Blogs, random thoughts, travel

  • You Meet the Nicest People

    The man in the Ford Transit van came out and we struck up a conversation.  I was as mesmerized by his Minnesota accent as he may have been by my southern drawl.  (Asking ‘where y’all headed?’ tends to indicate I ain’t from around there).  
  • Writing on the Road

    Writing on the road is difficult.   First, there’s the lack of reliable internet and no WiFi.  You would think that would be great for ‘going off g...
  • Oops I Did It Again

    With much less trepidation than the first time around, I published a second book this week. “Living With Wanda 2: Campervan Adventures Continue” is now available on Amazon as a Kindle eBook or in paperback.
  • Decisions, Decisions

    Before going to sleep that night at Hunting Island SP, we tried to make plans for the following day.  It was our intent to backtrack a little and visit Edisto Beach which is back towards Charleston.  As the crow flies, the distance from Hunting Island to Edisto is relatively short, but crows can cross water and Wanda cannot.  It would be close to a two-hour drive to get there. 
  • Oaks and Palms

    As we first turned on the dirt road we were met by a young man driving a BMW and I remarked to Jenni that he had probably just completed a drug deal because beamers don’t camp on dirt roads like big white candy vans.  At the campground there were already several established campers.  This was a campground primarily used during deer and turkey hunting seasons.
  • Cherished Places

    Huntington Beach State Park was the go-to beach destination for our family when we lived in the area.  Sunday evenings were a perfect time to visit.  All the tourists had either checked out of their hotels at 11 AM to drive back to Ohio and New Jersey or they had just arrived for a 3 PM check-in and were now looking for a place to eat their first all-you-can-eat seafood buffet of the week.  The beach was always deserted on Sunday evenings.  
  • Back to the Ultimate Outsider Challenge

    When Jenni and I purchased our state park pass in February 2021, we never imagined we would only be a third of the way through the forty-seven parks after two full years.  Of course, in those two years we logged nearly 30,000 miles visiting another forty states.  But it was time to get serious about checking off a few more South Carolina state parks.
  • Miss B

    There was a family reunion at her farm as well as other reunions in other places.  I reminded her of the time Jenni and I were watching the Conway Christmas Parade and she drove an antique tractor down Main Street.  (That’s the kind of Southern woman she is!)  That brought whole new tales of the tractor club she and her husband had enjoyed.  With each story she told, she would lovingly say “Thank you for reminding me of this memory.” 

  • Gut Punch

    We just sat there, in the middle of a street hardly anyone would need to travel.  We stared at the empty lot, trying to visualize where the sidewalk ran, where the steps began, and where the white picket fence once stood.  
  • A Waterfall for My Birthday

    As I sipped my coffee the morning of my birthday, Jenni asked if I had considered what I wanted to do to celebrate turning sixty, inferring the day was my choice.  I said I wanted to hike a new waterfall.  (Be careful of the offers you make a birthday boy!) 
  • Resolutions Status Report

    Here it is, the middle of January (more or less), so it must be time to make some resolutions for the year.

    Perhaps the first should be to plan better.

  • Christmas Traditions and Memories

    Then there was the year our pastor had a young daughter who was terrified of snakes.  The older “wisemen” whispered to her that there was a snake in the church and she ran down the aisle screaming “Nake! Nake!”  I know my parents laughed about that for years; still makes me giggle 50+ years later.