Our cross country part of the trip is over and now we are enjoying some down time with Tammie’s side of the family. We woke this morning with an alarm at 7am for good reason. We are tired, yes, but sleeping in would have wasted the cool hours in the morning when mosquitos and deer flies are less threatening. Aunt Judy joined us, and thankfully showed up with dryer sheets she professed would HELP reduce bug annoyances. Poppy provided us with swat/sweat towels and a jug of ice cold well water. Mimi sent me back to my room to change, since the shorts and flip flops were ridiculously unsuitable for the walk I personally requested. It seems I’ve been citified to the extent that I’ve forgotten how many blackberry bushes and poison oak and ivy plants there are on the hike around the lake.

I’m not sure how long that hike took, but it was sufficient enough to get the boys groaning and moaning that they were hot and ready to go back. If you ask them now if it was worth it though, they are sure to say yes, since picking and eating wild plums and blueberries would be hard for anyone to resist!

After our walk, we drove to Jade of China, my favorite Aiken restaurant, for lunch. To our dismay it was closed, but we were able to eat until stuffed at Eastern Buffet, so it all worked out fine. I was able to get a sushi fix while Colin pigged out on chicken on a stick.

Now on to the subject of Richardson’s Lake. In reality, I guess it’s not really a lake but a nice sized pond. It’s a great swimming hole though, equipped with a very tall water slide, two diving boards, and a fantastic area for the little kids to play. I noticed two teen-age boys there who apparently were supposed to be life guards, but they really only stood around looking at the girls. Every once in awhile you’d hear one whistle but no one ever really knew why. The place was much too crowded so my husband stayed with one of our kids and my dad with the other. We managed to hang out for a couple of hours but the men were worn out from chasing the kids around, since they really had to stay right on top of the kids because it was hard to tell which kid was which! I was useless too, since with my glasses on I couldn’t really swim, and without them I can’t see past the nose on my face!

Tomorrow we are headed to Clark’s Hill, since Stuart and Poppy managed to get the boat running today. Hopefully the adults will be able to enjoy this trip as it will certainly not be as crowded as Richardson’s.