It's really hot here in Savannah

We have been doing some wagon tours around the 4 mile loop road here in Savannah and it's really a fun job. We usually run with two wagons and I pull one of them and Lauren does the narration . Lots of different groups do them . In the last two weeks we have had two church groups, a FFA group and a 4H group.  I have to tell you that Texas is hot in the summer but there the humidity isn't any where near what it is here . As Lauren puts it , It's air you can wear .

A  Purple Gallinule  working the Lily pads looking for lunch . The loop road here is so busy, it's awesome that so many people use this part of the Refuge . What also helps is the Refuge is one of the very few things you can do in the area that does not have an entrance fee. . They average 250 vehicles a day . Just amazing .

Every now and then you get a picture with five different species all at once .We have an Egret , a Heron , a Little Blue Heron, a Gallinule  and Whistling Ducks .

When you volunteer you just never know what's coming your way .The Refuge Electrician fell off a roof just before we arrived and was hurt very bad. So we have been involved in more maintenance work that we had anticipated . Here we are retro fitting the parking lot lights with some modern LED bulbs and getting rid of the old style ballast lamps . It's always nice when you make a suggestion and they take your advice and make a change . The new lamps only use 10 % of the power the old ones did .I had to stop and get yelled at by Lauren as I had not anchored my Harness to the machine. You know that with FWS your PPE is just too important .

Did get to play on a Forty Foot boom Lift in the process .

The next few shot are from 40 feet in the air from the boom Lift . This part of the Refuge is really lovely.

The River here has a tide change of about 10 feet .

That high tide change is what made this area a rich rice and cotton growing area as they used the controlled tides to irrigate the fields with a very cleaver levy and gate system.

All the fields are well over grown as the rice and cotton industry died here right after the Civil War .

A long meandering river .

One of the projects we did was to help move the Gasoline tank from the river location and  re pipe and wire it. It's been a lot of years since I did a Class1 explosion proof job and using a rigid conduit bender again . At least they had a power threading machine which made threading the rigid conduit much easier .Always nice to reuse some old skills .

Did you ever wonder why so things never get done . When we finished the jobs at the Main VC we needed to move the machine those 4 miles to the shop area. As it would be the vehicle we needed to move the machine was sent out for servicing . Can you guess what happened next , we roared down the state highway at 2 miles per hour as I drove the machine over to the shops . Only two and a half hours to do the deed .

The real reason they had rented the lift was that the maintenance crew was going to trim some trees on the Wildlife drive and clean the gutters at the main Visitor center and the Shop area which is 4 miles away. So Lauren and I became the crew . We did clean the gutters , but no tree trimming for me.

This shot of the live oaks behind the shops are just awesome . With part of the Savannah Shipping Port visible just in the upper left.

We were putting in some new LED ballasts in some fixtures we had just removed from the shop building and this little guy came along .

We had a heck of a time with it, as there was some major attitude .As big as a pencil and foot long you would have though he was a Python. You know the little guy syndrome . Just so cute .                             Every day here has been in the low 90's and 90% humidity . At least we know that the Savannah area is just to warm to spend a summer. But it sure is pretty . We have been in the Historic area several times and the Restaurants there are really good . So many to choose from and each one so different . We have been to Hilton Head and it's just one big shopping mall with a beach thrown in with limited access to give you the impression of beach area . We have also gone to the first Spanish settlement in the New World . It was before ST Augustine and of course there is very little in the way of ruins . Which most are now located on Paris Island . You know, where the Marine Corp does it's training . Just so cool to know that a good defendable position never goes to waste . We will be her for another eight weeks and then back to Pea Island . YEAH!