With a long weekend facing us, we were off to the swamp for our first camping adventure of 2018.
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| Bright green lily pads set against a backdrop of black water are stunning |
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| A lone blossom on this clump of lily pads |
A starry sky shot from our driveway early Friday morning fueled our desire to capture a beauty in Georgia's International Dark Sky Park, Stephen C. Foster State Park. Much to our disappointment, though, a weather system pushing onto the coast resulted in three nights of thick cloud cover, dashing our dreams of catching the Milky Way on film in the heart of Georgia's Okefenokee. Maybe next time.
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| April 20, 2018, 4:59 AM from Baconton, Georgia; 20 second exposure at 20mm f/5.6 ISO 6400 |
We did awake at 4:30 AM and head out to our chosen spot facing southeast to attempt photos, but that was futile. Facing northward near the park office, the lights of Waycross gave us a single shot of proof that the clouds were, in fact, wreaking havoc on our plans.
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| The Lights of Waycross from Stephen C. Foster State Park; 5:02 AM on April 21, 2018; 30 second exposure at 20mm f/5.0 ISO 12500 |
Together with our camping buddies, John & Becky, we ventured onto the blackwater in search of gators and birds. We were not disappointed here. From Sophie - the queen of the lagoon - and her suitor to her babies sunning along the densely populated lily pad canal to the dozen or more more gators protecting their chosen territories, we got our fill of up close and personal with these reptiles.
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| Sophie checking us out |
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| This guy posed for nearly ten minutes as a boatload of sightseers snapped his picture. |
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| Sunday afternoon sunning along the Suwannee River Sill |
The feathered fowl fishing for dinner, flying low over the swamp, and perching in the trees gave us plenty to photograph. The great egret, snowy egret, blue heron, barred owl and swallow-tailed kite entertained us.
We celebrated night #135 in the SolAire with dinner on the grill, and a few rounds of Rummikub to keep our brains sharp.
The weekend also provided our foursome the opportunity to plan our Summer 2018 camping excursion. Stay tuned.
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| Planning in progress |
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| By the glow of the firepit |
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| A brief break in the cloud cover late Saturday afternoon gave way to this view of the moon. |
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| This friendly guy seemed to like Jamie's sleeve at breakfast. What will he become? |
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| I love the mirror image of these roots. |
