A day trip to Columbia and the first family gathering since my mom’s funeral. After dinner we went on a hike on trails behind Wendy and Wayne’s house.
Still had lots of color
The turn around point is a chicken coop
friendly boy
The coop even has a chandelier
Family
Driving around looking for power crews doing their thing, I saw this red shouldered hawk hunting from what must be a target rich field. (Thanks Clay for ID)
Huge crop!
Nice snake on my mountain bike ride.
Just a butterfly
Lynn and I found this Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar while hiking
This butterfly worked hard to pollinate the old shocks
Deer eat grass in the water in front of our campsite
The grand kids like the Flippac
As my mom prepares, she asked her vet for a box they use for pets, so she can use it after she is cremated. Funny story, while at the funeral home, she kept saying, she wants to be cremated in a cardboard box, the elderly woman helping her kept cringing while correcting my mom, calling it an alternative cremation vessel (or something like that)
My brother took the boat across Lake Murray to join us for dinner so a sunset cruise was called for.
Just because it’s a lizard
I searched for dirt roads
It reminded me of the Ukrainian flag.
Today’s trail buddy. As I started my ride he was on the first bridge, but I was warming up trying to get a rhythm going so I didn’t stop. 1.5 hours later I came back and he is still there. He was happy sunning himself on the wood and even struck out at me when I tried to get a better picture. Still glad he stayed around so I could get a POD
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.
Photo a Day by Jay Capers 