Sunday, March 24, 2019

Spring Camping

 We’ve been on the road enjoying a bit of South Carolina spring.  




  The blue circled area is the part of the state we explored.  The red arrow points to all the wild and beautiful National Forest land between us on the coast and the SC lakes.  




  We haven’t found our home on wheels yet, so we stayed in Big Blue, our tent.  The back part is our bedroom.  The front has detachable curtains that open up to show off the view and it becomes the dining room/reading room/kitchen if it rains.  




We cook on our Ohuhu stove which is fueled by twigs.  


It gives off a surprising amount of heat and can boil a pan of water in less than five minutes.

  We keep meals simple  — chicken, broccoli, and rice here.  Everything tastes good seasoned with fresh air, wood smoke, and a bug or two anyway!

If you leave the rain fly off the top of our tent, you can lie in bed and look up at the moon and the stars.









  Our campsite faced Lake Marion for beautiful orange sunrises on the water and behind us was the pine woods where the full moon — the last Super Moon of the year — set each morning.   


  The Sinkhole Nature Trail in the park  took us for a couple miles through the woods around several huge sink holes.  Lots of spring happening here. 





Don’t know what this plant is but I love all the little squiggly tendrils in there.



The dogwoods were just beginning to bloom. 
 They start out a delicate shade of green ...

and open to the whitest white.

Things have changed a lot since I was a kid when camping meant carrying all your water from a central location and using a primitive outhouse.  Now there are very nice restrooms with hot showers, and a water spigot and electric outlet in each campsite.  And wonder of wonders, South Carolina state parks even have WiFi available for campers, this one in a lounge over the beautiful lake!  




I’ll be back in a day or two to show you some of the day trips 
we made and the places we visited.  

Happy spring!  

17 comments:

  1. I am sure that in this day and age WIFI is considered indispensable! You will be more comfortable when you get your wheels no doubt but I am sure that you will miss your tent from time to time.

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  2. We had a similar tent ours was brown, we liked that extra front room ! Looks like fun and I see Bob went along! Your little stove looks like just the thing for camping! :)

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  3. Can't imagine camping any more, what adventurous souls you are .

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  4. Looks like fun but I think tent camping days are over for us.
    I wondered if in your travels you ha a chance to meet Peter Buttigieg. Just read in CNN that he was in South Carolina to rave reviews.

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  5. You're good stuff if you can tent at this time of year! However if you've had experience and have the right equipment it's easy.

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  6. I'm not one for camping much, but you've made it sound like so much fun. I love that Ohuhu stove. I've never heard of it.

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  7. Wonderful to see you out 'tenting' in the bush.
    You both are looking good and I do like your rig.

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  8. You took us on a lovely adventure that brought back many happy memories of camping. Not sure I would want to do it these days, but it was nice to have the tour with you. Looking forward to your outings.

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  9. All rather different than pitching my little one-man tent in a muddy field - something I've done many times but not an experience I wish to repeat any time soon. Looking forward to seeing more photos from your explorations.

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  10. Oh, you two do such fun things! That is exactly the little stove I want for my playhouse, and I sure have enough twigs to get it going! You make me want to go camping again. We used to camp a lot, but our tent was no where near as nice and comfortable looking as yours. That sure is a pretty place to camp. The Dogwoods are beautiful and the best picture of all in the last one!

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  11. Beautiful, love it. Such a fun!

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  12. I like the idea of sleeping under the stars but having a few home comforts to make life a little easier. Look forward to seeing more of the scenery you are exploring.

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  13. Your South Carolina Spring looks lovely! I'd like it to warm up even more for me to be camping though! I like the idea of a camping lounge for sure! I'm psyching myself up for my big camping adventure this summer, 6 nights volunteering at a music festival - don't think our food will be as delicious as yours looks!
    Happy Days
    Wren x

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  14. That looks very nice camping in the nature. I only did so with a friend when I was a teenager and on a roadtrip in Australia. My husband didn't like camping, so it is a long time ago now...

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  15. Oh yeah, I can dig this for sure. Sounds like you had some good meals with chicken and broccoli.
    Those sinkholes are neat to see. When we visit friends on Palatka Florida we go to see Ravine Gardens State Park and there is just one gigantic sink hole there which I thought was pretty neat to see.
    I love your tent and looks like you got everything you need and then some. Do you see any critters while you are there camping?

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  16. Your tent set-up looks very similar to ours, but your campsite was definitely more luxurious! It's definitely still a fun thing to do. Your little cooker is intriguing - a bit like a rocket stove.

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