Surf City, North Carolina

We found ourselves in Surf City, North Carolina.  It was just one of those happenings that happened.  We took a chance and turned off, east, off the Route 17 we were traveling on, and discovered Surf City.  Well, not like Sir Walter Raleigh discovering America, or Christopher Columbus inventing the cigarette, or Sir Francis Drake circumcising the world with a clipper or playing cricket, - or anything as big as that!  But just a pleasant detour that took us off route for an afternoon.  It was a delight.
Here are a few pictures of the afternoon.

Multi-storey boat parking!!

The pier at Surf City

It's amazing what one can catch if one puts one's mind to it.

Apartments blocks

Loss of power

Yesterday, as we drove along, I saw a sign for Washington (North Carolina sort of Washington).  The sign said “historic town”.  I said to the misses, “let’s pull off and have a look at this place, my dearest”!

So we did.

It was quite pleasant in parts, but on the whole there was an air of a bygone era.  Some parts were a bit worn out and dilapidated.  Other bits were well cared for and quite select.

Seeing a post office, we decided to pull over and get some stamps, then finish off writing some cards to send home.

I thought it would be good to cool Harvey down with the generator powering the aircon  but when I tried to start it, there wasn’t enough oomph in the battery to do so.  

There was no auxiliary power!!  It had died on us!  

This meant that we couldn’t pump water to the taps if we were off site.  A “must” for the misses!  No lights in Harvey either.  No nothing!  Not really surprising, as the amount of rainfall we'd had in the last few days was about 30 cms.

Driving just 100 metres round the corner we saw an auto repair centre (sorry “center”) and pulled in to see if they could investigate the problem for us.

There were four bodies in the reception area, all just about breathing.  

Two males bodies were watching a soap opera on TV. 

One young female body was leaning up against the counter looking chilled. 

And the the other female body (a little older) was behind the counter looking vacant.

I asked if there was anyone who could help us?

The older female body relayed my question to the two male bodies who barely glanced up from their soap opera.  Inaudible responses were muttered, which even the misses couldn’t hear, or comprehend what was said.

In the end, we got the message that they were unable to help, but they very kindly phoned through to a nearby, big, RV Garage to see if they could help.

The directions were simple.  Out to the lights.  Straight over the bridge on the Route 17.  And about a mile later was the RV Garage.

We found it easily and pulled in.

After about 20 minutes of waiting for Greg the workshop manager to appear, we were told to drive Harvey into their massive garage round the back.

Harvey emerging from the garage.  All sorted.

A little 58 year old black guy, Clifton, was directed to assist us.  He got his screwdrivers, spanners and test gear out.  I was so envious, and itching to get my hands on the tools.  But Clifton was in no mood for spectators!  He got stuck right in.  He beavered away diligently.

In a short while he had found the problem.  It was a slightly loose battery terminal.  He checked the battery voltage, and everything was ok.  Just a loose connection!  Clifton took it all apart, cleaned up all the battery terminals with wire wool and steel brushes.  He even re-made one of the connections.  He was exceedingly thorough.

A short while later, maybe after an hour or so of pampering Harvey, he was done.  It all charged up well and we went to see the lady (another Ruth), on repairs reception, to see what the cost was.

“No charge”, she said.  “Greg said it was a gift because you got married, - nothing to pay”!

We felt really blessed by their kindness and generosity.  We were really grateful to God for helping us.  Thanks to, to Mark for producing some great magnetic signs to put on the side of Harvey which have been very useful, several times!

Safety in USA

One of the things we have been really impressed with in USA is their patience on the roads.  The yanks really have a great way of accommodating bad drivers and driving.  Obviously there are exceptions to this on occasions, but on the whole, they are not in a hurry. The speed limits around USA are seriously slower than ours. The interstates, their version of a motorway (four lanes either side) is restricted to 65 mph, and an A road (two lanes either side) is 55 mph. Going past road works at a greater speed than stated will ensure you get a double fine, and speed restrictions are upheld by radars. Slip roads have their own restrictions and so do bends in the road. This all helps to S…..L……O…..W… everything down! And for us, it feels very much safer on the roads here than at home.

Nobody move, Children are being dispensed onto the kerb!

School buses have great priority for ensuring children are delivered safely home.  Yes, children are taken home by bus rather than parents picking up their children.

When the bus comes to a stop, all the lights come on, flashing lights, at the back and on top.  “Stop” signs miraculously spring out from the left hand side of the bus, and any traffic, behind and even in front, dutifully stops. This enables children to get out of the bus knowing that no traffic is moving at that point.

The speed has to be greatly decreased when passing schools during opening and closing hours. The traffic can return to the normal speed restrictions when children have left the school.

On the other hand, it seems like they have absolutely no awareness of safety whatsoever!  Guys and girls on great big Harley Davidson motorbikes roar past us while the bird on the back is wearing nothing more than a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.  The guy won’t be wearing gloves or a crash-helmet.  (Not sensible, as the first thing he might do is put his hands down on the road when he falls off!  Ouch!).

Clear sign, - IMHO, - No Smoking!

But yesterday’s experience of safety blew my mind.  I was filling up Harvey for the next leg of our journey, and as I returned from paying the cashier, the youth at the next pump took out a cigarette, and promptly lit it, - WHILE SITTING ASTRIDE HIS SMALL MOTORBIKE!!

It was a wonder that we all weren’t blown sky high like a NASA rocket.

Then today we found ourselves following this lorry.

Radioactive lorry!

Errrr, uuuummm, I want to be well out of your way, mate.