Don't forget to visit my photo album which you can view as a slide show, it is at

http://picasaweb.google.com/arthur.croasdell/TravelingTheEastCoast#

Sunday 16th November 08
South from Myrtle Beach and on to Charleston, South Carolina, a pleasant visit even if the weather did turn cold. We had a nice site with KOA (Kampgrounds of America) again and after a sunny visit to the historic town centre we retired for the evening. We knew that the following day was going to be extremely cold, 10ºC (50 F) but with chilly winds of 25 mph it was a day to wrap up.
We chose to visit Patriot Point and spent a very cold day at the naval basin there inspecting all the ships, the main exhibit being the WWII Aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. Strange to relate, the previous evening we had watched the film about the Battle of Midway which featured the “Yorktown” getting a real bashing from the Japs. That one was sunk during the battle in 1942, and the one we visited was in use by 1943.
The following day was a little more civilised as the wind had dropped and Mr Sun was out to play. We had a boat ride out to Fort Sumter which guards the entrance to Charleston Harbour. The first battle of the American Civil War was fought here. During the evening, we visited a local park for a festival of lights. I was not really looking forward to this but one has to please the “little woman” occasionally. The event was astonishing and we were glad to have ventured out to a local park for a three mile drive past beautiful Christmas lights.
Onwards and another cold day but we were in the truck so it was not a problem, further south to Beaufort and Hunting Island State Park.
We did not expect to have internet here, but it was good. Wifi is becoming more and more important as we normally use “Skype” for all our outgoing telephone calls, and internet to deal with mail etc. Today we have an irritating problem with our fifth wheeler that needs attention next time we move so several frantic phone calls were the order of the day.
Always plenty of wildlife to see here. When we arrived there were wild deer wandering nonchalantly round the camp site, not at all bothered about the campers. Earlier this week we saw Dolphins swimming alongside the aircraft carrier.
20th November
We had a good day “getting away from it all” and rode our mountain bikes along the forest trails for a mile or three, loads of strenuous fun bumping over the tree roots. Freda also ascended an old lighthouse; I had more sense!
Early morning start tomorrow to go and see the repair man after manually adjusting the “landing gear” front legs. Hopefully we will have the front legs working electronically by the end of the day. Good exercise for the arms though.
My eyes are struggling a bit. It is only eleven months since I had new windows but I am having problems, so I have had my eyes tested and ordered new glasses at Wal-Mart (where else?) I will collect them on my way north after we have left Florida.
November 21
We are now in Savannah, Georgia, and another state park. We have 30 amps electric, cable TV, water on our site (not seen in England) and a very large area with fire pit (for our camp fire) and BBQ all for twenty dollars per night, what good value! We do have to go to the office area to use the very fast internet but you can’t have everything. It has been nice to use the internet to have a video call or two with our friends in Spain and France, and friends and family in England too!

The weather is much milder today and the internet tells me that it will improve when we move to Daytona on Wednesday and that Orlando will be just great at 26c on Sunday.

Shoppers may like to note another new shopping trend; as you go to collect your shopping cart (trolley) you are encouraged to collect a “wipe” to disinfect the handle of the shopping cart just so you do not catch anything!

November 25th
On our way to Daytona the RV dealer network sorted our electrical problem and our “landing gear” works just fine now, all done with no fuss.

Since we are trudging down the coast, fish is in abundance and always on restaurant menus. We have decided that crab cakes are super, we were not inspired with oysters, and we both like Grouper which we are having tomorrow. There is so much good food to be had that it is difficult to make a choice sometimes.

Tomorrow will be a day at camp here in the woods doing those domestic chores that sometimes get left to mount up but we have planned a bit of a bash on our pitch with a nice lunch and a bottle of wine in the early afternoon sun. It should be good! First of all we have to go and cycle a 4 mile nature trail.

Thanksgiving day 27th November
Florida at last, we are at Daytona Beach, the birth place of NASCAR racing. We have steady sunshine and whilst the temperature is below the seasonal norm of 76f, it’s ok.
The Americans are great coupon clippers, and we found one for “Free Balls” on the driving range (golf!), well we had to do that, didn’t we?
Today we have the “Turkey Run” – America’s largest custom and classic car show taking place two miles down the road at the Daytona Motor Speedway. We just had to go! Last year there were 5000 cars on show, and according to the TV report, this year was about the same. It goes on for four days. Our feet are tired but we both had a good day in the sun and saw some amazing stuff. I have painted a lot of cars in my time, and done some custom stuff, but some of the paintwork was mind-blowing!

The campground we’re on has a lot of Canadians (the Americans call them “snowbirds”) and very wealthy Americans. There are many 45ft buses, with double rear axles towing large (usually matching) trailers containing their toys, beautiful classic cars. They are making us feel like the poor people and our stuff is all new!

Off to Kissimmee tomorrow, the weather gods are promising a return to traditional Florida weather so all should be good


Sat 29th
Kissimee and it’s great, so it should be the price they charge to park our American house here.
Last night was Karaoke around the camp fire but that’s to save for another time!

Myrtle Beach

4th November
CARS AND THINGS

With a hundred TV channels to fill on a daily basis, sometimes the producers struggle to find something to show. “SPEED TV” resort to some funny stuff including “banger” racing, hardly the stuff for great TV, but as I have spent a lot of my life at auto auctions in a professional category, I found it quite fascinating to watch the classic car auctions that appear surprisingly frequently. Some of the stuff auctioned is old but better than new. We had, an evening or two back, an hour of $100,000 plus prices and I am amazed that these guys have enough money to play with toys like that. I am reminded that the only difference between men and boys is the price of the toys!

Visiting a local auto museum recently, the owner stopped for a chat. He told us that he shows only about twenty-five cars at a time and changes things around frequently. One of his friends has a store of three hundred old cars in as new condition so he always has something fresh to show. He was concentrating on quality not quantity which was clearly apparent. We had to wonder at the financial clout of his buddy with the three hundred cars, all stored under cover in “as new” condition!

Voting takes place today to elect the most powerful man in the world.
We have had this election in the media until we are quite tired of it and will be glad when it’s all over, but we would bet on Obama. We see lots of him on TV but not his running mate; on the other hand McCain has a little less presence on the box but we see a lot of Sarah Palin. Now she is something else in terms of presenting herself on TV, a first class star at an impromptu question and answer session.

The price of Diesel continues to fall; regular gas (petrol) is now down to
$2.09 and diesel is now $3.15. This is a far cry from almost $5.00 we paid earlier in the year.

There is a WWII memorial in Washington. On TV here in South Carolina, local veterans are invited to apply for free transportation to visit the memorial on Veterans Day (11/11), about seven hundred miles. We thought this was a very nice gesture on the part of the local government. I know what the British government would offer our WWII Vet’s, bugger all.

Most of us had parents involved in WWII; we all know what the government gave them!

I am starting to really like the way things get done over here, but am disappointed at the number of senior citizens that still have to work.

November 6th.
The election is over and if you don’t know the result, I’m not the man to tell you. The TV programmes have improved a lot now!

We have had 25c today and yesterday with wall to wall sun, just lovely!

I have friends who are golfers, please don’t do that old gag again about “old golfers never die….”
We have played on the “crazy golf” courses a few times; they are far grander than the ones we are used to in Europe. On the way back from a “crazy golf” morning, I noted a “par three” golf course so I pulled in to reception to find out more. Getting a round of golf in England is almost impossible and in Spain, completely off the planet. First you must buy a share in the golf course! (Honest).

No problem here, you want to play golf, and on a full size course, it will cost you $30 for TWO people for 18 holes. No clubs with you? then you can hire a bag with clubs for $1 (one dollar!). Yesterday we practiced on the driving range; today we played the par three course, just nine holes. Tomorrow we are playing again, this time 18 holes.

We have seen a few folks with something like a very small golf trolley, - the kind you put your golf bag onto, - but they have a small cylinder of oxygen mounted on it, piped up their nose to help them breathe. This means that those with breathing difficulties can still get off down to the shops instead of being housebound. If you have a breathing problem, try asking your GP for one of those!

We have had a month here in Myrtle Beach where the sun shines almost all the time and it has been fun but moving time looms.

We are always planning ahead and so far we have sorted Christmas, New Year and the “blast” that goes with it, and our New Year walk with the Costa Blanca Mountain Walkers. We have just about sorted next March and the skiing and we know that we will be bringing the caravan back from Spain at the end of March. Breathtaking sometimes!

There must be some money about over here. One of the local R.V. dealers has among all the mega flash R.V’s on his lot, one which is displaying a price of $359,880!! His other stuff is a bit cheaper but not by much!

November 13
The horsey types are in town, on the campground next door. This is another mega sized campground with three thousand pitches, they arrived en-masse last night for a weekend get-together with their seven hundred horses. They tell me that there are normally about sixteen hundred of them but the economic climate is getting to some of them. Some of the 5th-wheel horse boxes are fantastic, with superb living accommodation in the front end. The few less well-off are in tents! The horses are kept on small roped-off areas on the camp sites (what we call “pitches” in UK)

Diesel is now down to $2.99!

My ‘photo album can be found at

http://picasaweb.google.com/arthur.croasdell/Album21

And for those who have never been to Spain, have a look at

http://picasaweb.google.com/arthur.croasdell/SpainAAltea


Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at last and a chance to sit about for a month and just live like an American!
We do tend to rush along with some sort of agenda, looking for something new. Now we will just relax (maybe?) and “belong”. We shall see!
Myrtle Beach is a seaside resort of the greatest magnitude, this is Benidorm on Steroids and has been much criticised, but also voted “The best place to live in America.” I’m sure we will discover the truth.
The campsite has 3,000 pitches but thank God they are not even half full this time of year. “Our” spot is a hundred yards from the beautiful sandy beach; we also have an indoor pool (warm but small) and a lovely outdoor pool (very cold this time of year), plus cable TV (about 100 channels) and for a small extra charge, excellent WiFi internet (broadband). An unusual feature is the “carport” over the picnic table to keep the sun off. Our neighbours hail from Quebec. They are not at all sociable, typical French!
On our travels, we met Gary and Judy from Ontario. We were parked next to them and found that they were on an itinerary very similar to ours, and they joined us on the adjoining pitch when we moved to Wilmington in North Carolina. They were also moving on to Myrtle Beach and were amazed to find when they got here that they were on the adjoining campground.
We four went out to dinner last night (20th Oct) on an early birthday (mine) celebration, and Gary and Judy have now continued on their journey south. We shall miss their company.

A week later…..
We celebrated my 70th birthday far from home but all was not lost as my daughter Caroline and her husband Bruce flew down from Philadelphia to be with us for the weekend. The weekend was also cheered along because I had cards and good wishes from many of you. Thanks very much, I really appreciated that!

We went to three shows in the space of five days. One on my birthday, one with the family, and an extra one that was squeezed in at the last minute and I thought it was the best (and cheapest) of the three; the last and most expensive was the most disappointing of them all.
All were music shows, and in true American fashion a little gospel music was always included but was all very well done, I would not want anyone to think I was criticising, it’s just the way things are done here. Also they always have a ritual towards the end of the evening, when all those who have served their country in the armed forces are asked to stand so that they can receive our thanks. Not too many guys don’t get up and I always feel a little uncomfortable as one of those still seated. I wonder what those around me must think of me. The shows always finish with a big patriotic crescendo.
You might think that I am being very critical of our American cousins but really I am in awe of the fierce pride that they have in their country. I wish that the British could be equally proud of Great Britain, England, the United Kingdom. I am not sure how we should address ourselves any more!!!
Diesel has been steadily falling in price from the $5 we were paying on our last visit to the current $3.69 per gallon. At an average of 11 mpg, we are pleased about that!
The campers among you will be pleased to know that we have 30 amps electricity (un-metered), cable TV, sewer hook-up, “City Water” piped into the RV and broadband internet too! This works out at approx $26 per night and compares very well indeed with England/Europe.
The days are generally nice and sunny but a little cooler than normal for this time of year; another couple of degrees would be nice but 22c is OK.

Another week…
Time passes and now we are into November. We are still having a daily paddle and a serious walk on the beach but perhaps not today (3rd Nov) as we have strong winds and some rain. Not to worry, by Wednesday all will be well again.
We have just been out for breakfast in true American style, all you can eat for $5. It was good food too!
We visited a local gardens a few days ago, our entrance fee is “good for 7 days,” and there really was far too much to see in one day, so we have been back. On Saturday we took the boat ride round the waterways of the old disused rice fields and saw quite a lot of wildlife including a couple of alligators. I was surprised to find them this far north and the guide was a little surprised to see them soaking up the sun. When the temperature drops below 62F (17C) they go into “torpor” (semi hibernate) on the bottom of the waterway, rising only once a day to breathe.
The price of diesel continues to drop and is now $3.29, they’ll be giving it away soon! Gasoline (petrol) is only $2.25 per (US) gallon (3.8 litres)