Main Match day 2, final

Now we have a nice cool sunny day.  We started at 8:15 and finished about 11:30.  5 more stages done.  Awards were after the afternoon shift shot their stages.  This match gives each shooter a free lunch from the BBQ vendor, pulled pork with several choices of sauce.  Very good!  We came back to camp after lunch and did some gun cleaning and then went back.  We had to go back, we didn’t get our ice cream at lunch time!  That vendor makes very good ice vanilla cream.  I tried the chocolate yesterday but it didn’t stack up to the vanilla.

So,,, I did maintain my clean match.  That’s 2 matches in a row, I don’t remember doing that before!  I also won the Senior Modern category in Wild Bunch.  That was a big surprise!  And I took Second in Elder Statesman Frontiersman. (An age subcategory, Frontiersman over 70)  That was no surprise.  Preacherman was on my posse at both FL and SC.  Last week in FL he beat me by about 60 seconds.  This week it was by 5 seconds!  

In the early morning we were shooting into the sun.  It was pretty dang smokey for us black powder shooters!

Preacherman from FL

Dogmeat Dad, from MD, shooting Frontier Cartridge Gunfighter

Dogmeat Dad, after shooting his pistols saying “where are the rifle targets??”

Our lunch vendor

It may be bedtime but I’m still feeling a bit playful 

Skye had some good swim time and hiking today 

A couple photos from Carlene’s wandering around the neighborhood

Main Match, day 1

First day of the Main Match.  We shot stages 1-5 in the afternoon shift.  That gave us all morning to get ready in a casual manner.  Tomorrow we shoot the morning shift starting about 8.  That will be a bit more hurried.

They were great stages, only a couple moments of wondering “what was that sequence again?”.  A very good time, lots of fun, moderate intermittent rain!  And of course I forgot my raincoat in the camper.  Luckily I had a raincoat stashed under the back seat and an old umbrella too.  Since we did not have any wind it was all manageable.  But the rain limited my photography.

And I shot clean today.

Sue Render

Holli Docaday

This is the percussion cap igniting

An almost full moon rising and reflecting on the water

Skye brought me a slipper, she hasn’t seen a lot of me in a couple days.

But it was Carlene’s slipper

As it got darker the pond was giving off some fog

Side Event Day, The Bushwhack

The SC State Championship, The Bushwhack, Belton, SC.  Side events started mid morning with a 4 stage Black Powder mini match.  It is a lot of fun to get 15 people together with all of them making big quantities of thick smoke!  There are quite a few old New Englanders who live down here now and come to this match.

In the afternoon we had a Wild Bunch 4 stage mini match.  Good interesting stages in both matches.  I think I recognized one from Land Run last fall in OK.There will probably be a few from last week and this week seen in VT this summer!

Just as soon as we packed all the gear in the truck and got in it started to rain.  And ended when we got back to camp 10 miles later.  That held until 8 when we got a thunderstorm.

This evening Pat made a Shepherd’s Pie for all of us.  Very good too.  Then we just hung around for a while. 

Doc Barium

Scarlett Darlin’

Doc WHO

This is the first time I have seen anyone shoot Wild Bunch using Outlaw style, i.e. shoot from the hip

The brown water is the result of Skye swimming

Toney Creek 2

It was planned as a relaxing day of getting things ready for the cowboy shoot tomorrow.  But this morning we went to town for parts to put Gun E’s camper back together.  During the problem yesterday one of the hydraulic jacks sheared off the rear of the coach. We spent most of the morning getting it bolted back on. We only got 2 of the 6 bolts installed. We needed a talented octopus to reach the right places for the others.  That will hold it very well for travel but won’t be sufficient for use.  He might not be on the level all the time on the way home.  

Then we got all the cowboy stuff done.  And still had time to relax.  

Skye played in the water for a long time.  Carlene got her out in time to be  ice and dry by tonight.   They also had a long hike in the woods across the pond.  She is nicely tired now. 

Toney Creek Plantation, Belton SC

Less than 200 miles today but the GPS added some excitement.  Coming most of the way across the state the three of us campers made our way avoiding the interstate and using good secondary roads. It was very scenic and mostly a very pleasant drive.  A couple of towns were a bit cramped. But when we got to Belton my gps took us onto a very narrow local road.  It was paved but rough.  At one intersection I called on the radio to tell Mike this didn’t look good and he should turn left and not follow us.  I didn’t know then whether or not I would turn around or risk it. Joe was talking to a local who said it didn’t get any more narrow than what we saw.  So Mike turned away and Joe and I continued on.  It was fine.  Narrow in spots. So we went on to camp.  Mike had his own gps and went another way.  Joe and I got into camp fine. It was tight at the narrow entry but OK. A few minutes later Mike arrived but got caught by the narrow entry and was stuck. He had come from the other direction.  Something we had discussed the night before was the need to approach this place from north, not the south, so as to make a left hand turn into the camp.  It took a while to get the motorhome free and into camp, but we’re all here.  Great view overlooking the pond. Skye was delighted to be camping with water again.