Hiking and Fishing

After getting Tyler's PPD results read on the base, the last step for completing Tyler's medical overseas screening required for our move to Bahrain, we had lunch outside at Sonic. We then came home to grab our cameras and then since it was a beautiful sunny day outside, we went to the North Carolina Swamp State Park to go hiking. The trail was the same one Tyler and I went on during our wagon ride in the autumn. They were just then building exhibits along the trail to educate about the local history along the canal. We wanted to see if they had finished building the exhibits.

The first exhibit was to show the local moonshining that took place in the area. The remote location and the access to the water in the canal offered the perfect location for illegal moonshining in the area. We remembered from our wagon ride that the ranger explained to us that if you walk along the canal through the woods that pieces from the operation can still be found. The second exhibit was also finished which showed the type of boat they constructed to be used in the canal. After viewing both exhibits, Steve noticed on the trail map that the trail meets up with a new canal and so we made that our destination point. It was a fantastic hike and we even saw two deer in the woods and lots of animal tracks. It was great getting back on the trail. after our long cold winter we really needed the exercise and fresh air. We hiked a total of 4.4 miles.

After our hike we decided to grill outside to make our outside day complete. While we were grilling, Steve decided to take the helicopter out for a spin around the apartment complex. he got some amazing shots, however as he was landing it the wind picked up and it got caught up in a huge tree. We didn't have any clue how to get it down because it was up so high. Finally, two of our neighbors came by with their kids to take them to the playground and offered to lend a hand. They turned out to be awesome fishermen and they each got their fishing poles out and tried shaking the branch with their lines. Of course, this generated a lot of spectators; people were watching from their balconies, from the sidewalk and even stopped their cars in the road to watch. Finally after about 30 minutes of trying to "fish" the helicopter, they managed to bend the branch enough for it to fall down. Thank goodness!!!