Stalked By A Turtle

During sixteen years of living in Charleston, SC, hurricane season was the singular thing I disliked the most. Well, collard greens are actually worse, but you get the point. September and October had always been a time of particularly intense business travel, with multiple trade shows and customer visits prepping for finishing the year strong. When the likes of Jim Cantore and other assorted weather prognosticators hype “Cones Of Uncertainty” “Spaghetti Models” “GFS, European, Canadian Tracking Models” and other speculation on tropical predictions every three hours, I’d watch Charleston go from outside the cone….to the bullseye….and then often outside the cone again. (And, I’d get sucked into the damn hype).

Should we evacuate….where would we go…when would we leave…? Making matters worse were if I was somewhere across the country and Lynn was home dealing with the preparations. As a weather geek and news junkie, I couldn’t look away but still hated looking. As Lynn and I backed out of our driveway for the last time to drive to the closing attorney’s office, I remember looking at the house fondly, but also thinking about how much I’d never miss hurricane season.

So, here we are – early September…Two Happy Campers (and a Happy Camping Cat)… in South Carolina – at the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. Yay, us.

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Hello from Lake Greenwood Motorcoach Resort. Unlike the Lake Norman “Motorcoach” Resort, which was a resort in name-only, this place is amazing…with one catch. First, the positives as the “New-Me” is a half-full glass of gin rather than a half-empty glass of gin type of guy. There are eighty five glamping sites perched along and above Lake Greenwood in Cross Hill, SC. Haven’t heard of Cross Hill, you say? Neither had we either, but Lynn found this You Tube video and it caught our attention.

We are staying at Lake Greenwood for eighteen nights and so far, we are having a blast. This is Lynn’s favorite campground and while its a solid #2, I still rank Petoskey RV Resort in Michigan as my #1. Lake Greenwood features large, level concrete surfaced sites, good water quality and pressure, owner-owned sites rented out by local management, no kids, an awesome pool and clubhouse and if that’s not enough, let’s add gorgeous views and sunsets over the lake. Aside from the occasional whistles of a passing freight train, the only negative is that this site is in the middle of nowhere. The closest supermarket is over twenty minutes away, the closest brewery is thirty minutes and local restaurants not named Mayberry Diner, Fat Daddy’s BBQ and Hardee’s are at least a half an hour away. So, in a sense…this IS the destination. As long as you’re OK with that, this place is awesome.

For our first five nights here, we were joined by Elizabeth and Wayne from Maryland, two wonderful people that we met at Newmar in July. They were the “Silver Lining” to our unscheduled trip back to the factory to have the defective drivers seat replaced. They have become fast-friends and have taught us both skills and life lessons. Whether it was creative brownie-baking, adjusting an RV awning, advanced air braking tips, fixing broken cabinet hardware…even learning that horses are not plotting to bite my face off…we learned that with the right butter and a pocket-sized adjustable wrench, we can achieve new heights as Do-It-Yourself-Ers. Our nightly talk sessions with Elizabeth and Wayne here an in Indiana along with our awesome Petoskey, Michigan time with new friends Bob and Stephanie have been my personal interaction highlights of our first five months on the road. Ironically…in the “Small World” department, Wayne and Elizabeth also met Bob and Stephanie while visiting Petoskey RV Resort. Talk about the slim odds of that! If not for a defective seat, we wouldn’t have two awesome new friends.

On Monday, as Wayne and Elizabeth pulled out of Lake Greenwood and back into civilization, I made my big move… All whopping eight feet of it. Lynn and I had what we felt was the second-best site in the park followed closely behind our friend’s spot. So, we did the usual thirty minute prep for departure… backed out of our site….and right into the one next door. Now, we are in the best site in the park, sitting on the deck as sunset concludes….happy campers, but missing our friends.

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During Labor Day weekend, Verizon signal strength to our phones and jetpack was terrible, but once boating traffic and full camp sites subsided, we have been able to stream, surf and communicate with the outside world perfectly fine. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised that a trio of hummingbirds arrived less than ten minutes after I set up the feeder. Each night we see (and hear) many ducks, geese, plus a blue heron and two nice surprises have been the early-rising and loud Carolina Wren and Eastern Bluebirds, two of my favorite wild bird varieties.

Charleston friends, Jim and Holly and are spending this weekend here and attending the Clemson game at their alma mater’s stadium. So, go Ducks, Tigers, Camels, Sand Slugs or whatever the Clemson team mascot is.

We have nine more days here at Lake Greenwood before moving to our next location – Hilton Head Island. Here’s hoping that friends of Hurricane Dorian do not come to visit us.

Lynn’s two cents – I love it here! I could stay for months. But on the other hand, I’m sure I will be ready to move on after another week. Looking forward to getting back to familiar territory in Hilton Head, then we will attend our fist Excapers Convergence at Jekyll Island, GA. Stay tuned!