Flyin' High, Flyin' Low...Flyin' to Orlando!

On my second plane of the day. The time is roughly 5 p.m. on this Thursday evening. We woke up at 4:15 a.m., took care of "The Bugs" morning rituals, fed myself with a ham and cheese toasted sammie and diet coke...yep, the breakfast of champions! By 5 a.m. we were out of the house. My flight didn't leave until 7:25 a.m., but I wanted to be a good flyer and earn my wings and get to the airport 2 hours early like "they" say. We were at the San Francisco airport in about 25 minutes and I was checked-in and through security in about 9 1/2 minutes!! I found a plug and opened my computer to do some "work"...uploading pictures...I was only able to load half of an album due to the slow connection, but it's half of an album that I didn't have loaded, so it's all good! The plane boarded and left pretty much right on time for Charlotte, NC...where my layover was.

[caption id="attachment_5063" align="aligncenter" width="350"] See ya Charlotte[/caption]

The flight was about 4 hours and 45 minutes long but it went by pretty fast due to my awesome luck of being seated next to two amazing women from Hawaii. We talked for the majority of the flight, in between napping, reading, stretching and potty breaks. While I am flying to Orlando to help 'the moms' move...they are enroute to Rome! They flew through the night last night, flying from San Fran to Charlotte and they're going to keep on truckin' to Rome, then once in Rome they will take a small cruise ship to Greece! How awesome is that!?

During the flight we talked about all kinds of stuff from our van-life to their lives in Hawaii. One of the women, Vicki, can watch her kids and hubby surf from her kitchen window as she makes brekkie for the fam and at times, when it's mating season, has to close her windows due to the whales making so much noise splashing their tales and bodies and moaning! They spoke of how amazing the sunsets are and how they never get old to watch, as well as how magical the views are...even after living there for 30 years! We talked about our kids & our husbands, our mothers & our siblings...and of course, the Nana Bug!

It was great to be seated next to such wonderful energy, I sure needed it after the few days leading up to this trip. For some reason, I was majorly stressing about the flight, which flying has never bothered me or scared me before. I'm sure it was driving J' totally batty listening to me for three days about how nervous I was! haha So thank you ladies, my prayers were truly answered by sitting next to you and I hope you (Margaret) had an amazing 80th birthday reminiscing in the magical city of Rome! (I'm upset I didn't get a picture of them, darn.)

They gave me a pretty good push to truly start writing my book. I've really got to get my thoughts in order to start that thing, just seems like something else always gets done before that...hmmmm. So another thank you, to you, ladies!

So...yes, back on the plane. We took off about 15 minutes ago out of Charlotte and should be arriving in Orlando in about an hour or so. I'm pretty excited...actually I'm super freakin' stoked! I not only get to see my mom (after almost two years) and hug and kiss her... this mama gets to see her Baby Owl too!

My, not so little, girl and I are going to have a sleepover and just be giggly girls together and of course I get to put the official mother's stamp of approval on her man, her house & her pup! She's a really great "kid", so I'm sure her life and everyone around her are just perfect. It should make for a really nice trip all the way around and if I get to see my best Aussie mate, that will make it even better!

[caption id="attachment_5065" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Rainy Florida[/caption]

For the next 7 days, I'll be giggling with my little owl, moving the moms, unpacking boxes and shopping for furniture for her new home and I'm sure a lot more that I haven't planned for, purty fun stuff...actually, it does sound fun to me! haha I'm always happy for the time I get to spend with anyone I love even if we just lay on the floor, stare at the popcorn ceiling that hasn't been scraped off yet and using a shower curtain for a blankie! Just kidding mom...you can have the shower curtain! I'm there for the quality time and adventure.

We're coming in for a landing.

[caption id="attachment_5066" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Crazy Cloud!![/caption]

So, here we go.......

PEACE

 

Creepers in the Croatan National Forest

Alright let's see what's been going on... I'm finding it a little harder to write every single day like I had planned, just because some days are more fun to write about than others and also some days I just don't feel like writing...also we need a signal! The last couple of days have been filled with checking out some dispersed (FREE) camping in the Croatan National Forest. We found one spot by Google maps to start us off. This place, Fisher's Landing, wasn't what we were looking for,  although it would have been perfect if you could drive up to the site (to van camp) instead of bringing your stuff to it. With this site being the only site we knew of, we stopped into the Ranger's office and asked them if there were more sites like that. The Ranger pointed out where there were two other sites and off we went. We hit up the closest one first, Catfish Landing. It was a cute little spot right on the water. There was quite a lot of trash left over the years and I just couldn't stand to look at such a beautiful place all trashed up so I spent some time cleaning 'Her' up~ 4 bags of trash later and I was able to relax. I also figure Mother Nature gives us so much, it's nice to give back.

[caption id="attachment_1441" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Giving back[/caption]

We chilled here for only a little bit because (due to the trash) there were a ton of bees here and J' couldn't get a good signal, so we left and went to Wal-mart. We also had not stocked up on anything because we didn't know what to expect from this site and the road you drive on to get here is long, bumpy and obnoxious.

[caption id="attachment_1443" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Doesn't look bad, but ...oh boy![/caption]

We were also able to receive signal at Wal-mart for The Bachelorette, so that was a definite plus- hey ya gotta go with what you get people! The next day we geared up with food, ice, drinks, & gas and headed to the other spot the Ranger suggested, Long Point. We had to drive on the same damn road only twice as long this time and had quite a scare with the GPS. The GPS battery died so I plugged it in. It wasn't working. The GPS would turn on then right off~ even plugged in. Then it started not even turning on. I thought something got jostled inside due to the gravel road we had been driving for the last half hour. J' ended up messing with it later and found another cord that worked for it, so thankfully it wasn't the GPS device, somehow the cord was the problem...phew! We finally arrived at our destination and it was better than Catfish and felt a bit more private. Catfish had some 4-wheeling trails in back of the area we were parked at. Here at Long Point there is barely any trash on the ground, it has a vault toilet, a trash can and 2 picnic benches and it's also right on the river. It's beautiful here.

[caption id="attachment_1442" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Road in & terdlet[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1444" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Walking path to River[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1445" align="aligncenter" width="300"] River[/caption]

 When we got  here it was almost like a wind storm was starting, the van was even rocking back and forth. Then the rain came. We just sat in the van with the side windows (with screens) open for air and caught up on some of our stuff. After the rain stopped, it was almost dark so we just opened the side door and hung out.

[caption id="attachment_1447" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Enduring the rain storm[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1448" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Finally the rain stopped[/caption]

 There must be some kind of training or something going on around here because about an hour into being here we had a helicopter fly over us. But not just nonchalantly fly over us, like he could have thrown down a rope for us to climb up-fly over us. It was so close we both thought he was going to land right next to the van. They flew over us for the rest of the day. At first, I thought they were scoping us out, then I thought there had to be another explanation on why they kept moving over the same area so many times.

[caption id="attachment_1449" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Creeper[/caption]

  So I think there must be some kind of flying training or machinery training going on...don't know. It seemed like they were done doing whatever it was they were doing later in the evening, but as soon as the tv died (around 10 p.m.) and we were falling asleep~ there they were again and closer than they were in the daytime...geesh, give us a break! They came around four times and I got my camera out to record the noise and they never came around a fifth time...woo hoo! We woke up this morning and it's been overcast but hasn't rained yet, yay. We were able to pack away some things that we knew we wouldn't be using for a while, like our winter coats, a blanket and some other things. It was able to give us some more room and not have to move it around the 'cabin' every day. We washed up, reorganized, stretched and worked out a little. I labeled all of our GZ batteries along with some other cords so we know what's what when everything is clumped together on the floor. It's all about working smarter in such a small space. One crap thing that happened while things were being gathered & put outside to be organized~ the TV antenna broke...booooo. Hopefully Radio Shack will have something like it or close to it. The one that was so great about the one for Lil Phil (the tv) is that it was pretty small and had a magnet on the bottom so you could stick it to the outside of the top of the van for better reception. It was also just one straight antenna, not rabbit ears, so it was hella stealthy...fingers crossed we'll find another one like it.

[caption id="attachment_1450" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Time to clean her up[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1451" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Camping girl[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1452" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Who says free can't be nice!?[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1453" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Living in a van...down by the river![/caption]

Now we're just sitting at the picnic table looking for more National Forest Land North of us (we have pretty good signal here). We are also trying to get some good video of these helicopters ~ there's two of them today! It's like our own private air show...except they're not doing any tricks. I guess I'll just have to keep watching...

PEACE

Parks = Relief

Went to sleep last night and we were at Home Depot, J was about to start watching the Pacquiao/Bradley fight. Woke up this morning a little loopy in a Wal-mart parking lot...and I didn't even drink last night! I was soooo out of it, must have been all the Midol, whoa..haha

Another day of taking it easy. It's a little bit overcast, so far, today so that's a nice plus. Last night, I did a little research of the area we're in and found some really great parks. This morning we drove to the first one on the list, Greenfield Park. This park is monstrous and beautiful. There is a trail that goes all the way around, one of the biggest lakes I've seen in a while, it's a 4 mile trail (round trip).

We saw a couple of alligators (they are not shy), tons of turtles (I actually was able to say, "Is that a turtle head pokin' out"...and mean it! haha), all kinds of birds and of course squirrels, even some stray cats.

[caption id="attachment_1554" align="aligncenter" width="225"] ♫ Gator-aid & The Swimming Turtles ♫[/caption]

Savannah is in heaven with the smells! There is a skate park here, alongside tennis courts, play grounds, picnic benches and canoe & paddle boat rentals. We found a nice spot under a big tree and even with all of the activity, it's pretty quiet...there's even a guy building an "adult tree house" right behind us~ yep, we are back in civilization. We were even able to "spread out" a bit to repack and reorganize Joon. It's nice to be able to have places like this where no one bothers you, we can open the doors, walk Savannah and have her be outside (on a leash of course) and just do our stuff.

[caption id="attachment_1557" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Very cool sitting area[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1558" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Abundance[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1559" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Our spot for the day[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1560" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Takin' care of business[/caption]

 Everyone is doing their thing and we are doing our thing.... 'cuz it ain't nuttin' but a G-thang bay-ba!

PEACE

Ferries are sweet

Last night we stayed at a different Wal-mart and even got a free showing of COPS! J' laid down around 10 pm or so. Before I laid down I had to empty my memory card so I'd be freshened up in the a.m. While doing this, I kept hearing some ruckus behind the van (I just thought we were sharing the same parking lot as a bar or restaurant because it was constant ruckus for the half hour I was downloading). I laid down and looked out the back window and was surprised to see not one cop car but FOUR cop cars with a couple of people sitting on the curb. Our back tint is pretty dark so it's hard to see out at night but from what I saw (in two hours) was; 2 more squad cars & a paddy wagon, one guy arrested and a girl that had to have someone come pick her up. At least it showed us how well we blend in~ no one even knew they were the ones being watched, mwahaha!

After Broadway @ the Beach last night we talked about moving on in the morning so we started driving North along the coast . About 60 miles away we hit a cute sleepy beach town where they actually welcome dogs on the beach. The three of us walked for a bit and saw "hamburgers" (jellyfish) galore washed up on shore.

[caption id="attachment_1564" align="aligncenter" width="225"] 3 of too many on shore[/caption]

Even though the water was nice and warm, I don't think we'll be swimming here today! We drove through a few more beach towns & turned down a road that led us to a toll booth....but not just any ole toll booth, a Ferry toll booth! What cooler way to travel than by boat in your car! haha

[caption id="attachment_1566" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Joon is on a boat![/caption]

We had to wait about a half hour but we were the second car in line so that was a plus. While waiting, we put the bed up, cleaned our space and made some sandwiches~ by the time we were all set, it was time to board. Joon van was right at the front of the boat...we were on a boat! haha

Other than a canoe, that was Bugs' first big boat ride! After a half hour Ferry ride, some good pics and the longest wait ever for the bathroom, the Ferry docked and we just drove right off. Totally rad, man.

[caption id="attachment_1567" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Eat your heart out Leonardo[/caption]

We thought we would just keep driving up the coast, shortly thereafter we started hitting little beach towns again. We went to Carolina Beach first, with it being one of the bigger ones and (what looked like) a lot of excitement...meh.

[caption id="attachment_1568" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Too hot to be open[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1569" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Yeah...she likes it.[/caption]

*FAIR WARNING: Folks, either be ready to pay $1.50 per hour or pay for metered parking~ if you can find it. There is 2 hour free parking (& you better be back within that time because there are tow trucks everywhere waiting to ruin your day) BUT it's very hard to find the free spots & to find an open one. The free parking was not planned out well.*

Anyhoo we found FREE 2 hour parking and skipped on down to the beach. Holy masses of people Batman~ I mean just thinking of it again is giving me an anxiety attack. I don't do well with big social settings in the first place so I was kinda freakin, but I just put my head down and looked for sharks teeth (no luck). I had my head down so hard a little girl, her Tonka truck & I collided! The water here was freezing and with so many of our "distant cousins" around we decided against leaving our stuff on the beach to go play in the waves this time. Our 2 hours of free parking turned into a fulfilling half hour and away we went to try to find a place to watch the fight (Pacquiao/Bradley). We stopped at Home Depot, to catch up on things (they have free public wi-fi) and ended up staying there through the fight. We had dinner in the van (Mountain House) and since I hadn't been feeling very well all day, I was dancing with sheep before the main event even started!

Baa Baa Baazzzzzzzz.........

PEACE

Beaches, Boardwalk & Barc Parc Oh My!

Night one in Myrtle Beach was very successful. The weather is so nice here we didn't even need a fan to sleep during the night. We woke up around 7:45a.m. I walked The Bug (Savannah) & then J' & I walked around Wal-mart looking for a few new items for "van-eating" that don't deal with boiling water or huge clean-up. We found some packets of premade Tuna for easy-to-make sammy's, some bars; yogurt, granola, protein & the like (stuff that won't melt in the heat), and some premade chicken salad with crackers. When we left Wal-mart, we drove over to the Ross parking lot just next door to eat breakfast. We were stopping in Ross anyway to look for swim suits so it was the perfect plan. I think they even opened early for us because they saw us sitting there eating haha. Turns out they weren't good for anything other than their bathrooms ~ Ugly suits, for my taste, and way too much for what I was looking for...yep, a ganga! We figured it was time to get our "party" started, so we pointed Joon to the Grand Strand. The Wal-mart we stayed at was only about 3 miles away, so we arrived in no time! We found a great spot right off Main Street, in the shade. It was metered parking which worked out great for us. It was only about 10 a.m. so it was awesome outside. We put the shades up in the front, pulled them down in the back, watered up The Bug, turned her fan on and off we went to the Boardwalk. We parked at Ripley's Believe it or Not, right on the main corner, so from there we took a left onto the main street to take in all of the sights. We were there before a lot of the stores opened for the day so we soaked up some sun and walked down to Pier 14.

We walked in to use the restroom and ended up paying the $1.00 fee per person to walk all the way to the end of the pier. It was cool to walk out there and see the beach, the boardwalk and everything going on from that point of view. We stayed out there for about 40 minutes. They have little wooden benches that sit up high so you can see over the railing- probably more for the fishermen than anyone, but it was still nice to hang out here for a bit.

While sitting there, I noticed something floating in the water, I said to J', "Look, a hamburger!" We both stared at it for a minute and he finally said, "That's a jellyfish...maybe the jellyfish ate a hamburger!" haha We must have watched that poor jellyfish trying to get back out to sea for a good 6-7 minutes. I don't think it ever made any progress, poor Jelly Felly!

[caption id="attachment_1578" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Jelly Hamburguesa??[/caption]

After the pier we made our way into some shops, especially an oldie shop called the Gay Dolphin that J' & his sister used to frequent as kids. Now, let me tell you~ if you are a knick knack whore, this place has your name written ALL over it!! There is crap, er...items for purchase everywhere, even on the ceiling, no joke man. Believe me if you can think of it, it's there. You may have to search the FOUR cluttered, filled to the brim floors for it, but I'm sure you will find it...or maybe you won't but it will be an advneture trying. I'm sure you're bound to walk out with something! If we had a place to put it I would have bought myself a dragon, I Loooooooove me some dragons!!! And they had a ton of them, but we don't have the room and I'm sure J' loved that fact, haha.

[caption id="attachment_1580" align="aligncenter" width="300"] So tacky, yet so pretty[/caption]

Back on the "Strand", more pictures were taken, bathing suits were looked at, a sticker was bought (that we now cannot find), and LOTS more walking was done. Since my hormones woke up craving pizza, we stopped for a slice @ NY Pizza and a large COLD coke. It hit the spot for sure and used up our limit of "EOM" (Eat out meals) for the day, but it was worth it and my craving was satisfied. Walking back to Joon, I ducked in one more store to find a Ganga on a suit and I finally found one~ hooray! Now I have an 'out of shape suit' until my butt can fit into the one I usually wear, woo hoo! Time to go discover some other parts of Myrtle Beach...

[caption id="attachment_1581" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I actually think this sign would be under water if there was a Tsunami but at least they tell you how to get away from it, duh![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1583" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Look Mom! Black-eyed Susans... I remembered![/caption]

We visited a campground J' used to vacation at as a youngin'. He showed me things that were new and things that haven't changed, we walked into the arcade he spent many a summer day in and I even saw the spot where he won a break dancing contest...that's my guy!!

We walked the beach and I found my very first shark's tooth, which I lost very shortly after due to a hole in my pocket, rats!

We even took a "tour" of their bath house, if you know what I mean! haha After some good reminiscing, we found a beautiful dog park with an amazingly clean lake and a few acres of land for Nana to run, fetch and swim. She actually learned how to fetch her very first ball in water. At first, she swam out to it and tried to force it back with her face and neck, then she tired & turned back...mommy fetched that ball (thank god the water was so clean!) She learned she had to open her mouth, get the ball, then swim back. She proceeded to come back, drop the ball in sand and from there her girliness came out. She pawed at the ball trying to get a "clean" spot (it was covered in sand) and every time she put her mouth around it to pick it up, she would just drop it & sneeze, as if the ball had hot sauce on it or something. She did this about 6 or 7 times until she gave up and mommy washed it off so she could have it again. She isn't spoiled at all, haha. She's just the cutest thing ever!! We ran her crazy for a good hour or so until she decided she had had enough, to the point of digging a hole and putting the ball in it to hide it. She's no dummy!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrkhlq_06-not-a-sand-kinda-gal_animals

From here, we found the closest mall, parked, took care of some things; work, phone calls, etc. & got a tip of something to do from Liza, so we thought we'd give it a shot. Within 15 minutes we were fully engulfed in Broadway at the Beach. There were people everywhere, music coming from all areas, shopping, restaurants, bars, cafes, boats whizzing across the lake in the middle of it all, hungry fish, screaming kids, tired parents, dancing in the streets, nostalgia rides from the pavilion, the smells of popcorn, ice cream and cotton candy...talk about sensory overload!

It certainly was a fun way to realize we are doing something completely different with our lives now. I've never been more at Peace.

PEACE