Anderson, South Carolina was an experience that we will never forget!

Last Friday morning I drove the 15 miles to town and visited the Electric City-Anderson Rotary Club at the local Golden Corral. What a breakfast! That place served a meal that lasted almost all day long. The Rotary group was small, but very outgoing. They made me feel as though I was a real part of their group. In the group I met Lt. Lou Clarkson (no relation, Andy!) and he offered me a “nickel tour” of their facility after the Rotary meeting. I accepted the offer, spent a short time with him, and walked away with a shoulder patch from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office. With the shoulder patch from the Anderson Police Dept. I need to make a shadow box to display these two patches appropriately.

We had the privilege of spending the first 4 nights with Fred & Dee vonRacklinhausen, members of the Parking Committee for Monaco International. Fred is a retired Merchant Marine captain who worked on the East Coast most of his life. I have gotten to know Fred after working the Pre-Rally in Macon. On Friday night the two couples sent in to Anderson to the Elks Lodge in hopes of finding an all-you-can-eat fish dinner. Unfortunately they were serving BBQ ribs that night - golly, gee, they were absolutely delicious! We met the ER of the Lodge and had a great chat with him. One of the members (who wanted to remain anonymous) bought us all drinks before dinner. We had a great time and learned a little more about the area from the ER.

On Sunday we drove about 35 miles to the Anderson Jockey Flea Market. It was a HUGE complex of covered warehouses that consisted of a myriad of small businesses and outside were the typical booths of private vendors. There was almost everything imaginable there. We walked for over two hours to look at all the merchandise. It was a good way to spend some time together on Sunday. We didn’t make any purchases, but it was an interesting afternoon.

Carolina Landing Thousand Trails is an older park that is situated on rolling hillsides. It reminded us of Idyllwild and the mountainous terrain. It is a beautiful park that would be fun to visit in the summer time when the park is probably full most of the time. I had a good talk with the Manager, a young fellow named Josh. All of the regulars that we talked to were very enthusiastic about what Josh has accomplished in the park. We look forward to returning in a few years and visiting this park again.

On Tuesday morning we left Carolina Landing and traveled northeast on I-85 into North Carolina and the Forest Lakes Thousand Trails. We drove through Greenville and Spartanburg, SC and Charlotte, NC before we got near Lexington. It was interesting to see all the billboards and signs relating to NASCAR as we drove through Charlotte.

Forest Lakes is located NW of Lexington and south of Winston-Salem. All the news channels break the state into three areas: the mountains, the Piedmont, and the coast. We’re located in the Piedmont in an area referred to as the Triad - Winston-Salem, Lexington, and Greensboro. It’s a beautiful area, but seems heavily populated. We have found the Sam’s Club, the Costco, and three of the Super Wal-Marts.

Our weather finally dropped some rain on us on Wednesday night. We really needed it - the pollen count has hit record highs here since all the trees are starting to bloom in the warm weather. Everything has had a green dust on it. It’s impossible to keep a car clean with the yellow-green dust in the air. Now that the weekend is upon us, the park is starting to get filled up. Families with kids have been arriving all day long and the good sites near the Activity Lodge are all occupied. It’s fun seeing kids and grandkids having fun in spite of not many activities scheduled yet.

We will leave on Tuesday morning and drive west to the next Thousand Trails park, Natchez Trace. It’ll take us three days to get there - we’ll be stopping at an Elks Lodge in Waynesville, NC, Breckenridge Lake (a park in Tennessee), and arrive at Natchez Trace TTN after driving through Nashville next Thursday.