2000 Light Years from Home
Let the record show that at 1:34 PM, 7 miles North of Chubby Checkers hometown (Andrews SC), on our 43rd day on the trip, the odometer registered 2000 miles! We stopped to hug, kiss, and celebrate with a well deserved banana break. Words cannot express the feelings we shared.
To add to the celebration, we were in the midsts of our record setting day. Between Conway and Charleston, the route passes through some of the most rural areas of the South Carolina lowlands. Swamps, bogs, forests and more swamps, punctuated every so often with a small hamlet or rural store. We found that in these communities, the old fashioned country store is THE place that people go. They're not fancy, and they certainly aren't offering specialty coffee drinks. In fact, we discovered the joys of chili dogs and boiled peanuts. The best chili dog to date was in Pleasant Hill, SC. While we saw no evidence of a hill, they sure did make a mean chili dog, with the request onions, cheese and other trimmings. Boiled peanuts are another treat that shouldn't be missed. Soft, tender...we both prefer the cajun over the original style. It is the lunch choice of champions!
Fueled by the local delicacies, we rode over 72 miles that day. It was sunny, the wind was to our back, and it was effortless. Our trial began when we tried to locate our camp site for the evening. The South Carolina highway map indicated that there was a campground near Jamestown, about 50 miles from Charleston. This was perfect as it meant we could be in the city the next day. What we didn't know was that the campground was 7 miles off route, 3 miles down a dirt road, and that it was the last day of deer hunting season with dogs. Apparently, in SC one can still hunt deer using canines in certain districts. We were not about to do "rough" camping in the middle of hunting season, but it still unnevered us to be riding along a road that had significant hunter traffic. Dog hunting seems a bit strange to us. The "hunter" puts a radio tracking collar on their hound and drives up and down the road holding an antenna out the window, trying to pick up the dogs signal. The animals are trained to herd the deer back toward the road, where they can be easy pickin's for the hunter. So much for fair chase.
We pedaled hard and fast, not wanting to be caught in a cross fire of some over anxious rifle man who had not yet filled his quota. Getting to the campground, we found the last site available, and spent a "unique" evening listening to the hum of propane power generators. These folks had enough juice going to light up a ballpark for a night game, but we weren't about to say anything. We spent a rather restless night, never really getting to sleep. After waiting a few hours after sunrise, we donned our brightess colors and rode the heck out of there towards Charleston. It was starting to rain but we didn't care. After all, it was going to be a "warm rain."
To add to the celebration, we were in the midsts of our record setting day. Between Conway and Charleston, the route passes through some of the most rural areas of the South Carolina lowlands. Swamps, bogs, forests and more swamps, punctuated every so often with a small hamlet or rural store. We found that in these communities, the old fashioned country store is THE place that people go. They're not fancy, and they certainly aren't offering specialty coffee drinks. In fact, we discovered the joys of chili dogs and boiled peanuts. The best chili dog to date was in Pleasant Hill, SC. While we saw no evidence of a hill, they sure did make a mean chili dog, with the request onions, cheese and other trimmings. Boiled peanuts are another treat that shouldn't be missed. Soft, tender...we both prefer the cajun over the original style. It is the lunch choice of champions!
Fueled by the local delicacies, we rode over 72 miles that day. It was sunny, the wind was to our back, and it was effortless. Our trial began when we tried to locate our camp site for the evening. The South Carolina highway map indicated that there was a campground near Jamestown, about 50 miles from Charleston. This was perfect as it meant we could be in the city the next day. What we didn't know was that the campground was 7 miles off route, 3 miles down a dirt road, and that it was the last day of deer hunting season with dogs. Apparently, in SC one can still hunt deer using canines in certain districts. We were not about to do "rough" camping in the middle of hunting season, but it still unnevered us to be riding along a road that had significant hunter traffic. Dog hunting seems a bit strange to us. The "hunter" puts a radio tracking collar on their hound and drives up and down the road holding an antenna out the window, trying to pick up the dogs signal. The animals are trained to herd the deer back toward the road, where they can be easy pickin's for the hunter. So much for fair chase.
We pedaled hard and fast, not wanting to be caught in a cross fire of some over anxious rifle man who had not yet filled his quota. Getting to the campground, we found the last site available, and spent a "unique" evening listening to the hum of propane power generators. These folks had enough juice going to light up a ballpark for a night game, but we weren't about to say anything. We spent a rather restless night, never really getting to sleep. After waiting a few hours after sunrise, we donned our brightess colors and rode the heck out of there towards Charleston. It was starting to rain but we didn't care. After all, it was going to be a "warm rain."
posted by Matt and Mary Ellen | 4:48 PM
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