So, using the excuse that one of Mike's favorite shirts had two small holes in it, after I dropped him off at the airport on Saturday, I drove straight to a mall to replace it. We never shop on our travels, other than for groceries, so this was a treat. And I'm not even a big shopper.
Sunday morning was the church dilemma. It is not an easy task finding a church on the road. At least for me. If you are Catholic, you just ask directions to the nearest Catholic church. Ditto for Lutherans. But if you are looking for a Bible believing, Bible teaching, non-denominational church, it becomes a little more difficult. Based on convenience more than anything, I ended up at a church a little over a mile away from the campground in Surfside Beach. It was a good service. And I seem to hit churches on their hospitality Sundays because they were having a free catered lunch after the service. (In Utah, it was the third Sunday of the month potluck when I was there).
I didn't stay for lunch as I was on my way to Charleston (Mt. Pleasant, to be exact) to spend the afternoon with family - PJ and Jessica O'Mara and their two cute daughters, Taylor and Jayden. Brad O'Mara and his girlfriend Ashley joined us. PJ and Brad are Mike's second cousins, but we dispense of such formalities and just say "cousins". We had a wonderful time, filled with lots of laughing and reminiscing. The hours flew by and I found myself making the almost 2 hour trip back after dark, but it was worth it. So far, a bonus of this eastern trip has been the chance for us to catch up with some extended family members that we don't get to see very often.
The weather didn't quite cooperate with my planned beach day on Monday. It was overcast all day, which didn't make me want to rush to the water. It was perfect for a bike ride, though. I set off to explore the campground, knowing from the map that it was really, really big. When I was done, my pedometer app said I had ridden 5 miles and I didn't even get through the whole park! Later that afternoon I did plop a chair in the sand. (it might have been overcast, but it was still warm - you have to be thankful for the little things. . . ) Taking a break from my book, I strolled the beach in search of sea shells. I didn't have to look hard - they are everywhere. Not so the dolphins - I never did see any. The coming and going of the tides are very visible here. When Mike and I walked the beach one morning, I thought the beach area seemed narrow. But that afternoon, the tide was out and the beach tripled in size. I enjoyed watching the sandpipers scurrying in and out of the water. We didn't so much enjoy the pitter-patter of little feet we constantly heard in the motorhome. Thinking it was raindrops, but knowing it wasn't raining outside, we discovered blackbirds were running on our roof. What could be up there to attract them?
Tuesday was cleaning day :( and Mike flew back in :).
We woke Wednesday morning to the first bit of sunshine we have had in days. The wind, however, was fierce. It was so strong it blew our bikes over. Our idea of getting in another round of golf changed because I have a hard enough time hitting the ball straight or far without battling the wind. We did some maintenance things, or I should say Mike did: putting air in our bike tires and getting the collected rain off the roof and slide out awnings. And we took a last walk on the beach.
I had seen The Carolina Opry advertised and thought it would be fun to go. A recommendation from friend Valerie sealed the deal for me so we went to this musical show on Wednesday night. Mike wasn't as eager as I was, but we both really liked it. The performers were excellent, and they did much more that just country music, as their name would imply. Comedy was part of the show, which made it even more enjoyable. One song title, "It's hard to kiss the lips at night that chew your butt all day" reminded us of the show we went to in Cody, Wyoming when they sang, "It takes a whole lotta liquor to like her."
And the comedian gave me a new pick-up line to pass along to our boys: "If you were a buger, I'd pick you first!" He then did a little ditty about dollar stores (which seem more plentiful down here than elsewhere) that was quite hilarious. Did you know Fiddle Faddle is the poor man's Cracker Jacks?
So, we are up to today - Thursday. We left Pirateland under sunny skies but cool temperatures. Not far outside of Myrtle Beach, we drove right past Coastal Carolina University. We had heard of it, but never knew where it was. We saw a sign advertising "Fresh Mountain Apples - turn right". Would mountain apples be different from those grown on flat land? Mike was not willing to make that right hand turn so I could find out. And we decided that Sparky's must be the South Carolina version of Wall Drug, judging by the number of billboards encouraging us to stop there. (clean restrooms seemed to be the biggest draw). And really, does anybody actually like boiled peanuts?
We are on our way to Charlotte, North Carolina, home to everything and anything NASCAR. I'm disappointed that I won't have a chance to bump into Jeff or Jimmy or Junior at a local restaurant as they are in Virginia for the race at Martinsville this Sunday!
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