A Summer Road Trip, part 5 - Angel Oak Tree

Here we are at our very last stop on this summer road trip!

(By the way, I'm a little disappointed that it took my mom over 2 months to finish posting about this trip. *sigh*)

Anyways, this is called the Angel Oak Tree, located in Charleston, South Carolina! It is estimated to be between 400-500 years old.

The trunk and branches are massive!

Some of the branches even touch the ground, and there are wooden supports to hold them up.

This tree stands 66.5 feet tall and measures 28 feet in circumference. The shade it provides covers almost 17,000 square feet. And from tip to tip of its longest branches, it measures 187 feet.

I see some holes in the tree that would make a good hiding spot.

I can't believe how big and beautiful this tree is. I can definitely feel good energy emanating from this tree.

Let's take a look at this branch which was cut off. It was probably damaged.

Wow, what a finale to wrap up this summer road trip! I'm so glad you could join me on this trip. Stay tuned for the next trip!

Do you have any fun summer plans? Drop it in the comments!

A Summer Road Trip, part 4 - Tybee Island Lighthouse & MYSTERY STOP

We made a stop in Savannah, Georgia, but I was not in any of the photos (ahem), so we'll skip to some photos with me in them.

Here I am at the Tybee Island Lighthouse! In 1733, General James Ogelthorpe founded the colony of Georgia and directed that a lighthouse be built on Tybee Island. Building of the lighthouse was slow, so Ogelthorpe jailed the head carpenter and threatened to hang him. The carpenter's crew begged for his life, promising they could finish the tower in 5 weeks. They ended up finishing it in 16 days.

See what good managers can accomplish? :)

The lighthouse that you see today, however, is not the original structure. Several towers before this one collapsed due to storms, or were set ablaze during the American Civil War. The design pattern on the lighthouse also changed many times.

The lighthouse can be seen up to 18 miles away thanks to its Fresnel lens, which magnifies a lamp bulb.

Look at me - I've got a GREAT idea!

Around the lighthouse is also a lighthouse keeper's house, because they did live here 24/7 after all. There is never a day off in the work of lighthouse keeping!

Here, we see a stove and kitchen area.

There is also an old hand crank telephone. It looks like a face, doesn't it?

Well, that's all for our trip today... hope you enjoyed it...

WAIT! I have been told that we are making an unplanned MYSTERY STOP somewhere!

This is the Old Sheldon Church Ruins in South Carolina. It was definitely an off the beaten path kind of stop, but so beautiful!

Originally known as Prince Williams Parish Church, it was burned by the British in 1779 during the Revolutionary War, rebuild in 1826, then burned again in 1865 during the Civil War by the Federal Army under General William T. Sherman.

After the war, the materials of the church, like wood on the roof, were taken down and used to build homes. This church has certainly been through a lot!

The archways are still intact and so beautiful!

And it is surrounded by oak trees! This sign says no climbing, but I am simply sitting, so it's ok. :)

Okay, stay tuned for our next and last stop on this road trip...

A Summer Road Trip, Part 1 - Castillo de San Marcos

Hey everyone, it's the summer so you know what that means - ROAD TRIP! I am taking some lucky humans on a road trip and our first stop happens to be St. Augustine, FL.

Here I am in Castillo de San Marcos - Spanish for "St. Mark's Castle" - which is the oldest masonry fort in the United States. The city of St. Augustine was founded in 1565 for the Spanish Crown. The city was repeatedly attacked and its wooden forts were burned to the ground numerous times - er, like 9 times.

So this fort was built out of something different, stone made of crushed sea shells to form a rock similar to limestone, called coquina. I guess that was a good idea, because the fort is well preserved even today!

Oh, and they have volunteers doing reenactments so in the background here, you can see people walking around in Spanish soldier uniforms. On certain days, they will do cannon firings, but not today as they are still in training.

Soldiers in training. Let's keep our distance as they don't seem to know what they are doing yet with those cannons.

The walls of the fort were very good at absorbing the impact of cannonballs. The cannonballs would sort of sink into the walls instead of shattering them.

"HEY AJDIN!" said someone.

"Hi Droopy," I said. Can you spot Droopy in the picture? I pretty much expect Droopy to show up on every trip I take from now on since we have the same travel agent.

In 1763, the British took control of the fort as part of the Treaty of Paris. This agreement gave Britain all of Spanish Florida in exchange for returning Havana and Manila to Spain. When the American Revolutionary War broke out, the fort was used as a military prison during the war.

In 1933, the fort was transferred to the National Park Service where it is now a popular tourist destination!

Stay tuned for the next part of our road trip!

STUFFIE 2020 SUMMER OLYMPICS

As you probably know, the humans postponed their Summer Olympics this year due to the pandemic. Now many humans are stuck at home, and from what I've heard, some of them have put on quite a few pounds.

But we stuffies won't let that happen to us.

Let us continue to carry the Olympic torch, the sacred fire which burns within us all, to pursue excellence and discipline of the highest level...

Annnouncing the

STUFFIE 2020 SUMMER OLYMPICS

Yes, that's right! The Stuffie Olympics are back again.

STUFFIE 2020 SUMMER OLYMPICS RULES:

1) You can enter up to 3 different events per stuffie household. For example, boxing, rowing, and gymnastics. Or create your own unique category!

2) Send your photo entries via email to lifeisbearygood (at) gmail (dot) com.

3) Entries must be received by July 27, 2020 at 11:59 pm EST.

4) Gold, silver, and bronze medal winners will be awarded!

Need some inspiration? Check out some entries from the 2016 Stuffie Summer Olympics below!

Terrance - high dive

Benny Woodlouse - pole jump

Patch, Droopy, and Spunky - javelin throw

Will YOU be the next Olympic champion? Good luck with your entries everyone!

Summer Road Trip, part 3

Alright, my secretary forgot to finish the conclusion of my Summer Road Trip posts from two months ago (thus leading to her firing), so I'll finish it here!

As we continued on our trip, the weather just seemed to get hotter and hotter! The thermometer says it is 114 degrees Fahrenheit outside! Too hot for a stuffie, that's for sure.

Here is a beautiful unnamed scenic viewpoint (my former secretary did not take adequate notes). It's a long way down, and no fences or railings - so we had to be beary careful looking out over the edge!

We continued our trip in our thankfully air-conditioned car! Hey, do you see those interesting looking things? They are huge! They look like dinosaurs or something...

... no, they're not dinosaurs - they're beary huge rock formations!

This place is called Monument Valley. Lots of Western films were shot here - think John Wayne films!

Wow, unbelievable! There was a dirt road going down into the valley but we didn't drive down there.

After we spent some time there, we continued in our car. The scenery has changed quite a bit now. I see lots of fancy hotels... where could we be?

Whoa, this is Las Vegas! We stayed at the Venetian hotel.

I was amazed by the opulence.

I could get used to this.

Nothing but the best for a stuffie, right?

One should deserve to live in the lap of luxury.

Five dollar bottles of water. What every stuffie deserves.

Alright, time for me to unwind. I'm going to order some nice room service and then head down to the casino later! Glad you could come with me on my road trip!

Summer Adventure Raffle

Hey, what's up everyone? I hope everyone had a fun summer! It went by quickly, didn't it?

My secretary has been a bit busy lately and is now trying to make it up to me. If she offers me lots of chocolate chip cookies and lemonade, I may take back that new secretary job posting I have prepared.

Anyways, I'd like to announce a "SUMMER ADVENTURE RAFFLE!" Tell us about your favorite adventure or thing you did over this summer and you could win a surprise fun pack.

1) Send a photo of you on your summer adventure doing your thing.

2) Write a brief caption of what you did and why it was awesome.

3) Send your entry to me at ajdinthebosnianbear at gmail.com or lifeisbearygood at gmail.com.

4) Entries must be received by Monday, September 18, 2017 at 11:59 pm EST.

5) Limited to stuffies only! No humans.

6) If residing in the USA, the selected winner will receive the full surprise fun pack. If the winner is international, you will receive stickers. (Sorry, my secretary says this is due to shipping costs).

Good luck and Have a beary good day!