A little spring jaunt

Butterweed along the trail

It was a mostly uneventful ride on Interstates from home to Santee, SC, our first stop on this trip. When we first stepped out of the car at a rest area in GA, the air was much cooler than it was when we left home. On with our sweatshirts! Our trip up I95 was a matter of dancing among the throngs of the huge trucks that move America's stuff. There seemed to be 2 trucks for every car on the road.

It's been a while since we've stayed in hotels as we traveled since Rving is our preferred method of travel. But since our RV is having some repair work done, this was our only option. Covid is definitely still making it's mark on hotels. The place we stayed last night supposedly offered breakfast. Their website showed a breakfast room with a toaster, waffle machine, cereal and lots more. The actual reality was a lot different. When we came down in the morning, we found 1 1/4" diameter chocolate chip muffins wrappped in plastic, a bowl of apples, and yogurt along with a carafe of regular coffee, no decaf (which I should be drinking due to high blood pressure). After having the coffee, we headed out and stopped to get a breakfast sandwich. We picked up a sub to split at lunch on the trail.

Today we headed for Congaree National Park which is about 17 miles southeast of Columbia, SC. The ride  to the park was through beautiful farm land and small towns. 

What makes Congaree special? Its forest has one of the highest canopies in the world. Average tree height here is 130 feet, and there are 25 national champion trees (biggest and tallest of their species).

To walk here is like walking in an outdoor cathedral. A highlight is a 2+ mile boardwalk that is raised 6 feet above the forest floor. Even with the elevation, the boardwalk does flood at certain times of the year. Because of it's remote location, Congaree is one of the lesser known and visited National Parks. That makes it the perfect quiet retreat! This was a wonderful time to visit because the mosquito

population (which is normally huge) was at a minimum because it has been dry here. Outside the Visitor Center is a meter that displays the current mosquito situation rated on a 1 to 6 scale. It was a 1+ today, but even so, we slathered on the repellent just to be extra cautious. Sometime in mid-afternoon, we stopped at the side of the trail and had our sub sandwich lunch while sitting on a giant fallen log. The weather was cool, dry, and perfect, the trail lined with clouds of yellow butterweed, dog hobble, flowering holly, and twisted vines and roots. What an awesome, peaceful afternoon!

This evening, we will stay in Columbia and head to the Smokies tomorrow.

More photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EhEV6K2aqt7vViY7A