Sunrise on Myrtle Beach

Believe it or not it was NJ's idea to get up early this morning and be on the beach before sunrise!  For those of you who know her sleeping in is a high priority in her life now making up for all those early mornings she had in her working life.  Anyway, we were out there bright and early and managed to get a few shots.  NJ took the first two and I did the third.  Hope you enjoy!

The joys of walking on the beach - Myrtle Beach SC that is...

This is our second time to stop in Myrtle Beach and we are enjoying as much as we did before.  The beach is beautiful and the dogs love walking/swimming.  Of course only Sadie actually swims as Missy has an aversion to water.  But you can see even for an 11 year old dog she can still get into a sort of point when she spotted the seagulls.  For those of you in the north it was only about 77 degrees when we were out there yesterday afternoon. :)

Fowl of Ashville, NC KOA

While I took a nap NJ wandered over to the pond located in the KOA we were staying so we both got a bit of peace and quiet.  She thought some of you may enjoy seeing these pictures but warns she is still getting used to her new camera and did not have her shutter speed as high as she should have.

Biltmore - 2nd Day

You actually need 2 days to see everything so back we went this morning.  Some more interesting facts about the house itself.  When you first enter the main room you are struck by the sheer enormity of the room.  The ceiling is 7 stories high.  Over a 6yr period, 1000 craftsman worked to build the home.  It would eventually feature 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces.  It was also the first home in America that had its own indoor bowling alley and a huge pool that was 12ft deep.  There were buttons all along the pool edge where the guest could push for refreshments.
Moving on tomorrow to Irmo, SC and easy 2.5 hr drive and then the next day finds us back in the Myrtle Beach area for 7 days before returning to Jekyll on the 26th.

Visiting the Biltmore Estate - America's Largest Home

We spent an amazing day touring the Biltmore Estate here in Asheville.  The estate was built by George Vanderbilt the youngest of 3 sons of the elder Vanderbilt who became a billionaire in the shipping industry.  The estate is on 8000 acres and was officially opened on Christmas Eve 1895.  One of the most interesting rooms on the tour was the library that contains half of his 23,000 volume collection, which caused a New York Journalist to call George "the best read man in the country".  Also in the library is a chess set and gaming table that was owned by Napoleon Bonaparte.  George died in 1914 from complications of an appendectomy and his wife, Edith, continued to run the estate and raising her young daughter, Cornelia.  In 1924 Cornelia married the Honorable John Francis Amherst Cecil, a British diplomat.  Today, Biltmore remains a family business.  Vanderbilt's grandson, William A.V. Cecil owns the Biltmore; his son William serves as CEO and his daughter, Diana Cecil Pickering, is vice-chair of the board of directors.  Along with 1,800 employees, they continue the preservation of the estate.  If you are ever in this area this is an absolute must to see.

Beautiful Campground in Ashville, NC

If any of you are ever near Ashville, NC and in your RV or wish to stay in a cabin I hardly suggest that you check out the KOA just east of the city.  This pond is on the property with a walking path all the way around it.  With the change of color in the leaves it was down right pretty!

Ashville North Carolina

Nice 3hr ride over from Max Meadows, VA (where do they get these names).  We are in a very nice KOA and will be visiting the famous Biltomore Estate tomorrow and Wed.
We ate tonight at Okie Dokies Smokehouse, some good smoked eatin.  Also I have had unsweet tea all over this country and this place has the best I've ever had.  More to come over the next couple days on the blog as we explore the Biltmore.

Pay Showers

Well to continue the saga from yesterday.  We arrive at Sand Springs Campground, if you are ever in the area for camping and you see their sign, continue into Morgantown and get a Holiday Inn.  Anyway this place is way back in the hills and is "primitive" to say the least.  It starts raining just as we are in and we go to our site and its apparent that its going to be difficult to level even with auto levelers that we have.  So we unhook, get the animals out of the truck and start the process but the trailer says angle to extreme.  So we decide to move to the space next to us as its much better but then the levelers stop working and we're pretty sure its due to the angle.  After some time they start working again, so we re-hook the truck, put the animals back in the truck, pull in the slides then I have to BACK THIS DAMN THING out of the space and carefully missing the trees with NJ back there giving signs like she was on an aircraft carrier, we manage to get into the next space and after all that the rig levels ok.  So this morning I go to the bath house and find that the showers here are "pay showers" a quarter for 9 minutes of water.  How do you figure they arrived at "9".  No heat in the building and it got down to 29 last night and when in open the shower door there are 2 of my least favorite characters (BABS)  big ass black spiders.  Sure glad we're not paying for this place, else we would be at the Holiday Inn.

Summer's Over

Left Maine 2 days ago.  Had a great summer, worked a lot of softball tournaments which turned out to be the end of my softball career.  Sometimes things just have to come to an end.  Norma entered her pictures in the Skowhegan and Windsor fairs and won ribbons at both locations.  We spent time with friends, the Somers and the Frasers.  On Sept 28th my 91yr old father passed away in Colorado so I flew back for his service and spent quality time with my brother, Robert and his wife Aurice.  We are now back on the road starting the southward trek to Jekyll.  We have stopped in Morgantown, WV to help staff a Jekyll Island both at an RV show.  Will be here for a few days and then off to Ashville, NC to visit the Biltmore Estate then a short visit to the Great Smoky Mtns on the NC/TN border before going back to Jekyll for the winter.  Will start bloging again as we move south.