friends

Aug. 28, 2022

There was a road behind the campsite and it looked promising, so we ventured up it, no idea there was a fire tower

It was nice to see Pongo with Flight of the Crowswing’s Tacoma again

and James and Elizabeth, the best adventuring couple in the world.

We stopped an owl, but he fly away

Settling on a branch too far away for good photos

While at the fire tower, we had cell service and I learned my mom had passed the night before.

My mom is the one that really got me started in camping and encouraged it. This is her in blue suit with her mom and sister (I’m in lower left corner) camping a Foley Beach State Park. I remember the family taking an RV on the beach at Apalachicola, sometimes 10 feet at a time as we moved boards from the back to the front. Through scouting and backpacking trips, she was always supportive… Rest in Peace!

March 6, 2022

When we took out yesterday, a fisherman asked if we were scared in kayaks with all the alligators… we of course said no and decided we needed to find them. We switched sides of Lake Marion and put in at the Sparkleberry Swamp Landing in the Santee National Wildlife Refugee. With a name like Sparkleberry Swamp it must have alligators.

And I spotted one, normally James and Elizabeth see everything first, but not today.

We argued about it’s size (the men thought it was bigger, like always?) but look at the tail, and that isn’t the end, it’s eyes are in the small water opening on the left side of frame. I still say it was over 12 feet.

The swamp doesn’t open up that way Beth let us know.

After an evening around a fire and Long Island Ice Teas, James and Beth decided the Flippac needed their Aurora Borealis Light. It works great in the tent, but too bright to sleep under.