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A Family Campout



It all came together quite nicely. Our camping trip that is. No one had rehearsals. Tony had Friday afternoon off. The heat that has been relentless finally abated for a few days. The nights would actually be cool! We chose Santee State Park because it was within an hour of us, and it looked like a lovely place to camp. We hope to visit all 47 state parks here in South Carolina to become "Ultimate Outsiders". We are just beginning, as Santee brought our total to 7.

I thought we would be taking the interstate, but the GPS led us on the back country roads. The drive itself was beautiful. The cotton fields were dotted with white. Old farmhouses and barns were scattered between the fields. Dilapidated and abandoned buildings wooed me with their untold stories. I felt like the everyday worries were blown off us as we drove through the countryside toward the campground.

We stayed two nights. For Friday, we had veggie stir fry with cashews.  I chopped up veggies beforehand and made up a stir fry sauce in a mason jar. I cooked the rice on the stove in the camper and the veggies on our portable stove outside. It was a hit with everyone. Saturday's dinner was less successful. The kids found a book called "A Stick and a Fire". They wanted to try the Cheesy Bacon Dogs. The hotdogs did not want to stay on the skewers and we ended up finishing the cooking in the cast iron skillet. There was quite a mess in the skillet. For breakfast, it was cereal for the kids and fruit and bread for the adults. Lunch was veggie sticks and hummus, crackers and cheese, and apples. I am not trying to bore the three readers of this blog, I am trying to document it for myself, to remember what works and what doesn't.

On Saturday, we decided to splurge on a two hour barge tour of Lake Marion, which is home to a sunken bald cypress forest and alligators. It was well worth the cost. The wildlife was abundant, some of it a little scary! The boats pulling children on tubes were more frightening to me because of the number of hidden tree stumps just beneath the water's surface. You can't see them until you are right upon them. The risk of hitting a stump seemed pretty high to  me.

 The rest of our time, we just enjoyed the view of the lake, many campfires, family games, the playground and each other. The first night became a jig contest as we listened to bluegrass music. Therese had just finished the chapter in "Little House in the Big Woods" where the grandma bests the rest of the family in a jigging contest. The silliness and giggles melted any lingering bad moods of children who might not have been so keen on camping. The second night saw a sing-a-long of songs from every genre as we scrolled through playlists. Everything is more magical and special with a campfire burning, I am sure of it.

The drive home Sunday morning was so picturesque with patches of morning fog draping the cotton fields. I already look longingly toward our next adventure in the camper, which does, by the way, need a name.

Setting up the campsite

learning to chop the firewood




Dinnertime the first night

sunrise Saturday morning

also Saturday

waiting for the pontoon boat to arrive

the bald cypress trees in the water

two different kinds of woodpeckers made this tree their home


cormorants


The captain of the boat said that to determine the size of the gator, measure from the snout to the eyes. Each inch represents one foot. We estimated this guy to be around 12 feet.

The water level was almost 2 feet below normal

Sunday morning. Oh, how I wanted to stay longer!

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