342 tow miles via I-16, I-95 and US 301. 459 truck miles. Cumulative tow miles: 794. Cumulative truck miles: 987.
The extra truck miles were mostly consumed in traveling to Hilton Head Island SC on Sunday. That was mostly a huge disappointment. I was hoping the island would have an “outer banks” feel. Or at least Cape Cod or Sanibel Island. But it was like Marco Island, only more so. Very built-up. Not even a glimpse of the ocean through the hotels and condos. Gated communities everywhere. Very upscale. Not my cup of tea.
And the people. This was Memorial Day weekend, in a pandemic. But there were swarms of people everywhere, with nary a facemask in sight. Expect a spike in COVID-19 cases in SC in about 3 weeks. I didn’t get out of my truck.
Instead I visited two nearby cemeteries – the Pinckney Colony Family Cemetery and St Luke’s Cemetery. Both very scenic. I am curious about the “Pinckney Colony” name, but not curious enough to research it.
So the island may have been a disappointment but the cemeteries were wonderful. I even got about 50 headstone photos that I posted in findagrave.com.
Our home in Savannah for 2 nights was the Sunshine RV Park. This is a family-owned campground (I met the grandfather who founded it and the grandson who is running it) of about 100 sites with a mix of long-term residents and transients. There are no park models but some of the RVs clearly had not moved in years. Some of them had “interesting” modifications, like the trailer with the pitched aluminum roof. They also had fences that seem to have been made from old billboards. This campground did not put a premium on aesthetics.
The trip to Wilson NC was the longest hop in our itinerary and the only one that required a refueling stop. We ran into a couple of heavy thunderstorms in the first hour and had an annoying refueling/lunch stop. I opted to refuel at the RV pumps which were a tight fit and we had to wait quite a long time for one of the two pumps to free up. I thought one of the guys was just being rude, leaving his truck at the pump to go into the store. But when I finally got to the pump I realized that it was misbehaving. I didn’t have to go into the store but it did take about 5 minutes to get the the point where the pump would dispense fuel.
Then we parked in the truck area to “dine” at Wendy’s. That was interesting in that Wendy’s had no hamburgers. But we got fueled – both the truck and our bodies – and were on our way in about 40 minutes.
The good news: the truck, once again, performed flawlessly and the refrigerator stayed on. The last point is significant because it DIDN’T stay on during Hop 2. I diagnosed that problem as a popped GFI breaker. I don’t know why the GFI popped but I suspect it was due to a surge in the switchover from the land power to the truck power. I made sure that the inverter was off when I did the switchover this time.
More good news: I went to a WalMart Neighborhood Grocery to get some milk, OJ and a few other items. Milk was 75 cents for a half-gallon. And they had a gas station where I filled up at $1.64 per gallon of diesel. In the 8 years that I have owned this truck I don’t believe I have ever paid less than $2 per gallon. Amazing times.