February 14, 2008

Today we decided to take a trip around Lake Moultrie and check out some of the boat landings. The only walking we did was at the fish hatchery. As we walked out onto the beach we spotted someone else. I pulled up my trusty binoculars to have a look. He was carrying a shovel. As soon as he saw us, he went into the woods. And we knew why.

Several years ago Jerry and I were at a small state park walking around looking at the flora and fauna and a small child approached and asked if we were park rangers. We told him “No, we are not”. Because we wear light color clothing and wide brimmed hats he thought we were. We got rid of the kid. We told him where he could find a dead bird.

Another story….somewhere in Texas…near the border. A young couple was having talking with a couple of guys on the other side of the river. Jerry and I pulled up got out of the truck and put on our hats. We talked to the young couple for a few minutes and I noticed a young Mexican kid wading across the river with a bottle. He walked up to me and asked me if I was a ranger. I told him “No”. He looked me in the eyes, tilted his head toward Jerry and said “What about him?”. “No.” The kid turned around and with bottle in hand and left!

My guess is that the person on the beach was there for no good and when he saw us in our hats, he left thinking we might be park ranger looking for looters. If I was a ranger I would have chased him down and whooped his butt! We looked around and found no evidence that he had a chance to stick his shovel into the sand. We might have saved an artifact and changed his mind about digging someplace else.

This a great photo of the exposed roots of a cypress tree. 
 Exposed beach with power plant in the background.

 Two views of Francis Marion's grave.