A drive, some planning, and a beheading

I surely haven’t seen very many bears since the harvesting of the corn.  That makes me very glad that I was here during August and early September.  That seemed to be the peak of visible bear activity.  After all the business I took care of on Wednesday, Emma and I went on a slow drive through the refuge yesterday.  All of tonight’s photos are from that drive. 

One of the most common birds found on the refuge is the Bobwhite.  I haven’t seen very many of them this year, so I was happy to try to sneak up on this one to try to get a good picture.  As I was inching down the road in the car, someone pulled up behind me and blasted his horn.  Really?  Did he think that was necessary on this little back road?  I pulled over to the side, and he left me in a spray of gravel and dust.  Needless to say, that was the end of seeing the little quail. 

We didn’t see any bears at all on this little journey, but as usual lots of turtles were out sunning themselves in the roadside water ditches.  I try to drive along these ditches pretty slowly just in case I get a chance to see some kind of rail skulking through the shallow waters.

As Emma and I sat outside last early evening, I brought out my maps and Passport America book.  It was time to start planning my drive to Okefenokee NWR in Georgia.  I’ll have about two weeks to get there, so I’ll be taking my time covering the miles.  No danger of PDD (Paul Dahl Disorder) here.  Right now, I believe I’ll drive about 140 miles the first day to arrive at Kampers Lodge Campground/RV Park in Wilson, NC.  I might stay there two nights to do a little sightseeing in the area.  Then I’ll head into South Carolina.

I’m not sure yet where I’ll stay, but I want to visit Bishopville.  A couple of weeks ago I watched a DVD from Netflix that was titled “A Man Named Pearl”.  It’s a documentary about a black man from Bishopville, SC, that is now famous for his topiary sculptures.  Since it is not too far off of I-95, I’ve decided I’m going to try to see his property.

George went to get the shrimp fresh off of the shrimping boat today.  He rapped on my door this afternoon to hand me the ten pounds that I had ordered.  So, the two of us had a shrimp beheading party.  I had never done this before, but wearing my rubber gloves it didn’t take too long at all.  I guess it’s all in the wrist!    We sat outside beyond the electric fence to accomplish this and share a ‘heads only’ garbage bucket.  I’m sure glad I didn’t have the 50 pounds to do that he did.

Before I forget, if you don’t have anything better to do, I’m going to suggest you tune into the Discovery channel tomorrow night at 8:00 eastern to watch “Winged Planet.”  I saw a preview on the NBC Nightly News last night, and it promises to be an outstanding show.  It will give a view of our world through the eyes of flying birds.  So, if you’ve ever wanted to soar like an eagle, you’d better tune in.

I guess I’d better end this post.  I have ten pounds of shrimp to de-shell and get that nasty vein out of tonight before I give my new food sealer its first job.  I think it will probably take a bit longer than the beheading party did…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy