Solar Eclipse Coming Soon

The solar eclipse is coming Monday, August 21, 2017.

All of North America will be treated to an eclipse of the sun. Lucky folks  within the path of totality can see one of nature’s most awe-inspiring sights - a total solar eclipse. This path, where the moon will completely cover the sun and the sun's tenuous atmosphere - the corona - can be seen, will stretch from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina.

Observers outside this path will still see a partial solar eclipse where the moon covers part of the sun's disk.

Safety first.

Be sure to get your safety solar eclipse CE and ISO certified glasses.

Numerous style to choose from including clip-ons to add to your prescription eyeglasses.

This celestial event is a solar eclipse in which the moon passes between the sun and Earth and blocks all or part of the sun for up to about three hours, from beginning to end, as viewed from a given location.  For this eclipse, the longest period when the moon completely blocks the sun from any given location along the path will be about two minutes and 40 seconds.  The last time the contiguous U.S. saw a total eclipse was in 1979.

The solar eclipse will run from west to east.

You can see a partial eclipse, where the moon covers only a part of the sun, anywhere in North America. To see a total eclipse, where the moon fully covers the sun for a short few minutes, you must be in the path of totality, around 70 miles wide.

The first point of contact will be at Lincoln Beach, Oregon at 9:05 a.m. PDT. Totality begins there at 10:16 a.m. PDT.

Over the next hour and a half, it will cross through Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and North and South Carolina.  The total eclipse will end near Charleston, South Carolina at 2:48 p.m. EDT.

From there the lunar shadow leaves the United States at 4:09 EDT.  Its longest duration will be near Carbondale, Illinois, where the sun will be completely covered for two minutes and 40 seconds.

One of my favorite Federal campgrounds is Buck Hall on the South Carolina coast which will be in the totality path. The government has decided to close the campground August 20-21-22 but the day use park will open at 8am on the 21st.

Their statement:
Attention: We are sorry, but Buck Hall Campground will be closed August 20-22, 2017 for public safety in response to the Total Solar Eclipse occurring on August 21st. The Day Use Area will open at 8:00 a.m. EST the morning of the 21st to accommodate visitors to view the eclipse. We expect an increase in traffic and visitation during this time and encourage you to plan accordingly. 

100 and Up

Detours.

My plans are real foggy. Sometimes I think angels clear the way for me to make last minute deals. I had to leave Buck Hall campground in search of a new place.

Huntington Beach at Murrells Inlet in South Carolina was booked solid. But I daydreamed and occasionally poked at their site.

Meanwhile I called another camp 200 miles way that doesn't take reservations but will at least tell you the odds of getting a spot. The odds looked good, then I inquired about the rates. Much to my shock they had gone up 50% in under a year.

Does that strike anyone as a high increase?

But it's a public park. There seems to be a trend with politicians now to price public parks out of the mainstream. Many politicians rely on the hefty revenues from campgrounds and park admissions. When they want more money they just attack the campgrounds. In this case they raised the rates 50% then shrugged their shoulders.

Take it or leave it.

Most (maybe all?) politicians are heavily paid well beyond what the minions and pissants make. Frankly the politicians don't care one bit. They are so out of touch with reality they have no idea what life is really like for the rest of society.

If politicians were a volunteer job where you only made the bare minimum wage as a token of our appreciation, the world would be a far better place. Life would be more affordable and accommodating. Maybe the lawmakers wouldn't have time to dream up some of the ridiculous laws and fees they put on the books.

Huntington Beach State Park is no bargain, but the bicycle riding around the area is awesome with many dedicated paved bicycle paths that are seldom used. As a bonus, many are in shady forests and rides by beatific marshlands. Birds, alligators, deer, turtles, ducks, are there for the eye candy as is foliage in a rainbow of colors.

Somebody cancelled at Huntington Beach and my friend who was due to depart for the great white north, decided to splurge on the 3 day availability and camp with me a bit longer.

So here we are.

The heat wave has made it very difficult for me to get to the beach. It's a long walk. The sand is way too fluffy for me to plow my bicycle across. So last night at sunset, we walked to the beach.

The dog was ecstatic. Even though we forgot his beach ball, he quickly found a crab to play chase. We laughed at him chasing the crab, running from the crab, sneaking back up on the crab and occasionally barking at it. Finally the crab fast and furious dug a hole and vanished. Harley tried to dig him up but to no avail.

Free entertainment.

The sound of crashing waves, the warm water upon bare feet, the endless ocean view, the sand crabs and a silly doggy playing chase.

Life is goof.

Outside thermometer stuck on my kitchen window.

Thank you for stopping by. 

We woke up alive and life is goof!

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Fock All Campground

Buck  Hall Recreation Area is small-rig friendly campground with only 19 camp sites, 5 with no electricity for hearty tent campers who want a front row campsite on the water.

On a phone call recently someone wanted to know where I was and I said Buck Hall. The cell phone was not clear and they thought I said Fock-All. And that is putting it *ahem* politely.

There was a lot of confusion on the phone before it became clear they had heard me wrong. We giggled ourselves silly.

While camping there, a few more minor repairs were made. My manual retracting front step was a big hunk of rust, but not any more. Now it's shiny black paint. The blue tape is to prevent black overspray on the white paint.

Cooking has almost come to a standstill because my kitchen stool which is necessary for me to reach the odd cabinets, has been pressed into service as a door step for the time being. I was having a bit of a problem using it, so we added some leveling boards to the stool to make it a tad higher. You can see leveling boards under the back rear tires too, the site was slightly askew so the boards compensated by making the rolling home nearly perfectly level.

Amazingly I found this outdoor carpet rug at Dollar Tree for $1 several months ago. It was the perfect size. It's been riding around with me for months, waiting to be installed. The old rug on the step was held together with springs that had hooks on the ends, hiding underneath the step to keep the rug taut. We hammered in four grommets on the underside of the new rug, then attached the springy hooks, so the rug is held there tightly.

 Time to pull of the blue painter's tape and call it a done deal.

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Have Your Elf A Merry Christmas

Christmas isn't about the nicest tree or what's under it. It's about who's around it.

What makes December so special?

It's the only month with a D.

There's a new band named "Spice Rack" who came out with a Christmas album called "Season's Greetings".

A couple of twins named Hall became professional wrestlers who could be bribed to lose. That's how they became known as Deck The Halls.

The Gingerbread man was tired and chilly, so I covered him with a cookie sheet.

I told Harley Dog not to eat the Christmas decorations lest he get tinsel-itis.

At the wild animal Christmas parade, they were singing Jungle Bells.

A bunch of turkeys beseeched the heavens to be spared this Christmas.

Some say it was Fowl Pray.

Employees from the Nuclear Power Plant went caroling while singing "Ho, ho, ho who wouldn't glow..."

At the grocery store, I saw Mother Superior donate a handful of pennies into the Salvation Army kettle. Now that was a bunch of Nun cents.

When Sir Lancelot was stabbed they sang "Oh Holey Knight".

If you rent a Santa Claus suit you have to pay for steam cleaning. It's called a Sauna Claus.

When bald Uncle Joe got a comb for Christmas he said "I will treasure this and never part with it!"

Santa Claus was so fat he got stuck in the chimney. He was terrified because he had Claustrophobia.

The eleven elves rallied around Santa to hire one more and make them an even dozen. So finally Santa advertised for a twelf.

During the Christmas party a bunch of ducks got drunk and sang carols. I guess that's what you call Christmas Quackers.

Santa Claus wanted a motorcycle for Christmas so the elves built him a Holly Davidson.

One elf could only run backwards so they named him Fle.

There was an elf shortage so skunks were hired for Santa's marketing department. They came up with "Jingle Smells All The Way" but they were fired because their jingle stunk.

What do you call a camel that never leaves your side?

O Camel Ye Faithful.

After the beaver chopped down the Christmas tree, he said "It was nice gnawing you!"

The worst Christmas gift is a broken drum. You just can't beat it.

The thief who stole an Advent Calendar got 25 days.

The mice got drunk and angry while making their Christmas Cards and mailed out Cross Mouse Cards.

A Peeping Tom was spying in the window at the baker. When she opened up the window, he fell into the mixer and became a Minced Spy.

They say Santa Claus speaks Polish because he is a North Pole.

The snowman got an icicle to ride for Christmas.

An elf won the lottery and became welfy.

What do Christmas trees and klutzy knitters have in common? They both drop their needles.

Jolly Kris Kringle ate with the troops on Christmas Day. This made a Merry Kris Mess.

December 24th is celebrated because Adam got confused and said "It's Christmas, Eve."

Santa Claus visited The Virgin and had a Mary Christmas.

The President has a secret button in his shoe that when pushed can start a war. It's called his Missile Toe.

Santa likes to go down the chimney because it soots hims.

To become an elf, you must first study the elfabet. It only has 25 letters because there is no L.

Santa Claus loves to garden in the summer when he is on Santa Pause so he can hoe, hoe, hoe.

One of Santa's elfs ran off to be a rhythmic singer. He calls himself a Wrapper.

A special elf makes toy guitars while singing "Blue Christmas". He is called Elfis.

This will sleigh you, Rudolf decided to try a comedy routine in his off season.

Last summer an elf vacationed in the Caribbean and got a sunburn. This made him snappy and crass so they called him Rude-Elf the Red Nose.

One of the reindeer lost his tail, so he went shopping at a retail store for a new one.

This may surprise you.

Scrooge loves the reindeer because every buck is dear to him.

Santa Claus tripped and fell backwards into the roaring fireplace. That's why we also call him Krisp Kringle.

Which reindeer keeps the sleigh clean?

Comet of course.

Caribbean folklore tells about a special fat cat who delivers toys at the beach. They call him Sandy Claws.

The reindeer have a beautiful Christmas tree decorated with hornaments.

Santa Claus really lives with Aunt Artica.

When Frosty the Snowman was caught stealing water the policeman yelled "Freeze!"

We lost an elf when he pushed his bed into the fireplace so he could sleep like a log.

Last Christmas a bunch of chess nerds were in the hotel lobby bragging about their games. Well that's Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.

The elves grew an organic garden over the summer to sell produce in the Elf Store.

Mexican sheep came caroling last night singing "Fleece Navidad".

Some elves say their jobs are really bad. They claim they do all the work and some guy in a suit gets all the credit.

There is no smoking allowed at the North Pole because it's bad for the elf.

Do you know the difference between a Snowman and a Snowlady?  Only one has snow balls.

An elderly man said Christmas was very confusing. As a child he believed in Santa Claus. He grew up and didn't believe in Santa Claus. Next he had kids and dressed up as Santa Claus. Now he's in the old folks' home looking like Santa Claus.

There was a kid on our block who didn't believe in Santa. We call him a rebel without a Claus.

A man from the United States went over Niagara falls in a beer keg while singing Christmas Carols. He washed up on the Canadian side. They said that's A Merry Can.

Somebody crossed a Snowman with a Vampire and got Frostbit.

If you cross a thug with a gift-wrapper you end up with Ribbon Hood.

The real reason Santa Claus is so jolly is because he knows where all the naughty girls are.

Santa Jaws delivers Christmas gifts to mermaids of the sea.

And what do you call a cheery Brit who calls you on Christmas Eve?

Geoff!

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Buck Hall Recreation Area in South Carolina

On the road again today. Thankfully I have a friend traveling with me. I feel terrific, just terribly weak, but this too shall pass.  Life just keeps getting better.

It's been fun being on the intracoastal at Buck Hall Recreation Area (northeast of Charleston, South Carolina) watching barges, sailboats and power yachts traverse the waterways.

It's been an incredibly quiet campground most days.  Other days the children on Easter break this past week kept it very lively. Then the storm hit.  Many campers simply departed before their reservation was up.

A new leak in my roof!  Yikes!

We had a visitor, another RV-er in their Class C, who spoiled Monkey (his name for my crazy little dog Harley) rotten with treats and toys. The storm chased us all inside, so my RV was quite cozy with 3 humans and 1 canine as we cooked and yacked it up all day while the frigid winds and torrential rains pelted my wheel estate.

My fishing friend is often in the same vast neighborhoods I travel, so we try to rendezvous, often at the last minute.

Next we are headed for the woods to a new place I have never been before called Tuck In The Wood Campground on St Helena Island south of Beaufort South Carolina.

My birthday is coming up.  I am an Aries.  I bet you would have never guessed that!

Frances Ellen wrote:

If your birthday falls between March 21st and April 19th, you are an Aries woman: fiery, energetic, independent and intelligent. Your world is in constant motion. If a new challenge arises, you tackle it full steam ahead. Sometimes it’s necessary to be clever in order to accomplish your goal, but never fear, you’ve got plenty of brains to spare. Totally efficient in every endeavor, the Aries woman does not tolerate failure.

Well that's all rather flattering!  Gee wiz!  I've got a lot to live up to. Oh dear me...

After reading that, I think I will celebrate my birthday all month long just for the heck of it. Tee hee hee.

Waking up alive to this gorgeous world is just awesome. I really couldn't ask for anything more. It's the best gift ever!

Above picture is my rolling ranch seen camping at Buck Hall Recreation near McClellanville South Carolina (before the storm hit.)

Below is a map of the Palmetto Trail We were camped near the trailhead at Awendaw, on the coast. If you love nature, this is the place to be, but it's remote so don't expect any amenities beyond mother nature. This was my first visit to this campground.  I just loved it!  Harley dog and my friend also enjoyed their stay here.

For our meager needs of natural beauty and space, this fit the bill perfectly.

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