April 7th, Saturday – Goodby South Carolina, Hello North Carolina

Moving Day!  Wouldn’t you know it, we’re leaving and the temperatures are coming up again.  Just our luck.  Ah well, you take the good with the bad, or in this case the warm with the cold.  So it was up and at it this morning, but we were in no rush.  We’ve got this moving thing pretty well nailed down, so much so that we can usually be on the road by 9:30/10:00 am.  Barbara takes care of the inside and I take care of all things outside.  We make a perfect team.

So it was, we were on the road by 9:30 am.  First stop was at the local Shell station for gas.  OK, when it clicked off it appeared to be the right amount, gallons wise.  Furthermore, it would not let me put any more in.  That was odd but I didn’t put two and two together.  That would come later.

So we all settled in for the trip north.  Marti, of course, assumed his normal position in the

front passenger seat on Barbara’s left let.  Try as we might he will not go anywhere else.

While I, the captain of the ship, settled into the captain’s chair and got down to business.

North bound on I-95, it was easy rolling at least for the first few hours.  Then there it

was that classic sign that lets one know that you are now leaving South Carolina and heading into North Carolina.   Up until now the trip had been a piece of cake but that was about to change.  First, just a few drops.  Then the down pour began, and it rained, and

rained, and it is raining even now as I sit typing this blog.  Yes, it is definitely wet here.

The next hurdle to come was an accident blocking one lane.  A 6 mile back up crawling

north inch by inch.  It took some time to get through this but in time we were clear and moving north once more at a brisk pace.

That’s when I looked down and what only a quarter tank of gas.  OK, time to find a station and fill up.  Well the only station close was another Shell station.  But wait it clicked off at 20 gallons and would not let me put anymore it.  What in the world was going on?  That’s when we discovered if you use the Shell reward card you can only get 20 gallons at a time.  Want more?  Go see the cashier.  Each time you want more than 20 gallons.  Go see the cashier.  What a pain when you are trying to fill an RV.  And now it became clear why at the first stop it also clicked off so soon.  It also became clear as to why we went to a quarter tank of gas so soon.  The first time it gave me 20 gallons which appeared to be enough to top off – but clearly was not.  Morale of the story, avoid Shell stations like the plague.

Like we stated, home is where we park it, and this is our home for tonight.  As members

of Harvest’s Hosts we are able to park free at a number of Winery’s, flea markets, and farms of all sorts throughout the United States.  So tonight we are in a huge field watching the rain continuing to come down.  Hopefully, by tomorrow it will stop.

After we parked, we encountered the next bump of this trip.  The refrigerator will not run on electric, only propane.  Try to put it on electric and it pops the 12 volt circuit breaker.  Go figure it’s brand new.  Not worried, however, since it will at least run on propane.  Tomorrow when we are settled in for the week at our next stop I’ll try to noodle this one out; or find someone who can for me.

The nice thing about staying at a winery, you get to go to one of their wine tastings.  Barb and I tried 9 different wines each.  Barb tried the dry wines and I tried the sweet.  We found a couple of wines that we liked.  After the wine tasting, we got back home and had supper.  Barb had made pulled pork overnight in the crock pot and we heated it up now.

So we’ve come to the end of our day.  Generator is on and the heater is running.  Early to bed tonight if only so that we can get deep under the covers to keep warm.  It was a frustrating day in many ways but it was still a good day.  We were together.  We made it safely to our stop for the night.  All things considered we’re not going to complain.

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before