Charleston, South Carolina is a city full of history and beauty. I though Victoria, BC was one of the most beautiful cities I had ever been to, but Charleston is a great, livable city. It has a lot to do in the city, great gardens and people here are so friendly. Southern hospitality..... We are looking forward to more of that. Saturday we took part in the corn maze, and an assorted games and the hayride around a working plantation. The Boone Hall Plantation, was used in the movie the Notebook, as well the North and South tv series and so on. Yvonne had her face painted and wore herself out jumping on the spooktacular Halloween blow up castles they had. We topped it off with the hay ride through the plantations spooky acerage, and we bought a pumkin off the field there which Dad had to carve as soon as we got home. We had a fun day.

Today we toured the Naval and Maritime Museum. The aircraft carrier Yorkton, was on display there. The last time I was on an aircraft carrier was the Bonaventure in Halifax in the late 60's. The Yorkton served in WW11, the Vietnam war and recovered the crew of Apollo 8, the first manned space flight in 1968. Also on display was the diesel sub Glamagore, destroyer from WW11, Laffey and a converted destroyer Coast Guard Cutter Ingham. 3000 men were deployed on this ship at different times. I have been in towns not as well populated as that ship. lol. They had all the comforts of home. Hospital, diner, a place to sleep and play games, a place to get a haircut, a post office,and a theatre. As sweet as that sounds it probably was some sort of hell under battle conditions. It is pretty amazing to think planes and jets actually flew off these things, and landed.

Off too the south was Fort Sumter. The Confederacy fired on this fort which started the Civil War after Union troops abandoned the fort. I will post a picture off that sometime later. It was 77f here today and very pleasant. Tomorrow we will take Yvonne trick or treating and then we are off to Brunswick Georgia, on Wednesday. Jim

Hi from Charleston, South Carolina. It's been a few days since we could post as we've hit a little blank spot in the internet service. We have intermittent service at best.

So, we got here on Wednesday and it was very cold. We got to experience record breaking cold temeratures all this week. Yesterday warmed up a bit and was sunny, so we headed out to see plantation homes. We targeted Middleton Plantation Home first as the pictures we had seen of it were stunning. We got there and found out it was $25 a person to go in. Luckily, Yvonne is still free. So, we paid our $50 and went to see it. Luckily, they do a fabulous job of enlightening you to how life was in those times, so we almost felt like we got our money's worth. This particular plantation home was owned by one of the most active successionists, so when the Union soldiers got here, they burned everything down to teach him a lesson. The main house was never rebuilt, but one of the flank buildings was. It was originally a rice plantation. We were told that under the last census before the Civil War, half of the richest men in the USA were from here in South Carolina and were rice farmers. The gardens and land around this home attest to the riches that existed in those days.

We also found out that the rice planting and harvesting technology actually came from the African slaves. They brought the knowlege with them and taught the English how to do it. After the civil war and once they were free, slaves would refuse to work in the dangerous rice swamps, so the rice industry in the south died out. Luckily at this plantation, they kept the land as it was so you can still see how they built the dykes and the rice fields. A very interesting visit.

Yesterday, we got to host Glen and Verlie for dinner. We have run into them in the last three campgrounds and they are now off to Florida. We are excited to be able to hook up with the Taekema's once again in a few weeks. Yvonne will be so happy to have kids to play with again.

Today was a horrible, rainy day, so we spent the day updating our scrap book and doing all sorts of crafts. Yvonne is progressing quite suddenly in her drawing. She is concentrating on colouring in the lines and sat down today and drew a house complete with chimney, doors, doorknob, and windows. She also drew another picture of a person with arms, legs, fingers, hair and facial features. Scribbling is now over. We spent a bit of time on her pre-school books today and she practiced printing B and D. We just let her pick her favourite letters to concentrate on. We've found her printing in the sand on the beach and she can do H, B, D, O and A. We're happy.

So, we won't have much internet over the next few days, so our plans are to see some of historic Charleston as well as take Yvonne on a Halloween maze and Pumpkin Patch tour during the day tomorrow at another plantation.

Take care all and please send us a note once in a while!!!!!

Two days of fun on Myrtle Beach. We had lovely weather on Friday and Saturday. We spent each afternoon on the beach. Yvonne found friends on both days and yesterday played with the two above and hopes to find them again this week. They are staying at a hotel along the beach for the rest of the week. It was so nice for us, since we cease to exist once there's kids around. Jim and I have taken turns taking nice long walks and bike rides on the beach. Yesterday, we actually go to lay on the beach blanket together for a while. We must admit, it's hard to figure out what to do with ourselves without the little girl's constant demands. Friday, it was a bit windy and created nice surf. As picture above, Jim took advantage and played for a while in the nice waves. It's so nice to have water you can actually get into without cramping up.

Today, we've had a rainy but warm day. Jim bought an RV washing permit and got it all cleaned up. It's been months since the poor thing has been washed, so it's very nice to be white again.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Sun, Surf and Sand Castles. What a difference a State can make. It was nice in Virginia but a night the temps got down to 35F. Here 80F and 67F at night. Finally some warmth. We can sit outside at night. As you can see we spent the day at the beach and it sure felt nice. We have a week here so that will happen a few times. The resort park we are in here has a lot happening. We had Bingo last night and Ice Cream Sundaes tonight. All you can eat pancakes and sausage on Sat. and to top it all off Banana Splits on Sunday. I know it's a tough life. I am actually going to wash and wax the trailer and install a Fantastic Fan in the rig.

Its not that I want to, but it might be the only place that I can do it for awhile. It sure is filthy.
It is weird to see these signs all over the place with Evacuation Routes when the big Hurricanes hit here. We met some folks from Cortes Island and we all have met the same people at different times in different parts of Eastern Canada. We met them in Williamsburg and they are at the same park in Myrtle Beach. We also met a Lady from Bridal Falls Holiday Trails here. I met her there when we stayed in Bridal Falls in May. Small world.

For those of you that are following along and want to see more pics of the trip, you can go to the address I have added at the end of this post. No text just pics. Take care everyone. Any notes or comments would be appreciated from family and friends. Jim

http://splicer1.blogspot.com/

We ended up at Busch Gardens 2 more times this weekend. We had the bright idea that it would be cool to see it at night, so we went on Saturday night. Obviously, it was such a bright idea, everyone else for miles around had the same idea. We knew as soon as there was a 1/2 mile long lineup just to pay for parking, we were in trouble. In contrast to the nice quiet day on Friday, the place was a zoo. I guess the Halloween attractions are immensely popular. We bore with it though and enjoyed a short night visit. There were people dressed up and hiding in the bushes that would jump out and scare you as you walked by. Needless to say, after a couple frights like that, Yvonne wanted to go home. We got to go on a few rides, including DaVinci's Cradle that was closed on Friday. It was very exciting to be there when it was so busy and dark, and full of fright.

On Sunday, we decided to head back again and got there just after opening at 10 AM. Again, it was quiet. We got our preferred parking right by the entrance and were able to walk right onto any ride we wanted. Yvonne got her face painted (pictured above), as a peacock. We found a few areas we hadn't found before that had some great kid's rides. Also, Yvonne and Jim went on the bumper cars. Yvonne also wanted to back on that Big Bad Wolf Roller Coaster. We just can't believe what she's not scared of. That's one of the best roller coasters I've ever been on. It's not as big as the others they have at Busch Gardens, but it's pretty cool. Then, on the other hand, we went in to see a 4-D movie about pirates and after the first thing came popping out of the screen, she screamed her head off and insisted on getting out of there. We had gone to another film in 4-D in Sudbury and she wasn't scared at all. I think all this Halloween scaring stuff is getting her nerves a bit tender.

Today's a down day. It's sunny, but cool. The entire east coast is under an unseasonably cold, cold front. At the coast here, it's not quite as bad as in the interior where there is frost and snow warnings. Over the next few days, we are heading further south through North Carolina and destined for Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

Busch Gardens, Europe in Williamsburg, VA was our entertainment for today. What a fabulous theme park this is. We had a great time today. We stopped in Italy, after we went on the Big Bad Wolf, which is a underneath roller Coaster. Yvonne loves roller coasters. Bottom pic. We stopped for something to eat and they had a live show (middle pic), of song and dance from Italy. Busch Gardens Europe is a great park for everyone. There are rides for all ages, little kids and big kids too. The Halloween theme is big there right now and we are going there at 6pm tomorrow night for a couple of hours as they are having a scarry train ride thru the park and a scary show at the theatre. We hit it pretty lucky with the shows as we just showed up and we were 5 min early for the two shows we saw today. The second show was a reto rock and roll from the 50's right thru to the eighties with some country rock thrown in. These kids were pretty talented. I am glad we have 3 days to see this park as it will take us that long to get thru it all. We all had a great time and Yvonne as usual was just a great little trooper. Getting her in shape for the week at Disney World next month. Take care all. Jim

Yvonne and Shayla made great friends at Duncan's Family Campground. After two busy days going to Washington, DC's capital area, we stayed around the campground. Yvonne and Shayla played and played solid for the last two days. They got along great. We took turns at each other's places, so us parents got a few moments to ourselves too. Unfortunately, we had to leave today so we could be in place to go to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg over the weekend. Most of the attractions in this area are only open on the weekends at this time of year. We plan on getting our first taste of it tomorrow. We're currently at American Heritage Park in Williamsburg. The park is very nice. It's quiet but still very close to the I-95. We had a nice day in the sun when we got here. We had a bike ride and chased Yvonne around at the playground.

The Spirit of St. Louis
An image of a plane travelling faster than sound.

The reflecting pond with the Washington Monument in the Distance.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!! Well, the Americans have no idea that we have Thanksgiving at all. We spent an entire day this week trying to purchase a plug-in roasting oven that's big enough for a turkey. The most common comment we got was "Y'all got Thanksgiving too?". We will have to wait until closer to the American holidays before we can get the proper appliance to do our own turkey. SO, we got a roast chicken instead.

We spent the day downtown again. We took the Metro to the Smithsonian area and went to the National Air and Space Museum. Our original plan was to spend the morning there, then go to the Zoo in the afternoon. It took us about 2 minutes to realize we had enough to do for the day in just that one museum. The museums are so wonderful here. They are so huge and well done, it's hard to believe they are provided for the public's enjoyment at no charge.

We got home late this afternoon and Yvonne went straight to the playground. She found a girl to play with, so when it was time for dinner, she ate faster than ever. Her little friend met her back at the park after dinner and they just finished playing at 7 PM. It's quite amazing how many kids we are meeting that are home-schooled and very, very social. Seems to put to sleep the complaint that kids can't get socialization if they don't go to school.

Washington, DC was the destination today. It seems that capital cities are one of the best places to visit as there is so much to see and do. Washington, DC was no exception. We took our bikes on the metro train to DC and had a great day. We biked all over and saw the sites. The Lincoln Memorial with the reflecting pool in front of it was pretty spectacular.. That pool is 3' deep 160 ' wide and over 2000' long. Washington is not what I expected. There is a lot of green space here, and when you get to the burbs there is a lot of open space, farms ETC. There are 12 Smithsonians here and we will not get to see them all. We went to the museum of Natural History. That was very well done. The Hope Diamond (45.5 carats )was on display and the people were lined up a long way to see that rock. By 3pm the people were just streaming into the museum so we made our escape and took Yvonne to the carousel across the street and had our picnic there. The weather was in the low 70's and is supposed to get warmer over the next couple of days, so we will be enjoying that and more great things DC has to offer. Jim

HI San Diego Gang from Gettysburg, PA!!!! We had a great two day visit with Dan from our San Diego friendship circle. It was just so wonderful to see a familiar face for a couple days, we just had a great time. We went for a short tour of Eisenhower's farm yesterday. The farm is attached to the Gettysburg Battlefields, so you have to go to the Battlefields reception centre and take a bus tour over to the farm. The farm is a gorgeous property. They have their home maintained with original furnishings and the most notable part of the visit is how humble and un-pretentious the Eisenhowers were. It was wonderful to see people who obviously had the means to be extremely lavish but rather enjoyed the simple things in life.

In the reception centre, we watched a short film about Eisenhower's accomplishments and at the end he said a moving short piece where he was obviously feeling deep emotion. He was sitting at the graveyards at Normandy Beach and he said that we must to all ends work towards an everlasting peace in this world. It made us all feel that we could really use a man of pure thought and strong conviction to humanity like Eisenhower in these days.

Gettysburg National Park: It is hard to believe that Gettysburg was and still is a centre of religous teachings. A Lutheran Seminary ( top picture) was in operation during the Battle of Gettysburg and still is in operation today. The German Reformed Church was headquartered here also during that time. Yet this is the place where the the biggest loss of life on this Continent took place. Over 40,000 men lost their lives here and another 11,000 were injured or missing. The real history of this place and the battle and not Hollywood's version of Gettysburg, is truly remarkable. There is a lot of territory to cover here and I am glad we booked in for 4 days.

The weather has been fantastic. Today was near 80 F and tomorrow is supposed to be mid 80's. The nights are warm and no heaters needed. Thursday though it is only supposed to get to a high of 61F. We will save going to Eisenhower's residence for that day. Tomorrow a friend we met in San Diego will be coming to stay next to us for a couple of days.

Yesterday we came through Lancaster, and it wasn't till later we heard about the shootings of the Amish children there. What lunacy, what a waste. People here are pretty upset and scared.
Jim

Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, was a fun weekend. We absolutely pooped our little girl out with it all. It was so much fun. It was totally geared for little kids - I would say up to 6 years old. The characters are walking around all day, so Yvonne got to hug and greet pretty much every one of them. They have shows and rides. Yvonne really liked the Blast Off ride and the Ernie's Bed jumping area.