Ellie Is Home!

Camp Taz came to an end and we all said our "See Ya's" and headed out this morning. It was another special experience with my friends and I think we all came away with new resolution to follow our Weight Watchers program.

Last night, we attended an event called "Tales from the Crypt", which is part of Columbus's annual pilgrimage events. Since I was not raised as a Southern Belle, I am not familiar with this tradition, but as near as I can explain, it is an annual event in many Southern cities which involves celebrating the history of the town. Historic home tours, cemetery history tours and so forth are all part of these traditions. In Columbus, students at the Math and Science High School are assigned a project at the beginning of the school year to research and prepare a presentation about a "resident" of the local cemetery. They audition their script to be included in the Pilgrimage. Only the best presentations are chosen, and those students present their historical skits during this event.

We enjoyed the evening of touring the cemetary to watch and listen and learn from these talented students. Pictured below are Shirley, Sandy, Elaine and me:

One of our usual activities at the camp is going kayaking on Tibbee Creek. This year, however, the rain has swollen the creek so much that we only got out a few times.

This picture of the boat dock and kayak landing give you an idea of the water level. Oh, you can't see the dock or the kayak landing? Well, the railing in the center of the photo is where the steps are. You can't see the actual dock because it's under about 8" of water. There is a kayak landing area just to the right of the railing, but all you can see is the very top of one of the guide poles, if you look carefully.

By yesterday afternoon, we thought the water level was down enough, and the creek flow had slowed enough to go out. So, three of us, Shirley, Sandy, and I, ventured out in the kayaks. Well...we found out that, although the water level did go down, the current was a lot stronger than it looked. We got out into the water and across the channel with little problem. Once across the channel, there is a huge area where the water is very still - usually. Yesterday, we were paddling quite a bit all the time. We went upstream a few hundred yards and then came back across the channel to come back downstream to the dock. That's where it got interesting.

Shirley is the expert at this, since it's her place and her kayaks. She took the lead in getting us back in to the landing, but it was a challenge even for her. She did get in to the landing and managed to catch both Sandy and me without any unfotunate incidents, but it was tricky! Below is the dock, with Shirley on the bottom step, washing her feet off after dragging us back in to the landing. Thanks, Shirley!

Back to today....This morning, once Jim fetched me and we got back to the Allegro Campground (aka Camp Redbay), I met our service tech, Stanley, and his helper, Ricky. Stanley has worked for Tiffin for quite a few years and seems to have a good understanding of what our needs are. His part of our repairs are pretty much finished, but we still have some other issues that other repair sections, like the wood shop, countertop shop, and paint shop, will be involved with.

It was good to get back home to my little family!