An unexpected surprise

Day 233
​Greenville SC

It's going to be a full day of stuff to do. Today we need to get our act together and go shopping for the mountains. Tomorrow we leave for Great Smoky Mountain National Park for six days. There are no stores where we are going, so it's back to Wal-Mart to stock up on whatever we can fit into the fridge. Before that happens we need to pound down some miles. Conditions are favorable and temps are cool. An easy 3 mile round trip hike to an old fire tower supplies the destination.

Eli is waiting at the door when we get back. He already had his quick "I gotta pee" morning walk before we left. This time he is ready to get out and stretch his legs like us. The campground loop is just shy of a 1/4 mile. Walking pass the empty sites I remembered telling you guys this place was far from perfect. How about an example? This is the parking space that is handicap accessible.

Mounds the size of speed bumps

Shopping gets knocked out early in the day. Wal-Mart is much less crowded in the morning hours than compared to afternoons and evenings. Now that we are home I can share some exciting stuff with you. I'm typically not one to get all worked up when going shopping. I was looking for motorcycle chain lube at Wal-Mart when I see this sitting on the shelf.

I've been talking to Katie about getting something like this since we were in Florida. The issue has been finding something that is somewhat weatherproof and will also not look like trash on the bike. I've browsed a few part stores but never found all the pieces I needed to finish an install from scratch (no amazon delivery on the road). For a whopping $15 we finally can charge our phones while riding the bike. Awesome.

Seeing the downtown area is still on the list of things to do. It's back into Shirley for a jaunt to the main park. The whole point of the trip is to see as much as possible. We often we run into stuff that we were not expecting.

What a beautiful sight it was. Babbling waterfalls through landscaped surroundings make the town feel charming. The drive in bolstered that ambiance. Streets filled with shops and hotels had the place buzzing with activity. New construction is in full swing. Quite a bit of it. This is a place that is up and coming. A tell tale sign of a city that cares is a river walk. Every place we have been with a river walk tends to be a bit more classy than the town next door. It also draws people in to walk past and patronize all the little shops.

A pit stop at a local southern fast food chain was also on the list of things to experience. We have been seeing signs for a place called Bojangles in a couple of states now. It's main meals are pieces of chicken served on a biscuit. Katie said hers was good, where as mine was terrible. Our first fast food outing since we were in Houston (three months ago) and it was a reminder how bad it is. I can only hope my thoughts don't change when this trip is over and we are back home. What a strange word... "Home". Home is where you park it, out here on the road.