Pictures from Hunting Island Trip, June 2009

Hunting Island trip

We're home!  It was a great trip I will attempt to recreate, but I know it won't be the same as keeping up every day would have been.  We had no wifi our entire trip which obviously made it impossible to post to the blog.  Here goes with the highlights and some pictures!

We left St. Louis and our first stop was Metropolis, Illinois, the home of Superman.

We had to stop and see the Man of Steel and his phone booth.  I remember watching Superman and was able to impress my Grandchildren with my recitation of  "faster than a speeding bullet etc"  Superman is an enduring character, as our three generations can attest!

Chattanooga was our overnight, pulling into a commercial campground at dusk.  We had a long day and the kids had been great, as they were the entire trip.  Phil and Elyse headed for the swimming pool and we had a comfortable night.

We were within a mile of Hunting Island when we had the only real upset of the trip, and looking back it was very minor.  The bridge going to the Island is a very narrow old drawbridge. We were almost across when a truck with mirrors at the same height as mine came in the opposite direction.  While we were both in our lanes, the mirrors "kissed" and shattered.  It was pretty upsetting when it happened, but really could have been so much worse.  I probably would have been more upset at the time if I hadn't been keeping my cool so the kids wouldn't be upset.  It is a no fault accident so I have an added expense from the trip, darn!  I rigged two cosmetic mirrors with Gorilla Tape, and although they got us home I'm not going to travel any further with them.  

We pulled into the campground with our trauma, and within a half an hour the kids were at the beach!  Our site was great, we had trees around to shade Saffire, just down from a shower and yards from the beach.  We were so close the kids could run back and forth to Saffire if they needed something.  

This was their first time at the beach, and they loved it.  I don't think they love it as much as their Mother though!  Kristin could stay in the water and sit and read at the beach from morning to night. 

The temperature started climbing Monday, and the week got hotter and hotter.  Thank God for Saffire's air conditioning.  It was so hot that Teddy cried when he walked across the dry sand on the way back from the beach!  No one at home felt sorry for us because they were having 100+ temps and we at least had water and beach breezes.  

Hunting Island has the only SC lighthouse open to climb to the top.  Kristin doesn't much like heights, so her reactions were great!  It was really a lesson on the power of water and erosion to learn the lighthouse had originally been 1.5 miles inland and now is only 400 yards from the beach!

Philip and Elyse loved their boogy boards, and Philip made friends with two fishermen.  They caught a big shark which he got to hold and two stingrays!  See, that's why I love the mountains, those things are swimming around in that water with you!!!!!!!!!

We took some time off  Thursday and went to see Up and did some laundry.  We all liked the movie and it was nice to get away from the heat for a while.  

Friday was great as my WAC friend Nancy from Atlanta arrived to visit with her daughter Susan and her dogs Lizzie and Jack.  Nancy and Susan were in Charleston to see the Tall Ships and I was really glad they came to Hunting to see us.  Susan is darling and I love Nancy and her dogs.  It was, as usual, very hot that day.  Elyse helped make a mexican dip we shared and we took a walk to the beach.  Susan didn't have a suit so only the dogs got in the water.  Thanks for coming over Nancy!

We broke camp Friday afternoon, took down the screen room and put up the bikes.  We pretty much had everything ready to go for Saturday morning.  We decided to go into town to the book store and go out for dinner.  Elyse is a HUGE reader and needed a couple of more books to get home.  The bookstore in Beaufort was charming, carrying used and rare books.  Elyse settled on a book published in the late 40's, a mystery featuring Shirley Temple!  There was a whole series of mysteries written around movie stars of the 40's.  

Dinner was at a wonderful little restaurant, The Wren.  I had my favorite Low Country dish, grits with shrimp, lobster and scallops.  The flavors were mouth watering, and the children both tried the scallops and decided they weren't bad!  

Saturday morning had us coming across the cursed bridge with no problems, and heading to the mountains!  We had a beautiful drive to Moonshine Creek Campground in Balsam, NC.  It is about 20 miles from Asheville, a bit isolated and wonderful!!!  We emerged to NO humidity, 70 degree temps, a creek rushing right behind our campsite, life was good!   It made me feel good just to be there.  

Elyse and Phil were refreshed too, squeezing cherries into their water to create new drinks, playing games and running all over.  Elyse created a magic show for us, with assigned seating! She was very clever with her card tricks, watch out when she gets old enough to go to the casino!! 

When we went to bed we had all the windows open and left a fan on, by morning we were all freezing!!  What a difference a few miles can make!!!!!

Sunday found us heading into the Smoky Mountains.  We stopped at the Cherokee museum and thought it was well done.  On into the mountains we made a stop and took a nice hike.  It is such a beautiful area, I love all the ferns and streams, and the mountains unfolding beyond us.  

We decided we wanted to go horseback riding, so we found a stable for a late afternoon ride.

I used to ride a lot, but hadn't been on a horse in probably six years.  I assumed (you know what that word means, don't you?) they would have a mounting block, well, surprise surprise.  And I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have any trouble mounting!!  We had a lovely ride up the mountain along the stream and I remembered how much I love to ride.  I realized before long that my stirrups were too short, and boy my knees started to hurt.  I thought I was going to limp for the rest of my life when I first dismounted, holding on to Elyse and Phil to hobble across the corral!  After I got locomoting all was well again.  

Kristin, Elyse and Philip really enjoyed their ride.  Brochures at the stable alerted Elyse to the Guiness Museum in Gatlinburg where we were going to spend the night.  It was her heart's desire to see the museum, so after we set up Saffire we boarded one of the Gatlinburg Trolley's and went in for dinner and the Guiness Museum.  There were at least a million people in the town, what a tourist place.  And what a rip off, Guiness was really a sad worn place, and I felt bad for Elyse that she was so let down.  I think I will have to get her the book for Christmas, as that is why she wanted to see the "stuff".  

Monday morning we went to Nashville and spent several hours at The Hermitage,  Andrew Jackson's home plantation.   The state of TN has done a wonderful job with the house, grounds and museum and we all loved it.  As we were leaving the grounds to go back to the museum and gift shop, Philip started howling.  A bee had gotten between his flip flop and foot and stung him!  The stinger was still in and and we had to pull it out.  He recovered quickly but that was not to be our last trauma with his foot.  

When we  came out of the museum it was around four, and we debated a six hour drive home or going to our campground.  As we had no plans for Tuesday but driving, we decided to head home.  We would have a cool evening drive and all day Tuesday to unpack and be home.  

We were in Kentucky when howls erupted from the back.  It was Philip, who had pulled the skin off of a blister on his foot and thought he was going to die!  Oh he was in such pain, like no one else had ever felt.  He needed his Mother NOW.  A nearby exit and a first aid kit soothed the savage beast, and we were able to continue our trek home.  The carrot of a stop at Steak and Shake for dinner kept us going, and Phil was asleep ten minutes after he finished his dinner.

Elyse and Philip were great travelers, the only tears were the result of Philip's foot traumas, and there were very few sibling squabbles.  We travelled nearly 2,000 miles and Saffire performed perfectly.  Kristin did all the cooking; we played Scrabble, Farkle and UNO; we read a lot; we watched episodes of The Waltons on DVD (a series which is surprisingly sophisticated); loved our trips to Beaufort; had sore bottoms from riding and all agreed we had a great trip.

Elyse wants to go to The Four Corners next!

I'm sorry for the long post, and I know I've forgotten lots of fun things.  I'll try to do better next trip!  

On the Road Again

Saffire is home and ready to be packed for our next adventure.  Getting her ready to get ready was an adventure in itself.  I went out and turned on the generator and ran the air conditioner to make sure everything was operating properly, only to have it "pop" off, no generator, no a/c!

It was really good I tried it, because on taking it out for service it seems we had a one in a million problem....a WalMart plastic bag had been sucked into the intake of the generator, causing it to overheat and shut down!   No telling how long the bag had been there or where it came from, but we brought her home from the shop yesterday and I am hoping to get out and start rearranging things today.

We are planning to leave Saturday morning, my daughter Kristin and grandchildren Elyse and Philip, for Hunting Island, SC.  Hunting Island is off the coast of Beaufort, SC, and is owned by the state of SC. Hunting has almost four miles of beach and is rated one of the top ten beaches in the US, and is in the book "One Thousand Places to See Before You Die".  It sits between Charleston and Savannah.  

Our itinerary will take us through Chattanooga and Atlanta on the way to the beach.  We plan on two long days, arriving Sunday evening.  After a week at the beach we'll head to The Smoky Mountains, spending a night on the south side of the mountains, a day in the park, and a night just north of the park in Gatlinburg.  

From there we travel to Nashville and a visit to Andrew Jackson's Plantation The Hermitage, with a stop at a corps of engineers campground close by.  Then we'll make our way back to STL, Sarriving on the 30th or the 1st.  

We are all very excited about the trip, and Kristin has driven Saffire a little so that she'll feel comfortable to give me a break if need be.  

I will post updates with pictures when we have wifi, and look forward to showing you a trip with tanned children and beach treasures!  

Rain, Rain Go Away!!!

The trip to Memphis for an Elvis sighting at the Heartbreak Hotel RV Park and lots of good barbecue at the Cookoff has been postponed!  The forecast for Memphis is storms, and after the last two trips, I've had enough camping in the rain.  

We were going to use the shuttles and cabs to get around Memphis and it all sounded very soggy!

So I've spent this morning cleaning Saffire.  She's going in for some minor maintenance issues and then we'll pack for the beach.  

Kristin, Elyse, Philip and I leave on June 20th for Hunting Island, SC.  Will have wifi the first night, so look for a post and pix on June 20th from Chattanooga, TN, with a full report on the beach and pix to follow.  

Happy Summer Everyone!

Pictures from Tennessee

More pictures from the Tennessee trip!

The Uppity Blues Women in Tennessee

Saffire, The Uppity Blues Women were performing at the Red, White and Blues Review in Kingsport, TN on May 2.  

A group of WAC's  traveled to TN to join me for a great show.  Luanne met me in Kentucky to travel to Kingsport.  We had planned to stay at Taylorsville Lake State Park, but it was full, probably because the Kentucky Derby was running that weekend and it's close to Louisville.  We ended up at Rolling Meadows, a privately owned park which was very pleasant.  We had sites on top of a hill and a huge meadow behind us for the dogs to run.

Nancy, Patricia, Jeanne, Deb, Mary Anne and Janis all joined us at Warriors Path State Park outside of Kingsport.  

Unfortunately, the rain, rain, rain followed us all the way to TN and really hung around for the whole week we were out. 

 It didn't dampen the excitement of attending the concert and the campfire, fueled with pie and chocolate martinis, which took us into the wee hours of the morning.  Saffire played a lot of their new music and were out mixing with the crowd during intermission.  We all had a great time being together.  There is a story about a rabid fan who was sitting next to Nancy during the concert, but I think you had to be there to really appreciate it.  Suffice it to say, we were in our usual hysterics being together!

Tuesday found Luanne and I heading home in the pouring rain.  We planned to go to Cumberland Gap National Historic Site which has a nice campground and lots of good hikes.

We drove through driving rain which thankfully cleared as we set up at the campground.  It is times like this that I really love my Saffire.  It was really nice to have room to move around in Saffire to eat and watch movies as the rain later dumped on us again. 

The Gap is the opening in the mountains which Daniel Boone explored and brought pioneer families through into the rich farmlands of Kentucky.  We hiked all through the same paths that the Boone party and the Indians traveled.  Knowledge of the history of the land really makes the hikes a special experience.  

Wednesday brought more rain, but we went to the top of the mountain and walked in the clouds, which was really pretty cool.  We returned to the same walk Thursday when we actually a some sunshine and were amazed at the view when the clouds lifted!  The visitors center, movies, all the trails, everything is really well done in this park.  I'd love to go back when the rain isn't a constant threat. 

Cumberland Gap, TN is an historic town just east of the Cumberland Tunnel.  We discovered a nice little restaurant there and had lunch both days.  There was a historical site just down the street, so after lunch on Thursday we went down for another short hike.  The site was an old iron furnace, and as we approached it we heard a growing roar.  The reward for days of rain was an amazing mountain of water cascading just beyond us!  It really was the most magnificent site.  

We packed up and headed home Friday, with yes, more rain!  We chose to drive some back roads and found a wonderful little city park to have lunch and let the dogs run while we had a bit of sunshine.  Saffire makes it easy to pull over, get out a couple of chairs and make yourself at home.  The drive was beautiful, and all too soon we hit 75 to go north.  

As we were going right past Mammoth Cave National Park we went in to check it out.  Just after we arrived a really huge, black, blowing, scary storm arrived, so we sat it out in the restaurant.  We were really glad not to be on the road.  This park is undergoing renovation, and unless you want to go on the cave tour isn't much to see.  

We ended the day at a pretty awful place, Grandma's RV park in Shepherdsville, KY.  It was just a big gravel motorhome site, full of million dollar rv's.  No campfires, no place for the dogs, nobody outside, quiet everywhere.  But we were tired and it was the only place around to stop. Luanne came over around 6 am and told me she was packed and leaving.  I got out around 9 and home early afternoon.  

It was a good trip in spite of the rain, but I am really, really tired of dealing with all the damp mess that rain brings with it.  Skidaway, then TN, now I'm home and it looks like rain again.

Stay tuned to the blog, if it's not pouring Saffire leaves with Susie, Christine and me for the Heartbreak Hotel and Graceland next Thursday!!!!

Next stop after that....Hunting Island, June 21st!

I'm going to post a bunch of pictures from this trip, enjoy!