Battleship North Carolina

About 65 miles north of Myrtle Beach in Wilmington North Carolina sits one of the best preserved battleships from the second world war, so of course I wanted to go see it. I've never seen a big warship before and this is certainly big. When it was launched in 1941 it was considered the worlds greatest sea weapon. It is 720 feet long and had a crew of over 2300 men.

These are the 3 16" guns which face rearward. Its hard to get a scale but, standing under the guns, you can't touch the barrels. The deck is the original teak. Apparently it never rots, all it needs is to be scrubbed with soapstone to bring the original colour back. As part of the self-guided tour, you can climb into the gun turret and sit in the seats and aim the guns (they don't really move though; wouldn't that be cool). The turret's the size of a small house and about 20 men fought in there. Another 40 worked below the guns feeding up the shells and powder.

This is the front deck of the battleship. Carmen is standing behind one of the 2 anchors. It would take 2 men to lift one of the anchor chain links. Behind her are the 2 16" front turrets. They were aimed by analog computers and were so accurate they could hit a target over 26 miles away while in rough seas. That system is still used in some ships because the new computers don't perform any better.

This is the view from the captains window on the bridge. This ship fought in every major sea battle in the pacific and was torpedoed in 1942, but quick repairs saved it. Although it was repeatedly attacked by Kamikaze planes the only other battle damage was when another American ship shot it while shooting at a diving airplane. 3 men were killed then. After going through the whole war, only 10 men died on it, mostly in accidents.

Its hard to imagine what it must have been like to man a gun like this during a Kamikaze attack. The ship was credited with shooting down over 40 planes and shared over 100 more with other ships. The ship had over 130 guns for air protection.
Although we didn't take any pictures of the interior, the services required to feed and house 2300 men was amazing. 3 meals a day for that many men as well as sleeping quarters, toilets, showers and laundry was crammed into the smallest spaces. Interior pictures didn't do it justice because there were hundreds of small sleeping quarters and washrooms. Dozens of eating areas and kitchens were located all over the ship. There was 1 toilet for every 200 men; makes you wonder what a diarrhea outbreak would look like.

Grammies Birthday

Today is Grammies birthday so she got to sit around and do nothing all day. Well, she did make a meal or two and clean up a bit, but she wanted to, really.

 10 years ago, she got the Saturn for a birthday gift. We don't have room for another car so I decided to clean hers up as a gift to her. Don't scoff, after towing it in the rain all day yesterday you couldn't tell what colour it was, so I spent most of the morning getting it sparkling. Being a good sport, Grammie acted pleased about it. She said she already has lots of jewelery.

She did get an actual gift though. Before we left Kyle, Michelle, McKenzie and Andy gave us a Wii as a gift to cover all gift occasions while we are away. Grammies birthday is the first time the gift is received. Within hours she was bowling and playing tennis. I think its going to get used a lot.

Just down the road from our resort is a bunch of great restaurants. I took Grammie out for supper to Greg Normans Australian Lodge. Great atmosphere. We had a great meal and got to bring some prime rib home because of the large portions. We figured out this is the 43rd of her birthdays we have spent together. You'd think we would run out of things to do wouldn't you.

Heading to Myrtle Beach

Well, it rained all night and we had to break camp in the rain. At least it wasn't foggy so we could see to drive. As soon as we hit the interstate, the fog came back so we had fog and rain for an hour or two. The fog finally eased but the rain continued most of the day. After a particularly rough stretch of road, I found one of the side panels had broken loose from the shaking. I had to crawl under (in the rain of course) and tie it back with some wire; a repair job for later.

As we gradually made our way south east, through intermittent rain, we finally got a hint that we were at least getting more southerly. Cotton fields started to show up as we drove. You don't see that at home so I think we're making progress here.

As we approached Myrtle Beach, the foilage was changing and we finally got away from the rain. I had to open my window because my back was sticking to the seat. Its getting hot and humid. Time to start complaining about the heat I suppose.

Arrived at the campground without incident and after setting up it was time for a relaxer. Its a great campground and we're sitting under a big tree in the shade. Life is good today.

On to Fancy Gap VA

Our day of rest was warm and relaxing. But we're leaving tomorrow and heading another 350 miles farther south. It should be even warmer there!

In preparation to heading out, I need to clean the bugs off the windshield and front of Harvey (pet name for our RV, if you've forgotten from last year). Lots of bugs and a big area; it takes awhile.

Its another beautiful day for a drive and we spend most of our time admiring the scenery. We have left Pennsylvania, traveled through West Virginia and will be stopping in Virginia. Very hilly driving today; we're either grunting our way up a hill or riding the engine brake going down. Glad we have that or we'd need new brakes in no time.

Arrived at the KOA in Fancy Gap around 4:30 and hooked up our utilities in the warm sunshine. Went for a walk and admired the colours. Another great day for driving.

Next morning we woke up to this. Its so foggy we can't see across the road in front of us. Stayed like this all day and added some rain just to break up the monotony. Spending the day inside, editing photos and writing this blog. Hoping that it disappears overnight so we can get away safely tomorrow. I'll let you know in my next posting.

Leaving home for warmer climes

Well, its finally time to head south, or like they say, make like the geese and flock off. We've said goodbye to the family and ventured forth once again onto that black ribbon of possibilities, the highway to somewhere. Besides Carmen and I we are bringing Bobblehead Dave (to remind us of whose largesse is paying for this lifestyle) and Yosemite Sam (to remind us of our favourite grandson, whom we already miss terribly). It doesn't help that he gave us a 10 page essay on why we shouldn't be going in the first place. He was easier to placate when he was 6 that's for sure. But, we are on a mission and are not to be deterred. Sun at any cost!

Fortunately we picked a beautiful day to hit the road. The sun is shining and the traffic is light. Life is good today.

After 8 hours of fun, we finally arrived at our campground. 2 days ago we froze our water line; today its 22C, sunny and very pleasant. Now this is what we're talking about!

Staying for an extra day allowed us to enjoy the beautiful scenery and walk around the campground. We startled a deer and discovered some great hiking trails. Its a great start to our trip.