Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Entry: The SC Lunatic Asylum

I forgot to post these a few weeks ago.  These are shots of the old SC Lunatic Asylum in Columbia.  This institution was established ~175 years ago.  You can read the history of the grounds here.

 Sorry...these are all external shots.  Internal photography done by talented individuals can be found here, here, and here.
























Sunday, May 13, 2012

Entry: Camping in the Nantahala National Forest

Sean, Betsy, John, and my self, spent the last three days up in the Nantahala National Forest.  Talk about fun (not to mention a much-needed break from life).


The campsite.  Slightly bigger than last year's.





View Larger Map




My hammock.  It looks like there's a person in it but it's just my twin-sized sleeping bag that LOOK like a person.  We ended up calling it the "bear rape tamale" (because of the bear population and its resemblance to a giant tamale).



My usual throne.



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Betsy caught, yes, actually smiling.



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Reading about bear rape.  



"Bear rape is a real problem in this country.  If you ignore the signs, you could be the next victim."



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I dubbed this the "ol' cursed indian fence". I mean...if there was ever a cursed fence, it'd probably be this one, right?



They take garbage collection at the camp site VERY seriously.



Sean and I debated what would happen if we turned the valve.  I theorized that it fed the executive bathroom in the white  house and thus should probably be left alone.



I like their choice of symbols.  I took this to mean "more difficult calculus ahead" (due to the presence of a sine wave).



Ok...my math was never very good.  We should probably turn back.



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The king on his throne.



Taking a picture of the king on his throne.



The breakfast of champions.



Some of the best chili ever!  (Thanks, Betsy!)



Try to guess what they're doing here.  They aren't looking over a map or some instructions for some random piece of camping gear.  They're watching a WORM crawl across the table.  Boys.



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Bridge of death ahead.



Actually, the bridge of death goes right over the bog of eternal stench.  That's all.



Neat sign.



"Hmmm...left turn... Albuquerque."  

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Beaver den?  That's what the others thought.  I've never seen one, though.

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Dry river bed.  Kinda neat.



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Random John shot.



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Crossing the stream.



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This was a neat area.  It was an intersection of paths in the middle of the forest and of old logging roads (presumably).  

Random creepy stair shot.



"Left turn...maybe right turn?  Man...gotta pee."



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Good shot of Sean and Betsy.



Conquering heroes at the end of the day.