We spent last Saturday planting a Butterfly Garden for Sophia. She asked for the garden, but didn't realize that grandma would expect her to get in the dirt and help. I think she intended to supervise while we worked...NOT! It took her a little bit to get over dirty hands, but in the end she got "muckey" with the rest of us. We had a small skipper come by and sample the flowers...very exciting! 
Bunny searches for the Peppermint Beetle
Loaded for Bear!
Neighbors
I've got to sit down and visit the "Blog" for a minute. I'm off to camp in the State Forest with my Girl Scout Troop and I was treated to a wonderful memory this morning. The weather is supposed to be in the high 30's to low 40's at night, so I'm dragging out all my blankets and warm clothes. I'm even going to wear real shoes! I just pulled a quilt off the shelf that made me remember a trip about 7 or 8 years ago that we took over New Years. We went to Caloosahatchee Regional Park. It was the coldest camping experience I'd ever had...low 20's overnight! Bill's Aunt Trudy brought her grand kids out to visit for the day and they begged to stay the night. Aunt Trudy proceeded to go home, pack up the tent and blankets and bring the kids on out. We covered the ceiling vents with blankets, drank lots of coffee and hot chocolate and had a ball! On that day Trudy gained my undying respect and admiration. Last year Trudy gave me a quilt that she used on that trip. It's going to camp with me this weekend. It sure made me smile!
Shy and I had a great day out geocaching with WizardNco in Nokomis, Laurel and Venice. Our first target advertised that it required a "spindly 12 year old" and Wormie fit the bill. Check Out Girlz Rule #2 cache. Dragon found Down by the bay but couldn't reach it...LOL! I had the opportunity to "multi-task" and visited and logged waymarks along the way. The "Just Ducky" amphibious vehicle was too cool to pass up! It's actually a Vietnam Era LARC-V. We found a total of 11 caches and then took time for a swim at Venice Beach.
All 3 were approved today! Gasparilla Island #2, Uncle Remus Museum and Centennial Park. This is by far one of my favorite categories and I Love the challenge of trying to find 7 waymarks in a 1/2 mile radius. My highest tally so far is 22 for the Lucky 7 at Lee Memorial Hospital. 11 waymarks in 1/10 of a mile.
On our way up to South Carolina, we pulled into this tiny little town in search of a park to stop at for lunch. We were pleasantly suprised to find a nice a park to with a great Veterans Memorial, A Caboose and a Lucky 7. We had a quick lunch and then visited the Memorial and the caboose and visited and created some waymarks. If you visit here mind your speed. The city has received national attention and earned the ominous distinction of being one of only two official speed traps designated by the American Automobile Association, due to the strict enforcement of the local speed limit on U.S. Route 301 as it cuts through town.
Wow! This one was a challenge! There are only 4 sites online that give only a brief mention to this little Spring. One tells a ghost story about a "rider" who is picked up along Hwy 107 and asks to be dropped off here. Another is a guide book called Scenic Driving South Carolina, that wrongly states that this is an artesian well. It also says there is a picnic area here. IT IS INCORRECT! IT IS A SPRING and there is NO PICNIC AREA. The original submission for this waymark was declined for lack of information and based on the misinformed guide book. I was frustrated because to my way of thinking, If it was a well they would have named it "Moody Well." I ended up contacting a Mr. Mitchell at the SC Dept. of Natural Resources for information. I hit the jack-pot! This gentleman has conducted a state wide Spring survey that included Moody Spring. He was more then willing to help and gave me information about the flow rate as well. Moody Spring is now an approved waymark! Thanks Mr. Mitchell! We stopped here while we were in SC on vacation. It was part of our "Caravan Tour"
I'm so excited to have been able to waymark the Wayne-Gordon House in Savannah. When we visited, "The Birthplace" was already marked in several other categories. I visited those and moved on. Then I ran into a ghost story about the property and was able to post the house and it's story in the ghosts and hauntings category. What A Thrill for this Girl Scout!
Caesar's Head State Park includes this amazing overlook of the Blue Ridge Escarpment. I was able to visit and post waymarks here and log my first Earth Cache! I've been after that icon for quite awhile! Visit The Earth Cache Blue Ridge Escarpment. Bill and the kids took the stairs down into Devil's Kitchen while Uncle Kim and I took the back way in. You can view the whole area and get an upclose view with the coin operated binoculars. Our Florida flatland kids were so fascinated by the mountains! It was fun to watch them take in the sights and hear the Oohs and Ahhs! 
This beautiful waterfall is located at The Stumphouse Tunnel Complex in Walhalla, SC. It was the second stop on our "Caravan Tour." Thank you Lisa for leading the way! There is a trail that goes all the way down to the base of the falls but since we'd been beating Kim up for several days already, we decided not to try it.Since I'm playing around in the video folder, I ran across this video that Bill got from one of the guys in his bike club. I almost fell out of my chair laughing! This is one of the best emails I ever recieved!
This is the video that we have put together of pictures from "The Gathering" in South Carolina. We had a great time waymarking and sightseeing, but this is the real reason we went up. Please post a comment and let us know what you think. Once it's finished there will be CD copies in the mail for everyone!
"Caravan Day!" We loaded 18 people in 3 vehicles, with kids over 15 in the back of the pick-up and Bill on the bike and went sightseeing up around Walhalla, SC. Randy and Uncle Kim had fun checking out the bats inside the tunnel and Randy got some great pictures. I got to visit the waymarks here and learn a bit about the history of this really cool place. 
It was great to see all of Bill's Aunts and Uncles together for Easter. The only 1 of the 7 siblings that didn't make it was Uncle Ron. By the time you add in the nieces, nephews and cousins, they'e a huge bunch! It took me all week to remember everyones names. 
We rode through the experimental forest http://www.clemson.edu/cafls/departments/forestry/cef/ and had a great time taking in the sights and learning about the forest. The Clemson Experimental Forest's 17,500 acres are dedicated to education, research and demonstration in order to better understand and manage forest resources for the benefit of society. I got to visit a few waymarks here and the kids had fun taking turns riding with Uncle Kim.
