Amidst a forest of hotels and high rising SUVs, I crept the little ranger through a maze of skinny, run down roads to a little lot about a mile and a half outside of town. A stone's throw away from million dollar homes and just minutes from a metropolis of hotels, motels, and inns, we pitched our Coleman tent and lit a camp fire.

Ocean Shores has changed since the last time I was there, nearly 10 years ago. I didn't let this ruin our fun, though. The nice thing about the location of the lot was that, with trees all around us and only a small opening to the street, once on site, it was easy to escape the reality of the money-driven world around us.

I went through the LOTR trilogy yet again, and devoured the Call of the Cthulhu for my first time. Amanda and I caught a beautiful sunset together on the day marking 2 years since our first date:
































On the same beach as these pictures were taken, I had my first experience with the power of natural electricity in what I know consider to be my Franklin Experience. Right after a thunder storm passed by, I did the only logical thing...go fly my kite. In the sea fog that followed the storm, my kite soared...and every time it got up over about 20-25 feet in the air, I got a nasty shock on my knuckles from static electricity flowing down the kite strings. There are now 3 burn marks on the left nuckle of my pointer finger where I got it the worst, and it hurts to type this blog...but it was worth it!

All-in-all, it was a wonderful week off, and I would have stayed longer if life had permitted it. Amanda felt the same way. Got in 18 holes of golf and an additional 36 of put-put, a bit of swimming at the local pools, and, most of all, some much needed R&R.