We have successfully gone from real estate to wheel estate. Despite a last minute glitch, which was hard to address being far away from the action, everyone came through as hoped and the closing on our house went smoothly. We can only assume... Hopefully the new owner is enjoying his move and settling in.

Today sometime we will be getting new neighbors. The second volunteer couple will be pulling in. We are heading to Summerville to see Lincoln and will probably miss their actual arrival. If we were in the same boat, we would appreciate the residents being gone since it often is a black comedy watching us get in place and settled.

On Tuesday, we spent a day with April visiting downtown Charleston. We took a carriage ride and toured neighborhoods with old, and I mean really old, architecture. It's a beautiful city and we do plan to go back to spend more time. It is helpful to have a local guide to get us around.

On Wednesday, we made a trip to Congaree National Park south of Columbia. There is a 2-mile long boardwalk that runs through an area of lowland hardwoods, baldcypress, and scattered pine that have never seen the glint of an ax. The park is the largest, contiguous area in the eastern US with trees that are between 130 and 160 feet tall. They have a number of state and US big tree champions. It is an old foresters dream to spend time walking through the area. And, it is an area where the red cockaded woodpecker is found. This too is a must see for foresters over the age of 45. Of course we have to check our guns at the trail head. All we saw was a pileated woodpecker but no reclusive cockaded. We do have another NWR to visit that has a population of red cockaded woodpeckers. We'll try for a sighting there.

Alan holding up the second largest loblolly pine.

We have had frost the last few mornings but it has warmed up into the low 60's. Now we are hitting a stretch of days predicted to get into the 70's. Doesn't seem like December, but the alternatives of snow and having to wear actual coats seem like a poor trade for being here.