The week started with two nights at Dreher Island State Park, somewhere in the middle of South Carolina. I got lucky and my site was close enough to the water I could just slide down a little bit of land to launch my kayak and have a nice afternoon paddle. My campsite was just to the right of where the kayak is pointing.
I was only 20 miles or so from Columbia, the state capital, so I went in on Thursday to have a look around. The Museum of Art is adding space, so it’s a hot mess of noise and construction, but the upside was free admission! And this is a cool collection, organized by theme rather than chronologically, so you can understand the evolution of portraiture or modern art or even furniture. Small collection but some big names: Warhol, Miro, Monet, and Calder were some of the artists represented. I say check it out if you’re in Columbia.

From the sublime to the slightly ridiculous: two blocks away is the world’s largest fire hydrant. Non-functional, thankfully, and fenced in so that dogs don’t get any ideas…
One of the highlights of the day was spending time at the African-American History Monument, tracing the history from Africa to modern day. Look for a separate post on this later…
Friday, I hitched up the Alto and headed further south, into Georgia and a return to Skidaway Island State Park. This time, I did more exploring, including a zombie ghost tour in Savannah with friends (thanks, Neil and Lori, it was definitely a fun evening!) and a visit to a mile-long avenue of live oaks at Wormsloe. More trees to love. (The spooky cover photo this week is from the ghost tour.)
From there, I did a one-night stand at Crooked River State Park (Georgia). It was a nice enough park but I was definitely jonesing to get home and stop moving. This is the little lake right in the campground, where there’s a tiny sign warning you alligators are in there. A lovely reminder of all that is the tropical South.
And then, Monday, I made it to Gainesville, and the end to this 18-month sojourn through the US and Canada (May 2, 2016 – Oct 29, 2018). I’ll go back out in the Spring, but for now I’m planted firmly in the tiny RV park that is my friends’ side yard. This time I even have a canopy!
To celebrate my arrival, we took a stroll down to the newly named Tom Petty Park and then hit up happy hour at the local sushi bar. Ah, civilization rocks!
I have a large backlog of places I want to feature on my blog in the next few months, so I’m not going away. I’ll be taking advantage of the opportunity to reflect and synthesize my experiences into art, as all artists do. So stay tuned…
There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.
Dorothy
Barb says
Good Halloween photo. It looks spooky. Glad you’re in your new home for a recharge. Looks cozy. Barb
walt says
Hi Annie
Well, you had a fun and eventful journey! I’m happy to see you back and safe. I’ve gotten several ideas from following your posts. I’ve taken my 1743 out for a weekend spin and quickly resolved to get me a lithium battery. I’m hoping to be on the road soon.
Question: How much trouble, if any at all, did you have having businesses fill your Viking tanks? Several reviewers on Amazon lamented on the difficulty they’ve had getting their tanks filled.
Best, walt
Annie says
I have only had one place (an RV park in Albuquerque) refuse to fill the tank. I went across the street to Camping World and they filled it. Most people are curious about them, but no problem with filling them.
walt says
Many thanks, Annie. That is reassuring. The only thing I need consider is the bike rack. When deployed, the rack sits about 3″ above the cylinder. While the height of the Viking is only .3″ higher than the standard steel cylinder, I’ll have to ensure that installing a Viking duo will still enable me to deploy the bike rack.
I hope you don’t mind these questions. 🙂
Annie says
The 17-pound viking tanks work with the bike rack. It sits on top, clears by less than an inch fully extended (meaning the bike rails are horizontal and ready to load bikes).
Walt says
You are a font of knowledge!