Wednesday, Nov. 22 - Aaarg, Matey!! Ahoy from Pirateland, Myrtle Beach. Can you believe it? Sounds hokey, but it's a pretty impressive layout we find ourselves in. But more about that later.

The main news is that we got here last night at 8 p.m., after close to 10 hours on Monday, and another 12 yesterday. Chugging along in an r.v. at 100 clicks isn't the same as whizzing along in an Audi at 120. We get there, but it just takes longer. We had only one little ripple of difficulty, between Watertown and Syracuse, as you might expect. Snow squall, hail, sleet, and slippery track for about 30 kilometers, with a couple of cars in the ditch. But once we got within shouting distance of Syracuse, the snow eased, and by Binghamton, no problem.

We stayed our first night south of Harrisburg, in Carlisle, in a motel. Next morning at breakfast, we listened in as three large gentlemen, one black, two white, had a most interesting discussion about race and justice and politics. It was orderly and respectful, so I couldn't help commenting to them as we left that they would be better to listen to than the biased stuff we get on morning talk shows. "We're just truck drivers..." they said. Maybe so, but I heard more insight from particularly the black gentleman than I've heard for some time. All were veterans, so had their own points of view, but seemed to agree on one thing. There are actually three parties in the States: The Dems, the Republicans, and the large number of people who didn't vote. It's the latter group, they agreed, that led to Trump being elected.

Yesterday was a long haul, but the traffic was generally busy yet not overly so, with only one back-up, where we lost a half-hour crawling into two lanes from three because of bridge repairs. We got off the 95 in the dark, and did the cross country thing along a narrow two laner until finally reaching the freeway into MB. Set up in the dark, had Joyce Brant's wonderful seafood stew for dinner, and soon hit the sack. Today we organized, walked the beach, which is very close to our site, and did a bike ride around this huge park, getting lost a couple of times. There are close to 1000 sites here, with a large range of trailer homes, rental cottages, and rv sites. There are good facilities, including a large swimming pool, a lazy river, mini golf, the whole nine yards. Today the folks are pouring in for Thanksgiving, so it'll be busy for the next few days.

This evening, friends Don and Pat will soon be here for drinks, followed by an excursion out for dinner. And so this long adventure into who knows where has begun. Don't forget to keep in touch if you're reading this.