Centralia, Pennsylvania

Centralia is, or rather was, a small mining town in the east of Pennsylvania.  The town was constructed on top of the coal mine that many of the inhabitants worked in.  These days, it doesn't have many mine workers, or shops, or restaurants, or houses, or even a postal code.  Here's why.

In 1962, a fire started in the underground mine.  There are a few theories on how it started but most agree that the source of the blaze was the town landfill which was set alight, possibly deliberately, in an effort to clear the area of the rubbish that had accumulated.

Turns out that setting fire to a year's worth of rubbish isn't a great idea when you have enough coal beneath you to invite the population of a small country to a barbecue for the next couple of centuries.  The fire made its way into the mine and it was impossible to ever extinguish it properly.  It still burns today and probably will for many years to come.

In 1979, a local petrol station owner tested the fuel level in one of his underground tanks and found that the dipstick was hot.  He then checked the temperature and found that it was about 78 degrees C.  In 1981, a sinkhole spontaneously opened underneath a local boy's feet, pulling him underground and engulfing him in toxic fumes.

The town was eventually condemned and the inhabitants evicted / evacuated.  Some people refused to leave and the town now has a population of around 10 people.

A lot of this should sound familiar to anyone who's seen the movie version of Silent Hill, as this town was its inspiration.

Here's a before and after shot showing how the town changed between 1983 and 2001:

We parked up at the end of what used to be the main highway.  This has since been re-routed, but you can still access the old road on foot and see the damage that's been done by the raging fire below the surface.

You can feel the warmth of the ground beneath your feet because of the heat below, and the air has an acrid taste thanks to the toxic fumes being emitted from the deep cracks in the ground.  There's definitely something in the air, judging by the tone of this sign:

Plumes of smoke actually rise from the crevices in the landscape.  The fire has moved over the last few years so these aren't so visible now, but here's an example from a few years back:

This is our view of what we believe used to be one of the main streets:

We walked up towards the fire's ground zero, the old landfill site:

Everyone knows you have to read between the lines with signs like those.  What I saw was: "Here's the interesting bit, come closer!  Bring your camera and something to fight off any mutated abominations of nature".

I suppose it was a mild disappointment to simply find a clearing with several of these pipes protruding from the ground:

On the right kind of day, smoke can be seen billowing from those pipes just like the various cracks in the roads.

As it stands today, Centralia doesn't quite have the eerie ghost-town atmosphere I was expecting, and has a disappointing lack of mutant citizens.  Interesting to have been there though nonetheless.

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Atlantic City, New Jersey

I've heard Atlantic City described as "The Vegas of the East".  Quite an ambitious claim really considering sin city's reputation.  I've been once when I was young, but I think my vices at the time included a mild addiction to Mario Kart on the SNES and the occasional Wham bar, so I'm pretty sure I didn't venture into any casinos or experience the nightlife.

It seemed like a good place to spend my birthday on the 4th so we continued our path up the east coast and wisely booked in at a campsite just outside the city to avoid having to drive through the city centre.

We started getting ready to show Atlantic City how it's done.  I was outside shaving my head like the true pikey I have become, when I heard Sharon shouting from inside.  I ran in just as the shrieks reached a pitch that only dogs could hear, and saw that Sharon had unwittingly picked up a hitch-hiker:

A tick, happily munching away on her lower leg.

I immediately did my best to put her at ease with helpful comments such as "Jesus Christ, look at the size of it!".  I also remembered that you have to be careful with ticks as they carry Lyme disease, and simply yanking them out can mean that their head gets left in your skin and increases the chance of infection.  I know of two methods of removing them; one is to suffocate them by covering them with olive oil so they come out for air; the other is to hold a flame near them so the heat is too much and they give up and drop off.

I chose method two and held a lighter next to the critter.  It squirmed a bit, but then I think it just went into shock, clamped down even harder and simply died.  This thing loves its food even more than me!

My rescue attempt wasn't going too well, and pointing out how "ticked off" she looked didn't seem to help.  With hindsight I also probably could have waited until it was out before commenting that it was another travel experience to "tick" off the list.

Anyway, I ended up having to just pull it out with some tweezers after all.  Crisis averted, blood-sucking parasite removed from girlfriend's leg, happy birthday to me!  And despite the trauma, Sharon still managed to look amazing as we left the RV for the night.  On to the city!

People settled in the Atlantic City area as early as 1785 and around 1850 it was officially named.  Over the years its tourism industry grew, hotels sprang up everywhere, and it became a thriving seaport.  In 1870, its now famous boardwalk was constructed as a way of keeping the sand out of the hotel lobbies and train cars.

The boardwalk became one of the main attractions in the city's hey day in the 30s.  It's still really the main focal point of the city today, standing 6 miles long and 60ft wide.  We couldn't see any evidence of the recent destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy; they would have repaired this immediately, being one of the main tourist draws:

There are relatively few casinos in the city, the dominant force undoubtedly being Caesar's.  This place spans about 120,000 feet and at least 6 blocks of the city.  It basically incorporates bars, restaurants, shops and obviously the casino itself, so you're not short on ways to dispose of your hard-earned cash.

We devoured some excellent steaks at the Atlantic Grill restaurant at the top of Caesar's, at the best table in the house, blagged by Sharon as she told them it was my birthday:

When the food coma subsided, we went downstairs to find the bar.  Drinks were surprisingly cheap so we stuck around for a while.  Everyone always tells me we should sit on the video poker or fruit machines and get free drinks, which we tried to do for a while, but there was literally 1 barmaid serving the whole of that floor of the casino and there's only so long I can bear to sit at a Sex And The City fruit machine.

I'm not great at casinos really, as I don't like to lose and don't see the point in random games of chance like roulette and the "one-arm bandit" type machines.  I like games with more skill like poker but, not being particularly well-practised at it, I didn't fancy blowing our savings on the poker table.  I also like Blackjack, but you have to be in it for the long haul really to make decent money from the small advantage that card counting gives you.  Also, most casinos consider it cheating, because they lose their advantage.  I think I'll save any gambling antics till Vegas later in the trip.

So that's really it on Atlantic City.  I'd describe it more as a little cousin of Vegas really and to sum up, attractions include:

1.  Food

2. Drink

3. Casinos

4.  The boardwalk / seaside

The order of those priorities might change depending on how much of a degenerate gambler you are!

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Time Flies...

I know we've been a bit quiet the last few weeks and I'll try and bring everything up to date over the next couple of days.  In the mean time, here are some quick stats about the trip so far, for the numbers fans:

• Miles travelled:  2700
• Max MPG: 14.2!
• Average MPG: 8!!
• Tyre replacements: 2
• Minor repairs to the RV: 10-15
• Major repairs: 1
• Number of people who think we're Australian: 3
• Guns fired: 0 (so far)
• Bears sighted: 0 (unfortunately)
• Hours wasted on the phone trying to persuade our thieving UK banks to let us access our own money from abroad: 5 
• Parasites removed from our bodies: 2
• Burgers consumed: Unmeasurable on any man-made scale

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Holden Beach, North Carolina

We stopped at Holden Beach out of convenience as we'd done about as much driving as we wanted to that day.  It turned out to be one of the most stunning and relaxing places we've visited.

It's a small town and, living up to its name, is based right on the coast.  In fact, this was our view from the RV while we were there:

We started admiring the view as soon as we drove over the tall bridge that led onto the peninsula:

The main road that leads off the bridge and along the seafront is surrounded by rows of distinctive houses on stilts; clearly they anticipate regular flooding.

These houses come in all shapes and sizes, starting at roughly twice the size of the average 3-bed detached in the UK.  I guess they are mostly used as holiday homes.

We tortured ourselves for a while looking at the real estate website for that area.  I don't know what was worse, seeing that some of the properties were selling for $4 million and therefore likely to be out of our reach for a good while (at least until I win the Nobel prize, release a number 1 record and all the other things I've been lazily putting off for a while now), or that some of them weren't that much more than what we paid for our current home in Milton Keynes, UK.  I enjoy a roundabout and the occasional concrete cow as much as the next man, but views like this on your doorstep kind of make you question your judgement:

To console myself I got the BBQ out and starting cooking dinner.  Now anyone who knows me will understand how happy I was at this point:  beer in one hand, BBQ tongs in the other, slabs of meat ready to throw on there when it warmed up.  All that plus the sound of the sea in the background.

Unfortunately the bliss didn't last.  I tripped over one of the legs of the BBQ stand, sending a sausage flying into the sand and instantly summoning a flock of about 100 seagulls.  I picked up the food but as they started dive-bombing me like hungry kamikaze pilots, it became obvious that they'd never heard of the 2 second rule.

I defended myself with the pole we use to put up the awning, some of my most colourful language and a particularly vicious hornet spray that someone donated to us on our travels.  They eventually moved on, but not before spraying my shoulder with their own form of biological warfare.  I looked around afterwards and there was no evidence of any other "bombs" having been dropped, so I suppose you have to give them some credit for the accuracy of their aim.

Sharon didn't manage to take any photos of this, which I assumed was because she spent the whole time in fits of hysterics, trying not to rupture her spleen or something through laughter.  Afterwards though she said it was because I just looked too angry!

With the seagulls gone and the sandy sausage disposed of, I soon chilled out again and we eventually fell asleep to the sound of the waves lapping the beach in the background.  

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The Matrix: RV-lutions

When we started planning this trip,  part of me thought "Get out there and leave it all behind for a while, it will do you good!".  Then the little voice on my other shoulder said "A year without the Internet ?  LOL".

I proceeded to spend the next week of my life figuring out how to make sure we could stay connected as much as possible while we're out here.

To be fair, we needed constant web access when we were looking for RVs, and now we need to be able to scope out our next destination each day, as well as Skype and of course updating this blog.

Well, enough self-justification.  To cut a long story short, I ended up buying various antennas, signal boosters, routers, dongles and cables.  The net result is that any time we're within about half a mile of the nearest free wifi, we can get online that way.  If none are available, we automatically switch to Verizon's LTE network, then normal 3G.  If none of the above are possible then I guess you won't be hearing from us for a few days!

So far this is keeping our iPhones, iPad, laptop, Kindle, etc online nicely.

So basically now our roof has a few more holes in it and looks like this:

I can't get a picture of the cupboard with all the cabling etc at the moment but can confirm that I've employed my usual high standards where cabling etiquette is concerned.  From memory the cabinet looks something like this:

OK, for anyone who's made it this far, here's the kit-list:

Maximum Signal Super Trucker Antenna

Cyfre CA-819 2G/3G amplifier

Cellphone-Mate CM700V-32 LTE amplifier

2 x Cellphone-Mate wideband diplexer

WifiRanger Mobile antenna

WifiRanger Go router

Verizon/Millenicom 4620 MiFi device (on Millenicom's Hotspot data plan)

I could do a Visio diagram or something but after 7 or 8 years of doing technical design in my job, I think I've earned a break!  If anyone wants more detail, feel free to get in touch.  You might also want to check out the following sites, which do a great and more detailed rundown of a lot of this gear:

http://www.technomadia.com/2012/12/mobile-internet-for-rvers/

http://www.jackdanmayer.com/communication.htm

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Charleston, South Carolina

After leaving Savannah we followed the coast up to Charleston in South Carolina.

There are quite a few parallels with Savannah here:  Charleston was the first settlement in its region, the Carolinas; it has a historic district lined with the same live oaks draped with Spanish moss; and features similar architecture.

Our feet were still pretty ruined from the long walk the day before so we weren't really up for doing much exploring.  We decided to prioritise and, surprise surprise, food won.

We walked down the market street and the first thing that caught my eye was a shop called "Pepper Palace".  The shelves in this place were basically lined with jars of every imaginable type of sauce, salsa, wing sauce, marinade and seasoning, all home made.  They put tortilla chips out with sample bottles of everything so you could try them.  All the samples were labelled 1-10 to tell you how hot they were, 10 being the hottest.

I could have spent hours in this place.  I asked the guy behind the counter how much he wanted for the whole store, but he just laughed.  I don't think he realised I was serious.

Unfortunately I did my usual trick of going too far and had a big scoop of the only salsa in the shop that was rated 10+, hotter than the ghost chilli one which was 10.  It was fine for the first minute or so, then over the next five minutes the pain built and then peaked for a further ten minutes.  At one point, the cold drink I hastily bought when I felt the onset of the pain stopped having any healing effect and apparently my brain just gave up and forced my mouth to go completely numb.

Sharon just shook her head and gave me a look that said "every time!" as I tried to articulate the agony with my massively swollen tongue.

Here I am shortly afterwards trying to pretend my skull isn't melting from the inside:

When I could feel my face again, we walked on and settled down to lunch at an amazing seafood restaurant called the Noisy Oyster.  While we were there, the local fire department paraded all of their vehicles through the streets, I think in honour of their Fire Chief who had recently passed away.

After a typically satisfying late lunch, we waddled down to the harbourside for a while before heading back to the RV and getting on the road:

If you look closely in that picture, you might be able to see the dorsal fin of a dolphin to the left of the pier.  Apparently dolphins are a common sight there and we saw a few more before we left.

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Savannah, Georgia

One of our first stops as we headed out of Florida and up the coast, historic Savannah is Georgia's first city.

We parked up in the visitors' centre, where we would stay the night.  There's free public transport in the form of classic buses like this one:

We weren't in a hurry so we opted to walk.

Although its grid-based road system is familiar to anyone who's visited an American city (or Milton Keynes!), Savannah's historic district is in stark contrast to the modern US towns.  Huge live oaks, cobblestone streets and light, pastel-coloured buildings are noticeable throughout and there are about 20 public squares, each with their own distinctive character.

A wedding was taking place in one of the squares as we walked by.  I managed to really show off my romantic soul once again by suggesting that they probably held the ceremony there so they could do it on the cheap.

Pubs and restaurants converted from old brick warehouses and shipping offices line the harbourside, which was fortunate as it was definitely beer o'clock by the time we got there!

Suitably recharged, we made our way to the other end of town, to Forsyth Park, 31 acres of parkland, the centrepiece of which is this elaborate fountain:

Despite being a historic landmark, Savannah is still a "living", active city where many live and work.  I think it retains a modern, cosmopolitan vibe partly thanks to its student population.  The Savannah College of Art and Design has several buildings spread across the city and randomly, the day we visited was the day of their annual festival in Forsyth Park.

In one section of the park, they had numbered each paving slab on a long stretch of the pathway, and people had chosen a number and created their own design on their slab, resulting in a huge mural of creations along the whole pavement:

They later picked winners based on several categories, but we don't know what they won.

The chalk pathways led down to a massive green where they had set up a stage and a DJ was playing to a growing crowd.  As a fellow DJ, I did the customary thing of passing judgement on his mixing for a while, before sitting down on the grass and enjoying the sun and tunes:

We stayed there a good couple of hours before heading back to the RV with blisters on our feet from all the walking.

The next day we headed over to nearby Tybee Island.  After the usual drama of driving our bus down several roads we probably shouldn't have, we cruised into a car park near the beach, proudly occupied 4 parking spaces, and wandered onto the sand.

We soaked up the sun as long as we could before moving on:

I should stop carrying that New York Yankees cap around with me as when I wear it, it makes me look like I know something about baseball and seems to prompt conversations like this one:

"Hey look, we've found the only Yankee team member who's not injured!"

"Haha yeah mate, tell me about it!"  *nervous laughter*

Anyway, all in all an awesome couple of days in and around Savannah and Sharon has now said several times that she wants to live there (relax Mum, no plans are being made!).

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Electric Dreams

When you're camping out in the wild away from civilisation, there are only really a few things you need to worry about, apart from having enough petrol to get around and not getting shot by rednecks who want to wear your skin.

Water

Our RV - any RV, in fact - has 3 water tanks:  Fresh water, grey water and black water.  Fresh water is obviously what comes out of the taps and shower. Grey water is basically anything that goes down the plug hole (washing up, water used in the shower, etc).  Use your imagination to figure out what the black water one is for!

If your fresh tank gets too low, you can fill up from the mains / city water taps at campsites, truck stops, etc.  if your grey/black tanks get too full, you need to find a "dump" station (too easy, make up your own jokes on that one!).

Propane

Our cooker, heating and fridge freezer all run off propane (the fridge runs off electric when we're plugged in somewhere), so this needs to be kept topped up.  A tank lasts quite a while though so we haven't had to do this yet.

Electricity

It's fair to say that I got slightly obsessed with this, because I know how much electricity we use at home each month.  It's mainly the result of me working from home a lot.  Or more specifically, sitting there every day surrounded by computers and monitors, with quality daytime programming like "Murder, She Wrote" and "Homes Under The Hammer" on TV in the background.

In our RV we're basically running off two 12V batteries, which deplete pretty fast when you have enough mobile devices with you to rival the average Apple store and you need to keep them charged up.  Plus the occasional bit of TV use.

Your batteries do charge off the engine when you're driving and when you plug in at a campsite to use mains power.  You  can also use your on-board generator, but that creates noise and drinks fuel.  With our average MPG so far being around 8.5 I was keen to avoid this, and we didn't want to be dependent on campsites all the time.

The other option is to use solar power to get a charge into your batteries.  So we decided to try and get some panels installed.  I did some research online and found a company in Florida that a lot of people recommended, Palmer Energy Systems.

After we bought the RV this was our first stop.  They're based near Mayo to the north of where we were at the time so that worked for us.  I was expecting some kind of industrial unit on the outskirts of town, so was pleasantly surprised when we eventually found the place and the scenery looked like this:

 

We soon got talking to John Palmer, the owner, who filled us in on the setup and took us for a tour.  Essentially John works as a caretaker of this huge expanse of land, and has done an immense amount of work carving out pathways and clearings in the overgrown jungle.

He also happens to be an expert in engineering and electrical systems, so he runs Palmer Energy Systems from here too.

He and his son Pat live there full time in their own RVs, alongside various other vehicles and trailers, which contain his stock and most of which he built himself from scratch.  Like this beast:

I think he took the engine from something else, modified it and then built everything else around it, every bracket and rivet.  He showed me the progress photos they took during the build.  It took him about 6 months all in all, alongside all his other work commitments.

If I attempted this, it would probably take me years and I'd have a few less fingers at the end.  Also, when I do DIY, I often find that even the worst words in the English language don't adequately characterise the level of rage I'm feeling when things don't go to plan.  I can usually invent at least 3 new swear words just by attempting to install a new curtain rail.

I told John my big ideas for the solar installation and he invited us to stay a couple of days and figure out what we actually needed.  We were happy to take him up on the offer considering how stunning the surroundings were.

We were also glad to find someone so welcoming and non-pushy.  John was easy to talk to on a technical and non-technical level and was committed to giving us the right solution rather than just selling us the most expensive thing he had.

In the end, we decided that we'd be moving around enough that spending extra money on solar would be overkill.  We opted instead to replace our coach batteries and install a new inverter/charger which would allow us to plug our devices into the normal 110V sockets in the RV, and do a much better job of managing the battery charge than the old, manufacturer-installed charger.

If we were planning on keeping the RV longer, we probably would have splashed out on the solar stuff, but it wasn't really cost-effective for our purposes.  The batteries are normally full by the time we've driven to our next destination.  If we stay a while and get low, we can use the generator for an hour at most to recharge.

We ended up staying for a week before moving on again. One night we walked through the forest along the river and the trees were constantly illuminated by thousands of fire flies, which was very cool.

We also got stalked by the local wildlife.  Here's a slightly Blair Witch-esque video of when Sharon heard an alligator prowling towards us through the undergrowth (the video might not work on iPhones / iPads):

Obviously I was ready to jump on it and wrestle it into submission as soon as we caught sight of it.  Unfortunately it just turned out to be some kind of small armadillo hunting for bugs, so no alligator steaks for dinner that night.

It turned out I was able to help John with a few things as well, like updating his catalogue and prices on his website, so at least I gave something back too.  Once an IT consultant, always an IT consultant!

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