noticeable change in culture, where people
sported the most boring plain garbs we've ever scene. Aside from the occasional horse drawn carriage sighting, it seems that new age Amish people are willing to uphold their traditions by driving old beat up cars and using the least stylish cell phones. 
Once we broke free from the over populated north by crossing the Mason-Dixon line, there was more opportunity to get away from people and improve our survival skills. And by this we mean settling for spam, which when cooked right isn’t that bad –as long as you’re hungry. Even around Maryland we could tell that we were in the south by the accents. It wasn’t until the Carolinas that we were officially speaking another language.
Being that our original rate of travel
was encouraged by our desire to avoid the approaching colder months of the north, we were finally able slow things down a bit in South Carolina. We found a nice a campground on Lake Marion that was inexpensive and had basic amenities. This gave us time to plan our next move and also let us catch up on laundry and refill our water supply. As germaphobes that like to stay clean, we were flying through our original water supply and quickly running out of clean clothes. It’s funny how the most basic necessities like clean socks and hot running water feel like luxuries after being without them for only a few short weeks!
was encouraged by our desire to avoid the approaching colder months of the north, we were finally able slow things down a bit in South Carolina. We found a nice a campground on Lake Marion that was inexpensive and had basic amenities. This gave us time to plan our next move and also let us catch up on laundry and refill our water supply. As germaphobes that like to stay clean, we were flying through our original water supply and quickly running out of clean clothes. It’s funny how the most basic necessities like clean socks and hot running water feel like luxuries after being without them for only a few short weeks!
After getting our affairs in order,
we decided to spend some time immersing ourselves in the local culture. Even though most people sounded like “Boomhower” from King of the Hill, while dropping the N-word an excessive amount of times, everyone we met was
pretty darn nice. The fact that we were “Yankees” seemed to interest people instead of our preconceived notion that it would piss ‘em off. Some even brought us around and showed us all sorts of cool southern things like trot lines
for catching catfish and places
to buy homemade moonshine!
We passed on the shine...
we decided to spend some time immersing ourselves in the local culture. Even though most people sounded like “Boomhower” from King of the Hill, while dropping the N-word an excessive amount of times, everyone we met was
pretty darn nice. The fact that we were “Yankees” seemed to interest people instead of our preconceived notion that it would piss ‘em off. Some even brought us around and showed us all sorts of cool southern things like trot lines for catching catfish and places
to buy homemade moonshine!
We passed on the shine...
Our few day stay in South Carolina turned into a few weeks, so we hit the road and made our way down to Florida. Not wanting to backtrack on our eventual exit, we figured we’d check out Lake George in the northern part of the state and forget about the expensive touristy areas further south. Florida is a pretty cool place
and where we were staying was sort of
in a wildlife refuge so we got to see a lot of fun stuff. Although we’ve seen them before, the amount of bald eagles in the area was awesome! They were always on the hunt, snagging fish out of the water and ripping apart whatever snake they’d come across! This was on top of the occasional manatee sighting, which was an unexpected surprise being that Lake George is freshwater
and at least 30 miles inland.
And of course there were
tons of alligators hanging around; enough to stop us from wanting to do any swimming or rafting (in our inflatable boat). Damn creepy devils!
After making sure to visit nearby St.Augustine, which is now over run
with tourists, we turned west and headed towards our new target state, Arkansas. Dubbed “the natural state” by local boy Billy Clinton, Arkansas
offered us a chance to do some serious
in an RV and for free! Lake Ouachita has at least a half dozen picture perfect locations to camp or do whatever for absolutely
no cost. All have basic facilities, which aren’t always pleasant, but our first stop at “Cedar Fourche” included full shower facilities with hot water and everything! Another cool spot is “Buckville”, which is a small peninsula surrounded by dozens of tiny islands that you can swim or raft to. Having no inhabitants made them easy to explore and conquer! We declared them as independent provinces within a new republic, although it’s still uncertain whether or not the U.S. government has officially recognized this bloodless coup. Also, keep in mind that these free places are technically run by the Army Corp of Engineers, so
be prepared to run into a few chatty rangers that have nothing else to do.
With our new conquests producing zero tax dollars, we left Lake Ouachita and made our way down to Texas, after stopping at the Crater of Diamonds
to find our fortune! We didn’t find any
diamonds, but managed to dig up some coolamethyst and quartz crystals, having a
combined value of at least $1.50! As it
turns out, digging for diamonds is hard
work and can be somewhat irritating when
the people next to you pull out the one
carat diamond you were looking for. Oh well…
Anyway, down to the great state of Texas! Despite their being a ton of places with free accommodations, they’re spread out all over the vast territory and take a while to drive between. After getting our fill of boondocking, we signed up as work campers at a nice RV park in eastern Texas. Although we only signed up for a week, the place was new enough that they needed continuous work and offered us a longer position.
We accepted and ended up staying for another two months, which was cool because it gave us access to 4-wheelers, speedy golf carts and fun little projects. Having little experience in this regard made most of the work interesting, as we got to use chainsaws, tree pulling excavators and other dangerous equipment!
Just remember that Texas is home to a lot of venomous snakes, which we were lucky to run into only once. As cool and pretty as this particular copperhead was, we decided it would be best to vacate the area, despite one of us, who will remain nameless, having to fight the instinctual urge to inspect and
pester the little bugger!
Most Texans go by the rule
of assuming that every snake is potentially poisonous and therefore should be left alone, which is pretty reasonable advice. Also assume that any dark corner that could have a snake does have a snake; maybe even a lot of snakes, all hungry and aiming to paralyze you so they can drag you down into their dark disgusting burrow!
We accepted and ended up staying for another two months, which was cool because it gave us access to 4-wheelers, speedy golf carts and fun little projects. Having little experience in this regard made most of the work interesting, as we got to use chainsaws, tree pulling excavators and other dangerous equipment!
Just remember that Texas is home to a lot of venomous snakes, which we were lucky to run into only once. As cool and pretty as this particular copperhead was, we decided it would be best to vacate the area, despite one of us, who will remain nameless, having to fight the instinctual urge to inspect and
pester the little bugger!
Most Texans go by the rule
of assuming that every snake is potentially poisonous and therefore should be left alone, which is pretty reasonable advice. Also assume that any dark corner that could have a snake does have a snake; maybe even a lot of snakes, all hungry and aiming to paralyze you so they can drag you down into their dark disgusting burrow!
Aside from the resulting snake based nightmares, we got to experience a few trade shows as representatives for the relatively unknown RV Park.This gave us a chance to mingle with Texans from all over the state and also
buy a few unique trinkets and
souvenirs. Despite the selection, we realized that almost every Texas type item was made in China, so we were careful with our non-budgeted purchases. We waited until the end
to have a negotiating advantage and ended up buying a cool longhorn horn and a Texan leather key-chain, which may even be from the same cow! The coolest souvenir we got was a going away present from the RV Park manager; a big Texas shaped sign sporting the beloved confederate flag! A popular theme in the
south and especially Texas!
