August 4, 2014
Wes had work early in the morning, so I got up when he did. However, I stayed at the hotel a little while longer after he left, as I didn't want to combat traffic. I grabbed a bite to eat at the continental breakfast before heading on my way to South Carolina. I originally had intentions to go to Lake Murray, SC. However, when I stopped at a rest area for lunch, I spent hours trying to decide where I should go to fish. The stuff I had planned to make sandwiches with for lunch had spoiled in the heat, so I ate Doritos and peanuts. Yum. Eventually, I decided I would go to Lake Santee-Cooper, but stop near Lake Murray to pick up a water depth map of the lake.
When I stopped at the Sportsman's Warehouse, I ended up getting my 11 day fishing license and a lot of advice and fishing tackle from both employees younger and older than me. By the time I left, I had decided I would fish Lake Murray and was geared to do so. From the store, I went to a Walmart to get some fresh groceries, and then headed to Woodsmoke Family Campground.
When I first arrived, I was a little skeptical about the $20 campground but my concerns were soon put to rest. The grounds were run by a really nice, older couple. They led me to the very back of the campground, where the one tent site existed. I had to drive through a narrowly cleared path in the brush, around the pond, and all the while behind the back fences of a nearby community. It was certainly different.
However, the campground was nice and secluded. I pitched my tent and cooked a dinner of canned stew, rice, and peas. To keep the mosquitoes from eating me alive, I strolled around the pond as I ate.
Later, as I lay in my tent, about to go to bed, it struck me that I completely forgot to call my friend Weston. He had set aside time for me to call him that evening and I totally messed up. Frantically, I texted him to apologize for my blunder. A more forgiving person than I, Weston said it was no big deal and texted answers to my questions about fishing in Florida. This would have been the first time I had talked to him on the phone since he and his family moved from Jersey Village when he was in elementary school. I was upset to have wasted his time and the opportunity to talk with him. I got to bed around 10 pm.
Heading to the one tent campsite of the entire campground
View from my campsite
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