New England Odyssey (Day 7)

Day 7

Madison, GA to Florence, SC (7/16/17)

Got up early & discovered we'd crossed into the next time zone without even knowing it!  So we fixed our clocks, got ready & headed back on the road.

Our original goal was to make it to Wilmington, North Carolina today.  However, the truck had other plans.  The transmission went out three times while we were driving on the freeway:  once while Noah was driving and twice while I was behind the wheel.  Luckily, we were able to pull the truck and trailer to the side of the road, and when we re-started the engine, the transmission was OK (until it went out again and again, of course).

Wanting to avert a worse breakdown, or a breakdown in a worse location like a construction zone (which seem to abound on the freeways around here), we decided to stop in the next town with a Ford dealership and have the truck serviced before going on.  So...we ended up in Florence, South Carolina. But being a Sunday, the Ford dealership was closed.

Undaunted, we found a camp ground, set up our trailer, and decided to make the best of our situation. We had a number of brochures which the extremely friendly lady at the South Carolina Visitor Center in Augusta had provided us, and I used them to determine what there was to see in Florence. (But again, being Sunday, our options were limited as most everything was closed).  However, we did get a chance to visit the (very lovely) Florence County Museum which is located in the (partially re-vitalized) downtown area.

After visiting the museum, we made a stop at Carolina Collections (my one per day antique/junk store stop) to browse.  They sadly didn't have much in the way of what I was looking for, though I did find a pair of porcelain koala bears (?) with blue eyes for $4.

Then it was off to dinner at Wholly Smokin' BBQ and Ribs (an excellent recommendation from our camp hostess).  We took a drive across town to the restaurant, only to discover it had been relocated to the street right next to the museum where we'd just been!  So...Noah drove back across town, and we were able to finally locate our destination.

When we entered the restaurant, I was a bit concerned, because the place was empty.  However, when the food arrived, it was excellent.  We shared a 3-meat sampler with ribs, brisket, and burnt ends, fries and mac & cheese.  I am now a lover of brisket having finally eaten some that tasted GOOD!

After dinner it was back to the trailer.  We've been relaxing inside ever since.  This is the first night in awhile that it's been cool enough to turn off the air conditioner and open the windows.  However, it's been raining since about 4:00 and is supposed to continue until 7:00 tomorrow night! Shnikes!!


And thus ends my dispatches from the road for this evening.  Talk to y'all soon!
Buckskin

P. S.  You might be wondering why we were driving around town if the truck's transmission is going out?  Well, we didn't want the truck to break down on the freeway while towing the trailer, but we weren't as concerned about it possibly breaking down on it's own while we were tooling around town, so we chanced it & everything was fine.  Toodles!