Some years ago (too many, in Bruce's opinion), Bruce, Buster and I went camping. It was the Labour Day weekend (Labour Day is always the first Monday in September here) and we went to the north Georgia mountains. It was hot, the tent was tiny & therefore claustrophobic and Buster woke me up several times with his heavy panting and restlessness. It wasn't exactly the best introduction to camping, so I told Bruce I'd do it again only if we got a bigger tent. We bought one a couple of years ago that I really like because it's big, tall, wide and spacious enough for the two of us and the dogs (including their two beds). It supposedly can sleep 7-8 people but that would bring the claustrophobia right back as far as I'm concerned, so I'm quite happy to think of the 7-8 people description as being for 7-8 toddlers or two adults and two dogs.
We hadn't actually gotten around to using it, but when Bruce and his sons went camping on the Blue Ridge Parkway in August, it reminded Bruce why he loved camping so much. He came back determined to take me camping somewhere, and once again the Labour Day weekend became our destined camping time (because the next long weekend we get is for Thanksgiving at the end of November, and that might not be the best time to reintroduce me to camping). As with the previous attempt, it was a little too hot to be really enjoyable, plus the insects buzzing around us at the campsite were irritating, to say the least. However, the larger tent did make the experience far more enjoyable and I'm going to be more apt to say yes if the subject of camping comes up again in the future. Just not when it's hot (which makes things a little difficult for the time being, since I can only go on vacation if my department's intern can cover for me, and that is only when she's on vacation from college). Perhaps we'll go camping in Florida for Thanksgiving ...
Back to the camping adventure. We went to South Carolina, to a campsite called Tuck in the Woods (I think that's how it was spelled, or perhaps Tuc, and you'll have to call Bruce if you want to know how to pronounce that properly, i.e. in true South Carolina fashion. I apparently failed miserably in my attempt at that accent.) The campsite was about six hours from our house and both Bruce & I had to work the Friday before the weekend, so the decision was made to leave Friday evening, after Bruce got home from work. I, happily, get to work from home on Fridays, so I woke up early, started work at about 4:00 a.m. that day and was finished by 2:00 p.m., giving me plenty of time to get some packing and loading of the car done while Bruce was at his office.
We left at about 5:30 p.m. on September 3rd, stopping briefly so Bruce could buy a couple of CDs he'd been wanting and to get some dinner. Then the journey proper began. As usual, that bratty husband of mine begins the trip by insisting on doing the driving, and then gets tired when there are about two hours left in the trip and deigns to let me take over the driving at that time (this is usually when I'd be sound asleep if we were at home). Luckily for him, I get wide awake when I'm driving at night, because there is so much to look out for that I'm very alert.) The journey takes about six hours in large part because the last leg of it goes through many small towns, which are quite picturesque in the daytime but rather boring to drive through at night, when you can't see much and have to keep slowing down to 35 mph and then 25 mph before being allowed to speed up to as much as 55 mph at times (says the person who'd much rather be going at 110 km per hour because that sound so much faster).
Anyway ... we finally got to the campsite at about midnight, at which time we had the fun of putting up the tent in semi-darkness, surrounded by biting insects that weren't intimidated by insect repellent. Bruce, the camping expert, had us practising putting up the tent the weekend before we left for the trip, so that we'd know how it's supposed to be assembled. That was an excellent idea, because it meant we familiarised ourselves with the different rods and what went where, making it much easier to put the tent in the dark when we were tired. It wasn't really that dark, because Bruce had bought several battery-powered lamps (which unfortunately brought out the insects in full force but did give us enough light to function by). I let the dogs wander around a little when we first arrived at the campsite, but then made them sit in the car while the tent was being put up, so that we wouldn't have to worry about them disappearing in unfamiliar territory. They were very well-behaved, considering there was much to explore and smell. It took about an hour to get everything, including ourselves, ready for bed, and another half-an-hour to get the dogs settled. They both decided our sleeping bags looked more interesting than their beds. Unfortunately, all the work to get things ready made us get rather hot, and the humid weather didn't help, so that first night wasn't very comfortable. It took Beau a long time to stop panting, and we're seriously thinking about getting a portable fan for future trips if we're crazy enough to go camping in the summer again.
Happily, we managed to keep the bulk of the insects out of the tent. We left the windows and the door unzipped to try and catch any night breeze that might decide to visit, so Belle had a fine time looking outside from her bed (there was a porch-like section of the tent that was just netting, beyond the sleeping area, so that gave us some extra space while keeping the front opening securely zipped in order to keep the dogs in the tent with us. Not that they ever tried to escape - they were thrilled to have us sleeping on the ground with them! And thankfully, the second night was a little cooler, which made it more comfortable. Belle and Beau actually slept in their own beds all night. In the early hours of the second morning, it actually got cold enough for Bruce and me to want to be in, rather than on, our sleeping bags.
On Saturday, our first full day there, we drove into Charleston, which was about two hours away. (I'm unable to pronounce that in the proper Southern way, either.) On the way to Charleston, we saw a sign for a nature trail, so we stopped there for a while. There was only one other car there (we later found out it belonged to fishermen), so we felt comfortable about letting Belle and Beau run around without their leashes. They were thrilled! That really is such a joy for them, being able to race around freely. They had a marvelous time. We didn't see all that much in terms of wildlife, but it was still a fun stop. Then we got back on the road to Charleston. We stopped at the visitor's center to get some information, and the very helpful man on duty there told us where to go to park (always useful information to have when you're new to a city). Since it was almost lunch-time, we left the dogs in the car at the parking deck and went to get some food. There was a cafe-type restaurant across the road from the parking deck that I'm glad we went to, because the food was scrumptious. We both ordered seafood, because that's what you do when you're in Charleston, home to some of the best seafood around. I had crabcake and Bruce had a shrimp salad sandwich, which was so good that I actually preferred it over my crabcake (which is nothing like real cake, in case you are wondering).
After lunch, we went on a carriage ride around Charleston WITH THE DOGS. That is in bold, in capital letters, because that's what the ride was like! First of all, we had to get the dogs used to the idea of being near horses, because they tend to bark at them (I'm quite sure Beau thinks horses are really big dogs). Then we had to get the dogs on the carriage, which was a big adventure in itself. The carriage seats 16 people, four per row. Or, in our case, two adults and two dogs. People climb onto the carriage using a stepladder. Dogs don't climb stepladders. They are fine walking or even running up regular stairs, but a ladder? I know they think we humans are crazy. I climbed into the carriage first, then Beau got very excited and tried to follow me, but couldn't figure out how to do it. After several attempts, I got back down on the ground, Bruce got into the carriage, and then somehow we managed to get Beau up. Belle was much easier because she's smaller and lighter, so the guy who runs the show just lifted her in. Finally, we were all in (with the rest of the passengers waiting patiently - thank goodness they were all dog lovers) and ready to set off. The dogs were excited and nervous but behaved tolerably well for the first few minutes. Then they started getting too hot and became really restless. Belle finally crawled under the our seat and all the way over to the seat behind ours, where she sat in the shade under that seat. getting lots of attention from the people in that row. Beau tried to follow but was too big, so he was stuck in the front row with us and the driver, getting much hotter and more restless. Giving him water didn't help much. I had to keep holding on to him and trying to calm him down, so I missed about half of what our guide was saying, but it was still an interesting tour.
I had no idea Charleston gets hit by earthquakes as often as it does. That, combined with flooding, makes it quite a challenging place to live in, I think. But it is a beautiful city and I can understand why people love it. It's a lot like Savannah, which is my favourite city in Georgia. They both have gorgeous oak trees draped with Spanish moss, elegant architecture and very walkable streets, artistry everywhere you look ... Bruce and I definitely want to go back to Charleston so that we can see more of the city, but next time I think we'll stay in or near Charleston itself, so that we don't spend so much time on the road getting to all the sights.
After the hot adventure, we put the dogs back in the car with water to drink and the engine running so that the air-conditioner would cool them down, and we trotted over to the market to look at some souvenirs. Then we drove back to the campsite, where Bruce cooked dinner while the dogs and I explored the area a little. When we arrived on Friday night, there were no tents near us (which is how I like it!), but when we got back to the campsite on Saturday evening, there were tents everywhere! And several more RVs. It was a lot noisier.
On Sunday, Bruce took us to the beach. We'd been wanting to see what Beau would think of the ocean, since he's such a water dog. He was startled at first by the moving water, backing away quickly when waves came towards him, but he soon realized it was his beloved water and went trotting in. He loved it! (And for some reason drinking it didn't seem to bother him, silly dog.) Unfortunately, the dogs had to remain on their leashes and Belle wasn't at all impressed by the ocean, so I spent most of our time there being pulled in opposite directions - Beau wanting to go into the water, Belle wanting to be as far away from it as possible. Where was Bruce? Taking photos of me getting my arms pulled off, naturally. Highlight of that excursion, apart from the fun of seeing Beau's reaction? We saw dolphins!!! They dove in and out of the water, moving out so rapidly that Bruce couldn't get photos, but it was such a thrill to see them.
It was very hot so we didn't stay at the beach very long. I love the sea, but I like being on the beach only early in the morning or late in the evening, not when it's baking hot. So we left the beach for some marshland, where a platform has been built so that people can walk out into the marsh and look at the crabs and birds. There's an area just like that near Savannah, adding to the similarities between the two cities.
The original plan had been to leave for home on Monday morning but the heat was beginning to get to us, so we decided to pack up and head home on Sunday evening. We got home at about 11:00 that night and had the whole of Monday (Labour Day) to recover, which I was glad about. I also had to do some work, since there's always a lot of news to catch up on during a long weekend and I work alone on Tuesdays, which meant I'd have even more news to go through on Tuesday if I didn't get some work done on Monday. So I did labour a little on Monday, but it was worth it as it made my Tuesday a little less stressful. I think the best thing about the weekend was being away from computers and e-mail. I didn't think about work at all, which was a very nice mental break.
The other big event in September was the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain Park (about eight miles from our house). This is already a very long blog entry so I won't ramble on about the festival. Suffice to say it showcases work by various craftspeople/artists and was a very successful shopping expedition. Bruce has been wanting some plants for his new office and found two very pretty bonsai there. I've been wanting some sort of small table on which to put a lamp I bought for our reading room, and I found the perfect one at Yellow Daisy. It's a wooden table with small shelves at different levels and bigger top. The lamp sits on top and I've filled the shelves with all my Christmas-themed snow globes. It looks lovely! I was going to put in a photo but I haven't taken one with Bruce's camera yet, and the photo I took using my cellphone doesn't look very clear. Bruce and his camera are in Madison and Athens today, bike-riding with his brother-in-law, so I'll have to wait until they return before taking some photos.
We also found some pottery that I really like. We bought a spoon holder, a serving platter that can also be used as a tray and a couple of candle holders. The colours go quite well with the blue-green French pottery we bought last year, so I'm happy. I'll try and get photos of that, as well. Yesterday, we went to a monastery so that Bruce could find some things for his bonsai and I found candles at the monastery store that go perfectly with the candle holders. I love the way that happens - finding things in different places that go together at home. Shopping can be so much fun!
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