Position: N 30 46.005 W 081 28.307
Location: Cumberland Island, GA
We are often asked why we don't have more pictures on our blog. Perhaps we can help you understand....
We arrive in Cumberland Island, one of our favorite spots on the Eastern seaboard, in the late morning, looking forward to several days of walking the trails and enjoying the beaches.
Day 1: Off for a long walk with the camera and two of our friends, we dig for sharks teeth, walk through the forest and along the beaches. We see nothing outstanding worth photographing.
Day 2: Off for a walk alone. We forget to bring the camera so, of course, we see a big snake on the trail. Back at the visitors centre we meet the two friends we walked with yesterday. They take a picture of us on the patio and disappear for their own walk. Luckily they walk the same trail, see the same snake, and get a good shot of it. “Want to trade pictures?”
Day 3: Off for a walk alone, this time making sure we have the camera. Right away we see some of the wild horses. Julie whips out the camera. However, it will only take ONE picture and then says the battery is dead. Sheesh. After that we see several deer, some wild turkeys gobbling and fanning their tails. That would have made some really good pictures.
Back to the boat and charge the camera battery.
Day 4: Off for a walk alone. We make sure not to forget the camera. Today we take the guided tour of the Dungeness mansion. We like to do these every time we visit Cumberland Island because we often get a different ranger with a different perspective and a different set of info. Today the ranger includes all of the crowd into her history of the island giving everyone a part to play and makes the history of the island come alive. Out comes the camera to take pictures. We notice it doesn't turn on. Yes, we have the camera but, no, we've forgotten to put the charged battery back in!! Doh. So suffice it to say the tour and following walk was lovely.
Day 5: With camera AND charged battery we take off walking up the main road. It's a dirt road that goes all the way from north to south, about 20 miles. After about 30 minutes we hear some rustling and a loud “SNORT” from the undergrowth right next to us. Julie climbs onto Mark and we see several wild pigs who are just as surprised as us, running around and looking at us. Then they all disappear into the forest. Of course it all happened so quickly and by the time Julie climbs back down to the ground it was too late to get the camera out. 
So 5 good days of walking and exploring ends up producing only one (yes, one!) unremarkable picture of some wild horses. Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence for us. Sad, isn't it? Thanks to the Internet we've been able to let you see what it might have been like if we'd had an operative camera with us....
At this time we'd like to express our appreciation to those of our friends who are willing to “trade” pictures with those of us who are a bit more photo challenged. You know who you are and we really, really appreciate it.
Cheese,
Mark & Julie
