[A/S] Hollywood, SC - May 10th, 2003

[hhamp5246@xxxxxxx]

Hollywood, SC - May 10, 2003

Today started out as just another travel day.  I took the dogs for a hike 
around the pond at the campground and into the woods.  Got back to the 
trailer and dumped the tanks.  Not the most pleasant job, but a necessary 
evil.  Think of it as the great equalizer…. no matter of you have a little 
pop-up of a million dollar bus conversion, you still have to do that nasty 
job.  Hooked up and set out for Hollywood, not the California one I used to 
fantasize about, the SC one which is a bit SW of Charleston.  We were only on 
I-95 for about 45 miles, then hit highway 17.  

Some of you may know this, truckers call those big pieces of tire treads on 
the highways, "Road Gators" I thought about that as I passed a real road gator
… an alligator that had been hit ad was upside down, but still in one piece.  
The stretch of road is all marshes and rivers, saw a lot of huge turtles too. 
   

When we were almost here I saw signs to Edisto Beach.  My neighbors in the 
upcountry have a beach house there and some other friends go once a year so I 
thought it might be fun to check it out.

I parked the trailer in my site and unhooked the hitch, then I use the power 
jack to raise and lower it to find the point where the hitch bar is free. It 
would go up, but not down. Rut Roh (apologies to Scooby Doo).  There was a 
security guard sitting nearby in a pick up and he came to take a look.  He 
took off the cap and a wire had come loose….. within minutes it was 
operational again. I gave him some money which at first he refused, but 
finally took it. It was 95 degrees out, with the humidity up there and too 
hot to be fooling with hitches and jacks.

Got the air running for the kitties and the pups and I took off back to 
Edisto Beach. We passed a lot of low country shacks, single wides and some 
very nice houses, the land was mostly trees, both pine trees and Spanish Moss 
covered oaks, soon we were there. We came around the corner and to our left 
was the Atlantic Ocean.  There was a solid row of funky beach houses all up 
on stilts.  Many were painted pretty colors, some had long since had pretty 
paint and just wore the last vestiges of long ago paint. Most had names. I 
was reminded of Dune Road in the Hamptons. I would guess at least half have 
for rent signs, my guess is they rent for a week or a month at a time. 

The houses on the right side were also on stilts, an advantage not just for 
floods and hurricanes, but it gives them an ocean view up over the dunes.  As 
I drove I noticed access trails.  Cars were parked along the side of the road 
so I parked.  Put leashes on the dogs and took the path to the beach.  I 
haven't seen the Atlantic in quite a while, the water was choppy and I saw 
something out in it, a porpoise!  I have never seen one in the wild. The 
temperature at the beach was 11 degrees less then it had been at the 
campground. 

Two women were sitting on chairs in the sand and I asked them if dogs were 
allowed, they said yes if they were kept on leash.  Cool, I rarely find 
beaches that allow dogs, I suspected they might be permitted because there 
were no signs prohibiting them. Very civilized this Edisto Beach.  The women 
asked about the dogs and I told them they were Border Collies, then they 
asked where we lived.  I'm never sure how to answer that so I said I live in 
an RV so wherever it's parked. They were fascinated and asked lots of 
questions, then their husbands came back and joined in.  They were leaving 
and invited me back to their place for a beer but I wanted to just hang on 
the beach with the dogs.

A passel of Pelicans flew over in single file formation, and lots of Laughing 
Gulls circled around us.  This time of year their heads are black, they are 
white in the winter. I took off my socks and shoes and hit the water.  I 
expected it to be painfully cold and oddly it was a comfortable temperature, 
of course most of my experience with the Atlantic has been on Long Island.  
It's too cold until August up there. We walked along, I shot some photos of 
the dogs and we just sat and took it all in.  Tucker made friends with a 6 
month old Lab puppy.  Brady, my grumpy old man, would have nothing to do with 
her.

We finally went back to the truck and I thought to myself, this is why I'm 
fulltiming, to have magic days like this.

As we were leaving I noticed the state park has camping so I pulled in. They 
have water and electric hookups for $25.00 a night.  Wish I had known, I'd be 
there instead of here.

This place is okay, convenient to Charleston and Kiawah…. Tomorrow's 
adventure spots.

To make today more perfect I watched a movie on HBO tonight, Spirit, Stallion 
of the Commorant. Okay, I know it's a cartoon, but I loved it, in spite of 
the fact that the horses have eyebrows! 

So, we are snuggled in for the night….. looking forward to the next 
adventure.

Hunter