Moving Day

I really thought that I had taken enough sunrise photos on Sunday, but when the birds began to sing and I peeked out, I could see that it would be a cloudy sunrise, and those are the ones that can hold real surprises. First surprise: you don't necessarily see the sun gloriously rise above the horizon. Hints have to suffice. Has it risen? You don't know until it suddenly blasts through the clouds to announce that the deed is done. Here, where the outgoing tide leaves a silky sheen of water on the smoothed-out sand, you get double reflections of the sun's downward rays so it looks as if The Lord is about to ascend or descend from the eastern heavens. How could I miss that? Better yet, how could I let you miss it?

When we checked out of the campground, we drove to the end of the island to the visitor center for the park. There we spied a well-disguised alligator hiding in the duck weed of the pond under the pedestrian bridge. A large sign reminded us not to feed it. Don't worry. From there we drove up to the historic light house (181 steps, sorry but 179 is our absolute limit) and the beach which was cold and windy. The park also boasts a fishing pier and a marsh boardwalk for watching the sunset. Driving back into town, we passed a group of shrimp boats, a very important industry here in the Low Country. We stopped in Port Royal to wash clothes and clean the camper out using the car wash vacuum cleaner next door to the laundromat. Ahh, clean sheets again.

Only an hour up the road and we were in Charleston. Our campground is James Island County Park, one that we had heard about from several people. It is as beautiful as promised. Our camp site is large and shaded. Just across the road from us is a tiny little pond. The park itself is 600 acres with biking/hiking trails, a water park (closed right now), a dog park, and who knows what else. It goes on and on. They run a comfortable shuttle into town every day (only about 15 minutes away). My only regret is that we won't be here for the Cajun Festival being held on the grounds in two weeks. We will be here until Sunday, however, and now it is time to do the Charleston!