CHARLESTON, SC

We are enjoying our time in Charleston. It has been a bit on the cool side and sunny but we have had a few days with lots of rain. It was raining on Christmas day so we spent the day indoors - Royle finding inside projects, and I spent time watching Christmas movies and reading. We have been doing some sightseeing before my sisters arrive on 1/5.

The fishing pier is in Folly Beach, a few miles SE of Charleston. The live oaks lining the roadway was taken from our car as we drove around James Island on the way to Folly Beach. The plantation house was taken on our walking tour of historic Beaufort, about 50 miles south of Charleston and the photo of the boats in the bay is what one sees from the Beaufort plantation houses located along Bay Street.

OAK PLANTATION RV PARK, CHARLESTON, S.C.

We like the Oak Plantation RV Park in Charleston. Sure is warmer than Alabama. We have had the coach engine buzzer ringing all the way from our first overnight stay on 12/12. We stopped for fuel and it started going off as we left the fuel station. We drove 3 miles to the campground and then Royle checked all the default codes. Looks like it is a pollution gage problem. We drove on to Charleston and will try to get into the Cummins shop located in Charleston. We plan to be here for one month. My sisters and their spouses will be joining us on 1/5.

The first 3 photos are of the River Bottom Farm RV Park and Campground in Swansea, SC and the last photo is of the oak trees in the Oak Plantation RV Park in Charleston, SC.

10/14 - SWANSEA, S.C.

We are in a beautiful location out in the middle of nowhere. The River Bottom Farms RV Park is just 3/4 mile off Highway 178 and 22 miles SE of I-20 - between Augusta, GA and Columbia, SC. This location will give us a shortcut so we won't have to drive all the way to Columbia to get to I-26. We usually try to stay away from the roads that are not marked as truck routes but the campground is using this road for their directions to their location, and it was a good highway to this location so we are hoping it will be just as good as we travel it to get to I-26. It is so beautiful and quiet here. There are ponds (3) for fishing and a trail to the creek and river. We walked to the creek but it is flooded so we couldn't get to the river.

We had quite an anxious afternoon on our last day at Florence, AL. We had planned to leave on Saturday, 12/12, but on Thursday afternoon a city park official came knocking on our door to tell us the dam north of us MAY be releasing water which would cause the park to flood. He told us he would notify us if that happened for sure. Well, about an hour or so later (around 2 pm) he stopped by again and said we would have 2 hours to vacate the park. We were on our own for finding another park. Thank goodness for internet. As Royle was putting stuff away outside, I was on the internet to find a place close to us. Love rvparksreview.com for finding a lot of info on parks. I found one just 10 miles from us and easy/convenient location - I followed in the car so we didn't have to spend time hooking up for just 10 miles. We stayed there until Sat. and then left from there as originally planned.

It was foggy yesterday as we travelled through Atlanta along I-20 to reach our park. Forecast is for heavy fog this morning for this location as well as Charleston so we may delay leaving here as long as possible. Our trip today is only 120 miles but may end up to be a long 120 miles if we have heavy fog the entire trip.

FLORENCE, ALABAMA, MCFARLAND CITY PARK, 11/28-12/12

Royle sure did good at finding this park. We were surprised to see such big sites in a city park. The park covers a huge area and it even has a marina, but it only has 60 RV sites. We even have a view of the Tennessee River and can watch the barges travel up and down the river. The weather was really nice and warm for the first couple of days we were here but it has since turned quite cool. It rained yesterday but sunny (and very cold) today. We will start doing some sightseeing of the northern portion of the Trace on Thursday.

Photos:
(1)The river view from the opposite end of the park from the campsites
(2)Cruise ship - Pickwick Belle, located in the marina
(3)Bridge from the opposite end of the park from the campsites
(4)Our site - concrete pads, picnic table, room for parking the car, grass and view of the river
(5)The river at 7:30 this morning, taken across from our campsite - brrrr so cold. Note the bridge in the distance

SIGHTSEEING ALONG THE NATCHEZ TRACE, TUPELO, MS

We stayed in Tupelo at the Natchez Trace RV Park for just 3 nights and spent 2 days sightseeing. The location is very easy access to the Natchez Trace Parkway. We discovered that Tupelo was the birth place of Elvis Presley. Here are a few photos - the house, obviously, is where Elvis was born.
Then: Cole Creek-cypress swamp, I love this photo; one of highest points in Mississippi at 603 ft; part of the original trace; Royle in front of the Old Trace sign.