Another winter, another journey

Kennebunk was our jumping off point for this winter's journey.  Since the Monday after Christmas was a holiday for many, Jed asked a few friends over for some Holiday Cheer.  That worked out perfect for us since we had taken our camper down to his house earlier in order to avoid the ice on Hog Hill.  Unfortunately, the weather turned to freezing rain and it ended up being a small gathering.

The Mickeriz sisters, Kristin, Laura, and Liz, along with Liz's husband Mike, spent most of the afternoon with us.

Matt Baldwin and Tanya stayed until it was time to go to her daughter's basketball game.

My favorite picture of the day -  Jacob and his mom, Laura

Jed even got to try out his new, old fashioned coffee grinder.  The coffee was great.  Lola had two friends with her that day, but none of them wanted to have their pictures taken.  We left Kennebunk very early the next morning.

On our third day out we stopped in Spartanburg South Carolina to visit with the Merrow's who used to live in Rockland, Maine.  We had dinner with them on Thursday night,and lunch with them again on Friday.

They have relocated to South Carolina to be near their son and to avoid the cold winter weather.  They still keep a camper in Warren, Maine for summer use. Whenever we visit them we always stay at Croft State Park, located to the south of Spartanburg.  Croft is a 7,000 acre State Park that was once an Army training camp.  The Park now offers two campgrounds, one in a forested area and the second on Craig Lake.  There are 12 miles of hiking, biking, and horseback trails, and a 51 stall horse stable.

There is a formal show ring where frequent horse shows are held.

This past holiday weekend the campground was full of campers who come out with their horses in tow.

The 51 stall horse stable has large box stalls, complete with clean bedding for the horses.

The orange lines are horse trails, so it is obvious why this park is so popular with riders.

This is the primitive camping area where those who are tenting can bed down close to their horses and still enjoy a campfire each night.

The next day, however, both Marlin and I came down with a nasty cold.  Not wanting to share it with anyone, we spent the next two days holed up in our camper, blowing our noses and eating cough drops.  Not our favorite way to start a journey.   We will head for Edisto Beach State Park near Charleston tomorrow.