Redbird Creek

I stepped out of the RV our first morning and saw the sun about to rise. I grabbed my camera and hurried across the campground road, through the small park, and to the pier. As I walked to the pier I saw a painter already at work, and another photographer on his way. Whispering a quiet “good morning” as I walked behind the painter, as not to startle her or disturb her from her work, I walked out the pier. I took photographs but also just watched. Scanning the sky for birds flying by, watching the morning light as it hit the trees behind me, one day catching the full moon before it set.

This remained my morning routine for over a week as we camped at Fort McAllister State Park in Richmond Hill, GA. We chose a campsite facing the creek which we admired on a shorter trip to the area. Usually someone joined me on the pier in welcoming the new day, some days a couple with their camera phone, other times a family heading out fishing, only one day just me.

Perhaps I make it sound too idyllic. The gnats, midges, and various assorted other flying insects plagued those of us there at that time in the morning. The painter had to start a new canvas that first day as the insects embedded themselves in the wet paint on the first canvas as she worked. We all suffered in semi-silence, waving our hands frequently to disperse the cloud of them gathering around our faces. But it was worth it, and wonderful to be traveling again. We made big plans of long trips, staying only a couple of days in each location, hitting the road for thousands of miles as in the stories of our fellow campers, but find we prefer to stay long enough to get to experience an area. So for now our range remains the southeastern U.S.