A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
Life on our island is still an odd dichotomy of frenzy and relaxation. It’s incredibly peaceful, but we still have so much to do. Similar to the stages of grief, there seem to be stages of settling in. We hit the tourist stage while Glynda was here, and seem to be in the midst of the “dealing with stuff” stage. I’m ready to get to the “normal life on the island” stage, whenever that might come.
It’s harvest time in Skagit Valley. That means fresh fruits and vegetables everywhere, picked right from the fields we have to drive through to get to the island. It seems most of our visits to the area have been in August just as things are coming into season, so I’ve always been impressed with the bounty. This past week we made the most of it.
Read More “Skagit Farmers Markets and Locally Sourced Foods” »
It’s raining. That shouldn’t come as a surprise seeing as this is the Pacific Northwest. However, they have had an unusually dry summer and this is the first rain in weeks. Given the chaotic nature of the past week, it’s been a good opportunity to catch up on writing.
Our drive from Greenville to Samish Island seemed like a whirlwind. We were constantly on the go. However, I found a way to make the 3,186 mile drive go by even quicker.
Read More “From Greenville to Samish Island in Four Minutes, Fifty Seconds” »
Even thought we all got a good night’s sleep, it wasn’t without some problems. All of us suffered from the smoke from the forest fires. Glynda had problems with her eyes, I had a headache and sniffles, Laura was coughing, and we all had sinus problems. It was time to get out of here and complete this migration.
The constant traveling is starting to take its toll. We are all worn out, especially after yesterday’s whirlwind trip through Yellowstone. Today would be another long push, but it would get us very close to our final goal. We would be traveling from Bozeman, Montana to Ellensburg, Washington.
Today was the one day we had planned to not travel any further west. We had allowed one day to explore Yellowstone National Park. Only one day in Yellowstone is blasphemy, but it’s what we had. We made the most of it. Even though we didn’t make any progress on our western migration, we still covered about as many miles as any other day so far.
Day four – the cats seem less terrified and more on the verge of mutiny. We’ll have to watch that. The day started with cool weather and good bagels and coffee, and ended in heat. In between we passed through some of the most lonely, stark landscape imaginable.
Day Three of our travels was a whirlwind. The cats settled in much better, and even slept last night. We got our start at about the same time as yesterday. The mileage would be a bit less, but we had so much more to see.
I had hoped to do a detailed blog of each day’s travels as we drove westward. That’s not gonna happen. I’ve decided upon an alternate strategy. I’m going to hit the highlights each day, then come back and post more photos, etc., once the ground stops moving beneath our rear ends. Heck, I’ve even stopped trying to process all of the photos each evening. We’re too exhausted by day’s end.