Day 43: Meandering through the South

Thursday, May 16: Well, after we left Virginia, our goal was bee-line down to Florida to see my brother and his family before his next military deployment. We tried to coordinate our trip so we could hit DC for Police Week and then get down to Florida before his departure date. But my brother’s schedule changed last minute and he wont actually be in Florida for another week. So we are going to move south super slowly and meet up with one of Fred’s buddies in Jacksonville, Florida this weekend.  Today was one of those days that made me sit back and cherish just how much fun Fred and I have just hanging out together. It’s just simple things… This mornings simple moment that made us giggle, even before we got out of bed: Fred popped up super early to use the bathroom. After a few minutes, he crawled back into bed with super cold feet and said, “Warm me up.” I wiggled my sleeping bag from beneath me and pulled it across the both of us and said, “There you go.”  We giggled for a bit because an extra blanket was not what he was talking about.  We fell back asleep and then slept that way for another hour. The day warmed up quickly all on its own. By the time we finished breakfast, it was 80 degrees outside. We packed up camp and then walked around the camp ground for a little exercise before we hit the road. As we were ramping on the freeway, I saw a lone pony standing in a nearby field.  The little pony looked swollen and haggard. I said to Fred, “That pony looks hungover.” We laughed and Fred said, “He’s had a rough week.” I elaborated our evolving storyline and said, “He has worked 15 children’s parties this week alone.” Fred pushed it even farther and said, “All those dirty, little, grabby hands…”  And we laughed for a few minutes thinking about the alcoholic pony.Today’s journey was just easy freeway driving. It was a nice, easy break. Even lunch was super easy.  For lunch we found a Chick-Fil-A with big-rig parking and easy freeway access. I walked over to grab a few #5’s and a chocolate milkshake for us to share while Fred enjoyed a quick rest in the RV. We ate inside the RV and the got back in the road. It was one of our most efficient lunches yet.I was excited to see the roadside attractions are starting to appear. The bigger freeways seem to have more touristy-type attractions, the type of attractions that have billboards every few miles advertising their silly sights.  Today’s billboards were for “South of the Border.” It’s along the I-95, on the border between North Carolina and South Carolina. The billboards started about 30miles prior to it.  They tease you with bits of information and count down the miles, the billboards alone are simple entertainment. This place had a Mexico theme. Everything related to the destination was shaped like a giant sombrero or wearing a giant sombrero.  These are the types of sights that make road trips fun. Our RVi Brake has been giving us more grief and making the trip rather interesting. It keeps randomly applying the brakes to the Jeep, locking up its wheels and yanking on the RV.  It’s a nice little heart attack each time its happens. Fred thinks its a low voltage issue.  I’m ready to throw it all out the window, but its an interesting puzzle for him to solve so we keep it.I tried a new technique for finding an RV park on the fly today. During our lunch break, I searched my RV books and looked up all the RV parks within a 200 mile radius of our location. I opened google maps and saved each location with a little star so when Fred said, “Lets stop for the night,” I could give him distances on the fly. It worked out pretty well. It was a time consuming pain in the butt, however, it save a lot of frantic searching at the end of the day.  We chose the KOA in Santee, SC. They gave us a free pizza for checking in. We set up and ventured into town in the Jeep to do a little grocery shopping, wash the Jeep, and most importantly, charge the Jeep battery so the dang brake will stop throwing tantrums. 
At the grocery store we found the biggest hot dogs I’ve ever seen in my life.Back at camp I explored a bit and then headed back to the RV for dinner. I searched all around the camp, but, thankfully, I did not find any graves. We made a little dinner and and watched the Big Bang Theory finale. We love this show. It was a little sad watching the last one.