Jan. 11, 2014: This will be a recap of the last few days. It has been a series of changes during that time: in the weather, in our camp sites, and in the camper.

Six nights ago, Jan. 6, was our first night without having the heat on in the camper; the temperature stayed in the 70's! We did some housekeeping in the morning. Then, we disconnected the hoses and power lines to the camper, made sure everything inside was secure, and drove off the site to go shopping down the road in Pawley Island. First stop, an Ace Hardware for a propane refill--done by a former Mass. retireree who moved here five years ago to escape the snow. Then, some food shopping, at a Food Lion Store, with very helpful clerks. Next, a stop at a laundromat--location given to us by the checkout lady--young, formerly known as "girl"--this job took a bit more than an hour, but the machines were large capacity--very important--clean, and not over-priced. From here, we went to find a WalMart located in Murrells Inlet, up the road a ways.  When we got to the area, we saw the W/M sign, but couldn't find the entrance. It took a couple of turns into adjacent lots before we found it. Then we had a strangely laid out parking lot to contend with. We got the one item we were looking for to help with our "closet" layout and left the store. While we walking back to the camper, a car slowed down along side of us. The driver called out to us. He said that he and his girl friend--who we assumed was the girl sitting next to him--had just been robbed of their "stuff"--he started to give us a list--but I "nicely" said: "Sorry for your loss, but go tell a cop." We must have looked like easy marks.
We were back at the campground at 4:15.

Today, still Jan. 6, I ordered an item for the camper which we hope will alleviate a problem we are having with condensation in the "bedroom." The product, HyperVent, was suggested by two persons in the NorthernLite Owners group when I raised the question in their forum a few days ago. The company is in Marysville, WA. I spoke to them by phone and then placed the order online, with the item to shipped here to the campground--the office accepts packages for campers. I also contacted the Mail Service company in Florida that is receiving our mail and requested they sent us the mail that has been forwarded to them from Hebron.

Now, the next day, Jan 7, was a very different day. Last night the temperature went down to 19°! The first thing we noticed was that there was no water coming out of the faucets. The water hose outside was frozen, as well as the outside faucet handle. I could not even disconnect the hose from the faucet. I put a heating pad, which we brought with us for other purposes, over the faucet and hose connection and connected it to the electrical box. About twenty minutes later I was able to disconnect the hose and bring it inside to thaw.

While that took place, we had breakfast. Then, to take up some more time, I placed a call to FairPoint Communications, our telephone provider at home. I sent them a "required form" to set up an auto-payment using Visa at the very beginning of December. I never received any word that it was received or accepted. Because I couldn't remember my account number, the agent wouldn't answer my question, The agent asked if I could give the exact amount of my last payment. This took a little time but I was able to find it by getting my computer out, turn it on, then search through my checking records. With this done, the agent now said, in answer to my question, that he would have to transfer me to the financial department. However, he was nice enough to give me my correct account number because, he said, they would ask for it. Transfer made--with an opportunity to listen to some FairPoint commercials telling me how good they were and how important their customers were--account number provided--now, the new agent said they don't confirm the receipt applications for auto-payments. That would come, by mail, when the first bill is to be paid. Also, the first auto-payment wouldn't take place until the current bill is paid--which was sent out after we left NH. I was able to take care of this loose end on this call--with a transfer to another department.

By now, the water hose was thawed. Outside, the faucet was still frozen; the air temperature had not warmed up very much. We decided to leave the site and visit Brookgreen Sculpture Gardens nearby.
On the way, stopping at the office to report the frozen pipe at our site; they said the water was turned off because of repairs going on near our site. We drove out to the Gardens.

Brookgreen Gardens was owned by Archer and Anna Huntington; she was a famous sculpter and he was just wealthy. He purchased four former rice plantations to create these gardens in order to display her sculptures. In 1931, they turned it into a public museum. The gardens, even in winter, still had a great deal of green, even some flowering trees, Camellias. However, we did not linger very long outside; it was windy and cold. too cold to appreciate artwork. We did have one building to enter, a sculpture center exhibiting works by many different artists. We watched a film showing one sculptor, Richard McDermott Miller, showing him creating a piece and then how it was cast in bronze. It was an interesting film. A large number of his pieces and studies are on display in the center. He was--he died in 2004--an excellent sculptor of the human form, especially of women.
We left the Gardens to return to our site. We plan to return here again, on a warmer day, to complete the tour of the gardens; the tickets are good for seven days.

It was 3:00 PM. The water faucet for our site was still out. A call to the office brought a young lady park ranger to check. She called maintenance. They sent out a crew of three men, one with a propane torch. Another problem; none of them had matches or a lighter to light the torch. One of them drove back to the office; when he returned, he indicated that he had to buy the box of wooden matches. The first match failed to light the torch before it went out. This caused the "buyer" to say; "There goes five cents." Once it was lit, the torch flame was applied to the faucet, the fittings, first with one man holding the torch, then he past it to the second man to do it for awhile; water still did not come out of the faucet.
The park ranger at this point decided that we might have to move to another site so she called the office to see if there was another full-hookup site available. There was, but we would have to come into the office to get a new vehicle tag before moving into it. Furthermore, we could only stay in this new site until the 10th, we would then have to return to our current site. They assured us that the faucet would be up and running by then.

We packed up our wagon, picked up the tag, moved to the new site, and were setup at 4:00 PM. B made supper: Cornish Game Hen with roasted potatoes and vegetable--very good. With clean up finished and an early shower completed, I brought in the hose to keep it from freezing again--it was predicted to go down to the mid-twenties--and we went to bed.

The next morning, Jan. 8, after our first cup of coffee, I went out to reconnect the water hose. The faucet was frozen; I couldn't turn the handle. I used the heating pad again to try heating the faucet but it wasn't working--again. It just happened that two of the maintenance men from yesterday were doing their morning chores, cleaning bathhouses, and they parked their truck next to out new site. I told them my troubles. They said they would go a get the torch. I didn't expect to come back right away, but they did--with torch and matches. We soon had water. A short time later, as B was doing dishes, the water was off again. A call to the office told us that the water was turned off in order to work on a nearby leak. It seems that the cold snap has caused many water problems throughout the park. A short time later, the water returned to our site. One of the maintenance men even came to the camper to make sure we had our water. We certainly can't complain about the service here in the park.

I was in such a good mood that I decided to call Verizon to have them explain the high amount of my first bill--much higher than I was led to believe when I signed up for all this technology. The call actually went well; they explained the cost and there will be some credits applied to the next month's bill. We shall see.

 To finish up the morning, we took a walk out on the walkway into the salt marsh, even though there was a cool breeze. We did get to see large groups of plovers and dowitchers feeding, and a Glossy Ibis doing a basking routine. From here, we went to the entrance causeway, which separates the salt water marsh from a fresh water marsh. We got to see a Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret up close. Our next stop was a viewing platform, located a short distance from the causeway, out on the fresh water marsh. Now we an even better view, and photos, of an Great Egret. We also saw brown pelicans, buffleheads, and species of ducks that we are not familiar with. B saw a wood stork. The cold was getting to us so we started back to our site. We were near another attraction in the park that we had not seen yet. It is called Atalaya, this was the winter home of the Huntingtons. It was not much to look at from the out side; B thought it looked like a prison. At the entrance, we learned that there are no furnishing, or exhibits of Anna Huntington's sculpture or of her studio in the building and they wanted two dollars for the privilege of walking through the empty building. We declined the privilege.

Back at the camper, B made dinner: salmon with linquica--everything tastes better with linquica.

The next morning, now, Jan. 9, as we were preparing to drive out to go to a CVS to get some cold medication for B, she noticed a note under our windshield wiper; it said we had a package at the office. On the way out, I stopped to pick up the package, thinking it was the mail service delivery of our mail from Florida. It turned out to be material I ordered from Washington state. It was too large; I said I would pick it up when I returned from shopping.

We got the cold meds at CVS, then went to Food Lion again for a few things: comfort food, Krispy Creme Crullers, Krispie Kreme Cherry Pie--individual serving size--and beer. The store has a beer section where you can fill up a six-pack with any beer of your choice--a nice way to try some new microbrews.

We returned to camp, picking up our package on the way in, and got it open to see what it looked like. It is a stiff, plastic, loosely-laid,  fiber mat about 3/4" thick, 39" wide, and 15' long. The manufacturers website said it could be cut with scissors--it didn't mention that they should be heavy-duty scissors. I had a pair of Chinese scissors with a 3" blade. Fortunately, these scissors had large finger loops. I managed to cut the  length in half. Each half filling one side of the sleeping platform. The width was more than the platform. I had to cut some notches in order to fit each strip in and fold it at the sides. The idea behind this product is that the air will circulate under the mattress, to prevent condensation and mildew. Again, another, we shall see.

It is now Jan. 10. We have to move once again, back to our previous site. I went to the office to get my new vehicle tag--I now have a tag collection hanging off the rear-view mirror. Because of the road layout and one-way directions, we had to drive six-tenths of a mile to move to the previous site, about 50 yards away.

In our previous site, all set up,  and using the new faucet and fittings, we decided we actually like it better than the other one. For one thing there are a couple of large trees next to the camper that the birds seem to like and there are clusters of trees around a clearing behind us that screen out the view of other campsites. We have only one camper next to us; we have to be outside to see it.

It was mild last night, so we did not get to check the condensation reducing qualities of our new sleeping mat. A still future: we shall see.

After breakfast, we went back out to the fresh water marsh. It was a nice warm day. It was what we expected to find in South Carolina in the winter. We watched large flocks of ducks for awhile from the viewing platform, but there was a large flock of large professional, or semi-professional, looking photographers on the platform with us, so it was a bit crowded. We returned to our site.

At the site, very near to our water pipe, at the edge of the paved road,  I could see a large puddle of water--and the water was flowing. A closer look showed a small bubble of water raising out of the ground. I called the office to let them know the good news. They sent two maintenance men out right away. Our friend, the ranger, also came out. She said she couldn't believe it when she heard the call on the radio--that site 50 was having a water problem. The men dug down to the pipe, about two feet, but the hole just filled with water. They went to turn off the water. When they came back, the man in the camper next to us came over to find out why the water was turned off and for how long. It seems that his wife had decided to take a shower shortly before the water was turned off. He suggested that the maintenance men might want to consider running away if it was going to take too long.  Luckily, it did not take long. It was a plastic pipe that they could cut and repair with a nipple and two clamps.
B was cooking dinner while the repairs were being done. She came out as they were completing the job to tell me that dinner was in five minutes and to find out if we had to move to another site. This time: we did not have to.