Givhans Ferry II

Thursday, 15 March 2018

Givhans Ferry State Park, SC

The Ides of March.  But apparently hazardous only to Caesar, because we had a pretty good day.  Lots of sun and, out of the wind, it felt really warm.

Edisto R. from a cliff

Tall tall pines and a CCC-built picnic hall

This state park was built, as are so many others in the US, by the CCC in the ‘30s.  Running alongside the park is the Edisto River which, according to a sign, is the longest free-flowing blackwater river on the continent.  The park is built on limestone cliffs, which another sign says is a rare geological formation – although I thought that’s what we have outside Austin. Maybe Austin's are rare too.

Today is the beginning of my second month in the RV, so I tried to figure out what the first month had cost me.  Despite my habit of saving every receipt I’m given (thanks to being married for 10 years to a self-employed fisherman), I know I’m missing some receipts, so these totals aren’t complete.

It looks like campgrounds up north are more expensive than down south so I’m going to be more careful about saving next month’s receipts to get a clearer idea of what I’m going to be able to afford.

Anyway, for the period 2-15-18 to 3-14-18, to the extent I know, I spent the following: $756.50 gasoline  (averaging 7-9 mpg)

                 459.15 food/supplies

                 475.00 park fees

                   32.93 propane (I’m certain I’m missing a propane receipt)

             $1,721.89 total

The most I paid for gasoline was $2.75/gallon, and I feel pretty sure that’s going to go up during the next 4 years, so this is probably the least I’ll spend.  As I said, the park fees will go up, and I’ve been lucky this last month to have generous relatives to stay with.  But I expect I’ll be seeing some more Walmart parking lots just to keep the cost down.  I could reduce the food/supplies amount but I almost never ate out so I can’t cut that down.  I hope to spend less on propane now that I've turned off the water heater.  I’ll see what this next month brings.

I’ve definitely decided to spend April in Pennsylvania, and wait until May to move on to New York.  Quite a few of the PA state parks are already open and more will open in the middle of the month, whereas in New York many won’t open until May.  So I’ll be there in May.

I’m staying the next 2 nights at the Myrtle Beach KOA and will spend time trying to plan an itinerary so I can make reservations.  I have a feeling that when the parks do open - especially in New England - they’ll be hard to get into.