I Walked to Florida and Back Today

Wednesday, 22 May
Eastbank COE Campground — Bainbridge, Georgia
Temps: Lo 70F / Hi 93F (21C / 34C)

Although I am managing to process and upload photos, and post to the blog periodically,
our internet connection here is very much hit and miss … miss most of the time.
Reading the blogs I follow is going to have to wait for a while, I’m afraid.

Leaving Mui to work on his project, I took off to find the trailhead to the Jim Woodruff Dam.  Little did I know then that I would be walking to Florida and back.  Turns out that the state line for Georgia/Florida is about halfway up the access road to the dam — about 7/10th of a mile (~1 km) from the campground via a short, but rather steep trail that starts behind Loop C, runs through a heavily wooded area, and connects to the paved road.

Double–crested cormorant                                                                     

Once I was on the access road, it took me forever to walk the short distance to the fishing platform behind the dam.  Not that it was a difficult walk, I just made frequent stops to watch a couple of loons and a lone double-crested cormorant fishing on Lake Seminole.  A heron perched briefly on a distant log bobbing on the water, but it took off before I could ID it, let alone take a photograph of it.  There were a lot of swallows flying about; and even more when I made my way along the powerhouse perimeter fence and down the stairs to the fishing platform.  Apparently, these small birds are nesting in the nooks and crannies of the walls of the dam.  They didn’t stop flying for even a second, though, so no photos.

Common Loon

I wasn’t looking forward to climbing the steep hill up to the trailhead once I made my way back across the access road.  Remembering that one of the hosts had mentioned a pedestrian gate next to the locked fence at the back of the campground, I decided to check it out.  Not only was it an easier way to get back home, but I was rewarded with a hawk perched on said gate who kindly waited for me to take a photo before flying off into the woods.

Couldn’t say what kind of a hawk, but it is a hawk.

Mui was well into his project by the time I returned home.  After taking care of a few things around the Phaeton, I sat down to process photos from today.  That’s when I was interrupted by an eastern kingbird who flew in and perched on the grill.  Not wanting to scare it off, I watched it from the driver’s seat in the cockpit for a while, even managing a pretty good shot of it through the glass.

Eastern Kingbird

The highlight of the day was spending time with the family of Canada geese that consider our site as theirs.  They’d been by throughout the day, stopping to munch on grass before leaving for parts unknown, but came back and stuck around for a while as I sat in the shade of the trees where a welcome breeze allowed me to enjoy reading by the lake.  When Mui approached, they hissed a warning, but let him join the party too.

I’m not usually so enthralled with Canada geese, but I love watching the goslings.  If they are on the site when we return from our morning walks, they come running to greet us with their wings flapping.  Momma and Poppa stand on the sidelines, and except for a hiss or two, don’t seem to mind the enthusiasm of the goslings.  I hope this doesn’t mean that former occupants of the site have fed them; that would be a no-no.

I took some video, which Mui kindly edited for me … it’s 44 seconds long.

I need to remember more often that the camera takes video as well as still shots.

I’m including some still shots too so that those with limited bandwidth don’t miss out ;-)

With Mui busy inside the coach, my only recourse is to include my knees in the shot
to show the proximity of the Canada geese family to where I am sitting.

When Mui shows up with his camera, the family run over to him for their photo op …

… before taking off for ...
(Yeah, the perfect “The end,” but I have sunset photos to share.)

… an afternoon swim on Lake Seminole.

The Canada geese that visit us daily aren’t the only ones in and around the campground, but this pair is the only one that has a family.

The family wasn’t alone in their desire for an afternoon swim …
their cousins were swimming also, but they kept their distance.

Late in the afternoon, Mui and I went for a drive over to the dam.  Our purpose was two-fold,  First, to check out the paved road that runs below the access road to see how far it continued — turns out, not far.  Second, to check out the dam from the overlook in Florida.  While at it, we drove around Chattahoochee, the town that is nearest to the campground.  Didn’t take us long to do that; it’s a small town with not much going for it.  I did find a mural; will need to go back one morning to photograph it in softer light.

From Wikipedia: The Jim Woodruff Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Apalachicola River,
about 1,000 feet (300 m) south of that river's origin at the confluence of the Flint and
Chattahoochee Rivers.  The dam impounds Lake Seminole on the common border of Florida
and Georgia.  The dam is named in honor of James W. Woodruff, Sr., a Georgia businessman
who spearheaded the development of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Project.

Left: View of the dam from the overlook in Florida.
Top Right: zoomed in View of the dam from our site.
Bottom Right: From the fishing platform at the dam.

As you can tell from this post … there’s nothing exciting going on with us.  But I do have some exciting sunset colors with which to end this post.  I was all set not to take sunset photos tonight since the view doesn’t really change.  But the sky clouded up a bit and that changed the colors and textures, so I once again found myself clicking the shutter at the edge of Lake Seminole.

Wishing everyone a colorful evening where ever your are.