Saturday, January 3, 2009

Our last camping trip of 2008

Our last camping trip of 2008 was our graduation camping test: Primitive Camping.
That's when you don't get the basic facilities you find at State Parks camp sites such as bathrooms with hot water, water and electrical hook ups at your site. This last camping in 2008 was also our first primitive camping, at least for me.

This camping trip was very impromptu and our hardest, but we were greatly rewarded. First of, our pump for the air mattress burned out before we could get any amount of air in. Then we had to run off animals we couldn't see away from our camp site at night. I did that stupid job and it was fun and dumb. What if the animal attacked me? I couldn't see what I was trying to scare off with a flashlight in the woods. It could be an armadillo, it could be a bobcat. May be a deer. It meant no harm; we were in his territory. He was just curious and interested by his visitors, us. Next time, I'll leave the poor thing alone.

For the first time, we were all by ourselves. No other campers around. The night was quiet and peaceful. Sure we had to bring our own portable toilet but it was all worth it. Actually, I can't wait to go back. It makes you feel young and adventurous again. Let's go camp in the woods!!!

Our big reward? The most beautiful night sky you've ever seen in your life. Period! Debbie woke me up because an animal was walking by the tent. The flashlight run him off. (Not the same animal I chased in the wood earlier before we went to bed). Then I said "I need to go pee". Of course, Debbie needed to do the same. We've been drinking together you know. We stepped out of the tent and...WOW, the night sky! Clear sky, totally full of stars that are bright like you wouldn't believe. I couldn't imagine the night sky could be so lit up with so many stars as BRIGHT as they were. I now wished I took a picture of it.

P.S. Please, do click on the collage pictures above I've made just for you so you can see something. Otherwise the pictures are just too small.

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Christmas at Jean-Luc and Phoebe

We were invited by my brother Jean-Luc and his wife Phoebe this past Christmas.

Jean-Luc and Phoebe have a nice home in the suburbs of Atlanta, in the northern part of Gwinnett County.

Esther and her family were there. It was nice to see them again.

The Palmers (Phoebe's parents) are a regular at their Xmas parties. They live in Florida and they are from Jamaica so we always get to eat some good Jamaican food at the party.

The afternoon went well with some singing and games after a very nice meal.



It's nice when Kelly and Leah get to see their cousins. This time, it was just Ashley and Bradley. Jacques and his family were vacationing in Florida and John and Frida are in Togo.






It's interesting that after spending time birding this year, we became atuned to bird calls wherever we go. Debbie and I got up a couple of times to check through the windows to see which birds were singing. All of a sudden we seem to be aware of birds around us.


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