Camping at Lake Hartwell and Dreher Lake State Park, South Carolina

Today is Thursday, June 5th. I am now in the Ludowici Library where I have Internet access, so I created a photo album with the pictures I have taken at the two parks I’ve camped at since leaving the New Prospect Fire Station, and below I have written the stories about my time camping.

Tuesday, May 27th: I arrived at Lake Hartwell, Twin Lakes Campground this afternoon. It is a Corps of Engineer Park near Clemson, South Carolina. I have a beautiful lakeside campsite until Friday, then I have to move to a different site until Monday. I will still be able to look at the lake.

Tuesday afternoon, after I arrived at my campsite and got set up, I ate a sandwich, relaxed, and read a book. I enjoyed looking at the lake which was calm and there was a slight breeze. A couple of hours later as it was starting to get dark a storm blew in. There were high winds, the lake had waves with whitecaps. I am parked under lots of very large trees and I prayed that the branches would stay on the trees. The rain came down very heavy, the winds got stronger, then I heard what sounded like hail. I looked out the window and saw pea size hail all over the ground. I’m glad it was only pea size and that it didn’t cause any damage. About half hour later the storm was over. I stopped at the grocery before I left the fire station Tuesday morning and bought a roast chicken. It lasted me several days, I ate chicken salad sandwiches, chicken and cheese burritos, etc.

Wednesday morning, I got up and tied my hammock between 2 trees in my campsite. Then I took a walk around the campground. It’s really beautiful here. At the moment it’s peaceful and quiet. I’m sure during the weekend when the campground fills up that will change. After walking for almost an hour, I came back and made something to eat, then laid in my hammock alternating between reading a book, looking at the water, watching the squirrels and bluejays, and talking with God. I really like this campground. Most of the campsites are on the water and those that aren’t many still have a view of the water.

Here is a photo I took when I was laying in my hammock looking at the lake.

On Friday, I drove into town which is about a 10 minute drive so I could get some groceries and see if the thrift store had any good books. It turns out that this thriftstore is being remodeled and all of the books were tossed into a very large wire bin and I couldn’t even look through them. Since I have been not doing much except reading, I’ve read about a dozen books in the past couple of weeks. The other day the alarm went off at 9:30 a.m. I set it so I can get up to take my early dose of medicine. Then sometimes, and truthfully… often… if I don’t have to be anywhere, I go back to sleep for a while longer or just lay in bed talking with God and saying all the things I am grateful for. Anyway, Saturday morning when the alarm went off I didn’t even want to open my eyes, but I did. I took my medicine and went back to bed. Then I realized why I was so tired. I read until 4:00 a.m. At about 2:00 a.m. I only had about 75 pages left to read and I wanted to finish the book before I went to sleep. That was 4:00 a.m. So, if you look at me waking at 11:30 a.m. it wasn’t so bad, that was 7 ½ hours sleep.

The campsite I moved to on Friday, and that I would be at until I left on Monday morning, did not have any trees that I could tie my hammock to, so I sat in a chair and did my reading and relaxing. There were a few days when it rained and then I was inside the camper.

Monday morning, I got ready to leave the campground. I stopped to empty my water/waste tanks. This is my least favorite part about camping. The other is trying to get my camper level when the ground is really uneven. The dumpsite here is on a slight hill which is not the easiest, but it was okay. Emptying the tank went well, however, when I went to rinse the sewer hose the hose at the dump station sprayed and I got a bit wet. I’m glad that I always wear rubber gloves, socks, and a shirt and shoes that I change before I start driving. After I put my hoses away, I used those large saniwipes to wipe off the water and then I changed my clothes and shoes and put eye drops in my eyes just to make sure there was no contamination. Sometimes things work out great, other times there are hiccups. Sometimes the dump stations are not well placed or made easy to use.

I left Twin Lake Campground about 11:00 a.m. and headed southeast towards Columbia to Dreher Lake State Park, which is located in Prosperity, South Carolina. I don’t usually call ahead to see if campgrounds have open spaces, but I did in this case because if they didn’t I was going to stay where I was longer. Dreher Lake ranger station said they had campsites on the lake and I made reservation for a couple of days. I arrived about 2:30 p.m. It was about a 100 mile drive. I did stop at the grocery for some food to last me for a few days. I bought some ground beef, tortillas, refried beans, cheese, etc. I thought taco’s, burritos, sloppy joes, etc. would be good for a few meals. I also have LOTS of Jelly Belly’s to eat, and I bought some brownie mix so I could bake some brownies too.

I was really glad that on the drive today my check engine light did not come on again. It came on about 2 hours after I left the New Prospect fire station last Tuesday. David at Lake Bowen Auto had put some Techron fuel cleaner in my gas tank before I left hoping this would solve the check engine light that comes on occasionally. On Tuesday, after I got my campsite setup, I drove around the campground and the check engine light was not on. It went off on it’s own. Today, when I was driving, I was very thankful it didn’t come on again. David told me to let the gas tank get down to about ¼ before putting in another bottle of Techron and then fill with gas. I usually do not let the tank even get close to ½ empty before filling it. So it’s a bit scary for me to let it get this low. As of arriving at this campground, I am almost at ¼ tank. I think it is about 50 mile drive to where I will get gas, then I will put the Techron in the tank and fill it. I don’t even want to imagine the cost of filling my 40 gallon gas tank. I usually fill it every 150 or 200 miles which is a bit more than ¼ tank being used. That way it doesn’t seem so much even though that cost is around $45-$70, depending on the cost and number of gallons which averages about 15 gallons. Update, June 5th: When I finally got to the gas station, I added the Techron and then I filled the tank and it took 26 gallons of gas. I really lucked out, this Pilot gas station had the lowest price I have seen anywhere, it was $3.27 per gallon. I wish all the gas stations were this low a price. As I’ve traveled south, the average cost is now $3.60 or more a gallon. The check engine light came on again after a few hours of driving. Then when I started out again in the morning, it was not on. I am guessing and hoping that perhaps it’s a sensor error.

Anyway, yesterday when I called the campground I was given my campsite number. When I arrived at the campground there was no one at the entry gate, so I found my campsite and got set up. It’s right on the water at the edge of the lake. There are several other campers here. I saw a couple riding a golf cart and asked if they are the camp hosts. They said they aren’t and I told them I needed to check in. They told me the camp office is over the bridge at a different part of the lake. They said they would ride me over there and wait while I checked in and paid for an additional night. Their names are Pat and Robert and we had a nice talk on the ride there and back. They camp here often, and they told me about some baby ducklings that hatched a couple of days ago that are near one of the other campsites. I walked over and saw 3 baby ducks swimming, they are so cute.

During the 2 days I was in the campground I watched the squirrels and baby and adult ducks. The squirrels sure were brave and full of spunk. They didn’t hesitate to get on top of my tires, underneath my camper, on the back step, and I even found one on the roof trying to get in my back door. When the baby ducklings and adult ducks were in the little cove area behind my campsite the squirrels didn’t hesitate to get within a few feet of them. I was about 5 feet from the ducklings when I took the photos. Mama duck didn’t seem to mind, mostly she was busy grooming herself in the water and chatting with the other 2 adult ducks who came to join them. I took lots of videos of the ducklings swimming and walking on the shore. The edge of the water is about 30 feet from the back door of my camper. It’s hard to tell, but in the bottom right photo, the baby ducks are at the edge of the water and the squirrel is towards the center. The videos are at the end of the photo album, here is one of the videos. MVI_3698

I cooked the ground beef, at lunch, and then set up my hammock between two trees where it would be shaded and I could look at the water. I took a shower and washed my hair, then I laid in the hammock and alternated between reading my book and looking at the water. It’s pretty peaceful here, except when the neighbors dog is barking. Later on in the evening I walked around and stopped by Pat and Robert’s campsite which is sort of across the road from mine. We had a nice chat and I told them about my website. Tuesday afternoon, Pat, Robert, and I took photos of each other next to my camper and also next to a tree that has really interesting knots and bark. Pat also took some pictures of me laying in my hammock reading and relaxing.

Pat said that I should have a book with my stories. I told her that many people have suggested that to me. I even thought of doing it and having all the proceeds be donated to a charity such as rural libraries. I don’t really want to write a book. I like writing and posting it informally on my website. However, I know that many people don’t like to use computers and don’t access the Internet. Pat says she doesn’t and she would love a book. But, the book would always be out of date, as I have new experiences and adventures. There would probably have to be at least 2 volumes, current and then an update. Also, many of my photos were not taken in high resolution and would not do well to be enlarged.

I’m planning on being here until probably Wednesday, then heading east on Interstate 26 towards Georgia so I can connect with my long time friend Gary who lives about an hour or so outside of Atlanta. Then on to Savannah and stopping at Gore’s RV to have the knob installed on my air conditioner, I’m hoping it came in by now. It seems that the air conditioning unit is working. I don’t use it all the time, I still prefer the fresh air and hearing the sounds of nature when I’m in the camper rather than the sound of the air conditioner. When it’s on, I can’t hear anything outside. It’s nice hearing birds, insects, and the wind in the trees. Sometimes, if someone nearby has a campfire, I get the smell of the smoke or whatever they are cooking coming into my camper.

Wednesday afternoon, June 4th, I stopped at an RV Park off Interstate 95 in Waltersville, SC. I usually don’t stop early in the afternoon, but I decided to today. It was about 1:30 p.m. and time to take a break. This campground had showers so I took one and relaxed and read, after I ate lunch. The campground office has a section where books can be exchanged, so I swapped out 5 books I read for 5 I haven’t. I woke up about 8:00 a.m. and left the campground about 9:00 a.m. and got to Gore’s RV about 11:00 a.m. Their serviceman installed the new knobs on my air conditioner, and made sure it was working properly. Then I headed south towards Ludowici and Madray Springs, stopping for some groceries when I got here.

I probably will not have Internet access again until I get to my friend Cindy’s house in north Florida, about June 12th or sometime around then. If I do, I will post a story or update. During the time I am here I will be relaxing and visiting with the firefighters and seeing Chief Dent and his wife Lindsay’s new baby Murphy who is now 2 weeks old.