Black Dog

This title is a Led Zeppelin song and so appropriate to be about Sirius. After our tour and lunch we went back to the campground and took Sirius to their wonderful dog park. It is huge and has a big lake for the dogs to swim. Sirius did really well and chased his ball into the water. He even brought it back a few times.

Sirius made a few new friends and really enjoyed himself. Afterwards he allowed us to hose him down and dry him. What a good boy!

Hot Fun in the Summertime

Another hot day and we are off to do some sightseeing this morning. Our destination is Fort Sumter and we drove to Patriot's Point to catch the tour boat. On the way we drive over and then sail past the beautiful Talmedge Bridge.

The fort was built after the war of 1812 and was originally three stories high with five foot thick brick walls. it was built to hold 135 guns and 650 men. At the start of the Civil War it had only 15 cannon mounted and ready. A Union army regiment moved into the fort after South Carolina seceded from the Union and five other states joined them to form the Confederacy. When the Union refused to abandon the fort the Confederates attacked and drove them out within two days. This was the beginning of the Civil War.

Today the fort has been restored from the rubble that was left after the Civil War. From 1876 to 1897 it served as a lighthouse station. During the Spanish-American War it was set up with 12-inch rifles and a battery building was built on the parade grounds. A small garrison manned the rifles during WWI and Sumter was reactivated during WWII when 90-mm antiaircraft guns were installed. After the war the fort was transferred to the National Park Service and in 1948 it became a national monument. Outside was a monument to the original Union troops and all the flags that have flown over the fort.

Back in the USSR

You don't know how lucky you are..... We are back in South Carolina and just seeing the Spanish Moss hanging from the Live Oak Trees is uplifting. We drove all day and arrived in Charleston at four o'clock. We are now settled at the James Island County Park Campground. Unfortunately we were greeted by mosquitoes and I have not missed the biting bugs this summer. It is also very hot and we have no air conditioning except when we are driving. We have literally limped home. Our a/c is gone, awning cannot be used and now we have lost one of our windows. There is a small crank window in our bedroom and it was left open and blew off somewhere today. Hope it doesn't rain as we will have to duct tape plastic over it.  In addition our electric system is shot. But we are so happy to be close to home and everything can be fixed. Our site is spacious and shady and the park is a great place to walk and enjoy nature. The TV works and we have several channels we can watch. We feel wonderful and Sirius has turned out to be a terrific travel companion. For dinner we went to the Charleston Crab House right on the water. I had a Carolina platter with crab cake, fried shrimp and snow crab legs with melted butter. She Crab soup to start made it a perfect meal with a great view.

When we got back to the campground this big owl greeted us at the entrance. The park has a huge XMAS light display each year and they are getting ready.

A few days here to relax and some doctor's appointments and we should be home on Wednesday. Yeah!

These Boots are Made for Walking

Saturday night and we are staying overnight near the top of North Carolina. Here is what we've been up to since leaving camp. We spent Tuesday with Carol, Sharon and Jon as described in the previous post. Wednesday was a real shock to my system as I had a mani/pedi and got ready to reenter the real world. My toes are now light purple and my nails are a pretty pink. Carol and I did a little shopping and then had fun cooking together in the afternoon. Jeff came down for dinner along with Jon and Megan. We had a lovely holiday meal and then I stayed overnight. Sirius was invited for dinner and he was very well behaved. Poor Pepper, Carol's cat, came down to say hi and when she saw a dog she made a hasty retreat. When I was ready for bed we searched for Pepper and finally found her under my bed. After shooing her out I had a good night's sleep.

Thursday was Rosh HaShanah and Carol and I went to services at Temple Emunah where Carol has worshipped for over 30 years. Services were uplifting and we talked with lots of old friends. Later we hung around and Jeff came to get me late afternoon. Carol took us to a great Italian restaurant and then we went back to the campground. Friday morning we rolled out and headed south. We drove over  500 miles and spent the night outside of Washington, DC. We stayed at the same place we had been on the way up. This morning we woke up to hot weather and Sirius and I took a very long walk and saw two deer. We packed up and started driving just across the river to Virginia where we stopped to visit nephew Larry and his wife Laura. They just moved into a beautiful new home and have already unpacked and decorated.

They took us to a new shopping area where we had lunch outside. Sirius is with us and such a good boy. It is very hot for him and we are anxious to get back to the RV and air conditioning. We continue our trip leaving DC and the terrible traffic behind. By 6:00 pm we have passed Richmond and crossing the state line into North Carolina. Parked in our campground we have time to relax and have dinner. Our entertainment tonight is a favorite movie, The American President with Michael Douglas and Annette Bening. This is one of the movies we watch every summer along with RV, Moonstruck and all the Harry Potters.

So Long, Farewell

This title from The Sound of Music is perfect as we set off and work is done! Our last work day was Labor Day and we packed up and were ready to hit the road this morning. One hitch as our awning decided not to retract. After talking nice to it and prodding we got some assistance from Paul and his ladder and it was rolled up manually and secured. We drive off just before one o'clock and got to our new campground in Massachusetts two hours later.

At dinnertime we headed to Franklin to visit my niece Sharon and husband Jon in their new home. We loved it and they are fixing it up beautifully. The rooms are large with great windows and all on a fantastic one acre lot. Best of all they are expecting a little girl in a few months to share their life. Carol met us there and we all went out for a delicious Italian feast. Yum!