Michelle Graduates

Last week, Michelle graduated from Kennesaw State University! I never realized how big of an accomplishment this was until recently. We originally thought Michelle was graduating Magna Cum Laude, but when they called her name, they announced “Summa Cum Laude.” (That’s a GPA of 3.9 or higher.) Mom said, “Did they say Summa Cum Laude? She’s so smart it’s disgusting.” After the graduation, we all came back to our house for a cookout. It was good to see the family again.

High Falls State Park

We left around lunch time on Friday to go to High Falls State Park in central Georgia. We love to go camping, but haven’t been in months. Before leaving we went to the newly opened REI in town. We purchased a few items for our trip. When we got back to my truck, it wouldn’t start. Though old, my truck always starts right away. We were very worried, reminiscing about one of our other camping trips where the car broke down. (Click here to read about that trip.) Thinking I flooded the engine, we walked to Chick-fil-a for some food. Luckily, the truck started up and we headed out. 

When we arrived we picked out a campsite and set up our tent and hammocks. We spent most of our time on Friday in the hammocks. We cooked hotdogs over the fire for dinner and went to bed.

It was pretty chilly in the morning. Eggs, grits, and hot Tang made a welcoming breakfast. After lounging and napping in the hammocks, we packed lunch and went to the lake. We rented a canoe and set out on the lake. After paddling for a little while we found a nice cove where we ate lunch. While we were eating, a bird flying over the water caught my eye. I watched it land on a fallen tree that was in the water. When it landed, part of the log fell into the water. Then I looked closer and saw that the log was covered in turtles who were sunning. We got as close as we could to them, but they all jumped into the water. We paddled around the edge of the lake and came across a couple more logs with turtles on them. I took these pictures:

After our canoe trip we gathered firewood so we could cook our dinner. We cooked what we call Hobo Dinner. I think I got the name from Dad or the Boy Scouts. It consists of ground beef, corn, peas, carrots, potatoes, green beans, salt, and pepper. Wrap all of the ingredients in aluminum foil and throw it in the fire. We also wrapped a corn on the cob in aluminum foil and tossed it in the fire as well. The Hobo Dinner is one of the best meals ever. Michelle and I always look forward to that meal when we go camping. 

Sunday morning we laid around in the hammocks even more. They’re really comfortable and relaxing, but after a while we started getting restless so we packed up. On the way back we stopped at the Tanger Outlet Mall and a Dairy Queen.

My truck made it all the way there and back without a problem. 

Michelle and I left as soon as I got home on Friday for our Labor Day camping trip. We were heading up I-75 towards our destination when I look in the driver’s side mirror and notice steam coming from the engine. We were going too fast for me to notice it coming from under the hood. That’s when I looked at the thermostat and saw that the engine was overheating. We pulled off onto the shoulder and inspected the problem. I noticed a hose coming out of the radiator had popped off, and that the coolant reservoir was empty. I put the hose back on and refilled the coolant. We sat there a little while so the engine could cool off, but as soon as we started driving again the thermostat shot back up. We pulled off at the next exit and checked the engine again. The coolant reservoir had emptied, so we waited for the engine to cool enough to take the radiator cap off. After filling it up with more coolant we headed back up the interstate. That’s when it happened again. We pulled off at an exit and parked in a motel parking lot. We decided to look under the hood one more time to figure out what was going on. We found a four inch crack in the top of the radiator.

At this point we were half way to our destination.We didn’t know what to do. Should we try to go back, call for a ride, or continue on? We decided to try to turn back. I asked the guy in the motel office if he had any duct tape to put over the crack… anything to try to get home. He didn’t have anything, and there was nothing but the motel in site. We added more coolant and headed back south towards the last exit where there was a Food Lion. As we exited the interstate we noticed a sign saying there was a KOA just a mile down the road. We stopped at the Food Lion in hopes of finding some duct tape; they had none. Since it was already dark, we gave up and went to the KOA. We paid for two nights in the tent area and set up our campsite.

As we were getting ready for bed a truck pulled into the site next to us and a young couple with a two-year-old daughter set up their site. The little girl cried for part of the night, but I slept well regardless. We woke to the sound of the mother in the site next to us saying, “Oh no! Oh no!” When I opened my eyes I realized why. There were ants all over everything. They were in our tent, on our blankets, and all over the campsite. Apparently the entire campground was built on top of a giant anthill. Our neighbors had driven into town and bought some ant spray and offered it to us as well. (I think it was a peace offering for their daughter crying the night before.)

Luckily we had brought our bicycles with us. We rode them into town after breakfast to buy anything we could think of to try to seal the crack in the radiator. We ended up getting some duct tape, super glue, and rubber cement. I applied a generous helping of all three, and left them to sit overnight to cure. To pass the time we swam in the pool, played in the game room, and lounged around. After dinner we went to an ice cream social at the campground office. We actually ended up enjoying our day, even after it started so terribly.

Sunday morning we took down our site and loaded Michelle’s car. We said a quick prayer and headed off. We only got about half a mile before the engine over heated again. I turned to Michelle and said, “It probably just needs more coolant.” I was just trying to be optimistic, but I really didn’t think we would make it home. When I checked the coolant level I found that it really did need some. We got back on the road and drove as fast as we could. I figured at least that way we’d get closer to home before we broke down again. After about ten miles the engine temperature started rising. We pulled off at the next exit to inspect our duct tape job.

We removed the duct tape and added more coolant. We only had 20 more miles to go, so we reapplied super glue and duct tape. After another ten miles the same thing happened. Again we added coolant and reapplied the super glue and duct tape. We actually made it back to our apartment with the car still in one piece. It probably would have cost more to replace the radiator than the car was worth, so we decided to buy some J. B. Weld and muffler tape to make a more permanent fix. The car runs great now, and we saved a lot of money.

As a stated in my last journal, Michelle and I were going to go to Cumberland Island for springbreak. The ride down took all night, but once we got there it was great. The ferry left at 9:45 and we got to the island with our gear around 11:00. On the ride to the island we saw some awesome birds and even a dolphin. After registering with the ranger on the island, we hiked to our campsite down a deserted, but beautiful trail. Most of the island is covered with these amazing oak trees with Spanish moss hanging from them. Our campsite (which for some reason I didn’t get a picture of) was completely enclosed by these trees and meadows of young palm trees. We set up camp, made a quick lunch of Ramen noodles, and set off to explore the island.

The diversity of the island is probably the most amazing thing to me. From the beautiful and strange maritime forests [1|2|3|4|5] we came to the sand dunes [1|2|3|4]. Once we passed through the protected sand dunes on the boardwalk [1|2|3|4], we walked out to the beach. A mile and a half walk south along the beach brought us to one of the marshes. A short walk north on the opposite side of the island brought us to the part of the island where the ruins of the Dungeness lie. There are several run down buildings on the island, but the Dungeness [1|2|3|4] tops them all. All around the island there is amazing wildlife; from armadillos [1|2] to wild horses [1|2|3|4|5] you don’t know what you’ll run into.

We ended up hiking around 5-6 miles the first day, so we hit the tent with the sunset. The next day was spent exploring more. There’s so much to do. We only covered a tenth of the island in our three days. On the last day we watched the sunrise on the beach. We also built a sand castle [1|2|3|4] and saw a dead jelly fish.

I had gotten a cold on the second day, so I wasn’t feeling so great on the way back. Michelle drove, I tried to sleep, but I ended up staying awake the whole time. I did take one picture on the way back of the trucks that were in front of us.

Kent got in on the 8th from Iraq. He was supposed to be there are 7:20 AM, but ended up showing up around 1:00. Since I didn’t know the flight he was on, or what country he was coming in from, I just hung around the airport until he got there. He’s been getting over his jetlag and having fun here since then. I’m taking him to the airport tomorrow so he can go visit with his family. He’ll get back on the 22nd, only to fly back to Iraq on the 24th.

I’ve never liked Myspace. There is nothing about it that is appealing, except for the ability to have a free “website.” Offering such a large free service means that there are ads… tons of ads. Also, many users have incredibly bad taste when it comes to customizing their page. Most end up with a layout that is so obnoxious that you can neither read the text or navigate. I wouldn’t have a Myspace account if is wasn’t for the fact that a lot of my friends have them. Without an account of your own you can’t look at posted pictures or leave a message. I’ve had an account for three years now, and have only posted two blogs. The first one was a link to this website; the second, posted today, told of my hatred of Myspace along with another link to this site.

Spring break officially started for me Wednesday night, due to my lack of Tuesday, Thursday or Friday classes. Since I have an interview with the police department at the end of next week, Michelle and I are going away for a few days starting Sunday. We’ll be spending some quality time at Cumberland Island. It’s a great place to get away from everything. The ferry runs twice a day, and besides the Ranger’s Station, wild horses, armadillos, beavers, and other wild animals there’s really nothing else on the island. It’ll be awesome.

I bought Brian’s old mountain bike that he was no longer using. I love it! I’ve ridden several times every day this week; whether to class or just around the apartment complex (which is much larger than I originally thought). For some reason I’m able to ride around the perimeter of the apartments, which takes me about 30 minutes off the road, and go uphill all of the way. I start off going uphill, and when I get back around to my apartment, I’m still going uphill. It’s like M.C. Escher’s “Ascending Descending”[Click here for more of his amazing creations.] I hope riding so much will help me get into shape. I haven’t done any real exercise since high school, and I found out about a month ago, that I am very out of shape.