Columbia to Charleston

On the morning of Mike's graduation from basic training, Tia's parents-in-law picked her up at 8 a.m.. Derek and Kayli and I got up, had breakfast, packed our belongings and headed out for an adventure.  We started the day by exploring some things in Columbia, SC and then drove to Charleston and ended our day there.

Our first stop was the Columbia South Carolina temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
It was only 5 minutes from our hotel!

Kayli looking at the plants and NOT at me :-)

After that we drove around until we found the Columbia Canal Park.  It was a really beautiful place.  This day I had a headache all day and didn't feel very energetic, but I still enjoyed the things we got to see!  I foolishly left my phone in the car, forgetting it was also my camera!  These pictures were taken by Kayli and graciously shared with me.

Behind me to the left was an exercise area that I liked.  You could get a real workout using that equipment!

I'd tell you what this stuff does, but for all I know it just sits there in the building so we can look at it.
Maybe it's the pump that moves the water through the spillway?
Very surely I have no idea what I'm talking about!

Derek on the crooked dock.

This is a picture of the river that ran alongside the canal, on the other side of the path.

I don't think I knew Kayli was taking this picture.  That saved me from being self conscious.

Had we been inclined to jump in the canal, this would have given us a reason not to.

After the canal walk, we headed towards Charleston.  I think this is the day we ate at McDonalds because I was hungry and that was what was available.  My Big Mac was good, and Derek liked his fish sandwich.  Kayli wasn't hungry.  After that we made a slight detour to see a lake and ended up in a place specifically for military people with passes -- and so we got back on our way.

I think this was taken from the car when we were going over a bridge on our way in to Charleston.

Our second hotel was the nicest -- by far.  It also had alligators, though we never saw any there.
We took this picture for Tia who had been talking about alligators the day before.

You can tell this was Thursday because we didn't wear swimsuits to the beach that day.
This was the beach on the Aisle of Palms, and this is my beautiful Kayli who has wanted to go to a beach for a very long time.

I love this one.

I sat for a while.  I was tired.  I drew these for the boys at home.

All of the beaches we went to during our trip were beautiful, and not busy.

I was thankful every day that Derek was with us and that he was driving and I didn't have to.  It can be tricky to navigate in locations you've never been before, and it's a little harder to see the scenery when you are trying to stay between the lines!