From TN to SC: November 14th

Packing up the new camper is a lot less stressful than the old one. Due to preparation the night before, we were ready to roll out of the campground before 9am. We knew it would be a longer drive than google maps predicted due to a rock slide along the I40 a couple of months previously. However, once we started going, we realized the camper was having sway issues. We’re still not entirely sure why, as we don’t feel like anything changed from the previous weekend to this one, when we had a good run from VA to TN. Regardless, we had to stop a number of times in an attempt to fix the issue. It did finally seem a lot better and the afternoon drive was less stressful than the morning.

With the addition of the extra stops and the huge detour, we did not arrive at our campground: River Bottom Farms, near Columbia, until almost 6pm – it was a long day in the truck but everyone did well. Today’s movie viewing was Nanny McPhee and Curious George, as well as the obligatory German shows, as the kids are learning German as part of their curriculum. It’s fun to hear them talking German with one another, they often come out with German words now. At the music session last week, we met a Swiss German speaker and Caitlin told her: “Ich bin Caitlin, wer bist Du?” She responded: “Ich bin Irene.” Caitlin really got a kick out of the fact that she’d been understood and received a reply.

So, South Carolina: state number 21 since we began the trip on August 1st – that’s not bad, lots of big ones to come though!