aren't you the Colters [sic.] from NH?"  We had met once before at the model home in 2003 as we prepared to move here.  I had no idea that the backs of our heads were so memorable.
     Today we went to a sports bar north and west of Mt. Pleasant to watch the Army-Air Force game with the West Point Society of Charleston.  Since I had spent four years at USMA and five years at USAFA, I could go either way.  I was rooting for Army and we lost by 20.  The first picture was taken in the bar when Army was leading.  We got home for a supper of soup and sandwich and a wonderful sunset.  The flower is a bit of an oddball.  The local informal name is Confederate Rose.  I have no idea what it really is.  A neighbor gave us a couple of shoots before we left and they have been unattended all summer and are now six feet tall.  It's really a bit of a weed, but it suddenly produced a nice blossom.
     I just finished reading, and can recommend, "Porcelain on Steel" by Donna McAleer.  It is a collection of a dozen or so stories of women graduates of West Point. It is a diverse assortment of accomplished women and I think many of you would enjoy it on a number of levels.  Kindle $9.95.
     Keep in touch.

Safe Arrival

     Well, we are safely home five months and eleven days after we left.  We are pooped from only a partial unloading.  A long Jacuzzi and a longer martini have dealt with most of the kinks.  It sure is nice to just open the door and let the dogs out into a fenced yard.  The battery charger is doing its magic on the Corvette, and soon we will be back to normal.

     The two pictures were taken in Fairfax, VA at the home of dear friends of over fifty years, Allen and Joyce Wegner.  You can count on the fingers of one hand the number of years that we haven't visited each other somewhere.  The first picture, of course, is Belle.  The picture doesn't capture the spring in her step, but she is beginning to show her age.  She'll be 15 in January.  The second shows the bus in front of the Wegner's house.  Joyce put on a couple of wonderful meals and we departed before ten for a relatively short day to Selma, NC.

     The last day of our 2010 summer was only 260 miles, and we arrived home at 1230.  There were no gas stops, no hills and no wind.  The result was a very respectable 9.1 mpg.  We were heavily laden as was the Jeep, but under good conditions we can get 9 mpg.

     It is good to be home, to see Cindy, and to get back to shorts and no socks.  Now that we are no longer on the road there will probably be greater intervals between posts.  In a month we head to Huntington Beach State Park for Thanksgiving week, and in February we head to Red Bay, AL.  Keeping checking the blog.  I'll try to find something of interest to post from time to time.

RVing with a '37 Ford

Sunday was a pleasant but cool day. The temperatures barely made it into the 60s, but the wind was calm and the sun, intermittent. Durelle watched golf, college baseball and the Red Sox (and did some wash). We got up at 0830, walked the dogs, and I went to Hannaford to get the Boston Globe, and a couple of bagels. After a late but large breakfast I sat down to write my review of Linda Greenlaw's latest book, "Seaworthy" for the Charleston Post and Courier. I have sent it off. Should you want a copy, drop me a line. After the dog's supper and walk we ran into the unusual rig in site 40. Since they were only stopping for one night, I left Durelle to visit (she's good at it) while I went for the camera. The pickup is a 1937 Ford with a Ford 402 cu. in. V-8. The pictures don't capture it, but there is a green undercoat with blue over it. The colors change with the aspect angle. They started out in Vancouver and will rendezvour with a hundred other antique RVs in Nova Scotia in a few days and drive back together.