Myrtle
On or about 7:30am on January 2nd the Spice and I broke free from the gravitational pulls of Clearwater, SC and cast ourselves forth upon I-20. Our means of travel was our Honda van, the direction of travel was east and our destination was Myrtle Beach, SC.
The trip came about because YD had scheduled a week in a time-share condo for the last few days of school Christmas vacation. They were staying from Saturday through Tuesday night and we were invited to finish the rest of their week out because two of their young ones had to get back to school that was restarting on the 3rd of January. This left us with Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, a very nice little getaway.
When one plans a trip to the beach, winter or summer, one consideration that is usually involved is the weather. We had learned from the weather channel that the temps we would be facing would be the coldest of the winter season and certainly of the New Year since it was only two days old. The report that the Spice read stated that the temp would struggle to reach 40F in the daytime. While I was not sure at all that I wanted to be in the midst of a temp struggle, nevertheless we were going and were determined to enjoy it.
During the ennui of interstate driving, one’s mind tends to wander and wonder about various subjects. I have often wondered about the wider wooded areas in the median of the interstates, especially those that have streams or other sources of water. The wondering had to do with whether or not a whole species of critter could live and do well without ever leaving that area. Their existence would be dependant on them not trying to cross the road since they would likely get squished and dead – and death complicates life considerably.
Since most all animals have some form of communication, I also wondered whether or not the critters living so close to the highway might have their “speech” to each other changed by the traffic noises. Future generations might evolve into a form of communication not greatly unlike the sounds of the autos and trucks. One can almost hear them “talking” to each other using little beeps, honks, tiny tire squeals or a roaring like a very small diesel truck. Maybe I should just listen to the radio.
As we passed through the Columbia, SC area, it dawned on me that this was the peak traffic time of the morning. There was a bit of white-knuckle driving but I was glad that I-20 didn’t pass directly through the city since that would be considerably worse. We made it through without incident and stopped a short while later at the Camden exit for a break and to get a bite of b’fast. The name of the place started with “McD” and while I don’t care greatly for fast fare, my taste was suited that day.
We came on in to Myrtle Beach without incident, arriving about 11:30am and at the condo we found all the crew except for YD in the covered and heated swimming pool. She had gone to take a shower and to get ready for the young ones when they got out. The water was warm and even though the wind was giving the pool cover quite a workout, it was clinging to its framework. It was good to see the gruntmonkeys again, even in their wet condition. We helped get them back inside, wrapped up in towels against the cold. God invented “grands” – He is good, all the time. ec
The trip came about because YD had scheduled a week in a time-share condo for the last few days of school Christmas vacation. They were staying from Saturday through Tuesday night and we were invited to finish the rest of their week out because two of their young ones had to get back to school that was restarting on the 3rd of January. This left us with Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, a very nice little getaway.
When one plans a trip to the beach, winter or summer, one consideration that is usually involved is the weather. We had learned from the weather channel that the temps we would be facing would be the coldest of the winter season and certainly of the New Year since it was only two days old. The report that the Spice read stated that the temp would struggle to reach 40F in the daytime. While I was not sure at all that I wanted to be in the midst of a temp struggle, nevertheless we were going and were determined to enjoy it.
During the ennui of interstate driving, one’s mind tends to wander and wonder about various subjects. I have often wondered about the wider wooded areas in the median of the interstates, especially those that have streams or other sources of water. The wondering had to do with whether or not a whole species of critter could live and do well without ever leaving that area. Their existence would be dependant on them not trying to cross the road since they would likely get squished and dead – and death complicates life considerably.
Since most all animals have some form of communication, I also wondered whether or not the critters living so close to the highway might have their “speech” to each other changed by the traffic noises. Future generations might evolve into a form of communication not greatly unlike the sounds of the autos and trucks. One can almost hear them “talking” to each other using little beeps, honks, tiny tire squeals or a roaring like a very small diesel truck. Maybe I should just listen to the radio.
As we passed through the Columbia, SC area, it dawned on me that this was the peak traffic time of the morning. There was a bit of white-knuckle driving but I was glad that I-20 didn’t pass directly through the city since that would be considerably worse. We made it through without incident and stopped a short while later at the Camden exit for a break and to get a bite of b’fast. The name of the place started with “McD” and while I don’t care greatly for fast fare, my taste was suited that day.
We came on in to Myrtle Beach without incident, arriving about 11:30am and at the condo we found all the crew except for YD in the covered and heated swimming pool. She had gone to take a shower and to get ready for the young ones when they got out. The water was warm and even though the wind was giving the pool cover quite a workout, it was clinging to its framework. It was good to see the gruntmonkeys again, even in their wet condition. We helped get them back inside, wrapped up in towels against the cold. God invented “grands” – He is good, all the time. ec
posted by mreddie | 9:53 PM
6 Comments:
Hi Mr Eddie ~~ I hope you and your wife had a nice few days at the condo. The heated pool sounded good
and certainly better than the beach in Winter. The kids go back to school early in the New Year over there. Ours go back at the end of January. Thanks for your comments and glad you both got a chuckle from the jokes. Take care, Regards, Merle.
Walking the beach at 40F sounds fine to me ... as long as one is dressed properly. It's 40F here right now, which is pretty warm for this time of year. It's making things foggy and melty here today.
Hummm beach in winter? I'd be watching from the window of the condo. Ha ha.. Now yesterday and today would have been beautiful for the beach. We got into the 70's both days. Hope you and Spice had a grand old time!!
merle - It was a good and relaxing trip - a few days out of the routine.
AC - The winter is my favorite time to come to the beach and we did walk on it - but much wrapped up.
ancient one - I did some watching from the window as well. It didn't start to warm up again until the day we left. ec
Glad you made it safely to the beach. I must ask Alex if he and his cat buddies have picked up any traffic sounds in the cat talk.
SSN - Odd things to occur to me at times. :) ec
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