Sunday, January 2, 2011
The top picture is of the Cooley girls, Maggie and Caroline, from Fort Mill, SC. They and their parents were returning from vacation on New Year's Day, and came through Aiken to try to find the walkingman. They picked up his trail west of Aiken, found some people who had seen him passing through, but soon the trail went cold. It might be easier to track down Santa than find the walkingman when he's on the move. But, nice try girls.
Last evening was nice and relaxing. As usual when inside, I stayed up too late working on email, the blog, etc. Rufus Ford, GM of the Selma Hampton Inn called to talk a while and check on my progress. I also was able to talk to his daughter for a while.......I didn't meet her when in Selma. When I finally did go to bed, was asleep almost immediately. The wake up call came at 6, much too soon, but by 730 I was walking out the door. Elizabeth had fixed me a lunch to take along, so that was nice. I'll be coming back here this evening to spend another night, so was able to leave the cart at home and only carry a small bag of essentials. The goal today is just get some miles in toward Orangeburg.
The second instruction on the Google directions was incorrect! Google completely left out 2 streets which I needed to walk to get to their 2nd instruction. Think next time I'll use Mapquest. But, I figured it out and soon was heading out of town. Although it rained all last night, it had stopped except for a light mist. It was cloudy, but already warm, and I shed the sweatshirt within a mile or so. Just outside town there is a large Owens- Corning Fiberglas plant. As I walked along I found a wallet beside the road with some identification, so going to try to find the owner when I get back to Aiken. I'm walking Hwy 302 / 4 this morning......it's 2 lane, no shoulder, little traffic. Without the cart, not having a shoulder is not a big problem. I passed several cotton fields, not huge like out west, but nice size fields.
I stopped around noon to have lunch........and sat under one of the most beautiful and amazing trees I have seen. I think it's some type of oak, with several trunks, all branching out from low along the ground. My first thought was of the grandchildren......they would spend days climbing in this tree. Around 2pm or so, a breeze from the southwest began to blow, and I stood and watched as the clouds moved away and the sky cleared. This whole area is mostly horse ranches and training centers. I saw many people out riding, and some taking lessons. A car pulled ahead of me and stopped, and a guy got out with a bag of something. He had seen me walking on his way to church this morning, after church had gone to a restaurant to get lunch for his mother, and decided to bring lunch to me also. Lunch was bar-b-que chicken, mac and cheese, greens, corn muffins, and banana pudding.
The man introduced himself as Wells Holland, an engineering graduate of the Citadel in 1983. Wells also played basketball at the Citadel, and competed in the North-South Classics back when Furman and the Citadel played UNC and NCSU in Charlotte (do they still have these?) He played against Michael Jordan, James Worthy, etc. BTW: Wells is 6' 7", so a pretty imposing figure. He's from the Aiken area. We talked a while, he went on his way, and I ate a 2nd lunch. After lunch i was walking along and found a stethoscope......maybe the most unusual find so far. It appeared to be a high quality instrument, and almost new. I no longer question how things get out alongside the road.....I've seen most everything.
I can verify the existence of at least one bobcat in SC......unfortunately he came too close to the road. I also crossed the S. Edisto River.......I worked with a guy who always talked about Edisto river, but not sure it was this part. I also passed by some marshy or swamp land. I love to see that, it's always beautiful. As I walked further, saw something moving out of the corner of my eye, and there was a turkey walking along the other side of the road. Not a wild turkey, but a big white one. It'll be on some one's table if it doesn't get away from the road. I also had a call from the Cooley's from Fort Mill.......they are coming out tomorrow and try to locate me along the road. Will they be more successful this time.......or will the trail go cold again?
Around 4pm, I called Elizabeth and told them by the time they got to my location I would be ready to call it a day, In 30 minutes or so, Elizabeth arrived to take me back to their house. She drove through downtown Aiken to show me that area........very attractive and most buildings appeared to be occupied. In another couple of hours we were sitting down to a nice dinner and socializing. A great day, but tomorrow it's back to the real world for the walkingman.
About the pictures:
Maggie and Caroline, daughters of Kevin and Amy Cooley of Fort Mill, SC;
A great climbing tree.
The top picture is of the Cooley girls, Maggie and Caroline, from Fort Mill, SC. They and their parents were returning from vacation on New Year's Day, and came through Aiken to try to find the walkingman. They picked up his trail west of Aiken, found some people who had seen him passing through, but soon the trail went cold. It might be easier to track down Santa than find the walkingman when he's on the move. But, nice try girls.
Last evening was nice and relaxing. As usual when inside, I stayed up too late working on email, the blog, etc. Rufus Ford, GM of the Selma Hampton Inn called to talk a while and check on my progress. I also was able to talk to his daughter for a while.......I didn't meet her when in Selma. When I finally did go to bed, was asleep almost immediately. The wake up call came at 6, much too soon, but by 730 I was walking out the door. Elizabeth had fixed me a lunch to take along, so that was nice. I'll be coming back here this evening to spend another night, so was able to leave the cart at home and only carry a small bag of essentials. The goal today is just get some miles in toward Orangeburg.
The second instruction on the Google directions was incorrect! Google completely left out 2 streets which I needed to walk to get to their 2nd instruction. Think next time I'll use Mapquest. But, I figured it out and soon was heading out of town. Although it rained all last night, it had stopped except for a light mist. It was cloudy, but already warm, and I shed the sweatshirt within a mile or so. Just outside town there is a large Owens- Corning Fiberglas plant. As I walked along I found a wallet beside the road with some identification, so going to try to find the owner when I get back to Aiken. I'm walking Hwy 302 / 4 this morning......it's 2 lane, no shoulder, little traffic. Without the cart, not having a shoulder is not a big problem. I passed several cotton fields, not huge like out west, but nice size fields.
I stopped around noon to have lunch........and sat under one of the most beautiful and amazing trees I have seen. I think it's some type of oak, with several trunks, all branching out from low along the ground. My first thought was of the grandchildren......they would spend days climbing in this tree. Around 2pm or so, a breeze from the southwest began to blow, and I stood and watched as the clouds moved away and the sky cleared. This whole area is mostly horse ranches and training centers. I saw many people out riding, and some taking lessons. A car pulled ahead of me and stopped, and a guy got out with a bag of something. He had seen me walking on his way to church this morning, after church had gone to a restaurant to get lunch for his mother, and decided to bring lunch to me also. Lunch was bar-b-que chicken, mac and cheese, greens, corn muffins, and banana pudding.
The man introduced himself as Wells Holland, an engineering graduate of the Citadel in 1983. Wells also played basketball at the Citadel, and competed in the North-South Classics back when Furman and the Citadel played UNC and NCSU in Charlotte (do they still have these?) He played against Michael Jordan, James Worthy, etc. BTW: Wells is 6' 7", so a pretty imposing figure. He's from the Aiken area. We talked a while, he went on his way, and I ate a 2nd lunch. After lunch i was walking along and found a stethoscope......maybe the most unusual find so far. It appeared to be a high quality instrument, and almost new. I no longer question how things get out alongside the road.....I've seen most everything.
I can verify the existence of at least one bobcat in SC......unfortunately he came too close to the road. I also crossed the S. Edisto River.......I worked with a guy who always talked about Edisto river, but not sure it was this part. I also passed by some marshy or swamp land. I love to see that, it's always beautiful. As I walked further, saw something moving out of the corner of my eye, and there was a turkey walking along the other side of the road. Not a wild turkey, but a big white one. It'll be on some one's table if it doesn't get away from the road. I also had a call from the Cooley's from Fort Mill.......they are coming out tomorrow and try to locate me along the road. Will they be more successful this time.......or will the trail go cold again?
Around 4pm, I called Elizabeth and told them by the time they got to my location I would be ready to call it a day, In 30 minutes or so, Elizabeth arrived to take me back to their house. She drove through downtown Aiken to show me that area........very attractive and most buildings appeared to be occupied. In another couple of hours we were sitting down to a nice dinner and socializing. A great day, but tomorrow it's back to the real world for the walkingman.
About the pictures:
Maggie and Caroline, daughters of Kevin and Amy Cooley of Fort Mill, SC;
A great climbing tree.
The tree is truly awesome! (I have a passion for these kind of trees - we have a lot of them here in Florida). And the Cooley girls? Well that pic is just too dang cute!!!
ReplyDeleteThe tree looks like a live oak. We have one on the MS coast that has a deck built on branches like these and even weddings are performed there. They are beautiful trees and shed in the spring.
ReplyDeleteMS Beaver
Hi Jeff, These Live Oaks are, I Think, The most beautiful of God's Creation. The Old Southern Plantations are covered with these and were planted as Landscapes. They live several hundred years, until man destroys them !! What a pity ! The Texas Hill country is covered with these but are a smaller variety. Everything is bigger in Texas except the Live Oaks- grin..
ReplyDeleteSure hope you miss these 24 degree mornings like here in Monroe. Next few days will be warming to a more normal pattern so hope you are blessed with some of this.
Love the Pictures, hope you write a book on your travels "with Pictures". I reckon it's kind of hard to write and walk- (grin) ?
Take care, Mick
URL to Boone Hall Plantation, Charleston , SC.
ReplyDeleteCopy and paste URL and enjoy the Live Oaks
http://boonehallplantation.com/
Mick
merry christmas and happy new years. i cant beleive u r almost here. god bless u and be safe out there
ReplyDeleteFind the affordable Horse Ranches, Farms, Properties, Lands and Real Estate for sale in Weatherford, Palo Pinto, Parker, Texas at Coalson.com.
ReplyDelete