North Myrtle Beach Fires

Jim and I went down to our townhouse at North Myrtle Beach on Friday while the big fires were going on. It wasn't that close to us, 5 or 6 miles by the way the crow flies, but none the less scary! They finally opened 31 and 22 so we scooted by there on our way home. Here are a few pics. Some are a tab blurry as I took them while traveling 65 mph!

This is on 31 just north of Barefoot landing. It looks like the fire blew through and didn't totally burn everything.

This is on 31 with homes just north and beyond the fires. I have no idea how many homes were destroyed in this area.



This was on 22 headed to Conway.

On 22 again with burnt trees as far as I could see. So sad.

The fires were still smoldering and there was a lot of smoke on the roadway.

Completely burned out. I saw nothing green here!

Wild Prettiness

My friend Karen (fellow Boy Scout Mom, fellow blogger, and now Book Club pal) blogged about her pretty flowers so it inspired me to post a few pics of random flowers I recently snapped! Actually I was just playing with my new camera!


We found these in the woods along the new housing development behind our beach townhouse. I have no clue what they are!


These were in the bushes at the side of my neighbor's (51A) townhouse. Just across the patio from us. Thanks Julie and Ricardo!

These were just gorgeous blooms that had fallen off the azalea bushes at our townhouse. This pic turned out better than the one I took of them ON the bush!

Flip Flops and Sunscreen and an LL Bean Beach Bag

Just playing with my new Camera. Yeah I know............................random!

Black faced Squirrels

Jim and I were riding our bikes through new neighborhood behind our development at the beach, when a golf cart passed us, then suddenly startled us by making a U-turn, almost causing us to run into each other. He wasn't a serial killer coming to get us, but a nature lover pointing out a squirrel with a black face. I guess we had never paid attention to one or thought it was a raccoon since it was a little bigger than the average grey squirrels we see in North Carolina. We biked home to grab the camera and go back to hopefully find him and get a picture.

Before we even got back t o the same spot, we found two more playing in the road and eventually on the trees. They even let me get pretty close to snap a few pictures. I was almost scared he would run after me! The neighbors say they wait at the golf course for crackers!

The Fire at North Myrtle Beach

The winds changed and on Sunday morning, the air was heavy with acrid smoke. We went to the beach, which was a little better, but the air was foggy and obscured the buildings down the coast





The is the debris from the ash that rained down on the ocean and washed up on the beach!


A black stripe all the way up the beach. Notice how hard it is to see the pier due to the smoke hanging in the air.

After an hour or so the winds changed and blew it all away!

Crooked Bib!

My daughter Jenni pinned her bib onto her running shirt then put in on. It was CROOKED!! Aw just let Mommy do it!


Ready to roll..................er...run!

Proving it to Myself!

Lately I have been on a kick to increase my stamina and rebuild some of the strength that I have lost in the past decade. I started running about 18 months ago and at first could barely run 30 seconds without getting winded. Plus with my asthma, I refuse to let it get the best of me. After finishing the 10K and feeling really good about that, I have set loftier goals! I signed up for a half marathon today! It's the Outerbanks Marathon in November. 13.1 miles...................wow! It's only a little more than double a 10k. If worse came to worse I can walk it in a little over 3 hours.

Well lately, I have wanting to get my bike out and Sunday was a very nice day for that. I had been thinking of biking down Pea Ridge to US 64 and then across the lake to the next stoplight at Wilsonville and then back. It just sounded so-o-o-o-o scary to me. I am not totally sure why! Maybe it was the thought of biking on 64 as the cars whiz by? Maybe it was the thought of being on the road all by myself? Maybe it was the thought of the wind blowing me off the bridge into the water? Maybe it was the thought of the killer hill from the lake to the intersection of US 64 and Mt Gilead/North Pea Ridge Road? It's all uphill for over 2 miles!

So after thinking about a comeback to those thoughts, I decided to do it Sunday on my way home from church............after I washed the car!
The shoulder is actually wider on 64 than North Pea Ridge and I felt safer. I wasn't really on the road all by myself....................plenty of cars whizzed by, plus it WAS daylight. I took my cellphone and had Jim in standby to come get me if I chickened out. The bridge is pretty high and the wind wasn't going to knock me into the lake. Although, I did joke with my brother about having on my inflatable tube and if I got blown in, all I had to do was pull the cord, LOL! The hill was a killer but I geared down and hunkered down and stopped twice between the lake and the stoplight. Yeah, stopping was allowed for a minute or so and a drink of water.

It took me right at an hour to complete the 10.4 miles and the sense of accomplishment was awesome. The view was awesome as it is amazing what you see from the bike. Not to mention how well I slept last night. Yeah I can run/walk 13.1 miles!