Angel Bus

     A few posts ago I posted a picture of what I thought was an immature blue heron.  He was a brighter blue and half the size of the great blue heron.  If you saw the comment, Ann Dunn pointed out that is was not a small blue heron but actually a different species called the "Little Blue Heron".  Well, guess what?  Yesterday morning there was indeed an immature great blue heron perched on the very top of our magnolia tree.  I know that's what it was because I sent the pictures to Ann.

          Ironically, while I was taking the pictures, the original little blue heron was sitting on the top of the bird house much to the consternation of the pair of eastern bluebirds who are in the process of redecorating the interior of said bird house.  
     Tomorrow evening I'll take the bus up to Gaffney for its annual "M2" maintenance series.  Did you know that the crankcase holds 26(!) quarts of oil?
    Today I had been scheduled to run a mission for Angel Bus www.angel-bus.org.  This is a wonderful outfit that takes advantage of the resources and generosity of motor home owners to transport patients to/from medical appointments.  Often times the patient needs the services of specialists not available locally, and the patient's health and public transportation do not permit normal travel.  A motor home with its bed, refrigerator for medications, AC for medical accessories, and room for additional care givers can provide an ideal solution.  I had volunteered once before, but other drivers were available.  I had been looking forward to my first mission today to transport a cancer patient from Lexington, SC to Hilton Head, SC and back.  This mission did not require a motorhome, so I was going to use the Jeep.  I was in the process of printing out some maps when Jim Smith, the president of Angel Bus called to say that the patient had been admitted to a hospital and the mission was cancelled.  I mention this organization because I know there are some motorhomers who read this blog that might not know about the organization.  Use the link, above, for more information.

Edisto Beach

     Today was a pretty spring day with nothing on the calendar, so Durelle suggested we drive down to Edisto Beach to have lunch and walk the beach.   So we did.  Let me ask.  If you were to go for a short, non-interstate cruise on a cloudless day, would you choose an old Corvette with the top off or a Jeep?  Well she didn't...oh well.  The first picture is taken on route 174 into Edisto.  Note the live oaks festooned with Spanish moss and their proximity to the road surface.

     Here's another shot of the Spanish moss and one of a typical expanse of low country salt marsh.

     This was spring break, but, still, the beach was not crowded.  There were several dozen folks, but I saw no one go beyond knee deep in the water.  I guess the water is still cool.  All of the beach properties are on stilts.  We have been there when the highway was covered with drifting sand from a storm.  There is a State Park there where we camped with the Bounder ten to twelve years ago.  We spent a Thanksgiving there.
     Here are a couple of shots taken along the beach which show that the beach properties are really right on the beach.

     I missed a nice shot of a cruising pelican so the requisite bird picture is a rather pedestrian sandpiper tip-toeing through the surf.

     We had lunch at the Pavillion.  We both had Po'Boys; she had shrimp while I had oysters.  Edisto is only slightly more than an hour away, so it made for a very pleasant getaway drive even without the Corvette.