I Depart Summerton, South Carolina…

Jim says:

After a nice visit with Bob and Judy Michaud for the last week..I’ll turn northwest for about 250 miles to meet Mary at the Asheville, North Carolina Airport on Tuesday. After five weeks in California of taking care of business, she’s ready to join me back on the road.

This map shows my progress since November 30, 2009…about 4,500 miles.

Yesterday in Summerton was 86 degrees with high humidity. At 5:00 AM this morning it was 76 degrees and humid. Time to head to the mountains to cool off.

Next planned stop…Great Smoky Mountains National Park!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

A Slave’s Grave

Jim says:

I’m still visiting with my friends Bob and Judy in Summerton, South Carolina. This morning, Bob asked if I’d like to see a slave’s grave…and I said sure.

Less than a five-minute walk from his house we came upon this headstone. It was substantially overgrown with weeds and we had to clear them away in order to take these two photos.

Below his name it reads in part…A leader in the African M.E. Church South near…

A peaceful forest setting…

Bob told me that many years ago this area in which he now lives was a cotton plantation and that this is where the slaves were buried. This was the only headstone we found and I didn’t want to search further because the mosquitoes were really starting to get after me. Fortunately there are no mosquitoes around his house.

It appears this slave was born in 1826 which would have made him about 34 years old when the Civil War began. He was most likely emancipated by Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation. We also discussed how hard it is to try to envision what the life of a slave was really like. Yesterday was 86 degrees with high humidity. Bob told me by August it will exceed 100 degrees. It’s so hard to picture working in the cotton fields from sun-up to sun-down, six days a week, in those kinds of temperatures. Despite it all, old Joseph apparently lived to be 80 years old.

It was a neat experience, although brief, because not many tourists get to see this site. Another nice RVing happening.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

Another First And Fun Experience…

Jim says:

A couple of days ago I got a telephone call from my oldest (15) grand-daughter. I was especially happy to hear from her since that rarely occurs. She told me that she had got a new computer for her recent birthday that had a built-in camera and how would I like to do a video chat? You bet!, I told her and we agreed to try to connect the following day (yesterday) at 3:00 PM after she got home from school. We did and it was a great experience for me.

Since she has been about 12, she’s started to develop her own friendships and we rarely talked on the telephone. Even when we did, she basically would provide only one word answers to my questions…but yesterday was really different. Not only were we able to see one another, we had a 30 minute chat! It was really nice and I’m already looking forward to the next one.

The first video chat with my oldest grand-daughter.

In May my laptop will be five years old. About four years ago I bought a web-cam specifically to do video chats with my family while I’m on the road. At that time my son told me his computer was really old and slow and he needed to replace it…he never did. That combined with his working long hours resulted in no video chats. Thanks to my oldest grand-daughter, perhaps that will now change.

I’ll be arriving at their home in Connecticut in 29 days and perhaps I can help them set-up so we can do this with them as a family unit. I’m certainly hoping so….

As a side note….I’m currently visiting friends in Summerton, South Carolina and am located about 10 miles from Interstate Highway 95 in a bunch of trees. Result…very low cell phone and Internet signal. Once again, our cell phone amplifier system has come through. Without it, I’d have no communications. I’m really glad we installed it as we are using it more than originally anticipated. Even though I do not get to see my family in person all that often, it sure is nice to be able to communicate with them via phone and Internet on a regular basis. Video-chatting makes the experience much more enjoyable!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

The Motorhome visits the Santee Lake Service Center…

Jim says:

About one week ago I wrote about a pesky problem I had trying to add air to the outside tire of the dual rear wheels on the motorhome. Yesterday I went to the Santee Lake Service Center to fix the problem. They managed to find angled valve stems that I’ve been seeking since we acquired the motorhome more than six months ago.

Now I can finally attach my air pump and add air to the outside tire.

I highly recommend them to you. if you are ever in this area…here’s how to find them…
Santee Lake Service Center, Inc.
Exit 98, Interstate Highway 95
Santee, South Carolina
803-854-5506
Frank Hughes – Owner

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

The Bronco visits the Santee Lake Service Center…

Jim says:

My friends Bob and Judy, with whom I am currently visiting, moved to this area in 1999. I first visited them here in 2000. At that time I was needing some work done on my other motorhome and Bronco and asked if they knew of a good local garage. They sent me to the Santee Lake Service Center about 10 miles away. After that experience I found the garage owner/mechanics to be honest, talented mechanical services at a fair price. The experience was once again repeated when I passed through this area in 2003, 2007 and again yesterday

I took my new-to-me 1986 Ford Bronco II (which I purchased last August in Washington State) and had them do the following work…
* replace valve cover gaskets ( not an easy job with all the air-conditioning stuff in the way),
* replace hoses and thermostat in the cooling system,
* lube the speedometer cable, and
* do a general tune-up.

It took seven hours and with parts and labor, my bill was a very respectable $412. I highly recommend them to you. if you are ever in this area…here’s how to find them…
Santee Lake Service Center, Inc.
Exit 98, Interstate Highway 95
Santee, South Carolina
803-854-5506
Frank Hughes – Owner

The motorhome and Bronco are both mechanical/electrical devices that wear out with use and have to be maintained occasionally. I prefer to do my preventative maintenance in a garage ahead of time rather than breaking down on the road.

Today I take the motorhome there and they will try to fix my valve stem/extension problem I wrote about last week.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

Summerton, South Carolina

Jim says:

Yesterday I drove about 150 miles from Statesboro, Georgia to my friend’s Bob and Judy’s in Summerton, South Carolina. To testify as to the back roads on which I drove during the last three days…in over 500 miles I did not see a WalMart…how about that?

I drove yesterday’s about 150 miles all on U.S. Highway 301.

Here I am safely parked in Bob and Judy”s yard.

I’m plugged into electricity and expect to be here another week. Weather today was lower 80’s, overcast, light rain and lower humidity. The Weather Wimp (that’s me) was a lot happier than yesterday.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com