Unintentional Vacation
Part 1
From October 4-10, 2024, I took what could best be described as an unintentional vacation to Charleston, South Carolina. I describe it as “unintentional” because of the way that things worked out during the latter half of the trip, but it also seemed quite fitting. The planning for this trip went through a few stages. For a number of years, I had earmarked 2024 for another weeklong trip to Toronto, much like I did in 2019. The idea was that I would do Toronto again five years after the previous trip. But then in 2023, we went to Canada three times, visiting Ottawa, Toronto, and Windsor. I eventually realized that I didn’t want to go to Canada again so soon, feeling a bit “Canada’d out” (pronounced so as to rhyme with “boat”, of course) after those three trips, and I found myself wanting to do something else instead. We’ll definitely still do Canada again, just not quite so soon. So with Canada out, my thought shifted to a visit to New England, with our doing Boston, as well as parts of New Hampshire and Maine, and seeing a few friends while we were there. We did some very preliminary planning, but Elyse and I soon realized that neither of us were really feeling such a trip. Additionally, after our trip to Charleston in September, where we were not able to bring the bus home due to further mechanical problems, we felt like we needed to keep that week open for another potential bus retrieval trip, and I made sure that the folks at General Diesel knew about my availability that week. We figured that one of two things would happen: either we would go down to Charleston to retrieve the bus, or we would have a relaxing “staycation” with a few day trips. We would see.
As it turned out, General Diesel had our bus ready in time for my vacation week. The new oil pump was in place, and it was working well following a 30-some mile test drive that they did on it. That had us feeling optimistic about things, and we planned a trip down to Charleston. This trip wasn’t just going to be just a pickup trip, though. Since I had a week, and I had always enjoyed my times visiting Charleston, I decided to make a photography trip out of this adventure as well. We were going to pick up the bus on Monday, so I was going to go down the Friday before and spend two days down there just having fun. As Elyse had a previous commitment with DASH on Sunday, I would do this first part solo. She would fly down to Charleston right after the event and join me that evening. Additionally, our friend Tristan would fly down to join us on that Monday to help bring the bus home, as both he and Elyse are far more mechanically inclined than I am. I’m a good operator, but under the hood is where my talents end.
That said, the plan was that I would rent a car and go down to Charleston by myself on Friday, and spend the weekend largely unsupervised in Charleston. Elyse would join me on Sunday night, and then Tristan would join us on Monday. I would return the rental car on Monday, and then we would all ride home together in the bus. I packed enough to give me an option of spending an extra night out, in case we wanted to split the return trip with the bus into two days, as we did in September. However, I made no bookings for the return trip in order to keep all of my options open, to prevent the need to make a mad dash through the night to a hotel in a relatively remote location like happened last time (though that trip certainly worked out well in the end).
With the planning set, the first order of business was to pick up the rental car from the Enterprise location on Airpark Drive in Gaithersburg. This is a few miles away from my house, and if I’m using Enterprise, I like to use this location. When I got there, they gave me a Hyundai Santa Fe. I was not pleased to get that car, because, well… you know. I asked if they could change me out, but they indicated that was the only one that they had available. So if I wanted to go, this was it, despite that I don’t trust Hyundai or Kia cars as far as I could throw them (and for good reason). We did our ground walkaround, we went over all of the paperwork, and all seemed well. I brought the rental home and I parked it next to the HR-V, which would remain at home for this adventure, since we weren’t going to use a chase vehicle. As I was getting ready to load my stuff into the Hyundai, I noticed a rather large dent at the bottom of the back lift gate, which the folks at Enterprise and I had both missed earlier. I quickly got on the phone with them and reported the dent, especially since it had some rust in it, i.e. this was not new damage. It turned out that they already had record of the dent, so I would not be responsible for the dent. Good. So I started loading my stuff into it. Then midway through, I got a call from Enterprise. They asked me to please bring the Hyundai back, and they would swap me out for something else, because it was scheduled for a repair locally in order to fix that dent. They explained that if it had been a rental that was coming back to their location, it wouldn’t have mattered, but since it was a one-way rental, that would cause various internal accounting issues that they wanted to avoid. I was fine with that, since I didn’t want a Hyundai anyway. They should probably consider themselves lucky that I live close to their facility and went home right afterward to load, and that I would pass very close by their location on the way out regardless. If I didn’t live so close by and Enterprise would have been a pain to get to on the way out, or if I had already started my journey and was well downrange, I would have kept the car for the trip, and they would have had to deal with whatever accounting issues came with it. I told them that I was at my house packing the car, and that I would swing by after I was done, on the way out.
Returning to Enterprise, they were ready to swap me out for a Toyota 4Runner. Much better, because unlike Hyundai, Toyota is a very reputable brand. Once we got the new car signed out to me, we were good, and it was just a matter of transferring my stuff over from one vehicle to the other. I didn’t ask about why a different car was suddenly available less than an hour after they had told me that another car was not available after I indicated that I didn’t want the Hyundai, but considering that the exterior of the 4Runner was dripping wet, I suspect that they expedited something that was in their queue in order to get another car ready so that they could get their Hyundai back. In doing my ground walkaround on the 4Runner, I spotted a big dent on the passenger side front door, and immediately brought it to their attention. They already had record of that dent, and told me to run with it, i.e. it is not my responsibility. Worked for me.
From there, it was just a matter of getting on the highway and going. Considering that it was already afternoon, my plan was to keep stops to a minimum, which was more feasible with only one person in the car, and therefore only one set of restroom needs, plus no need to keep Elyse entertained on a long car ride. I also had to remember not to take any toll roads, since I didn’t have my E-ZPass transponder with me, nor was I about to bill it to the rental car and pay all of the fees associated with that.
Once I was out on the highway, I made some car-related discoveries. First off, I found out how the lane-keeping assist worked on this vehicle. Unlike the HR-V, which will warn me when I start to leave my lane and automatically maintain my lane, this one only yelled at me whenever I inadvertently started to wander, without providing any automated guidance of its own. I also discovered that while this 4Runner had adaptive cruise control just like my car, it did not work. With no real lane-keeping assist and no cruise control, I turned the lane-keeping feature off because it was starting to annoy me, and I drove the car without all of the fancy driver assists (which I jokingly called “driving manually”) all the way down to South Carolina. Yeah, the assists are nice, but it’s not like I can’t drive without them. I could handle this. Plus I knew I wouldn’t have these features going back, since transit buses aren’t equipped with such niceties – especially not one from 1996. In other words, whatever. Plus after the trip down, I was doing all local driving and wouldn’t need the assist features. So if I could just stick it out for the 545 miles from Gaithersburg to Charleston, then all would be well. The car also had an interesting feature stemming from the built-in navigation: it would announce the state name every time you crossed a border. It made a *bong* sound, and then said “Welcome to [state name],” in a somewhat mechanical tone, doing this for Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. This was separate from Google Maps’ usual state line announcements on Androd Auto, which was also running.
The first leg of the trip, from Gaithersburg to Petersburg, took me on I-270 to the Beltway to I-95. Everything went well enough for the most part, but once I was on 95, I hit some major traffic slowdowns on two occasions: once around Woodbridge and again just south of Fredericksburg. I couldn’t tell you what the issue was around Woodbridge, but the Fredericksburg slowdown was because of a car fire on the right shoulder. Fortunately, Elyse kept me company on the phone during this time, so it wasn’t too bad overall.
While I was stopped in these slowdowns, I took photos of some of the other vehicles that I saw.
This guy had a vanity plate reading, “1AMYHWH”. I couldn’t help but think that someone had a very high opinion of themselves. As I understand it, “Yahweh” is the proper name of the Hebrew god, and that is typically shortened to “YHWH“.
While I was sitting in traffic, I was chatting on the phone with Elyse. She wanted to see this vehicle after I described it, so I obliged.
And for a while, I was stuck behind this car from Florida, which was carrying two ladies sitting in the front seats smoking cigarettes. And unfortunately, their smoke was getting pulled right into my car’s vents.
Seeing this license plate with “RATMAN-1” on it, I couldn’t help but wonder if this guy worked as an exterminator or something like that.
These slowdowns, combined with the later start than I would have otherwise preferred, told me one thing: this southbound trip was not something to fool around on. I had to push if I wanted to make it down there at any semblance of a reasonable hour and still make my planned stops further down the line.
The first planned stop, in Petersburg, was just a pit stop. This was at a Sheetz that I had known about from my first Charleston trip the year before, and it was a reasonable place to gas up, go to the bathroom, and eat. The choice of Petersburg was deliberate, because that got Richmond out of the way fairly quickly, before rush hour hit its peak. I got some food, I filled up the rental, and then I was off again.
The next leg, about 250 miles from Petersburg to Florence, was the one where I was doing all of the heavy lifting when it came to driving. That would take me through the rest of Virginia, through the entirety of North Carolina, and then a little ways into South Carolina.
I had originally planned to do a stop along the way in Rocky Mount in order to complete some clean-up work from the 2021 trip, but due to my late start and subsequent delays, I ran out of sunlight before I could complete that. For that aborted side mission, I had planned to visit Golden East Crossing, i.e. the indoor shopping mall that we had visited previously, and fly my drone around it. Back in 2021, I had attempted to fly my DJI Mavic Mini around the mall, but the Mini threw a propeller blade in midair and came tumbling back to earth, bringing a premature end to my flying for that day. I still wanted my aerials of the mall, but if I couldn’t get it this time because of lighting considerations, it wasn’t a big deal. The way that I figured, the mall wasn’t going anywhere, and it’s not entirely unreasonable to bundle it in with some other things in North Carolina and make a weekend out of it in the future.
All through this second leg, I had Aaron Stone on the phone with me. I was glad to have him, as it made the time go by quickly as I made my way through those 250-some miles. This time, I wasn’t making a stop in Fayetteville, so I just plowed on through. The big construction project on I-95 in the southern part of North Carolina included some complete stoppages this time, and I got caught up in one of those. When that happens, the police stop traffic, the work crews do whatever they need to do that involves stopping traffic in the span of about 20 minutes, and then after that, they release traffic and everything moves again. I didn’t realize that it was a complete stoppage at the time, but there’s one thing different between this and a regular traffic jam. Normally, when there’s a traffic jam, something is getting by. But for this one, since it was a planned stoppage, we just sat until they finished, and then we were going full speed again almost instantly.
Because of that additional delay, I ended up making a quick pit stop at a nearby rest area, and then hit the road again to do the rest of North Carolina. So much for doing all of North Carolina in one shot. But fortunately, that stoppage was the last traffic delay that I would encounter.
Eventually, I got to the end of North Carolina, passed South of the Border, and then I was in South Carolina. Not long after I got into South Carolina, I reached the Buc-ee’s in Florence. I love coming up on that particular location at night on southbound 95, because the big, round, yellow Buc-ee’s sign just sort of rises up out of the landscape like a giant beaver-imprinted moon as you approach. Seriously, it’s quite a sight, especially knowing that brisket, clean restrooms, and a whole lot of beaver-themed stuff are near. When I got to Buc-ee’s, Aaron and I parted company on the phone, and I did my Buc-ee’s thing.
The 4Runner is parked in the back of the lot at Buc-ee’s, where I took a few minutes to clean the windshield of all of the bug splats that I had accumulated. Buc-ee’s doesn’t have squeegees at the pumps like most gas stations do, instead having them in a central location in the back of the parking lot. The squeegees have long handles for use on RV and bus windshields. For this task, the long handle wasn’t necessary, but it’s fun to use a long-handled squeegee all the same.
Gassing up. Note the Darcars badging on the back of the car. Considing that Darcars is a large dealership group mostly local to the DC region, I suspect that this was the 4Runner’s first real road trip outside of the area. And considering that I would be returning it to Charleston, I suspect that this trip would take it out of the Washington region for good.
Gas here was super cheap compared to what it was at home, where it was closer to $3.00 per gallon.
Woomy, meanwhile, was none too pleased about my making this stop at Buc-ee’s.
Once I finished outside, I parked on the side of the building and went in to use the restroom.
A slice of one of those famously clean restrooms at Buc-ee’s.
Funny thing – only after I finished photographing the toilet and then used the restroom did I realize that I had taken all of my photos with the seat up. Then I also realized that I couldn’t do another round of photos with the seat down because the toilet was no longer perfectly pristine. But it was okay – there would be other Buc-ee’s visits in the future.
Meanwhile, I was reminded once again that Elyse is not very patient when she’s waiting for something. She wanted me to get some stuff for her from Buc-ee’s, and since we weren’t planning to go this way on the way back, this was the opportunity, so I was going to do a video call. Elyse jumped the gun several times, calling me while I was cleaning the windshield, fueling up, and when I was about to go to the bathroom. Nothing like getting a call right before going into the bathroom and having to explain to Elyse, “I am about to go to the guano room.” (“Guano room” is a term that we came up with for restrooms, and we’ve been using it with each other for years. I imagine that most couples have a language all their own, too.)
Once I finished in the restroom, it was time for that video call. Elyse pulled me all over that store by remote. Go over here and look at this. Oooooh, what’s that? Get me one of those. I think that I crossed the store at least three or four times as I got various food, clothing, and other items for Elyse, not including whatever I wanted to get for myself.
This is Elyse’s haul from Buc-ee’s, done entirely by remote. Clearly, someone knows how to do a Buc-ee’s run, even when they’re not physically present.
While I was on the phone with Elyse, an employee named Zion said hello to me, because he remembered me from a previous visit to Buc-ee’s the month before. You don’t know how impressed I was about that. I mean, think about it: I’m more than 400 miles from home, and that location, being right off of I-95, sees thousands of people coming through it every day. And he remembered me out of all of those people. That’s really awesome, because with the volume of travel traffic that Buc-ee’s did, I didn’t think that the staff would remember anyone like that. Clearly, I made an impression.
After we got all of Elyse’s stuff, I managed to get myself off of the phone (because otherwise I would have been sent around the store a few more times), I went and got my own food and my own beaver-themed stuff. I got myself a brisket sandwich for now, another brisket sandwich for later, some protein bars, and of course some Beaver Nuggets for myself. Then I got a few clothing items as well. Elyse and I have remarked in the past that we never get out of Buc-ee’s for less than $200, and this visit was no exception.
Finishing up at Buc-ee’s, I got back in the car and did the last two hours to Charleston nonstop, listening to some content on YouTube from your friend Mike Brady of Oceanliner Designs as I drove. It’s funny: every southbound trip on I-95 through South Carolina has been in the dark. This was my fourth time going to South Carolina, and it fit the mold just like the other three.
Arriving in the Charleston area around 1:00 AM, I quickly found my hotel. This time, I was staying at the Tru by Hilton in North Charleston, where I had a room with a king-sized bed. The strategy here was that the Tru location was relatively inexpensive, and was relatively convenient to the airport, where I would have to pick up Elyse on Sunday, as well as our friend Tristan the following day, and eventually return the rental car there as well. It was also relatively close to General Diesel, where the bus was located. I have enjoyed my stays at Tru hotels in the past, so I had good feelings about this place. Tru is aimed at a younger crowd than my usual go-to, Hampton Inn, and has a somewhat more hipster vibe to it, having smaller rooms and very limited use of carpeting, using wood-look tile instead. In explaining the choice of hotel to Elyse, I said that the Hampton Inn on Citadel Haven, where we stayed on our first two visits and really liked, was too expensive this time around and somewhat distant from what we were doing, and then I had not been pleased with the Hampton Inn where we had stayed with Kyle in North Charleston the month before, as I felt that the facility was in somewhat poor repair – especially the guest rooms. I felt that the hotel staff there absolutely meant well, but maintenance was clearly not a priority, and they were probably overdue for a remodel.
At the Tru, I checked in online, got physical keys from the front desk, and then brought all of my stuff in. One thing to be said about Tru hotels is that in every single one that I’ve stayed at, the integration with the Hilton app was flawless, and I could use my phone as my room key with confidence. Hampton Inn is kind of hit-and-miss, where online check-in usually works, but the room key often doesn’t work, or, if it does, it will quit working before the end of my stay. I’ve never had that problem with Tru properties.
Once I got upstairs and got everything unloaded, Elyse wanted photos of the various critters in the room. So I sent a photo of Woomy and David on the bed, and then I placed our recently-acquired friends from Buc-ee’s on the bed for their own photo.
Woomy and David sit on the bed.
While I got settled, Woomy watched something on the TV. Unfortunately, he didn’t like what was on, but then again, there’s no pleasing him.
Our newfound friends from Buc-ee’s.
And that was the first day. Welcome to Charleston. Now I was in position for two days of photography before picking up the bus.