The first day of the rest of our lives

 Pre-departure

 Well, it had its ups and downs. Ups: We made it to Charleston with great weather and a pretty smooth ride traffic-wise. We saw the South of the Border theme park which is best described as a Mexican Six Flags. 

South of the Border!

Now for the downs…We traded the ‘ABS’ warning light for the ‘check engine light’ (the manual says it is just a sensor thing and if we were in REAL trouble the light would be blinking, so we’re fine). To alleviate the burden on the poor van, we decided to jettison the roof top carrier at a Love’s travel station a mere 6 hours into the trip. Best move we’ve made thus far, greatly increasing our MPGs and killing way less bugs. It was insect carnage on the front of that box. After getting back in the car, we realized we let in a family of flies. Finally catching the last of them, we tried to humanely release it out the passenger side window. This led to a new discovery: the passenger side window no longer operates as it did earlier in the trip. Thank heavens it didn’t get stuck down. 

Charleston is a beautiful city. Ike led us on a grand tour around the College of Charleston, Rainbow Row, the pier, etc. We’ll be hittin’ the beach tomorrow and hopefully not getting too burned. It’s been a great first day!

 Cougar Mall at the college

Rainbow Row

 The Pier