"Bandit" tucked in for the night. In order for the fuel system to be properly cleaned, the fuel tank had to be dropped and cleaned out, and all the lines flushed. A lengthy ordeal.
First, Yvette and I both would like to thank the service department at Don Bullock Chevrolet in Rocky Mount NC for getting us up and running after the whole water-in-fuel debacle. It was nice of them to let us camp out in the parking lot a few days during the holiday weekend. And for the nice ladies at the “Double Tree” Hilton for greeting us with a couple of warm chocolate chip cookies when we came out of the rain. I just can’t say enough about the southern hospitality we’ve seen.
While we waited for our service appointment, we headed over to Tarboro NC on Sunday to attend their first ever BluesBrews Fest. It was a smash! Five or so food trucks and about 8 breweries showed up coupled with some great local Bluegrass music made it a great time. I sampled some nice IPA’s and couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into a fried green tomato and pimento cheese sandwich. Yes, it was that good!
A great fall day, bluegrass music, and great beer! What else could you possibly need?
Well...
...maybe a fried green tomato sandwich with pimento cheese on a homemade roll. With hot-out-of-the-fryer chips and fresh salsa. Darn! My coffee porter is almost gone!
Plenty of local breweries represented here. I sampled a few and was not disappointed.
Food trucks provided for some really "Good-Eats!"
Since it was late in the day when our truck was finally done, we took off north to camp again at Medoc Mountain State Park. Up early the next day Yvette had a hankering for breakfast and we stopped at the “Farmers Kitchen” in Bunn, NC. Every section of the country has their own style of ordering and their own flavors. The short of it is that I got a whole lot more food than I expected. Not that I was disappointed mind you, but it was the first time we asked for a doggie bag for breakfast! Grits, pancakes, homemade breakfast sausage, "hot links", eggs, toast, more pancakes, coffee, more coffee or and did I mention biscuits? Biscuits really should become a northern thing ya’ll.
"Farmers Kitchen" in Bunn NC. Nice job google search!
Okay, on to our destination, Dreher Island State Park, our lay-up spot for a house sit, and yes, some more maintenance for the truck. We didn’t have time to get the tires rotated while we were getting the fuel tank flushed so we postponed it until we got to Newberry. Ahh, but there is a method to our madness about that and you’re going to have to wait for the future blog to unlock the secret. Here’s a hint, it involves a grit cake. Ha! The other reason for laying up for this part of South Carolina is for some tweaking that ProVan will be doing to the coach. Nothing major, just some routine maintenance and some add-ons. We'll have a cool blog and video about that in the future.
So, here we are, at Dreher Lake State Park. A great two loop campground with lots to see and do. If you have a bass boat, you’re in bass heaven. And even if you don’t, there is plenty of shorelines and hungry fish that will gladly steal your bait. We spent, or I should say spend, most of our time hiking and riding our bikes all over the park. The rain finally let up and we walk probably 3-5 miles a day and do some bike riding to boot. Great birding here too including some Common Loons who have settled here for the winter months, their voices can be heard at dusk giving the park that "Deep-Woods Maine" kind of feeling.
Dreher Island State Park in Lake Murray. Lake Murray has over 500 miles of shoreline!
Interesting to us, though I’m sure our southern friends will think it not news, college football is huge down here. Out of all of the campsites (90+ in all), I think we were about the only site without a college football team banner. Clemson and South Carolina are huge, but there are others. On the weekend, all the radios or TV’s were on throughout the park and it wasn’t difficult to hear a game no matter where you might be standing. Oh, and apparently golf carts are big here as well. People will actually pull their fifth wheel or travel trailer to the park, unhook, then drive all the way back home and haul their golf cart to the park. I took a photo of a few but golf carts are as personal to folks here as their bass boats.
Golf Cart Fiesta Time!