The Exit - July 27

It’s been months of planning and preparing.  We chose Nova Scotia as an ultimate destination but the trip itself took shape over a long span of map studying and coordinating with friends.  Having a basic route in place, we celebrated Madison’s first birthday, countless other June and July birthdays and father’s day, attended a wedding and a load of doctor visits and got the house in order.

Needing to make the actual break was harder than anticipated.  I thought we were in good shape – everything but the “frig” and bathroom items were already on board and the long list of preparations almost entirely checked off.  Little did I know that Saturday would mean near eight hours of nonstop work in 90 degree heat.  At the end of the day, though, we were ready.  We threw a last look at our Charleston home, waved goodbye to friends and headed to Matt’s for a final hug to son and Madi.

We finally hit the road at 8:15 that night.  Not known to drive at night, this was a new experience in a new vehicle.  We had near an hour of daylight before darkness crept in and we carried on intending on knocking off a couple hours before stopping for the night.  About 2/3 of the way to our intended destination the mirror fell out of the side view mirror!  WHAT?!  Of all things…

With some scrambling and improvising we made it to Florence SC to the WalMart parking lot where we parked in between several other RV’s and countless trucks spending the night.  First order of business was our first WalMart visit in years – about 10:30 on a Saturday night.  We zombied our way through the store shaking off some of the weight of the day and grabbing a few supplies to create a makeshift replacement of the now defunct mirror. 

After an exhausted sleep without a/c and the noise of generators all around, we woke the next morning ready to get on with it.  We created our mirror alternative and I took advantage of the empty Sunday parking lot and gave myself a first lesson on driving a big rig.  WooHoo – check THAT off the list!

Three hours later we rendezvoused with Margaret, a dear dear friend from our first days in SC in 1984!  We hadn’t connected in several years so it was an especially sweet reunion.  We enjoyed lunch together at a taproom near her home and gave her a quick tour before heading back on the road to find our way to some wilderness and a real campsite!

After another several hours on the road, the mountains started to come into view, we turned off the interstate and started the climb and before long found our way to a place where our stresses and journey fatigue would begin to melt away.  

And the journey has begun…