Back From Vacation

posted on 2004-09-10 at 14:04:08 by Joel Ross

Obviously, I'm back from South Carolina now. It was a good trip, but Frances (at least the remnants of it) chased us out of Myrtle Beach. Literally. For three counties, right after we left them, we'd hear reports of tornado warnings for the county we just left. So yeah, Frances chased us out!

We got down there on Friday afternoon, and had great weather until Monday. I was able to hit two very nice golf courses. The first was The Avocet, and the second was called Man O War.

Both are very nice courses, and for the price, good deals. Man O War was a much tougher course, but I think I shot the best round of my life (despite the first hole - a 10) on the front nine, including a par on the 9th (their signature hole - the first photo in the photo gallery). I put my drive in the water on the right (it's an island fairway), then put my 5 wood about 10 feet from the pin, and dropped my par putt. I also birdied 7. Still, I shot 51 - I'm not a great golfer! I shot 106 on Avocet and 107 on Man O War.

We started both courses early in the morning and had the rest of the day to enjoy the sun and beach. Walking along the shores of the ocean is very nice, and the Kingston Plantation is a very nice place to stay. It had a great ocean view from the condo, and just a short walk to the beach.

My wife and I enjoyed our time walking through the ocean. We could get used to that!

Anyway, on the drive back, we had rain all the way until we got through most of Ohio - basically 800 miles of the 1000 mile trip. I drove all but two hours of that trip, and some of it with my wife and daughter sleeping in the back seat.

If you get bored easily, stop reading now. Or if you'd rather read coherent thoughts, stop now.

Still with me? You were warned.

Driving through 5 states in one day with nothing to do but watch the road, you notice some things. First, why do all signs for deer show them running from right to left? Do the deer know that's the way they are supposed to cross? Why are cows in the road shown as standing, while deer are running? And cows go from left to right.

Construction was a common occurance. And the signs differed for those too. In some states, the signs will say "Reduce Speed Ahead." Action. You have to reduce your speed ahead. Others say, "Reduced Speed Ahead." A statement. We have construction, therefore traffic is slower. To me, it seems like a warning rather than a restriction. Of course, in North and South Carolina, there was no need for those signs - speed limits were the same in construction as out of construction.

Not that we had to worry about it, but the same situation (action versus statement) occured with icy bridge signs. In some states, they say "Watch for Ice on Bridge" - action. Others are informative. "Bridge Ices Before Road." Driving becomes a learning experience!

One last comment about West Virginia's roads. Some of the curves definitely seem like they were built before the speed limit there was 70 - very sharp corners. Also, I found it odd that truckers (which we learned my daughter, who is 2, likes to pronounce with an "F") have the same speed limit in parts of the state as every one else - 70. And they take advantage of that. Now, if you've never been to West Virginia, it's very hilly - no, mountainous. There are stretches of 3 miles that have a 5% grade, where you don't have to use the gas to accelerate. And trucks fly through those areas. They even have ramps for out of control trucks. I wonder how often they are used...

Anyway, I'm back from vacation, and all caught up. Now, maybe I'll have time to get a few extra posts in over the next couple of days!

Categories: Personal