It is way past time for reporting in, but connections are problematic. The good news is that we arrived at Santee NWR on Wednesday, October 31 at about 1700 hours. The place was closed but we were told how to find our spot for setting up our RV. We actually did find it and set up went smoothly. It is an area carved out of the forest and is behind a privacy fence so that we feel very isolated - in a good way. There are spots for 2 RV's, and we understand the second one will be filled by the first of December. Until that time we are masters of our own domain. We are an easy walk from the visitor center which is the center of our volunteering.

We spent all day Thursday with the volunteer coordinator, Susie, who filled our heads with so much information we were even more big-headed than normal. She took us on a driving tour of the NWR, and generally her orientation was the best we have experienced in our three times volunteering.

Today is Saturday and it is our second day at the Visitor Center. Yesterday we had 28 folks visit and today it appears that there will be a similar number. Yesterday we had a few staff to talk to; today we are on our own. No staff works on Saturday. The volunteers, us, have to open, run, and close the Visitor Center. And I thought retirement was an easy job with no responsibilities.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service seems to be pretty laid back. My South Carolina niece, April, says it's just the laid-back south, but we suspect the USF&WS is very different from the National Park Service. We were given keys to almost everywhere, given a few projects, and sent on our own to complete the projects and if we think of other things to work on or see other needs to go for it. Such trusting souls...

I will post some photos when I get better organized. It is very beautiful here. Flowers are still blooming, with temps in the 60's and 70's. I think we can handle it.