South Carolina and Sweet Tea

I tried to get up and on the road as early as possible again, but I wasn't moving as quickly this morning.  I rolled out of the campsite and headed towards the South Carolina border, just 7 miles down the road.  I didn't really know where I was headed for the day, other than just sort of north.  Again, each time I stop at a gas station to refill with water, people ask me where I started.  They seem a little dumbfounded when I ask them, "You mean today, or before that?" or, depending how they word their question, "Where am I from, or where am I coming from?"  Outside of cycling culture, people can't seem to grasp riding a bicycle more than around the block for an evening stroll.

As I looked at the map, a little town north of Greenville, SC, jumped out at me called Travelers Rest, SC.  I thought that sounded like the place I needed to go.  I got there and there were two moderately priced hotels (not the dirt cheap ones with cowgirl sheets I look for) and not too much for campgrounds.  After making a couple phone calls, I ended up riding another 8 or 9 miles further down the road to an RV park.  En route to this RV park, I saw a free-hand painted sign advertising local South Carolina peaches.  I had to pull over.  Inside the woman working the register rang up the two peaches I picked out and asked for $0.70.  In this heat, that was an incredible bargain.  We talked cycling for a bit, and I learned that the Greenville, SC, area is a pretty popular place for triathlon training.  While we chatted, I glanced at the beverage cooler along the wall and saw Blenheim Ginger Ale.  If you've never had this stuff, you've never had ginger ale.  Hesston students used to bring it back to college with them from Ohio.  The stuff is amazing.  There are two colors of caps to denote how "spicy" the ginger ale is.  I had to have a bottle.

With my two peaches and bottle of ginger ale in hand, I continued down the road to the RV park.  I pulled in, called the number at the front desk, and Mark came to meet me.  Now, I've come to accept that tent camping can be an expensive (relatively speaking) thing to do out here, but generally the amenities are worth it.  At this RV park, I paid $20 for permission to throw up a tent somewhere out back by the propane tanks and the dumpster.  The previous night I paid $19 and got water, electric, and (unintentionally, I'm sure) wireless internet!  Here I was about a quarter mile from the restrooms and a decent source of water.  Fortunately for me, I stopped to ask a fellow patron of the RV park about the weather forecast.  I definitely picked the right camper to ask!  Jeff and Joyce proved to be excellent company for the evening.  Joyce kept refilling my glass with some of the best sweet tea I've had since I've been down here!  They even got me a small hose adapter that would allow me to utilize the water source of one of the unused RV sites.  Yes, I was camping by the dumpster while there were several empty RV sites.  Anyway, Jeff, Joyce, and I talked until close to dusk, at which time I dismissed myself to go make supper on the camp stove.  Beans and rice!  Now I see it as the more of that beans and rice I eat, the less of it I have to carry through the mountains!  And from the sound of things, tomorrow I will be climbing.