My father's visit and my trip with my mom to the range and the swamp

My dad drove up to Waycross from Tampa on Friday. That in itself is a long drive; the last time I did it, I took an hour and a half nap in my car in a rest area. But he didn't just drive any old thing, he drove up in his new Harley. I can't imagine seven hours one way on a motorcycle, although perhaps that's why I drive an Echo. The two little boys who live next door for me, and who are usually completely fascinated by me and everything I do were overwhelmed with interest in my dad and his motorcycle:

I feel bad for these kids. They are so sweet and super cute, but I don't think anyone pays any attention to them whatsoever. Their family is incredibly poor, and the mom seems much more interested in her boyfriends (she has at least two) than in her three kids (she has a toddler, too). The kid on the right has some kind of speech defect and/or learning disability, but I suspect nothing is being done about it. We asked if they had a football, but all they had was a flat basketball, so later when we went to Wal-Mart, my dad bought a football for me to give them for Christmas.

Here I am trying to look like a kickass biker chick...
Instead I just look crazy.

While most of my cats were totally freaked out by the arrival of A Strange Person in their house, Alley Cat, Daddy Cat and Mia (!) all seemed to enjoy his company:

Dad and Alley Cat

Dad, Daddy Cat and Alley Cat

Dad and Mia!

I wish I'd had my camera out... Daddy Cat tried to go out the cat door and GOT STUCK! His ass is too big to fit through the cat door. It was like Winnie the Pooh trying unsuccessfully to leave Rabbit's house; his rear was bulging and his little legs were just kicking in the air. Poor guy. It was totally the funniest thing I'd seen in a long while.


We went out to mom's land, and found a deer jaw!
Just like old times :-)

Dad left this morning to make that long drive back down to Tampa, and then my mom came and picked me up to take me to the shooting range. She has a Taurus 22 Magnum Revolver, which she hasn't had much of an opportunity to shoot. A coworker of hers and his wife go to the shooting range regularly, and they invited us to go along with them, so they could help mom get used to using her gun. That gun has as opposite of a hair trigger as you can get - I could barely fire it! Anyway, I took a TON of photographs, as usual. Three are below, but the entire set can be viewed by clicking here.

Ear plugs are a necessity!

Mom shoots!

Mom's coworker brought quite a few guns.

After leaving the range, we decided that since it was such a beautiful day (and crazy uncharacteristically warm for December - even this far south), we decided to go try to find Hopkins. Hopkins used to be a small community located on the north-western edge of the Okefenokee Swamp. It no longer exists, although we've been told that there are still remains which can be found. We'd tried to go out there last month, but the roads were too muddy for either of our little cars. The roads were definitely drier and passable today, but we did have some trouble finding the road we needed, Old Hopkins Road. Instead of a street sign, there was a paper plate tacked to a power-pole with the road's name written on it in marker. And of course, the first time it rained, that plate folded itself in half. We did, however, successfully find the road. Then we managed to get completely lost in the midst of the woodlands bordering the Okefenokee National Wildlife Reserve. The first road we tried (which turned out to be Old Hopkins Road) descended into a swampy area that we figured we probably shouldn't drive the Ford Escort into. After that, we drove down an innumerable succession of small dirt road through the woods. The lands bordering the wildlife reserve are all owned by hunting clubs, and eventually we stumbled upon a hunting party - a crew of rednecks straight out of the cast of Deliverance, but very friendly - who gave us nearly incomprehensible directions for how to get back out to a paved road. We never did find Hopkins.

Mom examines the "road sign" for Old Hopkins Road


This was where we stopped driving, for obvious reasons.


It was the middle of nowhere!
(The figure in the distance is my mom.)


The edge of the Okefenokee!

We saw this along the paved highway on our way back to Waycross: