Cooking out & Eating out

 Tuesday I braved the heat and grilled some steaks with peppers and onions.  It truned out pretty good but I think the meat wasn't a very good cut.  I have grilled better.

 Yesterday we went to Biscoe to do the laundry.  I got the address off of the computer and put it in the gps. Well that old gps showed the laundromat right in the middle of an intersection. The laundromat was actually one block away.

 After a couple of hours at the laundromat we went down to Candor in search of Blakes Restaurant.  Using the gps once again it was a 1/4 mile from where it was suppose to be,but we did find it. Blakes Restaurant has been in business since 1947.

We had the special which was spaghetti at the price of $5.85.  We made the right choice becaus the spaghetti was some of the best tasting I've had.  No wonder this place has been in business so long and the service was good and friendly.
After our delicious meal it was off to Walmart for some grub and a couple of other things to last us while we are here.

Going to get very hot

 Yesterday we emptyed our black and grey tanks and filled the fresh water tank. We also changed to a much better site. The house top antenna brings in more channel here,but I still could not recieve a satellite signal because of all the trees.

 We spent most of the day inside because of the heat.  We did get out and walked the trail,but it was really to warm and muggy for that.

I see the blackberries are ripe for the picking.  I guess the birds are to hot to get out and eat the berries.  We will be inside most of the day since it will be a record breaking hot day here.  Everyone stay cool.

Riding

WOW what a day we had yesterday. First we went to Troy looking for a laundromat.   After driving around town down all the streets we couldn't find one.  So next it was looking for one of the many waterfalls I have download in my gps. This waterfall was only around 25 miles from us.  After driving down roads and in and out different streets we were getting close.  Driving trough a residential section,I told Nancy "this doesn't look like were a waterfall will be".  I drove off the paved road onto a graveled road and up in a private driveway.  GPS says you have arrived.  We did arrive,but there wasn't a waterfall.  Maybe years ago but it wasn't there now.  That happens sometimes when following the gps.  People send these different places to the point of interest websites and they don't give the right directions.  So all we did yesterday was riding in the car for half the day. 

Pisgah Covered Bridge

Yesterday we went in search for the Pisgah Covered Bridge.

 Leaving the campground first on graveled road then paved road,then we turned off on another graveled road.

 Passed several barns out in the country on the graveled roads. I mean way out in the country.

 You see what I mean way out in the country. These two mules came close to the fence when I stopped to take their picture.

 A couple of old houses along the way.

 We did find the covered bridge which was worth the trip.  They even have a nice short trail from one side of the bridge to the other side.

 Inside looks good from this distance but like always people want to carve and paint their names on things.

One of North Carolina's two remaining historic covered bridges. Built in 1911 at a cost of $40, the bridge is 54 feet in length and crosses the West Fork Branch of the Little River within the Uwharrie National Forest.
We had a very good adventuresome day.  Hope we can find some more things to see and do while we are in the area. 

Still more rain

It has been raining each day that we have been here and yesterday was no different.  The rain had stopped,so we got ready to go walking then the rain came again. 

The rain stopped again so we waited a while to see if it was going to start up. after it looked all clear we went for our walk. There is a nice paved bike and hiker's trail around the outer edge of the campground.  I told Nancy I've never seen a trail that is around a campground and always going up hill.  Even when we were going downhill it looked like it was up hill.  

 There were the large sandstone rocks along the way.

The we came to this very large marble stone that looked out of place. I don't know if it was from here or if they brought it in?  We had a nice walk and shortly after finishing it started raining again.

Uwharrie Forest

Yesterday we left the Rockingham Walmart,drove to the Biscoe Walmart.  I unhooked the car and off we went to the Uwharrie National Forest to look at the campgrounds. I like to go in the car because more than one time I have got myself in a situation that is hard to get out off driving the motorhome with the car attached.  Beswides it is much faster with just the car looking for the different campgrounds.  After looking into three of the campgrounds we found a empty site that we could fit in.  So it was the drive back hook the car up and back to the campground.  After getting the motorhome into the site leveled up,electric connected,Nancy prepared a nice meal.  We had pork chops with baked potato,salad and corn on the cob which I had bought earlier at a roadside stand.  We had another small storm last night which made it three for the day. In the next few days we will scout around to see what is in the area.

Rockingham,North Carolina

I had a very hard time hooking up the car yesterday. Maybe after sitting a month I'm a little rusty doing it. I did get the car all connected and off we went at around 11:30.  I stopped and bought gas at $3.39 a gallon because after checking Gasbuddy I knew I wouldn't be getting it any cheaper where we were going. 

The sun was shining when we left the campground the after going through a rain storm the sun came back out. So I pulled over in a wide spot beside the road for a bite to eat.  The old house in the picture was across from where we were eating our lunch. Someone was no doubt proud of this house at one time and it was full of memories of past times for them.    

As we got near Rockingham, we could see another storm with flashes of lightning. We did drive into it and this one was more intense than the one we were in earlier.
We made it to the Walmart which allowed overnight parking so we spent the night. 

Staying in

Yesterday was a stay in day for us.  Nancy wasn't feeling very well and it being the 4th of July,the beach would be crowded anyway.  We watched some western movies on the western channel.  I was going to grill some burgers but forgot to take the meat out of the freezer.  So I drove the 1/2 mile down to Mcdonalds and bought us a couple of the Angus beef burgers which tasted pretty good.
I will have to see how Nancy feels today to see what we will be doing.  As for myself I have developed a back problem.  I've never had any back problems so this is a new thing for me and I can say I don't like it one bit.
Tomorrow we will be on the road in the motorhome heading out for new adventures.

Happy 4th

Yes you can enjoy the 4th because of the many veterans down through the years.  We thank you vets.
Yesterday was no exciting day in that we were at the laundromat for most of the day.  We did the laundry because wednesday we will be on the road again after a month of sitting still. We will slowly make our way northeast,heading to Uwharrie National Forest and hope to find a campsite. I don't like making reservations so we may or may not be staying there. 

Smoky One

 Yesterday morning started out with a fog and smoke mixture.  It has been this way for weeks,you can smell the smoke when you step out the door.  You go to the car and the ash from the forest fires is all over it.

We went to the beach and the fresh air and breeze are a relief from the smoke that is inland.  Getting under the pier feels 10° cooler.  We got to the beach late in the afternoon,did our walking and lying in the sun.  We enjoy our walking and watching the small children playing in the sun,sand and water.

Hanging around

Wednesday we had to go to Walmart to get our prescriptions refilled.  They said it would be 45 minutes but it was actually 1 1/2 hours before they had the medicine ready.  We ate out at Jerome's Steak and Seafood Restaurant.  We had the early bird buffet and at $7.75 including our drinks.  The meat part was fried chicken,pulled pork and pork chops. With several different sides and a couple of dessert choices we came away satisfied.  

The tobacco field has grown full since we have been here.  These were just small plants when we arrived here a month ago.

 Yesterday it was back to Shallotte to get our hair cuts.

Large pine cones under the trees.  These would make a nice camp fire,but we are not allowed to have fires in the campground. The smoke from the forest fires is very heavy around here and burns our eyes when we get out so we stay inside most of the time. We do get out most of the time and go to the beach.