Mission 037 - Cabin Camping at Oconee State Park

What??? Cabin Camping? Well, short of a tent (...uh, no thank you...), it's the only way to do the State Park-camping thing without an RV, so we got to try something new this time around! Take a look as we visit Oconee State Park in the Appalachian foothills of upstate South Carolina. We spent a couple of nights in one of the original cabins constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 1930s (but updated with most modern comforts you'd expect... and demand!). Of course, we took a long hike through some of the park's densely-wooded trails, and checked out the RV campground for you, since we're still RV'ers at heart!

A New Year, and Things are Better ALREADY!!!

Happy New Year, fellow Campers!  Jessie here to remind you (as if you didn't already know) that 2020 is OVER... Thank GOD!!!  Yes, yes, it's true that all of our collective woes won't magically vanish now that the calendar has flipped, but our hopes must have a starting point, and a New Year is as good a time as any to make the resolution to work on having a better year (gee, maybe that "resolution" thing could become an annual tradition... or something...).  

In our own little world, things are looking up!  Amongst our many blessings, the two things that stand out the most are 1) my recent surgery went very well, and I'm recovering even quicker than expected, and 2) Smokey has found a new full-time job!  While these two wonderful events will have lots of positive effects on our lives, the thing all of you care about the most is that we can making camping plans again! Woo-Hoo!!  Here's what we have on the agenda so far: 

We'll be headed for Hamilton Branch State Park for the weekend of Valentine's Day next month.  We hear nice things about the park from others here in our area that camp there, and it's nearby, so it'll be a good choice for "dipping our toes" back into camping after the winter layoff.   

In mid-March, we'll FINALLY venture back out into the world outside the Central Savannah River Area, over to Chester State Park.  Chester is one of South Carolina's original sixteen state parks, and is popular with fishermen and disc-golfers... which makes one wonder what we'll do there, since we're neither of those things... Oh, who are we kidding!?  It's camping, so it'll still be great! 

The last thing we have confirmed for the new year will be a long journey... for us, at least!  The first of April will find us dragging the Aluminum Falcon all the way to Desoto State Park over in Forth Payne, Alabama!  Smokey's new employer closes down for the Masters golf tournament every April, and I'm on Spring Break that same time each year, so off we'll go on a week-long adventure! 

That's all so far, but of course, we hope we'll be adding more destinations to our agenda as the year progresses!  Stay tuned!  Oh, how 'bout all of you?  Tell us what's on YOUR agenda for the new year!  Maybe you'll make us jealous!

Black Friday 2020! Charles Towne Landing, Charleston, SC - (Outside the Camper)

Whoa!  We finally have a new video up on YouTube!  Black Friday 2020 was a chance for us to avoid the crowded outlet malls and take in a little “old Charleston” flavor.  Since South Carolina Parks was offering free admission the day after Thanksgiving, we jumped at the chance to visit Charles Towne Landing, the site of the first English settlement of the Carolinas.  Take a look as we check out all of the critters in the Animal Forest there, as well as learn about the fascinating archeologic discoveries made here over the last fifty years! 

Mission 022 - Dreher Island State Park in Prosperity, SC (on Lake Murray)

This is the one in which we are finally convinced that a weekend just ain't long enough for a camping trip... 😞  Dreher Island State Park is another little gem in the roster of South Carolina state parks, and was a welcome opportunity to break out of our kinda-sorta local camping "rut" we'd been in for most of the year.  Situated on three small islands in Lake Murray, just above Columbia, SC, the park is a great choice for both RV campers and tent campers.  Come along and see what little bit of fun we were able to find in just a short weekend! 

Mission 021 (Pt. 1) - Lake Hartwell State Park | RV CAMPING | RVing Upstate SC

Labor Day Weekend 2020!  (Yes, we're still making videos!!!)  Our last trip of the summer takes us to Upstate South Carolina, where we camped in Lake Hartwell State Park.  The campground sits along a couple of inlets, with boating access to Lake Hartwell’s 56,000 acres of water.  Join us as we travel up there late on a Friday afternoon, and then spend the next day wandering about the campground and basking in some cooler upstate weather… for a change! 

Mission 017 - Baker Creek State Park | RV CAMPING | Lake Strom Thurmond

Thanks to the COVID-19 scare ruining our (and most everybody's) longer-distance travels this spring, it seems our camping "theme" of 2020 is turning into a tour of they myriad parks and campgrounds in a fifty-mile radius of our house!  In this video, we visit Baker Creek State Park, another of the many RV camping spots up and down the Savannah River. Come along and see what we discovered at this quiet little boating and biking haven on the South Carolina side of Lake Thurmond... not that we had the chance to do either of those things this particular weekend...

Mission 015 - "Shakedown Cruise" to Hickory Knob State Resort Park

South Carolina's only State Resort Park was our destination for Aluminum Falcon 2.0's "shakedown cruise" over the Valentine's Day weekend. Less than fifty miles from our home, Hickory Knob was a great choice for a quick "run up the road" sort of trip to experience how hitching, towing, setting up and living in the new rig would be. Take a look and see how we spent our shortest RV trip to date (less than twenty-four hours!!) and what we thought of this campground on the shores of Strom Thurmond Lake.

Mission 011 (Part 2) - Kings Mountain National Military Park

Our newest video is up on the YouTube channel! Our long weekend at the Kings Mountain parks continued with our Saturday visit to the National Military Park, the site of the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. We lucked into visiting on the weekend before the October 7th anniversary of the battle, so there were lots of goings-on with re-enactors and other demonstrations to see, in addition to the lovely forest hike. Take a look at our jaunt through this historical place and see yet another fine example of the great work the National Park Service does in preserving America's special places!

Mission 011 (Part 1) - Kings Mountain State Park

More video fun for you!! Fall camping season begins, although you'd never know it as we departed for Kings Mountain State Park. Early October was still brutally hot down here in the South, but that didn't stop us from going camping! Join us as we discover one of South Carolina's original state parks, up where North and South Carolina meet. This historic location is known for its extensive hiking and equestrian trails, the "Living History Farm" (which we explore), and fishing and paddling on Lakes Crawford and York. We camped, we hiked, we grilled... see how it happened over on our YouTube channel!!

American History, in Our Own Back Yard! (Well, almost...)

Yet again, we find places to explore fairly close to home! During our one-year-of-RV'ing anniversary trip back to Lake Greenwood State Park, we ventured over to Ninety-Six, SC to see the National Historic Site there. It's fascinating to walk the grounds and learn about the events that happened here, and how instrumental those events were in the creation of our nation. Situated amongst 1,000 acres of forest land, this site is another example of the fantastic job the National Park Service does at protecting significant places, keeping them beautiful and accessible to everyone. If you live nearby or are traveling through this portion of South Carolina, you definitely should devote a couple of hours to experiencing this great place!

See what we found there over on YouTube!

Mission 008 - Calhoun Falls State Park

Another camping trip, another rainy weekend… but, what? You think we’d stay home? Nope! Calhoun Falls State Park is a lovely, secluded park on the shores of Lake Russell, where (in dryer weather) fishing and boating are the activities of choice. Despite the rain, we’ll show you both campgrounds in the park, as well as the almost-two-mile hiking trail and the very-friendly “wildlife” that may visit your camper!

Take a look at our latest entry over on the YouTube channel!

Mission 006 - Congaree National Park

No camper, no problem! While the "Aluminum Falcon" is in the shop, we got our dose of St. Patrick's Day-green that weekend by taking a day-trip over to South Carolina's only National Park - Congaree National Park! We see the largest intact expanse of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States, up-close and personal. Despite its reputation as "nothing but a swamp," we found it to be a lovely, peaceful place.  See what we discovered in our latest video over on the YouTube channel!

The ANGRIEST RV vlog Ever Recorded!

Well, sometimes the best-laid travel plans just don't work out. In our latest video, you'll see how our trip to take the Aluminum Falcon back to the dealer for some maintenance was only partially successful. You may also see Smokey blow his stack... EEK!!!

New Month, New Updates!

Hey, Happy Campers!  Today's post is just a "status update," to let you know that, just because the world at large considers this time of year to be the camping "off-season," we still have some things going on.

We got the Aluminum Falcon up to Camping World in Spartanburg last week for his planned maintenance.  Of course, we had to leave him there for a while, as we expected, but we intended to spend the weekend in a hotel in Spartanburg and do some other things while we were there.  Note I said "intended" - that didn't work out so well...

However, it did provide some fodder for our next YouTube video!  Keep your eyes open this Sunday, when our latest video mis-adventure will debut, and you'll get to see for yourself how we adapted to everything from Mother Nature to the Lodging & Hospitality industry working against us.

We haven't pinned down a date for running over to Congaree National Park, as the afore-mentioned Mother Nature seems determined to never again allow the Southern U.S. to see a sunny weekend.  When it happens, we'll let you know.  St. Augustine is still firmly on the calendar, though!

Again, check back either here or on the YouTube channel this Sunday for the new video, and be sure to subscribe to the channel, and share it with others! It's easily found at YouTube.com/LiveNLearnRV.  

Mission 005 - Aiken State Park, or as we call it, "Camp Spooky"

Peace and quiet. These are just two of the many things RV camping can offer, depending on where and when you go. Can there be such a thing as TOO MUCH peace and quiet? Well, check out the video for our recent long weekend at Aiken State Park for the answer.

Again, we won't be doing any camping in February or March, but there will be travels (of sorts) and news to report, so keep your eyes peeled for more words here!