And survived! Lets backtrack to arriving yesterday:
We got there around 10:30...
...and set up the tent.
This is the view from our campsite. We had two small campers parked about 40 feet from us on either side, but neither of them were occupied. V told me that people are allowed to park their campers at the campgrounds from the first day of hunting season, which is sometime in September, and leave them there until the last day of the season in March. So there were quite a few unoccupied campers around the campground.
After we got the tent set up, we relaxed at the campsite for a little bit and then we ate some lunch. After lunch we headed into the woods for a hike.
V got us checked in, and we were on our way! We drove into the woods a bit, and then parked to go for a nice walk.
This here is some hog rooting. They do it with their noses to look for food.
We walked to this sort of open area and sat on a fallen tree for a while. It was so quite out there...I loved it!
There were a few really awesome trees nearby.
Once we sat there for a while, we headed back to the truck to get some water and our chairs to take another walk, opposite of where we went before, and we posted up for the evening.
I don't know why I didn't get a picture of where we were because it was so cool. It was just inside the tree line, on this little island that was full of trees and palmettos. I was planning on taking a nap when we got there because while we were at the truck, reloading, I was so sleepy! But of course, when we got there and I got comfy, I couldn't sleep whatsoever. I tried and tried, but when I closed my eyes, I felt like my hearing multiplied to make up for not being able to see, so I swear I heard every.little.thing that was moving. Whether it was a bush, a leaf falling off a tree, or rain...oh yeah, we got rained on twice while we were on the island. It was a pretty good sprinkle, but since we were in the woods, we were pretty covered. My pants got a tad bit damp, but it wasn't bad at all. Before the sun started to set, we moved back outside of the tree line and posted up to watch the sunset, in hopes of seeing some wildlife moving about as the sun left for the day.
While we were out here, I was super alert. I spotted something moving...hmm...maybe 100 feet away in the trees. I thought it was a turkey, and I told V what I saw. We scoped the area and saw it make a half circle around us, about a good 50+ feet from us, and then it wandered off. It was so exciting! It got my hopes up, so after I saw the turkey, I was really hoping to see something else...without luck. The sun got lower, and we decided to start walking back to the truck. I didn't want to walk in the dark at all.
I saw more spiderwebs out there than I've ever seen in.my.life! Some of them were huuuuuge!
I love when the sky turns pink <3
When we got back to the campsite, I got into the tent to put on my pj's (because it was pretty much dark as shit at like 6:00). While I was in the tent, I blew up the air mattress so we wouldn't have to worry about it later, and V started cooking dinner. And then it started raining...again. For the third time. It didn't last long, but it was enough to get everything wet, including a few spots inside of the tent. When it stopped, I got out of the tent and found V cooking in a poncho. It stayed dry long enough for us to build a fire, enjoy it, and wait for what seemed like forever for the moon to make an appearance before we went to bed.
I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the night. It was so dark and quite (besides the generators running nearby) and I could see more stars than I've ever seen. I looooved that part.
We went to bed just before 9:00 and it wasn't long before V was snoring next to me. It took me quite some time to fall asleep however. Not that I wasn't comfortable, or that I didn't feel safe...I just couldn't go to sleep. I thought I was going to be annoyed by the generators running, but it turns out they were quite comforting (as was V's snoring, hehe). I finally started to fall asleep around what I'm guessing was 11:00 and then it started to rain. I woke up V and told him, but he didn't seem to care, lol. It didn't last long, but it wasn't long before it rained yet again. It proceeded like this, on and off, for maybe an hour or two? Some of our tent was dripping, and I found out in the morning that V's sleeping bag was pretty much soaked at his feet. Our tent is not waterproof. When I finally fell asleep, it wasn't long before I was woken up again, but this time it was from howling coyotes. I'm honestly really glad that I wasn't sleeping hard enough not to hear them because it was so cool. They were in the distance (V said he thinks it sounded like they were near where we posted up on that island), but they howled for quite a few minutes. I nudged V to wake him up so he could hear them too, but he didn't seem too interested because after I told him to listen, and then they stopped, we checked the time (2:36am) and it wasn't 60 seconds before he was asleep again. I, on the other hand, proceeded to lay in the tent and listen to the sounds of nature surrounding me. I'm pretty sure I heard some more coyotes howling, but this time they were waaaaay far away. I would have been able to hear them better, but this asshole somewhere to the left of us was running his generator ALL NIGHT. I feel asleep sometime later, and woke up around 4:00, as did V, and we blew up the air mattress because he said he was practically sleeping on the ground. I finally fell to sleep again, and we got up at 6:00 to drive to a good spot to watch the sunrise.
We sat there for a bit before leaving to drive around some more. We came to a side street that was closed to vehicles during this part of hunting season, so we parked the truck and went for a walk in the fresh morning air.
The street ended at Billy Lake, where there were quite a few canoes and small johnboats that belonged to hunters.
Another spiderweb.
My Sunday morning getup. Leggings under some long johns, a long sleeve shirt with a jacket, a scarf, a hat, my pack of necessities, rainboots, and my orange safety vest that is required of everyone in the woods.
When we got back to the truck, we drove the remainder of Bull Creek and visited the cemetery.
It was pretty creepy, as cemeteries usually are (for me anyways!).
After we left the cemetery, we drove up to the check-in station to check out, and got behind a guy who had just harvested a huge hog. V went over to look at it, and out of curiosity, I went along. The beast was huge. 130 pounds (that's more than me!), long, corse back hair, and a nasty, freshly slit throat. (Yikes) I tried my best to avoid looking at his throat, and examined the rest of him. Big feet, ugly black snout, nappy ass hair, and some big chompers. It was nice to see that someone actually saw something other than a lone turkey!
Once we marveled at the dead beast, we headed back to take down our campsite. V and I both agreed that it was somewhat bittersweet. I kind of wanted to stay for the evening to watch the sunset again, but I wanted to go home more. We headed back around 10:30 and got home, unpacked and showered just before 1:00. We've been home since then and it has been just lovely.
Did I mention at dinnertime last night I got two texts from my mom asking me to call her immediately? Well I did, and she told me that my grandpa was in ICU at the hospital near him because they thought he had a stroke. I'm not really sure what happened (I don't think anyone is), but we do know that he was taking blood thinners and his blood got too thin, causing problems in his brain. He was supposed to go to the doctor to get his blood checked weekly, but hadn't been going. Both my mom and sister went up there earlier today and said he seemed okay, but I just got a text from my cousin and she said that he doesn't seem to be doing very well at all, and that I should probably go visit him. We're going up tomorrow morning. I really hope he comes back from this.
