Traveling With Friends

I know I haven't posted in 10 days but it has been a full and busy 10 days.  I thought I would take the time this morning before going in to work to catch you up on my activities lately.  It has been really busy at the campground but is gradually slowing down for the season..  We have had time to go through each of the cabins and do a thorough cleaning before new check-ins arrive.  This means getting into corners with a toothbrush, moving beds out and wiping down wood paneling with Murphy oil soap, cleaning lamps and ceiling fixtures, and well, you get the idea.  I have decided that the innkeeper life is not for me.  It's a lot of work with very little time to play.  Although that is what we did yesterday.

Thursday was a rare day in that we had no campers here and didn't expect anyone to check in until late in the afternoon.  So early in the morning we loaded up the kayaks, locked the gates behind us, and headed down to the refuge.  We put in our boats around 8am and headed for the orange trail.  What a rare opportunity for us to get a guided paddle tour with Steve and Jo who are so knowledgeable about the swamp and all its wildlife.  We heard the prothonatary warbler several times but only saw it once (and I was in the wrong spot so missed seeing it) but, I did get to watch a red shouldered hawk feeding a nest of its young.  It was a little cool early on so we didn't see many alligators at first.  There were a few and Jo and Linda heard one bellow.  Herman was close enough to see the bellowing fellow (he probably was the cause of the bellow).  We went through an area where the vultures were circling low over our heads and you could see lots of white feathers around, so I figure they had ibis for breakfast and were maybe considering one of us for their next feast.  Keep paddling fast here!!

The pace was faster than usual because Steve wanted to take a loop trail down the orange trail and see some areas he can't get into with the motor boat.  Of course, with the heat you have to be sure and keep hydrated along the way.  And for those of you who are wondering, there are restrooms along the way.  I didn't stop to try this one out, but I'm sure you need to check for snakes before sitting down.  Lucky for me I still have the bladder they issued me in the navy.  It's good for about 4 hours which meant I made it back to the campground just fine.  The entire paddle was a little over 7 miles and by lunch we had returned, cleaned and re-stowed the kayaks and equipment, and everyone was resting.  A great trip!!!

Speaking of trips, this weekend was full of travel.  My buddy Ann, who has just retired from the school system in Nashville, came down this way for a beach holiday.  I drove over to St. Marys, GA where she was staying in a nice B&B for a few days.  We had a delish dinner at Seagle's Saloon and got caught up with things Saturday night.  Then Sunday morning we got together and drove up to St. Simons Island to see some of the sights.

 We did a few geocaches also and I introduced Ann to the new Geocaching Challenges which she really loved.  I think she completed 7 challenges while she was here.  We did a lot of running, squeezed in some shopping, and finally on Tuesday when I had to get back to work Ann moved to Amelia Island where she could just sit at a table by the beach and relax.  I think she's getting the hang of this retirement thing now.  I have a few pictures to add to this post but will have to wait for some that are on others' cameras.  Check back later for those.