10 May 2022 Sesquicentennial Park, Columbia, SC to Myrtle Beach SC

Left Columbia after an epic weekend of graduation stuff. Will write about that later, but needless to say... I needed some time to recover.

As I lifted the jacks on the RV, the front jacks did not want to go all the way up - which is what has been happening the last few times.  I checked that they were high enough (they had less than an inch to go before being totally stowed) and headed off.  The problem with driving while not fully stowed is the Whale emits this extremely irritating beep to let me know I should not be driving...  After about 30 minutes I pulled over at a rest stop and took out tool J (the hammer) and gave the jacks a slight tap each to see if that would persuade them to stow.

Well 3 hours later and just as I was pulling into the Costco in Myrtle beach to fill up, the beeping stopped - not the most pleasant drive, maar nou ja....

$225 later and a full tank I did the last 11 miles to Myrtle Beach State park.  Beautiful.  Spanish moss as you enter the park and very friendly park rangers everywhere.  I had a back-in site with water and electricity, so this was my second 'solo' back-in to a site.  When I got to my site, I had about 3 cars/RVs behind me waiting, so I hopped out and asked the neighbors to help me backup.  The guy looked a bit puzzled but I said just shout if I was going to hit anything.  After settling in I figured out that said neighbor was a French Canadian and could not really speak english ...

11 May

Took the bike to the nearest Walmart to get the gear for my new griddle (thanks Bernd).  Naturally they did not have it, so I went to the pier and had a beer.  The place makes me think of Avon on the Outer Banks where we go most summers  (my final destination on this section). We rented a house in Avon from 4 June for 2 weeks.   Its going to be lots of fun. Sea looks the same, but much more built-up here at Myrtle beach.

Before the beer, I went for a swim.  Water was warm, waves were not really surf-able, but there were 2 surfers out.  Was great to have my first swim of the summer.

A trash octopus at the Myrtle Beach art museum.

 

 

 

 

 

12 May

Rainy windy day.  Small craft advisory out due to mega high tide and rip currents, so definitely not surf-able.  Had a great walk along the beach on the sand bank the waves were washing over.  I did go for a walk and met up with 2 wedding organizers setting up 8 chairs on the beach - pretty minimalist wedding but great setting.  Dirty sea foam was blowing up against the chairs and it all looked pretty unpleasant.  I asked if it was a good idea, but apparently the bride had said that she was getting married on the beach - come hell or high water (which was just 15 minutes past).

 

 

 

 

So I figured out what the downside of the state park is - it is right next to Myrtle beach airport and the planes are at about 100ft when they come over the park.  Not really a big deal, but great for photos.  Need to get a good one.

 ps: the bush under the airplane is the campsite.

Big thing though is I took the Left Whale in for an oil change - the first one.  I needed to see how it gets done so that I can do the next one myself.  Went to Coastal Car Center in Myrtle beach - Bill and his wife run a mom and pop auto shop and the nicest people.  Their son is also graduating this weekend, so they were very excited.  Bill probably spent an extra hour going over the Whale explaining everything to me.  The good news is all I need to get the jacks not beeping again is new retraction springs that are apparently relatively cheap, and I can do it myself.

At least I am pretty confident I can do the next engine and generator oil change.  General verdict from Bill was that Gary (the previous owner) really looked after this baby.

13 May

Had 3 older ladies move in next door.  They were locals who 'left their ordinary lives at home' for the weekend to come and camp and celebrate one of their 50th birthdays. Luckily one of them was an experienced camper who had all the gadgets and there were many.

Saturday I went for a great swim/bodysurf session in the morning and then packed up for Holden beach.