A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
Laura was in Florida for the Easter Weekend visiting her mother and sister, and I was spending time with my brother Houston at his home in Georgia. Every time we get together Houston tells me about all the paddling opportunities near his house, but I’d never had a chance to try them out…until now. On this Saturday before Easter we decided to launch from the Dyar Pasture Recreation Area and explore Lake Oconee and the Oconee River.
A follow-up to the previous post’s mystery Rosenwald School. Fellow explorer Mark Elbrecht left a comment on that post with some clues as to the identity of the school we found in Butts County, Georgia. Unfortunately, that opened up an additional can of worms and conflicting info.
I was visiting my brother, Houston, and his wife, Lynda. We were on a ramble across mid-Georgia, hoping to visit Warm Springs and tour the “Little White House.” We’d had several distractions along the way, and whether or not we would actually make it to Warm Springs was in question. Spoiler alert – we did make it. But not without a few more distractions, both coming and going.
Easter weekend. Laura had Friday and Monday off from Furman and decided that she needed to head back down to Florida to check on her mom. She decided that she needed some “sister time” with Amy to talk about how their mother’s care was going. That being the case, I decided to needed some “brother time” with Houston, so for the holiday weekend we headed in different directions.
I arrived at Houston’s farm below Watkinsville, Georgia about mid-morning on Friday. I was loaded to the gills with every toy we might need – kites, cameras, banjo, drums, recording gear, computers, and paddling gear. I was set for any eventuality. We would actually use quite a bit of that gear.
After our Water Wednesday excursion to check out the new ADA kayak launch on the Saluda River in Pelzer I’d mentioned that it was a shame that the one upriver at the Dolly Cooper Park near Powdersville was no longer available. It was my understanding that the park had closed. Turns out I was only partially correct.
It started with a fortune cookie found by Gregg Davis.
Boats and water are in your future.
I told Gregg that we had to make that a reality, and so Water Wednesday was born.
Several weeks ago I received a Facebook friend request from Deb Mims. Deb and I had never met, but she had read several of my posts here. I’m usually very cautious when I get a request like this out of the blue. However, Deb had some interesting things going on, so I accepted. I’m glad I did, as it led to an excellent kayaking trip and the potential for more exploration.
Second Saturday, and time for a Lowcountry Unfiltered expedition. We had missed March because of conflicts throughout our group, and our group leader, Matt, wouldn’t be available for April. Somehow that fell to me to put together a trek. I decided that it would be a good time to head back to one of my favorites, Sparkleberry Swamp.
Gonna lay down my burdens,
Down by the Riverside,
Down by the Riverside,
Down by the Riverside,
…Ain’t gonna study war no more.
It was Keith’s birthday. I’d called him to see if he wanted to go for lunch, but he was already in Asheville for some early appointments. He suggested I join him up there for a late breakfast instead. Having no other plans, I agreed. It turned out to be another day of discovery and laid the groundwork for further exploration.
Doing a bit of Spring Cleaning around here at RandomConnections. Actually, it’s more of a case of the house collapsing around you, then needing to clean things up. Regardless, it gives me an opportunity to work on a few things. The fun started with a simple update of one of the site’s plugins. For whatever … Read More “Doing Some Maintenance” »