The Carolinas
It’s been a minute since we posted our adventures! We spent a lot of time visiting both of our families, and then did a LOT of work on the bus!
When we left the Winston-Salem area, we headed toward one of Zach’s daughters! We had no intention of sightseeing, or working on the bus.
Unless something caught our eye, or needed our attention!
We are always on the hunt for materials for projects, but unfortunately hadn’t found a really great repurpose store in a while! So that ended a lot of projects right there 😂
Harvest Hosts Across the Carolinas 😎
We stopped at a few amazing Harvest Host locations on our way!
The first was a very cute family farm ~ The Pint Sized Pasture ~ in Sanford, NC!
The second Harvest Host location was a beautiful Lavender Farm! Purple Bloomers Lavender Farm 😊 Located in Lillington, N.C. We were not there during blooming season, but the farm is super cute and we were given an in-depth tour of the farm by one of the owners, Tammy! She was amazing! She explained all of the flowers that were planted, their care, and when and how they bloom!
They also had amazing lavender products! Eye masks, dream pillows, wax molds, dried lavender sprigs, small houseplants, and more! And we were told that they didn’t have much available to look at in the shop! I’m telling you, there was a good amount in there!
This was our view when we woke up!
Just beautiful! 😍
Stedman, N.C. was our next little pitstop! Just a quickie stop to take some pics of these guys in a cage! Not sure if they are in a cage to prevent them from completing their Mission from God or to keep people from damaging them!
I’m going with preventing The Blues Brothers from completing their Mission! 😆
They could use some TLC, but they were pretty cool!
Click on the picture to see closer pictures of them! 🙂
Fayetteville, N.C. didn’t disappoint with something large in it! We found a replica of the Eiffel Tower, just waiting for a pic with me 😂
↗Click for a few more pics!↖
Oddities of The Carolinas 😯
Now here is something you don’t see every day! Or ever!
A half horse-half-tractor machine being driven by a seemingly crazy cat!
This was in St Pauls, N.C.! They have normal metal wear but they were still amazing!
Our last stop for a minute was in Rose Hill, N.C. to see the World’s Largest Frying Pan!
It was behind a small fence, and covered! Why? Because they actually USE IT!! It’s a functioning frying pan!
Just once a year you have the opportunity to see it in use! During the North Carolina Poultry Jubilee! Local fire departments come together to cook a LOT of fried chicken for the event!
On our way to the east side of North Carolina, we didn’t have great sunny weather! A lot of rainy or overcast days! Which makes the solar situation not so great!
We have a generator on board, and usually run it every 2-3 months regardless of need! It had been about 2 months, so we found a boat launch area that was empty!
We set up the generator (it’s super quiet!) and figured we would stay about an hour and charge up! There was only a parked vehicle in the lot (and it looked like it had been there a while)! It was a very dreary day, drizzling most of the day with periods of heavier rains.
Something Caught Our Eye 👀
While we were waiting for the generator to charge us up, Zach thought he saw a small kitten run under the bus!
Out we went to go investigate!
We saw nothing! No sign of a kitty anywhere. Zach looked under the bus in the tires where our kitties sometimes sleep, and I looked around the bus. Nothing! Zach figured the kitty went straight under the bus and back into the woods!
We were a little sad, because this place was in the middle of nowhere, and looked completely abandoned (I’m sure it was not fishing season, and that’s why!)
We checked once more before we left and still saw and heard nothing.
Our first stop was at Lowe’s for a lot of different things, so we were there for about 30 minutes. Then we stopped at a truck stop to fuel up.
Then we got to our next Harvest Host. Fifty miles away from the boat launch. We parked. Zach hooked up the dogs for a walk and away they went.
30 seconds later, Zach was peeking his head in to tell me that kitten was indeed with us!!!
WHAT?!?!?!
Again, out we went to investigate!
And there was the little kitten! Sitting on the top of the fuel tank. He had ridden under there for the entire trip, FIFTY MILES, in the rain and wind! He had 2 opportunities to jump down and he didn’t!
We thought that he hitchhiked with us for a reason!
So I did a dumb thing!
I reached into where he was hiding behind the fuel door and grabbed him. Sort of by the scruff, but sort of not. I was so scared to let him go that I just pulled him out.
Somewhere in my head, I thought he would just be like “OH MY! I’m SAVED!” and snuggle into me!
He did NOT! HE TRIED TO EAT ME!!!
Run, Nancy, Run!
This tiny little kitten was trying to bite me in any way he could. Because of the way I had him, it was difficult for him! And I had gloves on since it was chilly! BUT !!!! Eventually, he bit down on my hand! Through the glove and slightly into my skin!
Now, you may be wondering where Zach was while all this madness was going on! And by madness, I mean me running around with this kitten attached to the end of my arm while screaming for Zach!
Well, he was racing inside to get a cat carrier! Because when we set out to rescue this kitten, we truly thought it would just give in and snuggle up to us!
VERY UNPREPARED!
He wasn’t gone but a few seconds, and as soon as he opened the carrier and set it on the ground, this little kitten let go of my hand and launched into full kill mode on Zach!
He bit him multiple times, including through his thumbnail!
Eventually, we got him safely in the carrier! In hindsight, having a carrier already ready would have been ideal! That and perhaps a towel to wrap him in to safeguard ourselves. SOMETHING! Instead of the nothing we went rescuing with!
We left him in the carrier overnight and brought him to a vet in the morning to get him checked out! Actually, at this point, we really didn’t know if this kitty was a boy or a girl kitty! We couldn’t do much more than tap his little head through the carrier!
Turns out it was a little boy! We guesstimated his age at about 6 weeks old! He got his kitty shots, and we were on our way!
Adding one more pet in The Carolinas 🐾
I was able to “pet” him through the carrier on the way home! We let him out when we got inside the bus and all exits were closed. He ran immediately!
A few days in and he was making his way into the cat family! I still wanted to pet him, so I was a little sad! But, we were hoping Phil would bring him around! And our girl Heddy is usually ok with the little kitties, so there was some progress there also! Our big boy, Scabbers, was MAD! MAD MAD! He hissed, growled, and smacked at this little guy every chance he got!
Pet-friendly Only ~ No Humans 😂
This little guy had totally consumed 2 full days of our time 😍 No complaints, but since he was still so skittish, we decided to just ignore him and allow him to acclimate! Plenty of food and water available, and he was shown the litter box.
The Harvest Host we were staying at was amazing! The Old 30 Dirty Family Farm! They are located in Jacksonville, N.C. 🙂 They gifted us with a beautiful welcome basket of fresh produce from their farm! A lovely place to check out!
I used these fresh veggies in multiple recipes!
We also got a chance to meet up with my parents while we were exploring The Carolinas! I hadn’t seen them in four years, and that is a lot of years too long! So they drove down and met us at a cute little campground for the weekend! We got a site, and they stayed in one of their cabins! We got to catch up, and eat some good food!
😊
Next Harvest Host was the Highway 21 Drive-In Movie Theater! Located in Beaufort, S.C.
It is pretty amazing that we got to watch 2 movies from the comfort of our home, while in a drive-in! They had a radio we could borrow to listen in!
Bonus! Popcorn 🍿
We watched Puss in Boot and then proceeded to fall asleep for M3GAN! 😳 but at least we were already in bed! 😂
We couldn’t be in Beaufort, South Carolina, and NOT go to the Kaboozie Kazoo Factory for their tour.
Hmmm…
We called ahead and they told us that the first few tours also had a class of first graders on it! We didn’t want to wait till late afternoon since we were getting back on the road right after the tour!
So we opted for the first available tour, even with the first graders!
And I am telling you now, I am so glad those little kids were on the tour with us! They made the tour a lot more fun! And they were really well-behaved! I believe I had to keep my eye on Zach the entire time 😑
↗Click the Wheel of Kazoos to see more tour pictures!↖
What next? Bus maintenance, projects to wrap up, projects to start, and whatever else in between! But we needed a place to go for more than a night or two, so we headed to Georgia! Find out where we think is the ideal place to get so many DIY projects done in our next post!