The Maiden Voyage

We had been talking about buying a 5th wheel trailer and going on some long trips around the US.  Every March for our anniversary have gone a trip.  We have really loved going to a different state and doing family history work while seeing some of the sights along the way.

Well, I ended up wrecking our car which forced us into buying a new vehicle.  We got a BIG Ford F350 with lots of bells and whistles.  Then we shopped around for a trailer.  In March we left for a lengthy trip to the South East US.

Once we loaded everything up we headed south to St George then to Tucson to see the Grand kids again.  Then we went west to New Mexico, Texas, and then to Oklahoma where we spend a few days with Peggy's cousin and family in Sallisaw.

Then we headed East again through Arkansas, Memphis, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.  We spent about a week in the South Carolina area, mainly in Edgefield SC where my Grandma Harmer's Father was born.  His ancestors moved to SC from Virginia in the Mid 1700s.

 Classic Old southern home in Edgefield

Edgefield is the home of the National Turkey Foundation

 So they have Turkeys on almost every street corner.

 We spent a full 2 days at the Edgefield history center researching our ancestors.  We got a ton of information!  We spent one afternoon driving around to the local graveyards and found my GGGGGrandfather!

 Yes there was even a Delaugher Drive where many of the my ancestors settled.

We were looking for this small family graveyard and found with the help of a very friendly neighbor, who gave us a guided tour and introduced us to the family that currently owns the property.

 He even showed us where the originally house stood.  The rock pile to the right of the tree is the remain of their chimney.

We next visited Historical Societies in  Kershaw Co. & Fairfield.Co.  Folks were very helpful, but we only found a few tidbits of info. The following day we drove down to Charleston SC where I got the oil changed in the next truck - (very expensive).

Friday morning I drove into Downtown Charleston and took a pics.  Great town.  I wish we could have stayed a couple more days here, but the all of the campgrounds were booked solid for a big weekend.

 Great fountains 

And a cannon, actually a mortar that was used in the Civil war, Possibly to attack Ft Sumter