It seems our family has the uncanny ability to incur a Natural Disaster every time we take a vacation.  Last year on our camping trip, the floods came and the river we were camped on rose up and swallowed a car.  This year, on our trip to Myrtle Beach, the heaven’s were set ablaze.  I had no idea we were so powerful.

Some of these shots were taken the first night of the fire, after we left dinner (where our waiter excused himself as he had to leave to evacuate his home). For a few days the sun was eerily obscured by the smoke and as we lay on the beach it snowed  ashes on our sun-screened bodies.

It was nerve wracking, especially when we heard that the National Guard was being called in and  that some of the highways were being closed and that the fire had burned 5,000 acres. Thankfully for my triathlon training, I knew that if it came down to it, I could swim out in the ocean for a while until they put the fire out.  Luckily it didn’t come to that since I didn’t have a plan for the rest of my family.

But, we survived, got some great photos, and even managed to get a tan through the haze.  Anyway, it could have been worse; we could have gone to Mexico.