I am a danger!

Cari and I have been dying to get back hiking for a while now. We were expecting beautiful weather today, so I had planned a trip to a county park with trails, waterfalls, and rapids along the river. After the kids got on the bus we got our stuff together and headed out. An hour later, we arrived at the park. A large sign on each side of the road said, "PARK CLOSED UNTIL MARCH 1". I continued up the road, ignoring the sign. We reached a gate that was locked and another sign that restated the closing. To say I was disappointed does not explain my feelings. For a moment I thought about Clark Griswald arriving to a closed Wally World in the movie Vacation.

We decided to take the back roads home. Our new destination was to visit Old Pickens. It's a historical site that we have been meaning to visit.

Old Pickens is located next door to the nuclear plant run by Duke Power. When Duke built the dam and flooded the river, Old Pickens became located under the new lake. There is one original building from the 1900's and a cemetery left as a reminder of the town. We saw tomb stones dating back to the 1790's as we walked around.

The land is controlled by Duke Power and we saw a security vehicle leave the area when we first got there. As we walked the grounds, another white security truck drove by and waved at us. A few minutes later, the white truck came back and had a black SUV behind him. We were standing on a large hill that is part of the cemetery.

A dirt road circles the mound that we were standing on. The black SUV parked near the entrance of the circle road while the white truck came around to the opposite end of the circle. A man wearing a tie got out of the black vehicle and walked toward some of the graves. He had several white badges hanging around his neck on a lanyard. He didn't speak to us as he studied one of the stones across the hill from us. I had my camera out and was taking some photos of the interesting tomb stones. I would look up and notice the man in the tie standing at the same tomb. The driver of the white truck stayed in the driver seat. It was kind of eerie because it was obvious to me that the man in the tie worked at the power plant. He wasn't looking at that tomb, he was watching us. Cari and I discussed this photo as the man walked back and got into his SUV.

As his door closed, the driver of the white security truck got out and approached us. I looked toward the SUV sitting motionless. The guard was now in front of me. He asked what I was taking photos of and I told him I was just getting some of the unique graves and the old church building. He asked if I had taken any shots of the nuclear plant. He motioned with his left arm to the land behind him. The back of the nuclear plant was visible from where we stood. Several smaller buildings surrounded the reactors and a few lots filled with trucks and equipment. To the right was the dam. I told him I had not taken any shots of it. It was the truth. Cari spoke up and asked if he knew Kedar. He said he did. Kedar had been our neighbor when we first moved to South Carolina and works security at the plant. He has recently moved closer to work. The guard in front of me said that he knows Kedar well. Cari was trying to build up some amount of trust with this guy and I didn't know if it was working. The guard turned his attention back to me and told me that they obviously don't want people out here documenting the power plant. It is a safety concern. I told him I understood and reassured him that I was only interested in the history of the cemetery. He walked back to his truck and as he started it, the black SUV drove off. The security truck headed down the dirt road and left us there alone. I looked back at the power plant and didn't see anything interesting.

Cari and I walked down a path in the woods back to our car. She got in the car to feed Brenna before we finished the drive home. I wanted one more walk around the old church. As I did, I looked down toward the river. There seemed to be a path in the woods leading down to the water. Curiosity drove me to walk into the woods a few feet. Then I scared myself by thinking there may be cameras watching me approach the dam. I backed out of the woods and finished a quick trip around the building. As I came back into view of our car, a white security truck came quickly up the hill and blocked the back of our car. It looked like a different driver. My first thought was that he showed up because I walked into the woods.

These guys were clearly uncomfortable with us hanging out. I got back in the car and the truck pulled away. Cari suggested that he wrote down our tag number. I asked her if she remembered to pay the power bill this month, thinking that we had agitated them in other ways.

I told Cari I was going to drive around that circle one more time and get a quick shot of the power plant from the car, just because they said not to. As I started the car, she asked me not to do that. We pulled down the dirt road and looked to the right where the circular road was. Two white security trucks were parked blocking access to the road. One truck was pointed in each direction. It appeared they didn't want me to go back up there. We made a left turn and headed home.

For the next twenty minutes we wondered if we appeared to be terrorists plotting an attack. Cari didn't believe most terrorists would carry around an infant as they did research. Then we discussed how dangerous I almost behaved today. I considered jumping the fence at the park and then I was trying to take unauthorized photos of the power plant. And that was all before lunch.