Modoc Campground

April 11, 2014:  We arrived at Modoc Campground late in the afternoon yesterday.  It is a National Park campground with standard hook-ups (electric and water) so this is our first stop without sewer hook-up.  Today we toured the area seeing the Thurmond Dam on the Savannah River.  The dam, built from 1946-1954, created the J. Strom Thurmond Lake.  Our campsite is located on the shore of this 72,000 acre lake with 1,200 miles of shoreline.  We are in site 64, which is quite a nice site close to the water.  If you come here to camp try for site 64, 29, or 30.  Skipper is relaxed and enjoying the out of doors. The dogwood trees are in full bloom throughout the park.  I've always loved the wild dogwoods blooming throughout the forests.  We will leave this area on Tuesday morning, April 15th.

Sunrise on the Atlantic Coast

April 11, 2014:  Up early to see the beautiful sunrise!

Goodbye Myrtle Beach

We enjoyed our stay here in Myrtle Beach State Park.  We have reorganized, eliminated a few things, and added a few things.  I went for a hair cut for the first time since leaving home.  It was great to have the Market Commons area close by with some nice shops.  The man who cut my hair told me about a great local restaurant to have fish so we celebrated our last night with a visit there.  If you are in this area we highly recommend it.  I had grilled grouper and Chuck had shrimp....it was fabulous!  It is a small family owned restaurant called Mrs. Fish.  We started our last day with a pancake breakfast.  One of our additions was a single electric burner.  It seems that we will usually have electric hookup so it made sense to save our propane fuel.  After breakfast, we did household chores....laundry, vacuuming, mopping.....just a smaller place to clean, followed by our daily walk on the beach.  On some days the ocean reminded us of Lake Michigan....this was one of those days.  A few times we found some nice shells.....which we enjoyed while here, but will leave behind, pelicans flying overhead, and creatures living in shells.  Tomorrow morning we will pack up and head westward.  Next stop.....Modoc, South Carolina.  Our time here in Myrtle Beach has given us a good adjustment time.  We were uncertain and even a bit sad as we started on this venture a month ago.....I was even feeling a little homesick.....Michigan will always be home as we travel about our country.  The motorhome is beginning to feel like home.....and yes, Cas, we are having fun!  Oh, I cannot forget the "pollen attack", as they call it down here.  We have never experienced so much green floating and covering everything.  Despite the pollen, the weather has been excellent!  We were thankful that we had the opportunity to worship and commune with fellow Christians at Risen Christ LCMS Church while here.  We have met so many people in the campground and area.  Everyone has been a blessing....we are so thankful!

Myrtle Beach State Park

We arrived at the park on March 27th and plan to stay here until April 11th.  We extended our stay here so we could do some additional organizing and planning.  We have good internet and phone service here.  Also, it is a short distance for groceries and shopping. When you enter the park it is like an oasis away from the busy touristy area surrounding it. We are enjoying walks on the beach and trails and biking in the park and area.  There are many Canadians in the campground.  One couple told us that, unlike Americans, they have no place in their country to escape the winter weather so they come here.  They cannot stay away from Canada longer than six months or they loose their healthcare.  We like the park and have met many people.

French Broad River Campsite

It was a day of mountain driving so we did a one night stopover in Asheville, North Carolina, on our way to the east coast.

Blossoms

We left Fall Creek Falls early this morning, stopping for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel along the way.  These are the first blossoms we've seen.

Piney Creek Falls Hike

This hike took us in sight of the waterfall.  Then we ventured down to the river and followed it to top of the falls.