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Writer's pictureSandra

A fairytale forest (Congaree Park)

From the beautiful Lake Wateree, our next destination was another national park 60 miles away, so basically around the corner. I would really recommend Congaree National Park (Visit the Home of Thousands of Species) in South Carolina to anyone who is in the area. There are many trails through the forest, including the so-called "boardwalk". This trail corresponds to a law that came into force in 1990 and prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, it is called ADA (Americans with disabilities act) and means that the trail is barrier-free. The trail consists of a footbridge leading through the forest, 2.4 miles long.

But I wouldn't be me if I wasn't also on the wrong track and that's why I wanted to try a "normal trail" (trail). What can I say? It was definitely worth exploring part of the Sims Trail.



Thanks to "Genny" (Segway) it went surprisingly well, even if I had to use momentum to get over tree roots. Even a fallen tree didn't stop me on the way, we just looked for a way through the undergrowth to avoid the tree. But it was a mini bridge that led over a ditch that killed me, because the landing to get to the bridge had apparently been washed out quite a bit and jumping up with the Segway unfortunately remained a wishful thinking. I tried to drive through the ditch, but this project was quite adventurous. I got into the ditch without any problems, but getting up the other side was impossible. Pushing from behind, I got stuck on the floor with my footboard... so we decided to turn back. Also on the side where I drove into the ditch, it took a few (diagonal) attempts to get out at all. With a little courage paired with drive and support from Seb', the project succeeded. In the meantime, however, the battery status of my Segway was pretty much in the basement and we hoped that the battery capacity would last even back. In any case, there was a bit of a thrill – to my liking. Back on the boardwalk, my Segway felt easier and I made it to the end of the trail with no problems. In total we were on the road for about 6 miles for 3 hours. As I write this, I notice how little I mention Lennox, it's not because he wasn't there, but because he went through it all so calmly and serenely that you almost don't notice him. Although others noticed him very well, because after all I was allowed to listen to what felt like 20 times a day how pretty, great and incredibly “cute” he is. How true!


After the "hike" through the Congaree Park I was really enchanted and dreamy...

After that I somehow didn't have the energy to look for a parking space for the night. Since we had planned to visit the city of Charleston (South Carolina) the next day, it should be a place close by. We found a campground called the Charleston KOA (chain of campgrounds). I couldn't find any prices on the site, so I was quite surprised when Seb' came back from checking in and told me it was $69 for 1 night. Especially since the place was neither particularly large nor particularly beautiful. It was close to the city, and electricity and WiFi were included – at least.

The next morning we took the bus (of course our Skoolie) to the city of Charleston and wanted to have a leisurely breakfast there. However, that turned out to be more difficult than expected, we found very few cafes overcrowded or with steps in front. I was traveling with the Segway, so longer distances are not a problem, but unfortunately higher levels are. Seb' can't help me up there as easily as with my manual wheelchair. So we had to search for quite a while and couldn't quite appreciate the small historic town. Since it was mainly a shopping mile (European style), it wasn't that bad anyway. But after we were able to successfully satisfy our hunger, we were open to explore the area again and so we went to the Charleston City Market - one of the nation's oldest public markets and the cultural heart of Charleston. Lots of stands with knick-knacks and such - that was nice, even though I didn't actually buy anything... not even this beautiful steampunk hat.


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