Charleston, South Carolina

 

Winter in Quebec was proving once again to be more of a snow, rain, freeze cycle than a real winter, so it was time to see if Big Trill was up to a big trip south. I had done lots of tweeking to her over the few years of ownership and the Kingston trip gave me positive feedback, so off we went on the last few days of February, 2017.

The route the first day took us south through Vermont, over the hills to Rutland and then on to Albany, NY where I stopped at a Walmart Inn in Latham for the night. Fortunately the night was relatively warm so I slept well and was back on I-87 in the morning. By late afternoon I was in Maryland. The dreaded I-95 was scaring me with every bump and bang it's badly kept surface presented. Up again the day after another night Chez Walmart, the horror of the interstate continued. I stopped on the border between the two Carolinas for the night, again Walmart,  and the next morning thankfully got off I-95 soon after crossing into South Carolina. I took rt 52 to Lake City and from there onto Charleston itself. 

I had reservations at the James Island County Campground, but the desk at the campground had no record of them! Fortunately, they had space and I settled into this wonderful spot for several days. 

I spent much of the time cleaning and rearranging the interior of Big Trill. She was incredibly dirty and I had brought way more stuff than I needed, so the time was well spent!

I connected with my Facebook friend Mary Ann and she kindly met me and showed me around the city and some of the neighbouring spots of interest...

  

A walk around the old section of town revealed a lovely seaside park as well as some secret gardens hidden behind old walls and wrought iron gates. Yet, Charleston was not just about the past, we treated ourselves to a take out meal at a genuine English fish n chips joint where even the owner's accent was the real thing! He was from Manchester!

The road soon beckoned southward, so cleaner and tidier, Big Trill and I headed back to the I-95 via rt 17. Soon the bumps and bangs would begin anew...

Kingston Buskers

I headed off to Kingston, Ontario a few days ago to give Big Trill some road time after having sat for far too long. The drive up went smoothly and I pulled in Rideau Acres Campground just off the 401. The place was huge! My site was more than sparse, but did have water and power and a picnic table, adequate for my needs for the two day visit.

After setting up I discovered there was a Busker's Festival going on at the waterfront in Kingston, so I headed down to have a look. The first guy I had a look at did a number of tricks mostly of the street dancing variety, but the finale was a running jump over four people lined up and bent over. As he passed over the top of them, he completed a mid-air flip and landed on his feet! Amazing!

On the waterfront proper a number of shows were going on including these guys balancing in unicycles and a ladder all the while tossing flaming torches back and forth.

Others buskers included a drum group and a digiridoo band, trapeze artists and a mute guy doing a number of balancing stunts.

I returned the following day and took in more buskers, but also visited the old Olympic Yacht Basin next to the old  Penitentiary. I got there by hiking a path along the waterfront from a park close by. Nice!

The return home trip went well with a wine bottle deposit stop in Cornwall as well as a visit to the LCBO for some Ontario wines. Then it was the horrible bumpy Quebec roads around Montreal and finally home.

On The Move

I got Big Trill out of her winter quarters yesterday and parked her closer to the house so I can begin getting her road ready! Yah spring!

Chilling Times

Big Trill is passing the winter in outdoor storage, waiting for warmer days to come. I have several times removed the snow off the roof when it built up too high or when rain added to its weight. The solar panel is connected to keep the battery charged up. That seemed to work last winter, so I'm doing it again. Of course the snow covers it now and then, so that has to be cleared off as well to keep the panel doing its job.  

Looking forward to heading down the road perhaps at the end of February or so. Much depends on the weather..

Snow...

Over the past few days, I have reluctantly been removing all the liquids from Big Trill, knowing I won't be heading south any time soon. So sad. I really wish I was on my way. I hate the idea of being here in November when it's trying so hard to be winter, but can't quite manage it. Oh well, once the snow is here to stay, I will be happy again!

Here and there I have found lady bugs and cluster flies hiding in nooks and crannies, they too don't want to be here, but like me have no where to go. 

At least I have an escape plan organized. They don't seem to have one as far as I could tell...

No Time To Travel

Here we sit, campers without a road, stuck in time, waiting for the next adventure! Oh well, it won't be forever and when the road opens up, there will be miles and miles of smiles ahead. Just hope it happens soon...

Hitching Up, Baby!

Backing up your tow vehicle to hitch onto your trailer is always problematic, especially when you're alone. There's no one to provide you with information on how close the hitch ball is to the receiver unit on the trailer. What to do...?

There are a number of gadgets out there from magnetic balls on sticks to fancy and expensive backup cameras. There is also the free baby monitor.

Yes, a baby monitor! If you have two units like an iphone and an ipad or similar Android devices, which can 'speak' to each other via Bluetooth, then using a free baby monitor app you can send video from your trailer hitch (called the 'baby') to you in the tow vehicle (called the 'parent'). Watching the screen, you can tell where the ball and receiver are and flawlessly inch your way right to the perfect spot without having to constantly get out and check and re-adjust. The only time I have to get out now is to adjust the height of the receiver unit if I have left it too low to drop onto the ball once I'm in place.

Another use for the baby monitor is when backing into a parking site or camping spot. In this case mount the 'baby' unit on the rear of the trailer (I do this using a cheap suction cup device) and monitor where you are backing into via the 'parent' unit in the car. You will probably have to play with the 'baby' device to get the best view in the 'parent' screen, but once you get the hang of it, its easy to set up and use.

Thank you baby!