We recently moved camps to a location in Holly Hill, SC. The day we arrived, as all first days of our arrivals at new sites, we arrived with little daylight left to be able to set up a proper camp. We managed to set up our new Field & Stream tent and our USS Tarp. However, during the early hours, just before sunrise the wind began to really blow. We are currently set up on a large wheat field which really produced a wind tunnel effect and ended up blowing down our tarp and blowing our tent down, although the tent stayed in place. Of course all of this chaos occurred while William was on a job location planting trees, so I was responsible for fixing our camp. I scouted a better location since I had daylight and actually found a pretty good site, William was actually super impressed with both the location and that I managed to set up everything alone. We are now set up in a small little cove that seems it was previously the site of a small building as there is a crumbling brick foundation and rusty metal roof pieces nearby. The wind howled again this morning but due to our awesome location, everything stayed put! I have been having trouble sleeping through the night due to Mother Nature and her lack of willingness to keep the temperature well above freezing. Last night a nice blanket of clouds rolled in before sunset allowing the temperature to stay pretty warm compared to the previous nights. I also started to sleep in two sleeping bags last night and we ordered me a zero-degree bag that should be more well-suited for the freezing temperatures. I also ordered a pair of extreme cold weather wool socks, a turtle fur hat and hot hands just in case the bag isn’t enough. I should be receiving those items today so I’ll post an update as to how well they work out tonight since it is forecasted to drop to 28 degrees in our location. I managed during the day a lot better than night. I keep myself busy with learning new skills – gathering sticks for the Silverfire stove, boiling water, preparing Mountain House foods, doing dishes and today I even managed to take a much needed bath. I have found that even the little things, like gathering sticks takes me a lot of time. I am learning where to look, which tools to take and how to carry a bunch of sticks to avoid walking back and forth. Just the process of getting water to boil for dishes takes me about an hour which is incredibly long compared to William, but I’m learning. A few days ago I managed to do dishes and prepare a Mountain House meal at the same time, although I really need to work on my timing also as my food was ready well before I was ready to eat. Ripley seems to be doing great out here as well. She has already learned how to find dead animals and bring them to me, so that’s been lovely. This morning she brought me a deer leg she found just around the corner from our tent. The finding of animal bones near our campsites and tree planting sites has been a constant battle with both Ripley and the other workers dogs. The second day we were in camp, Ripley and another smaller dog got into a fight over some bones, so we have been hiding all the bones we find to avoid any silly dog fights. Luckily, no one was badly hurt, although Ripley does have a scratch on her face that seems to be staying around. Her paws were also a bit sore for the first couple days since she has tender puppy pads, so we have been spraying her paws every couple days with an antiseptic spray. William is calling now to check in so I’ll leave for now and make sure to write again soon.