Hooten Hollow Trail

Norris Dam State Park, TN

The trail was very steep and constantly going down as we began our hike this morning at Norris Dam State Park and I was a bit concerned about the return trip!  UP, UP, UP!!  But we were lucky and found another trail that turned the whole thing into a nice loop.  Now come along with us....

That's me!

Twice on this trip I have seen trees just fall.  Last week we were sitting in our chairs enjoying the forest when I saw a large branch just fall off the tree.  We were glad it didn't land on our camper and our solar panels.  I know this is the way the forest lives and dies and nurtures itself and it amazes me when I think of the millions of years it has been doing this.

My view on our hikes - always.  This was toward the end of our trek and Jake is slowing down.  He loves it when he doesn't have to be on a leash and he just runs and runs.

You have to look closely at this photo.  I was walking on the trail when I looked down and notice this red brick.  Why is there brick on the trail in the forest?  Oh, I want to know answers to questions like that so badly! So, I make stories up to go with the brick.  Again, we decided it must have been a moonshine still!

This is in the campground.  Kind of speaks for itself I think.

Ugly and beautiful at the same time.  They were all over the trail.  What are they????  They are about two inches long and very eye catching!

Lake Hartwell State Park - Day 1

This is our campsite!  All the fresh green trees are amazing.  I don't think anyone can see into our picnic area - it is so private.  I will try to keep my clothes on anyway....my body is pretty old!

I noticed yesterday when we arrived that there was a trail from our site towards the water but I didn't explore it until today.  We have our own little beach where, if we had them, we could launch canoes or kayaks.

It is cloudy out today so the pictures aren't too good.  I will keep trying to get good ones.

And speaking of good pictures, here is a favorite.  I was afraid Jake would go into a funk when we left Buck Hall but he seems to really like it here.  And, yes, there are some squirrels for him!

My grandson, Casey is graduating today from Clemson University.  That is the reason we are here.  We will be gathering with the family later today to celebrate!!

Final Days at Buck Hall

We just took our final bike ride on the Palmetto Trail in the Francis Marion National Forest.  The rains have gone and the forest actually seems to be drying up a bit.  We need more rain already.  But tomorrow it will no longer be our home.  It has been the most fantastic two weeks walking and biking the trail, walking along the Intracoastal Waterway and watching the spring migration of the boats that spent the winter in Florida and the Bahamas.  Jake, our yellow dog, has become quite proficient at chasing the squirrels up trees.  We have become good friends with our camp host, Pat Crawford. You can read his blog HERE.

I am trying to remember what all has kept us so busy.  I had a nice Sunday Brunch with my daughter, Christie.  We went to Mosaic, a small place in Mount Pleasant, and had great food.  I was able to have Shrimp and Grits – Yea!!  It was wonderful!

Linda and I ate lunch.

 I also had lunch with my old high school friend, Linda.  Linda and I re-found each other on Facebook about five or six years ago and have developed a wonderful friendship outside Facebook!  Would you believe that she moved to Mount Pleasant a few months after we left.  Timing is everything isn’t it?

Me on the left and Lucy on the right.

 We met friends Ray and Lucy at Smoky Oak Taproom in James Island and had lunch.  Now talk about food!  Oh, my but that food was incredible.  Kirby and I shared a platter of pulled pork and the best ribs I have ever had in my life!

That is the owner/founder on the right.

We managed to get to Coast Brewing in North Charleston.  They make such great brews and we have been fans for years.  It was fun to see how much they have grown.

We were so pleased to see so many people at Coast enjoying the awesome brews.  Kirby's favorite is Hopart and I like the stout.

Brendan, Carey, Christie, Michael and Kirby (leaning in to get in the picture per my instructions!)

We were invited to have dinner with the family at Brendan and Carey’s new apartment.  Wow, they sure didn’t build apartments like that when I was living in them!  Granite countertops, stainless appliances, trak lighting!  Small but incredibly beautiful.  We had our dinner in the common area, using the grill provided.  The weather was perfect for outdoor eating.

On Sunday we traveled back to the old neighborhood and visited with a few folks.  Arlene, who used to be our next door neighbor provided lots of yummy eats and some fruity sangria.  It was fun seeing everyone after a year on the road.

Ray, Lucy, Jack and Juanita managed to get spaces here at Buck Hall for one night so of course we had to have a small party and dinner together.  We sat in Jack and Juanita’s yard and they had an incredible view of the boats going by.

Yesterday my friend, Linda, came out for a walk in the woods and dinner.  It was so wonderful to get to spend more time together.  Hopefully we will meet up again at our Fifty Year HS Reunion in August!

Sunrise

As I write, Kirby is outside breaking camp.  It is sad.  Jake is probably going to go into a funk for a few days.  He really believes that we live here now.  I think this has been his favorite place too.  Next stop – Lake Hartwell State Park! 

A Day at the Campground

In this picture of the lake you can see the root of the tree that I saw fall yesterday.  Obviously something has happened in the most recent years to get too much water up around where this tree was growing because you can tell that the roots just rotted out and that caused the tree to fall.

What a great day this has been!  Of course it started out with a bang - literally.  Kirby and I had almost forgotten what a southern thunderstorm could be like but were reminded beginning at about 1:00AM this morning and it went on for a few hours.  Lots and lots of loud thunder.  Like a rolling loud noise.  And almost constant lightening to light up the sky.  There were a couple of big crashes that made us jump and sent Jake to our bedside.

But all that rain washed away the heavy covering of yellow pollen that was covering everything and left the morning looking like crystal.  We took Jake on his walk around the campground and then went off on our bike ride to check out the boat launch area.  When we were there we noticed a turtle that was about 6-8 inches in size floating down the stream.  We watched until the water got too deep and muddy and then we lost him.  But we did find a nice bridge over the stream that lead to a trail.  Tomorrow we will check out the trail!

It was not a really warm day but it was sunny and nice.  We spent time outside reading and also played some Mexican Train (dominoes).  The park host stopped by a couple of times to trade jokes with Kirby.  Our wonderful day just sort of slipped away.  Retirement IS everything it is supposed to be!

Following are some photos that I took on our morning walk.

The Dogwood trees are in full bloom and strike an amazing pose in the forest.

Early morning fishermen.

I don't know what this vine is.  Probably classified as a weed but I remember seeing them in South Carolina when we lived there.

The reason for all the yellow pollen.  Well, at least the majority of it.  Pine Pollen!

If a Tree Falls In the Forest.....

Well, I still don't know if it makes a noise if no one is there to hear it but I do know that if there IS someone there, it does make a noise.  I saw a big pine tree just decide to lay down today.  A first for me.  Jake and I were out for an afternoon walk and I just happened to be looking right where the tree was and saw it fall.  It was an amazing sight.

Since we don't have sewer here we decided to use the campground showers today to save our holding tank as we want to stay until the middle of next week.  (we love Beaver Dam Campground in Louisiana!) And we needed showers!  The whole thing was very iffy but I was successful in the end.  The water pressure was good and I didn't have to keep pushing a button like so many of them. (Can you count how many times the floor has been painted?)  Just as we were finishing up (Kirby in one shower and me in the other) the park host arrived to do his daily cleaning and didn't know we were in there and thank heavens there was a little bitty clasp on my door!  We are both much cleaner this evening.

Jake and I took a walk after dinner.  Here are some of the photos.

The dogwoods are in full bloom!

I am in love with these seeds.  They look like red M&M's!  But I have no clue what they are.  Can anyone help?

Even the little weeds are blooming with color.

This is Beaver Dam Lake with Jake in the foreground of course.