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.
We left Greenville this morning at 8:15 am with two cars, two cats, two kayaks, and an extra sister. It felt weird leaving the house, knowing that it would be months before we see it again. I’d been excited about this trip, but the second-guessing was really starting to weigh on my mind. However, the … Read More “Greenville to Paducah” »
As our departure date quickly approaches I’m reminded as to why I started this blog in the first place. It was 2004 and we were getting ready to drive from Greenville, SC to Samish Island, WA to visit Laura’s mom. We wanted a way for her to track our travels, and RandomConnections was born.

No words. There are really no words to describe the experience of a total solar eclipse. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to try. At least I can show a few of the photos I took (nearly 10,000, if you include the GoPro time-lapse images) and describe the events at our house leading up to and during the eclipse. It was a most excellent eclipse party, and the experience is one I wouldn’t have missed for anything.

We have our eclipse plans in place. We’ve got appropriate tunes on a playlist. All we need to make this astronomical party complete is some good party food. After scouring several stores I think I’ve got our menu set.

Next week’s eclipse is being hyped to the heavens, and rightly so. A swath of total darkness will cross the entire United States. It will be eery. It also got me thinking about my previous experiences with eclipses – some good, and some not so good.

The big event is only one week away. Next Monday, August 21, a total solar eclipse will cross the United States. Being the obsessive person I am, of course I have already been making plans for the event. The three questions I get on Facebook and other outlets are, “Where are you planning to view the eclipse?”, “How are you planning to view the eclipse?”, and “What are your photography plans?” I’ll try to answer those in this post.
This was my last Second Saturday with Lowcountry Unfiltered before we move out west. I was hoping for an epic trip for this outing, and Matt came up with a perfect venue. This particular Saturday we would be exploring the wilds of the Lynches River through Florence County. It would be one of our longer treks, and take us through areas we had not yet explored. It did turn out to be an epic, and most excellent trip.
Read More “Paddling the Lynches River with Lowcountry Unfiltered” »

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock it would be hard to ignore the fact that in a couple of weeks a total solar eclipse is going to cross the United States. The hype has been amazing and huge crowds are expected to gather all along the path of totality. Here in Greenville we’re fortunate to live in the path of totality. I’m making preparations for our own eclipse event, and will be posting some of those preparations over the next several days. However, the first thing one needs for such an event is a good playlist. Here’s mine…




