Croft State Park, another try

 Determined to travel – July, 2020

We were supposed to have spent two weeks in the Blue Ridge Mountains with Jack and Marcia this summer.  As Covid continues to rage, all federal properties still remain closed making camping along the parkway an impossibility.  Rob continued to have health challenges along with a treatment that caused even more trouble and we were feeling Covid limitations and complications more than ever.

Jack and Marcia made their move north from Florida as soon as restrictions and safety allowed and found themselves within an easy day’s drive of us, as good an excuse as we needed!  Croft State Park is just outside Spartanburg and an easy drive straight up I-26 from Charleston and we made plans to meet up there.

The park was a complete surprise!  Being enamored with mountain parks, we really didn’t have high expectations.  The campground was nestled in the trees with welcoming sites and there were hikes in every direction with lakes and streams and several caches for Marcia to find her way to.  The best part of the experience, however, was the relief of being outside of the Covid raging city for a few days and being with friends following the same safety protocol we used.  

Being with Jack and Marcia, we fell into our “routine” and hiked ourselves silly (me especially),  Marcia found several caches (always the diversion) and we ate, drank and gamed at will.  An extra challenge this visit was that Rob continued to have debilitating migraines and my emotional state was at an all time low.  Having been secluded from friends for months and Rob’s health being a roller coaster ride with some really BIG “thrills” along the way, I was what could be described as a wreck!  

Despite my emotional state, we carried on and even had a fun day exploring Spartanburg, a town we have near 40 years experience with in business but didn't really know.  We found a welcoming, open minded and contemporary town and I scored a birthday gift for my daughter in law and Rob and I had our first meal out in many months - all protocol safe, mind you!

As our times together would indicate, any rendezvous with Jack and Marcia meant good food and lots of games.  Not as exciting for blog material but always a joy for all of us.  With Rob down a lot of the time, I had even more time to cook and kept us well fed while Marcia reliably arrived with some stellar G&T's to share.  Can't say it's a bad life!

Jack’s full-time RV-ing son, Jack Jr and his wife RoseMarie decided at the last minute to come see them at Croft.  Being in my “tender” condition, the complication of visiting with people whose habits I knew nothing of along with selfishly being less than desiring to share the precious days with our friends provided to be a challenge that took me to the brink and I had a good, honest Covid cry!!

These are circumstances that show a person’s underbelly.  They also show people’s true colors.  Marcia proved herself to be more than an RV buddy, more than a good game player, hike taker or dinner sharer.  Marcia locked herself in as a true friend.  Seeing what I was fighting terribly with myself to hide, she showed up and helped me let go.  All of the sadness, frustration and fear of the last 4+ months of covid and health scares came out on the shoulder of someone risking her own safety with a lifesaving hug. 

More than the trees, the streams, the hikes or games, our time together at Croft will be the time that I was rescued by a friend.