Blogs from South Carolina, United States, North America - page 8

Today was one of those glorious mornings where you get to sleep in until 7am and roll out of your sleeping bag and not have to roll that & your thermarest up! Not only that, but we were all pumped for our first traditional build day with the weather in our favor! We ate some of the 70lbs of DMed day-old bagels from Panera (way to go Noah!) and there was plenty of left over fruit from dinner and bananas from Whole Foods so we ate well before working in the sun all day. NJ presented town facts for Jame’s Island while we ate and then we bid Ryan farewell as we loaded up the 15P and set out for our build. Sea Island Habitat is the third oldest Habitat in world! It’s the third bc ... read more

Tired. Wet. Sore. Dirty. Strong. Alive. Happy. Push. Help. Carry. Cheer. Have you ever been so exhausted and dirty and yet so happy? This is Bike & Build life and I wouldn’t trade it for the world! Quite honestly there is nowhere else I would rather be right now. And I am so so thankful to be here. ******************************************* Today started out by hearing NJ shuffle around and turn on music rather than the usual multiple alarms going off. Already 6:07, I pack my things quickly and got to the trailer to help pack up everyone’s bags. With only 17 bags (or bins!) it goes fairly quickly, except for when the bags people are more efficient at bringing out their bags in a timely fashion than the bins folks. But alas, 17 bags or bins vs ... read more

Well, my second day "on the trail" started out just fine. I woke up around 6:30am, having slept most of the night (minus one bout of leg cramps), feeling... okay. After my morning ablutions, I walked up to the Park Office to see what time they opened. I found out they opened at 9am, so I figured I could get everything packed up and ready to go about then, so I could have a honey bun and a fresh cup of real coffee, versus the instant I'd been making. I took down and stored my tent, air bed, sleep sack, then repacked my backpack. After yesterday, I'd already pretty much decided not to do the third day, since it was the longest, and had almost no place to stop along the way. I hoisted my backpack, ... read more

Those of you who follow my blog know that I hiked the Camino d's Santiago last fall... all 800 plus kilometers of it. Well, I still seem to have hiking on my mind. I've been considering hiking the Palmetto Trail across South Carolina , about 380 miles or so. The distance doesn't bother me, but I'm not sure if I want to do the camping that comes with it, so, I am doing a 3-day, 2-night trial hike, starting tomorrow. I'll be walking from downtown Walhalla to Oconee State Park, mostly along a small road.. I'll be taking some photos and hope to post a blog tomorrow night. Wish me luck.... read more

Growing up in Charleston, one becomes accustomed to various airborne effluents that shape in a visceral way your feel of the city. In my youth, we knew that if the wind blew from the north we would smell the paper plant in North Charleston, an aroma which must be experienced rather than described. My high school driving instructor, whose husband worked at the plant, said it smelled like bacon and eggs to her. The MeadWestVaCo plants is still there today, and still perfumes the air with what my father would have called the sweet attar of roses. In the right sun, viewed from the water or the nearby I-526 bridge, the glass front along the Ashley River reflects glints of light from wavelets in the river, putting on an almost psychedelic show. Today, the smell of ... read more