NANCY and BILL: August 2010

A Nice Start to the Weekend!! - Saturday, August 28, 2010

Yesterday, Friday, Nancy was off from work and I had only one early appointment. After I was finished, we decided to take a ride and scope out a future campground. We drove 2 1/2 hours to Cheraw State Park in Cheraw, SC. The weather was warm - 93 degrees - but it was sunny and a beautiful day for an air conditioned drive.

Nancy and I had both done some preliminary work on the computer getting information about the park. Check out the web site: Cheraw State Park.

Click on map to enlarge it.

It has many positive attributes, but the one I like most is the Tom Jackson designed 18 hole golf course. So our first stop at the park was the Pro Shop where we picked up score cards and got pricing info for future play. WOW--I can play a championship course for, at most, $35 even on the weekend with a cart!!

Pro Shop

Driving Range behind Pro Shop

18th Hole across the street from Pro Shop

Our next stop was at the Park Office where we inquired about the campsites and kayak rentals.

Park Office

Kayak and Canoe Rentals

We have our Sea Eagle Kayak, but our good friends -- Bill and Chris, may go with us and they would need to rent a kayak or a canoe. If you look at the map, you will see that the lake is in the middle of the park. The golf course, cabins and park office are on one side and the campground and boat launch are on the other. At the far south end of Lake Juniper, near Turkey Oak Trail, are the Cypress Groves which we would love to kayak through. Here is a picture from the Web Site of the groves. Hope we can get our own picture when we stay here.

Cypress Groves

We decided to walk the boardwalk around the northern end of the lake over to the campground. It is about 3/4 of mile. Before we did that, we did a little tailgating.

Nancy had packed P&J sandwiches. Now, these are not just any old P&Js, these are the adult version. Nancy makes homemade peanut-cashew butter and we have that on whole wheat bread with all fruit jelly!! We add some multi-grain chips and there you have one of my favorites!!

After lunch, we headed off on the Boardwalk along the north end of the lake to the campground.

It was a beautiful walk along the lake. We crossed over the bridge which goes above the dam that forms Lake Juniper.

The Boardwalk

Bridge over the dam.

View from Bridge looking north.

View from Bridge looking south.

Just past the bridge, you come to the boat launch area. There was no one there today. I don't imagine it gets very busy as you can only have a max of 10 horsepower motors on this lake. That really makes this place peaceful and quite!

Boat Launch Area

Directly next to this area is the campground. There are only 16 sites, all with water and electric, but no sewer. There is a comfort station with nice showers in the middle of all the sites. The campsites were well manicured. Sites 6 - 16 were right on the lake. We would love to get one of the water front sites so we could launch the kayak or fish right from our site!! Nancy snapped several pictures of the campground and we made notes of our favorite sites.

Entering campground from boat launch path.

Sites 15 & 16 very private and on the lake!!

Site 16 has a separate pad for the picnic table...I think I can see a screened tent in it's future!!

Comfort Station

Sites 7 & 8 are right on the water also and very nice!!

We made our way back to the car and rode through the rest of the park. It is very beautiful and so quiet. This is truly a hidden gem. There are only 16 campsites and 8 cabins, so you will not have much company if you camp here!! We hope to do just that in the fall.

We drove home via a different route and stopped in McBee at McLeod's farm for peaches!!

Then we passed by The Track That Is Too Tough To Tame....

Darlington Motor Speedway

We ended our day with a trip to Bass Pro Shop where we purchased a couple of visors for Nancy. After that, we had dinner out at Ruby Tuesday's. It was a really NICE Day!!

We did get up early today (Saturday) and ride our bikes almost 23 miles with the group ride. I say with the group ride, but they (the group) took off at 18+ mph. Nancy and I became our own group and enjoyed our ride with each other, content to pedal at 13-15 mph. Of course, we have a few years on most of them and we were the only ones with hybrid bikes. That's our story and we're sticking with it.

It has been a nice start to a good weekend. Nancy has to work tomorrow afternoon and I plan to play a little golf. The trip on Friday did a lot to rejuvenate our spirits and get us back to thinking about our future camping trips. We had a GREAT TIME!!

"Back In The Saddle Again" - Sunday, August 22, 2010

Well, it's been 8 days since my back said "Whoa!" I've spent quite a few hours applying ice, then heat, then ice, then heat, etc. You get the picture! My back has been getting better everyday. So good, in fact, that today I went on a bike ride with Nancy. We pedaled slow and easy just to make sure I was OK. I rode a little over 10 mile then turned for home while Nancy kept going for another 10. I was very careful with my moves and my back felt good when I was finished.

Nancy left for work at 10:30 and would be gone until 8:30. I really had no plans for the day as I usually play golf while Nancy works. ;o) But today, I figured I'd give my back a rest from golf. I can't believe I just said that!! I always do the Sunday Paper crossword and today was no different. Unlike most other Sunday, I finished the entire puzzle in less than two hours -- NOW WHAT!?!

I changed into old clothes, loaded up the pressure washer and drove to Nancy's moms vacant house to put the finishing touches on it. I spent a couple hours pressure washing her house. I took my time and was very careful not to put any unnecessary strain on my back. It actually felt good to do something physical for the first time this week. I'm not ready to run any marathons but, I will continue to stretch every morning and do some brisk walks with Nancy this week. It is still hot (in the mid 90's) so our exercise will be done early in the morning before work.

On another subject, the selling of our house, we have had very little activity. Just a couple of showings with no hint of an offer. Our real estate agent called and said she is going to do a mass mailing to prospective clients in the next week or so. We'll see if that generates any interest. In the meantime, Nancy and I are keeping the house in "show" condition -- just in case! As we have learned in the past (this is house number 16), "you only need ONE buyer!"

Bottom line today is that I am feeling 100% better than I was a week ago so I'm singing that old Gene Autry cowboy song..........

"Back In The Saddle Again."

Happy Trails to You!!

I've Done the "Young Lad" In... Saturday, August 14, 2010

Nancy here........

I think I have finally pushed Bill to the breaking point. He has been really working hard these past few weeks helping move mom. Perhaps a little too hard!! This morning, we went to the bike shop to join the Saturday morning bike ride. All was well until Bill went to pump up the tires on my bike. He pushed down on the pump, felt something grab in his back and could not straighten up!! So, we packed up, got him home and are doing the "Hot/Cold, Ibuprofen, rest thing.

Hopefully, in a day or two, whatever happened will clear up and he can get back to some activity. If not, we will see about getting him checked out. Now, you know Bill is a golfer and he cannot play today or tomorrow, but there was no way he was not going to see the tournament on TV this weekend.

It never hurts to much for golf!!

Our original plan for the day, was to ride bikes and then go to Mom's old house. We got the house listed with the realtor this week. He suggested it needed to be pressure washed. Bill was going to pressure wash the house and I was going to weed and trim bushes. Well, the pressure wash will have to wait. I did go over to trim and weed. I no sooner started then it started to rain. I guess we are just suppose to REST this weekend. OK, we have got the message. Rest it is!! We'll be in touch and let you know how Bill is doing. Hopefully, it is nothing serious and we will get back to normal in short order.

Housework - Saturday, August 7, 2010

After the ride and showering, Nancy and I went over to her mother's now vacated house to finish getting it ready to sell. This past week, when we weren't working, we were here cleaning and packing. Today, we hope to be finished. I cleaned the gutters while Nancy finished boxing up items to be sold at a garage sale.

We made the decision to have only one garage sale combining mom's "stuff" and our "stuff" when our house gets sold. Just not in the mood to organize a sale right now. Since we have had very little traffic through our house, it could be awhile before we have any sale. That's OK, we could use the break!!

Together, we vacuumed, windexed, scrubbed, polished and generally cleaned all the rooms in the house. By the end of the day, the house is ready to be put on the market. We'll contact the sales office of Jensen's next week and make that happen. Jensen's is a community for people 55 and older. You buy the house, but rent your lot. So the sales go through their office. We are hoping to recoup most of what mom spent on her house. We have our fingers crossed that it will sell quickly, but there are many other homes in the community up for sale as well. We'll have to wait and see.

Nancy snapped quite a few photos of the house today. Take a look...perhaps you know someone who might be interested. Great house, near the beach and shopping!!

Large corner lot on the lake

View from Sun Porch

Sun Porch - we are selling it furnished.

Kitchen

Dining Room

Living Room

Den Entrance off of Living Room

Den Entrance off of Kitchen

Den access from living room and kitchen

Pantry and Laundry Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom and Bath

Guest Bedroom One

Guest Bedroom Two

Guest Bathroom

Lake in the back yard!

Well, it is late in the day on Saturday and both of us are tired. Nothing like a long bike ride and several hours of housework afterwards to wear us out! But, a good night's sleep and we will be doing another bike ride tomorrow -- I can't wait!

Nancy's First Group Ride - Saturday, August 7, 2010

As most of you know, I ride my bicycle with a group of cyclists every Saturday morning. Today was special! Nancy took her first ride with our group today. I know she was very apprehensive and worried that she would hold the group back. That apprehension turned out to be unfounded. She rode right behind me and never missed a beat. I think we've created a new group rider. I know she'll do future rides with the group when she's not working. Hooray for Nancy!

Nancy here...
I truly enjoyed the ride once I got over my fear of holding the group back. They were all so much fun and we couldn't have had a prettier day to ride. Thanks for the fun and allowing me to snap some photos. When just Bill and I ride, I carry the camera and snap photos as we ride. Today, I was riding much faster than normal and thought I best leave photos for before and after the ride. Perhaps when I get better and build more confidence, I'll get a few during the ride.