Destination: Barnyard RV Park
Columbia South Carolina
On the road! Wow, it’s been what, 3 months for me, over 8 months for Carol. We’ve kinda forgotten how to work this thing. Oddly though “behind the wheel” felt very natural and comfortable today. Usually I’m kinda on edge the first hour, but today I felt like I belonged there.
We finally got moving about 11:30. I’ve heard of people who can get up and rolling at 7 am. Heck, I’ve heard them as I’m trying to finish a good nights sleep. Somehow there’s just too many things left to do. This morning, I still had to bring out and hook up all the Dish equipment. Bring out and hook up the record player and a selection of albums. (playing John Denver’s Greatest Hits right now.) Yesterday I made sure all the TST sensors were working (with the help of TST Tech support) but still had to set the air pressure in all 8 tires before we could leave. There goes another hour. Stop at the old K-Mart to hookup the Jeep. Finally heading toward the highway.
This is one of our favorite drives, I-40 East through the mountains into Asheville. South out of Asheville the construction going on forever. And ever. And ever. We left with under half a tank so we needed fuel. Before “The Rona”, I got one of those TSD fuel cards. It was all setup but I’d never used it. Yesterday I got into the new App. Had to call and reset my PIN, but all set for this fuel stop. We stopped at a TA travel center. App said price is $2.40. Pump said $3.019. Everything worked, pump started, diesel came out. It still hasn’t hit my bank so I can’t verify the discount. 80 cents a gallon times 77 gallons says we saved Sixty Bucks!
We got here to the Barnyard at 4:45, just as she was sticking “late arrival info” to the door and getting ready to go home. She peeled my packet off and checked me in. I forgot to ask for a veterans discount so it was $4 more than last time, $38.29, still a bargain. We’ve stayed here many times. If you’re heading to Florida (or Savannah or Hilton Head) and don’t want to drive through Atlanta this place is the first night’s stop, 240 miles from home. Barnyard is mostly a home to full timers, but they keep a row of pull-throughs open for travelers, and we got the last one. I’m glad we called this morning for a reservation. These sites are big, long and wide, plenty of room. Full hookups and a picnic table. They have a big dog park. A cute pond with resident ducks. Lots of sites with a wide variety of RV’s “in residence.” Roads are asphalt, sites are sand with a concrete patio, no bumps no puddles, nice wide turns. I guess a 3 out of 5 rating? Hilton Head Motorcoach Resort this isn’t, but it’s very adequate.
We have explored the area some in past trips. The campground is behind a great big cool flea market. We love those, and have explored this one a few times. Columbia is the capitol of South Carolina. Downtown Columbia is cool in an “Old South” kinda way. I’m very into history, I love walking around there, reading all the plaques, checking out the statues and big old buildings. Columbia was the capitol of one of the main Confederate states, and there is a lot of Civil War history here. Preservation seems to be a thing, everything is beautifully preserved and maintained. I hope it stays that way for a long time.
A few miles south of here is Congaree National Park. We stumbled on this a few years ago. It’s basically a boardwalk built through a swamp full of giant old trees. There is a really cool story to it which I don’t remember right now, but you can read about it on the website https://www.nps.gov/cong/index.htm.
Tomorrow we’ll head out and south. Savannah seems too close. Jacksonville too far at near 300 miles. We’ll shoot for Brunswick, Georgia, and the Golden Isles. We’ve been here before too. I have hats from Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island, but they are wearing out, maybe we’ll take the Jeep and try to find new ones. Good night all, I’ll post again tomorrow.
Jim
