A Good Camping Trip 11. 23-27. 2011

Morning Fog

Sunrise Lake Murray

Sunset Lake Murray

          
          A good weekend! It is always nice to get away from the normal routine of life and do something different. Camping with my wife, two big dogs, my niece, her husband and their three kids is definitely different! The camping Gracie and I do requires a very small amount of gear [stuff] whereas two families require one big pickup truck load of stuff, a small pickup truck load of stuff and a SUV packed full of stuff. Two big tents and a huge woppin' big tent! Two canopies stringed with lights and two picnic tables; one to cook on and one to eat on. Half a truck load of fire wood and three wienie/marshmallow roasting telescoping store bought cushioned handled things, which replace thin knife sharpen poke your eye out roastin' sticks!! Two Coleman- two burner cooking stoves, a big Coleman one burner cooking stove, an electric skillet, an  electric coffee pot, and an assortment of pots and pans with which to cook One charcoal grill- portable -which grilled chicken, hotdogs, hamburgers, and even steaks! Even saw a toaster! And, yes, we ate very well thank you! Nothing like the freeze dried foods I would normally eat. Coolers of all sizes and colors full of good grub, milk, pop and sweet tea. Three excellent cooks and seven satisfied tummies and two beggin' dawgs!


          One motor boat, one paddle!  One canoe, two paddles! Motor boat used for fishin' and stressin', canoe used for meditation and relaxin'.  Motor boat would not start, floatin' in middle of lake--paddle with one paddle, blow whistle, wave hat, two kind men towed us to boat ramp! Canoe paddled nice and smooth-listen to birds, have easy conversation and gently float back to shore and campsite. Day two, Gracie and I went out in canoe. Day three, great- nephew and I went out in canoe. Makes me his GREATEST uncle! Day four, niece and I went out in canoe. Beautiful weather all weekend for being on the lake. Motor boat not my thing!

          Dogs!  We have a Rottweiler, his name is Rocki. He has been neutered, therefore his name is Rocki instead of Rocky! Now you know!! He is not my outdoors companion, he likes to lay in the soft comfortable chair and watch TV. Not a big sports fan--his name is Rocki. He  is into Oprah and Judge Judy, those type shows. He, Gracie and I rode together to the State Park in my little truck. The seat is too small for all three of us. I drove, Gracie laid where she normally does and Rocki sat on top of her. When we arrived at the park Rocki threw up in my cup holder-. not pretty! That symbolized his feelings, not a happy camper!

ROCKI

            Gracie threw up in the tent that first night as we were readying for bed, she just ate too many table scraps. Nasty! As you can imagine she loved camping, something she is very experienced at doing. Every morning I would put the dogs in the truck and drive to an empty spot on the shore to let the dogs run and do dog stuff. Gracie loves water and would walk right in, Rocki always hesitated but would step in and drink before we returned to the camp site. One morning they played like puppies and yapped and ran in circles.

Rocki and Gracie

           In the evenings we would sit around the campfire and talk and share secrets of life. NOT!!!! Everyone had some kind of electronic device, instead of the glow of the fire reflecting off our faces we had the muted glare of  cell phones, nooks, and game gizmos reflecting off our glasses and glassy eyes, I even watched a football game on a cell phone one night. What is this world coming to!  The nights of staring dumbly and numbly into the campfire are over! Checking the time-five minutes later then it was last time you checked. Do I need to put more wood on the fire or let it burn out? Should we go to bed now or wait? lets see it's 7:30, we should wait. All of us had a battery charger of some kind and we plugged everything in at night. Now that I think about it,it really is kinda funny. Family camping-it is a good thing to do!         
           At night we looked at the stars and hunted for the big and little dippers. We saw the sky covered with the thousands of stars which surround us. Loons on the lake and a big ole stork roosting on a tree, fish jumped from the water and turtles swam- heads held high waking the water. Red sun rises and golden sun sets.Cold wind and warm breezes. Calm lake and wind blown waters. Morning coffee with french toast, grilled steaks with home made fries and cold Dr. Pepper.
          

Crane/Stork

Loons

         
          On the lake or on the land,

          Turtle


         

Peanut Butter Sandwiches

          Sometimes before we go hiking, I will eat a PBS as my breakfast and protein source to give me the get up and go I need to get up and go! Not all the time, just some of the time. Do not eat a biscuit from any fast food restaurant, it will sit on your stomach and talk all about the discomfort it is causing you as you sweat and hurt two miles into the hike. The one and only time I did eat a nice greasy steak biscuit and the yummy hash rounds, I washed them down with a Dr. Pepper and a satisfying burp! Two miles latter I ended up on my hands and knees with my head under a rhododendron  bush back washing the biscuit, the steak, and each golden brown hash round. Dr. Pepper didn't come out through my nose, but still burned as it flowed the wrong way in a one way pipe. Gracie, concerned about my welfare stuck her nose- bulls eye in my backside! Preoccupied as I was, that was totally unexpected and rather shocking. Gurgling through the half digested steak biscuit, rounds and Dr.P- I  screeched like an old mother hen collecting her brood when danger is near! Falling forward, my head and hat hit the trunk of the bush and fell off- no, not my head! Slowly toppling over to my right gave Gracie enough room to squeeze next to me and eat the  remains of one steak biscuit, several hash rounds, and burning stomach acid! I crawled out from under the bush, got to my feet, cleaned up and then had a good hike.

          Talking about PBS's at work, a co-worker said how he used two slices of bread and spread the peanut butter between them. I have never made a PBS that way, nor do I remember ever eating one made like that. We always used one slice of bread, spread peanut butter on half and folded the bread over. Only way to make one and for sure the only way to eat one! I remember my Mother standing at the head of the table making PBS one at a time and tossing them to her growing children. We were like baby birds in a snug nest, just our beaks sticking up waiting for food. You would eat PBS with canned fruit, maybe peaches in heavy syrup,or fruit cocktail, sometimes even canned pears. Today I love PBS and canned fruit. Drink a cold glass of milk and call it a meal!

          Now I just told how to eat a PBS when using store bought loaf bread, using Ma's homemade bread is a whole different production. Ma was a stay at home Mom when she wasn't driving one of us kids someplace, which was often! She baked a mean loaf of bread. [ that sentence can stand alone-no one will dare refute it ]  She also passed her baking skills on to her daughters and grand-daughters; they are good, but not as good as Ma. I would never tell them that, they may not give me any bread! I better not forget the daughter-in laws, my wife included, they also are excellent bread bakers. Ma has been gone six years now and her baking skills will continue to be talked about and followed for many generations to come. Just one of her many virtues!  Another thing I will always remember is listening to her try to tell a funny story, we would all be laughing so hard we would cry, because she was laughing so hard she couldn't even begin to start the story. She would say one or two words and laugh and the rest of us would just roll out of our chairs with  tears streaming down our cheeks. Don't get her together with her siblings and relatives and friends of her generation, what a mess of old people laughing and crying with us younger generation not having a clue what they were talking about, just laughing and crying right along with them.--- Think Morley Reunion---We've heard some stories more than a dozen times and hoot and carry on like they've never been told.  Many good times around the big dining room table in Honea Path; laughing, story telling and enjoying the company of family. Ma loved her family. The eight children, their spouses, and all the grand- children and great-grand- children. She even loved the old man she was married to for over fifty years. Now that is a long time!

          Back to PBS!  You take a loaf of home made bread and let it cool. After it cools you get a bread knife and cut a slice about 3/4 of an inch thick. Add Peter Pan smooth peanut butter by digging as much peanut butter out of the jar as you can with a normal size table knife. Spread this thickly all over the slice, use two knife fulls if necessary to get the 1/2 in. thickness required. Now squeeze Sue Bee honey all over the peanut butter and take knife and combine the two together so it doesn't drip off of the bread. Get a glass of milk ready and keep the milk jug near by, you will need another glass sooner. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!
One slice is never enough, two is good, but three slices will always hit the spot. Repeat the next day and savor the experience, you won't be allowed to do it again for a month or more.

Memory's are sweet,
God is Good!

 Turtle



                

Wandering in the woods.

          What a beautiful fall day in the Upstate of SC!  I did not want to waste it by staying at home being constructive and doing something worthwhile I had to get out of the house and get in the woods. Drove up to the top of Sassafras Mt. to take some pretty fall color pictures, but it was hazy and I could not get a true picture of the mountains. I'd seen the top of an old building several times on my way down the mountain;so we, Gracie and I decided to stop and see what was under that roof. Parked beside the road and walked down an old leaf covered road to this blue barn with boards missing from its side. Barn was made out of 2x4's so it wasn't that old, but still kinda neat.

Old faded blue barn.

          A few yards away was an old chimney with the foundation pillars of the house  covered with vines.We could see where a spring and holding tank had once been, nice homestead at on time.

Spring

Old stone chimney.

          Gracie and I walked back to the truck and passed a small flock of turkeys while driving on down the mountain.We came to another road with a red gate across it, but a green road sign naming the road Abner Creek Road, so we got the hiking shoes on, put on the day pack,grabbed the trekking poles and started walking down the road. A very nice hike on a very nice day to be in the woods.As we walked deeper into the woods this silo looking think caught our attention. What is it? If you have any idea please let me know. It is located on Wildlife Game Management Land.                                                                      

Secret Government Spy thingamojig?????

           A triangle hole, about 4 in. thick walls and hollow. No door into the thing!!  Scary!  We kept hiking and had a great hike. Never made it to the end of the road, try again another day.

          By the time we got home it was time to get cleaned up and go meet my wife for our dinner date. Had a super supper meal at Longhorn Steak House and always have fun being with my wife!

          In the woods or on the water,

          Turtle