Happy 10,000 KM!

Hello all, 

    

      A lot has happened since we last spoke, so I’ll make it quick as I can. This one starts of a little slow, but don't fret, it picks up.

     After a couple hours of getting the Pajero fit to hit the road again, Natalie and I said goodbye to our friends in Lancaster and head south. That night we made it as far as Rehoboth beach and found another Walmart to sleep at. It went down to around 3 or 4 degrees that night so I was quite thankful for our little heater.

     The next morning we went into the little beach town of Rehoboth. This place was pretty cool; it was a lot like a Crescent Beach actually. Once again being off-season it was pretty dead. So Natalie and I wandered around and ate some famous THRASHER fries. We also came across a shop called Scandinavian Occasion, for Swedes. It reminded me a lot of my mom and got me excited for Christmas as a Swede!

     Next we swung by Ocean City. This place is a grade-A tourist town if I’ve ever seen one.  However, much like the rest of the North-East coastal towns, it was deserted. The craziest part about O.C. is that the population is around 7000, until the summer hits, where the population skyrockets to 400,000! Natalie and I walked the abandoned boardwalk past the locked up fair rides and the rows and rows of vacant hotels. It was a very similar feel to Coney Island. We caught a picturesque ocean sunset off the pier and took off.

You can't tell, but there is a batmobile in the garage. Not even kidding.

     The next day, further on down the coast, we swung by Assateague Beach, just outside of Chincoteague. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Assateague is a wildlife sanctuary that is the home of many different species of animals, but most famously having more than 300 WILD horses. We caught sight of some horses and Natalie was satisfied. Oh yes, we also got in for free thanks to an awesome wedding gift from Karlie.

     Excited to be free from our McDonalds reign of terror, we branched out and grabbed lunch at a tiny sandwich shack called SeaStar. While waiting in line a half-Newfie, half-Franch Canadien, living in the U.S. told us his life story. Then we got our sandwiches, which happened to be the largest and freshest sandwich I’ve ever had. The problem is, when I try to describe this sandwich, I know you’re all imagining a decently large but normal sandwich. But I assure you, this sandwich was nothing short of amazing. It was even worth writing for this long about. That’s how amazing it was. Unfortunately, words nor this picture can to it justice.

     Further south we came to the end of the very large peninsula that surrounds Chesapeake Bay. But instead of taking a ferry to reach the shores of Virginia Beach, we took an 18 mile, incredible combination of bridges and tunnels all the way through/over the straight. Just to put that into perspective 18 miles equals about 29 km! 

     In the next day or so, we entered South Carolina and suddenly everything became stereotypically “Southern.” There were palm trees, it was sunny, more restaurants advertised bbq and fried chicken, there were thick accents and I bought some fireworks just because. Due to some irregularities in the climate however, it was unseasonably chilly.

     Eventually we got to the town of Myrtle Beach, home of the world’s largest collection of  ”adventure mini golf locations.” When Natalie and I were back in Ocean City there were literately dozens of awesome looking mini golf courses that made us rubber neck every half a block. But, when we got to Myrtle Beach, we almost lost our minds in the name of mini-golf! Somehow we managed to agree on one course, and for my childhoods sake, as well as Maclean Carlsons, we chose Captain Hooks Adventure Golf. For about an hour, I was IN Neverland. You haven’t played minigolf until you’ve played Mytryle Beach.

Shoota!

     On a celebratory side note, Myrtle Beach was the 10,000 km marker of our trip! Exciting.

     That night we spent the night in an incredible campsite just outside of historic Charleston. On one hand it looked like a scene from The Waterboy, the kind of place you could easily imagine crocs in the ponds. But on the other hand they were setting up for their annual Christmas light display. 

     We had a great sleep and hot showers then spent the day touring Charleston on foot checking out huge plantation houses that date back as far as 1670! We also ate at the famous yet fairly priced, Hymen’s Seafood Co. On every table they have plaques of the famous people who had also sat there for a meal. I got John McCain and Kevin Costner, and Natalie got Blind Melon and Sandra Bullock!

     We slept at a Savannah Walmart, then went sight seeing in the morning; by car this time. We drove Patches and Hobby the trailer down narrow, rough cobble stone streets, lined with ancient taverns, inns and shops. From there we drove a long haul to sunny Orlando! Don’t worry Mac and Erin, we’ll save Harry Potter Land for you guys. So instead we’re going to DisneyWorld! 

     Sadly, Orlando also happens to be the furthest point away from Vancouver that we will be. This means it's homeward bound from hear. On the plus side, there are a lot of people I am looking forward to seeing and I am most definitely looking forward to Christmassing!

Until next time.