The map shows our 1,300-mile journey. For the most part the weather was excellent, the traffic so-so, road work minimal, and road quality ranged from good to not-so-much.

Winchester Stop
One highlight of our trip was seeing Jan’s aunt and uncle who live in a beautiful mountain home outside of Winchester, Virginia. While there, we took the pups for a great walk at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. On their property we checked out this old farm silo renovated with some cool art.



Wilmington Stayover
Another highlight was seeing our two favorite nieces in Wilmington, North Carolina. Gorgeous, intelligent, and quite successful young women!

Spooky Campground
Here are our neighbors at the campground we stayed at in Walterboro, South Carolina.



Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is our new stomping ground for the next several months where we are volunteering.

Wow! Is this an amazing place. The refuge is 402,000 acres, of which 354,000 of those acres are designated as wilderness. A wilderness designation means it receives special protection. Of course, Okefenokee is famous for the Okefenokee Swamp that covers 700 square miles.

Within our first 24 hours here, we were reading from the book of endangered species. We saw an indigo snake, four gopher tortoises, and a dozen or more red cockaded woodpeckers (RCWs)!

Here is a photo of a handsome gopher tortoise and a gorgeous RCW.







The lilies are in their last few weeks.



Here is an orb weaver from a distance and the same orb weaver up close.





Of course, if you visit a swamp you need to have at least one gator photo.



Finally, here is a photo of a striking blue dasher dragonfly and a red-shouldered hawk.





See you next time with more from the swamp.

Tags: Winchester, Virginia, Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Okefenokee Swamp, Nature Photography, Wildlife photography, Bird photography