Thursday, July 24: the photos above show a lighted bridge at sunset, which can be seen and photographed from a vantage point in the Corp of Engineers Park, where we camped during the weekend. More about the bridge, and the geese, later in this blog.
We got up this morning at 6 a.m. and were on the road by 8:30, ahead of the worst heat of the day. As we traveled, we listened to an audio book we'd started on a previous trip: "Circle of Three," by Patricia Gaffney. This is a very good book about the bonds and interconnections among a mother, a daughter, and a grandmother.
Upon finishing that book, which took about an hour, we started another one: "Seize the Night," by Dean Koontz...a typically eerie story from the author.
The trip was uneventful, except for getting a ding in the windshield when an an 18-wheeler rolled past flinging a pebble in its wake. Colorful wildflowers grow along the highway, including an abundance of white and pink evening primrose, orange butterfly weed, cattails, and purple flowers that I wasn't able to absolutely identify...they could be Carolina larkspur, chicory, or rough blazing star. There was also one misplaced hibiscus with two huge, red blooms. Among the trees, there were mimosas sporting pink, fan-like blooms, and in the yards of homes along the way, red, pink, and purple blooming crepe myrtle bushes and trees were putting on a show.
We stopped once for lunch, and then proceeded to the campground. In the afternoon, Hubbie and I ventured to town to tour the grape vineyards. I had hoped to do some snapshots of grape clusters, but the fruit was not yet ready. So we went on to a winery and tasted a couple of samples, particularly an antioxidant deep red, sweet variety that was very tasty. We bought a bottle of this and then went to a roadside fruit stand to buy peaches. We bought a big bag of a locally grown, luscious, free-stone variety for only $5.
From there, we went to a filling station to buy diesel for the truck. Hubbie tried to purchase the fuel with a credit card, but was advised he had to check with the cashier. He did this, and she turned on the computer pump. Hubbie still couldn't get the pump to work, so back to the cashier he went. Oops, she had turned on the wrong pump. This time, Hubbie was able to fill the tank. As he was finishing the task, the cashier came over the intercom to tell him she needed to swipe his card again, since she had entered the info for the wrong pump. Back to the cashier he went, took care of the situation, and we were finally able to head back to camp.
By this time, we were ready to enjoy our supper of sliced cold meatloaf, microwaved baked potatoes, and French style green beans. The evening was July warm, but there was a breeze, so after supper, we sat outside and enjoyed watching the ducks skimming the water toward their roosting grounds, somewhere close to the dam. At one point, a tug boat pushing four barges loaded with lengths of molded steel somethings we were unable to identify, chugged slowly past our campsite, and into the lock located on the opposite side of the small lake.
Around 8 p.m., Hubbie and I went to the far end of the campground, where I set up my camera and tripod to get sunset photos of the bridge shown above, which is listed as one of the sixteen most beautiful bridges in the nation. On the bank across from where I was set up, was a flock of geese, all standing perfectly still and quiet, as if in expectation. After a long while, one of the geese, the leader, I suppose, having received some internal signal, honked loudly and proceeded down the bank and into the water. One by one, the others dutifully followed, and off they all swam toward the bridge.
A young family...dad, mom, and two kids...were fishing off the boat ramp. Dad hooked something that was strong enough to pull him into the water and snap his line. He waded out of the water just as a boat putt-putted to the ramp. The family, and we, took this as our cue to head back to our campsites.
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