# 39 Cypress Gardens, SC

Ron has always wanted to paddle a swamp.  We have enjoyed many canoe paddling days in our past but it's been a while since we've been in a "self-propelled" vessel.  In my research of the Charleston area, I came across a full-time blogger's positive comments about Cypress Gardens .  When I suggested it to Ron, he enthusiastically said "Yea, that sounds pretty good."  We made plans to visit yesterday afternoon.  We found a delightful place that had interesting animal displays and exhibits..plus a swamp canoe trail.  Several movies have been filmed here..most notably The Notebook.

The first stop was the Butterfly Exhibit.  We were amazed with all of the different butterflies.

This was a Zebra Longwing Butterfly.  It stopped long enough for us to get a photo.

We visited the Reptile Room that was full of turtles, toads, frogs, several varieties and fish, alligators, crocodiles and of course.....snakes.

As we walked the trail, we came to the canoe launch for the swamp trail.  Ronnie couldn't wait, finally a swamp to paddle.

The black plastic you see on the right was part of their "Halloween-themed" swamp tour planned for the weekend.  They had Halloween props set up along the first part of the trail.  Ronnie said he didn't care for the floating doll heads and plastic body parts.

The gentleman at the boat house mentioned that a few alligators had been sighted throughout the day.  Oh boy, can't wait to see one of those.  We kept our eyes peeled and we saw 5 of them.  Two were a good 6 feet long.

Waterlilies were everywhere.  This place would provide an artist many landscape opportinities.  Where's my watercolor pad??

It was so quiet and peaceful.  As we looked around, we saw several turtles sunning themselves on logs.  Suddenly, Ronnie noticed over to his right...an alligator.

The reflection of the trees in the water provided for an interesting photo.  The water was so still. 

This creative painting was at the end of the trail....and reminded me of some of my elementary art lessons from the past!

TGIF

Oh wait a minute..we're retired.

Wonder what we'll get into today?

# 38 Charleston, SC

We have had a fantastic time visiting with Rick and Gail of the Gypsy Turtles in Charleston, SC.  We arrived last Saturday evening at the Oak Plantation Campground and relaxed with a Happy Hour beverage and some tasty snacks.  We talked about all the possibilities Charleston has to offer and soon we had a plan. 

We started with a Sunday visit to the Southend Brewery.  We enjoyed good craft brews, sandwiches and even better conversation.  

 

Monday, we scheduled a boat tour of the Charleston Harbor area.

The weather was cool and cloudy but that didn't hinder us.  We saw lots of sites and learned interesting facts about the history of the Charleston Harbor.

  One of the many sites we saw was Fort Sumter.

 Unfortunately, it was closed due to the government shutdown.

We got to see this unique view of the Arther Ravenel Bridge.

Tuesday was our "chill out" day.  Gail and I spent some quality time at Costco shopping.  Ron and Rick....well they spent time doing motorhome maintenance items.

Wednesday we began the day with a walk on the trail that's part of the Arther Ravenel Bridge.  What views we saw!  Ron really enjoyed this experience.  We didn't walk the entire trip of the bridge trail, we got distracted by the amazing views we saw from the top.
  Later in the day, we had planned a carriage ride through the city of Charleston.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a delightful carriage ride through the city of Charleston.  Again, we learned many interesting facts and saw some beautiful seaside homes.  Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable.  Ron and I both agreed that we would take this tour again as it gave us a more personal view of the city.

Rick and Gail had plans to move on to their next destination this morning.   We said our "Good-byes, Safe Travels and Wow, we had a great time!" and know we'll see them again..maybe next year sometime.   As for our plans, we have decided to spend several more days here.  We have found we really enjoy this city and have a few other places on our list we would like to explore.  Also Ron has an important birthday coming up so we decided this might be a great place to celebrate this occasion.  

Stay tuned...  

We went to Cypress Gardens today.   Beautiful!

# 37 Sold

We sold our fifth wheel today.  We really enjoyed the time we spent in it.  It was comfortable, well suited for us and we made some happy memories.  We hope the new owners will love it as much as we did.

Now on to the next adventure......

# 36 Rocket Man

 Rocket Man

The group had an area set up for registration.

We were in the Christiansburg, VA area last weekend visiting family.  We were invited by our brother-in-law Carlos, to view the monthly Medium Rocket Launch that's organized by the New River Valley Rocketry Group. They are affiliated with the Rocket Club of Virginia Tech.  We had a great time.  Carlos has all kinds of rockets, some so big that you have to go to a special launch pad that has FAA waivers.  Today's launch doesn't have any that large.  These are called "medium" rockets.  His rockets launched during this event include: Red Max, Chloe's Pink Bubble Gum (with HD camera) and the Chartreuse Green Machine.  There were people of all ages launching rockets today. I suspect one day some of the kids participating may be our next rocket scientists.






This was the first group of rockets to be launched.






I had to be quick with the shutter to get these photos.  The rockets went up fast!

Carlos had a couple of "chuffs".

These are misfires
that can be caused
by mis-communications and other technical difficulties. 
Red Max finally went up in the air in a huge puff of smoke.
                                                                                   

And what goes up, must come down...




and then you have to go retrieve your rocket...

.











It was so much fun especially watching the little ones enjoy seeing their rockets launched.














Next rocket to be launched was Chloe's Bubble Gum Rocket.  Carlos had mounted an HD video camera on the side.  Due to the uneven weight, the rocket went up a little "squiggly".  The resulting video image was squiggly too.


                                                      

Last was the Chartreuse Green Machine.  It was a successful launch too. 

 We really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks Carlos for the invitation. I heard many technical terms associated with the rocket and engine types, igniters and classification levels.  I asked lots of questions but after a while I knew I wouldn't get all the terms and quotes as accurate as I would like.  Hopefully the group will understand and view this post as an event we enjoyed and will forgive any technical information I might have left out.

# 35 NC State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, NC

We decided to Eas-On Down The Road for about 3 hours, all the way to Raleigh.....

We arrived at the NC State Fairgrounds Campground a few days before the Labor Day weekend.  We had received an invitation from Rick and Gail, of the Gypsy Turtles blog, to join them for a pot luck dinner that she was planning. We decided to come on earlier since we had lots of reasons to get out on the road...a visit with them, a visit with our family, local errands we needed to run in the area, the motor home needed to be exercised and I've been wanting to meet Howard and Linda Payne of  RV-Dreams.  We read they were to be guest presenters for the  RVing seminars at the Raleigh RV and Camping Show.  When Ron and I started our research on full-time RVing, we soon discovered the website, RV-Dreams.  We found it informative and very helpful as we prepared for our transition to this lifestyle.  Their inspirational site offers a forum, the blog of their travels and many other excellent features, that can answer questions one might have if interested in full-timing.  It's also great for other general RV info as well.  I've been following their blog for 3 years now and after meeting them can say they are as friendly and genuine in person as they seem in their blog. 

We had a great time visiting with Rick and Gail throughout the week.  We also got to enjoy few Happy Hours....  What a blast! We got to met Peggy and Gary of mooreRVfun when they stopped by for a visit too.

Gail did an awesome job organizing a Happy Hour/Pot Luck for Saturday.  For us, it was a special opportunity to be a part of a gathering of friends that have become acquainted through the RV-Dreams Rallies.  It was an evening of laughs, catching up and listening to fond memories. Howard and Linda of RV-Dreams were the initiators of many of these friendships, bringing together people through their popular rallies, with the same RVing dream in common.

We also enjoyed visiting with Gin and Syl of Wandering Sylville.  We met Laura & Bruce, Hank & Selene and John & Terri.  All of these couples met through the RV-Dreams Rallies.  It was a lot of fun getting to know these people.




 

The funny stories about RVing kept us entertained for a while.  We all laughed and laughed about our hilarious experiences and uh-oh moments.  What a great group!









I had to "pinch myself" to realize that all of this was happening in my "front yard".  It took 3 years of planning and work to achieve our full-timing goal. 





                                                      
We all enjoyed the delicious food and  I think everyone there had a great time.  No doubt, RVers are a special community of people.  It will be a weekend Ron and I will always remember.     

Ron says:  Retirement is great!

         

# 34 Miscellaneous Notes

  We are still located at Page Place RV Park in Cedar Point, NC.  I haven't posted to the blog lately because we have not traveled anywhere in the past 2 months.  My reason for having a blog is for recording our travels..so until we begin moving,  posts will be short and limited.  However, we are doing fine...including Little Boy.

We have been staying busy with small projects as we continue to enjoy our motor home.  Ron has completed a few maintenance items.  He replaced the air conditioner shrouds, repaired a small water leak near the front windshield and washed and waxed the roof.

I passed the written part of the NC non-CDL Class B driver's license test.  I was issued a learner's permit that expires in 18 months.   This permit allows me to drive the motor home under the supervision of another NC Class B driver's license holder.  Our plans are for me to practice driving the motorhome in a BIGGG, empty parking lot first.  I don't know if I'll get my NC Class B license, I've got a lot of practice to do before I can even attempt to take the driving part of the Class B test.

We have been fishing and we've had some success.  Ronnie caught 2 regulation-size flounder and they made a delicious dinner for us one night.

The water was very calm..northeast winds 5-10 mph.

This flounder was 16 inches.

We baked the flounder fillets in lemon juice, a bit of butter and Old Bay Seasoning.

One time Ronnie said he had a "big" fish on his hook.  He pulled and pulled on his rod and reel.  I got the camera out all ready and excited.... this is what he caught!

Ron said he really thought he had a big fish...not.

This is the Bell Buoy (Sea Buoy) that marks the entrance/exit to Bogue Inlet from the ocean.  It is obviously very calm or we would NOT be here.

This is the fishing charter boat "Nancy Lee V".  It leaves out of Cedar Point.

Our fifth wheel remains on consignment at Dwight Dickens Auto in Fuquay-Varina, NC.

2004 Carriage Compass, 32 ft.  2 slides, new awning

 

That's all for now.  I'll post again when we "Eas-on Down the Road"...