Leaving the Smokeys behind

Early departure from Arrow Creek RV park and heading to Janet and Joe's for a little birthday celebration on Janet's birthday (July 15th).  Didn't know until a day or two before but, nice coincidence and good to think I would be there in Sumter, SC to celebrate her birthday.

I noticed a bit of extra noise coming from the Jeep's front end as I pulled onto the local roads heading for the nearest connection to route 40E.  The noise seemed to come mostly when making some strong left turns and my thoughts went to power steering.  Off and on rain kept me from stopping very soon on the road to Sumter and ultimately found a Walmart near Spartanburg to get an oil change and the power steering checked out -- pool of fluid under the Jeep confirmed the leak and they couldn't fix or replace the high pressure hose that was leaking -- could only buy a large container of fluid and refill periodically as I headed east.  Had called ahead to Joe to see if a dealer might be open to perform a fix and he checked all around the area and could only find a small shop near the air force base that might be able to do the work.

Made a number of stops at rest stops on the way and tried wrapping the hose with duct tape and refilling the reservoir -- avoided as much as possible making left turns or hard left turns.  After making it to Joe and Janet's place we settled in for the evening and waited for Janet's arrival from work -- I had a card and a bottle of wine for her (picked up at the Walmart while waiting for the oil change).  We had a nice dinner at one of their favorite restaurants before heading back to start our slightly longer than expected visit -- parts for the Jeep were not readily available and the power steering pump needed to be replaced in addition to the hp hoses.  It was a really nice visit and Joe went to an awful lot of trouble to help me get the Jeep fixed (one more time) and I really appreciated all he did.  Thanks again, Joe.

Road to and from Joe and Janet's

Joe and Janet

We dug into the ancestry of the family (mostly the Cunningham side) and had nice evenings with good conversation (Joe did most of the digging).  The world's best blueberries were right in their backyard and I couldn't resist picking a bucket full and they had the best pecans from their own trees too -- they gave me enough to last the rest of July.  Janet baked this great blueberry pie -- probably because I picked so many and she was probably afraid they'd go to waste (they were the greatest snack when I hit the road from there back to VA).

They had so many cats too and two rambuncous dogs -- when they were let out of their fenced enclosure.  It was a hoot to see one of the cats stand tall near one of the dog's food dishes -- even as they came charging from their pen.  Something about the Cunningham's and pets -- it seems so many of us have them.

 

I can see 4 cats - Do you?

Baby of the group - skitty kitty