Here and Back

[kiramaru7]

This past weekend I went to Virginia Beach with my family. My sister couldn't make it & even though we were sad she wasn't there, we still had a good time. I hobbled along with my busted foot/ankle to the beach, which was way too hard & painful the day we got there as it was boiling hot. XD My parents did gt me a camping chair to sit in, so I sat & read. Then hobbled back. T.T Our seafood dinner that night was awesome! :D The next day, we did an easy nature trail, which was nice. I'm amazed that these peeps let their kids jump off their boat & splash around & climb on the bank in water moccasin territory. XD And yes, we did see one on the trail that slithered on by in front of us! o.0 Lunch was crappy McDonald's & you know it's bad when they get the orders wrong & peeps come in off the drive through to yell at the manager. We had more seafood for dinner. XD The next day was another nature trail through some wetlands. We saw a beautiful little bird called a redstart. *LAUGHS* The bird was mostly grey with yellow spots on its wings & tail. XD https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Redstart/id

Lunch was better at Wendy's, but dinner was at this Italian place & while my meatballs were tasty & biggish (I could only eat 2 out 3), the spaghetti I ordered to go with it was dry & burnt tasting. XD I ate it, but didn't enjoy it. I did have fun that afternoon watching some crows playing. We were on the top floor of the hotel (floor 14) & they would jump off the top of the building like lil cliff jumpers, with wings held out to catch the breeze. Even the seagulls were riding the wind. :D The crows were too funny! They also harassed some ospreys, trying to make them drop their catch. We also saw a bald eagle fly by! I've seen them on the Island near where I live & I've also seen them fishing at Connowengo (sp?) dam, but never on the beach! XD

While we were there, they had an end of summer festival on the boardwalk, which was cool. The one night we walked around a bit, saw The Ambassadors, who played some awesome reggae! They were playing outside in this lil area outside a fried chicken place. (It was for peeps to eat outside instead of inside.) at first there was just us & a couple of other peeps, but they soon had nice crowd inside the eating area & out on the street watching them. Peeps were even dancing along! Other bands were playing too, up & down the board walk as part of the festival. There were food vendors, crafters, peeps selling all sorts of stuff. :D We could see & hear the music from our balcony.

The last day was spent at the aquarium. We even wandered onto their lil nature trails, but all we saw was some sort of raptor that was silhouetted, so it was hard to tell exactly what it was (probably an osprey), a couple of crabs & a ton of lil snails that made the reeds look like pussy-willows. It was a marsh area. We also saw some skinny7 squirrels. XD They probably weren't skinny, they were just normal sized, unlike the fat & sassy ones that like to empty my bird-feeders. XD

I liked the aquarium & the wetlands trail, where we saw a water moccasin curled up under the brush along the water bank & the one we saw swimming! Dang! That thing swam like it was trying to be the next Michael Phelps! o.0 We also saw a Heron, the redstart, what I call "flying spiders" (They're HUGE & they hang their webs between trees, so they look like they're hovering in midair. XD), a wolf spider that I thought was a lil tree frog until it came out onto the leaf (I don't knwo what you call it, but it's some kind of tall grass that grows around the cattails), a pretty lil spider with jewels on its abdomen. The food at the aquarium was good too. We had fish & chips, except it seems peeps they eat their fish with tater sauce. YUCK! XD So no vinegar, but I did improvise & snagged a packet of Newman's Own lite Italian. That tends to be a bit on the vinegary side, so it worked in a pinch. :D

And because I didn't have access to my compy, I want to wish those on my f-list who celebrate, a happy, healthy, and sweet New Year!

Comments

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you had a wonderful time!

Big monster wolf spiders are my favorites.

Not too keen on water moccasins but you know. Snakes gotta be snakes. I like non-poisonous snakes...and think coral snakes are just gorgeous.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

I did, thanks! :D

Yeah? He was pretty cool & pretty big, if I thought he was a lil frog. XD

Me too. XD I think I'm more scared of getting bit than by the actual snake. XD Snakes are pretty cool, my mom says I used to play with rubber snakes when I was really little. XD They are! :D I looked for tree snakes there but didn't see any. XD The other time we went we had a guide, who's a friend of dad's, & she found a tree snake. We also saw a few more water moccasins. I knew where to look & either they were hiding really well, or they just weren't there, as I only saw the one swimming & one curled up under a tree. XD I think the one under the tree was either going to shed or had shed its skin as its eyes were blue-ish. Not a good thing as the scale covering the eye, when it's blue-ish, it makes for a very grumpy snake as they can't see. XD

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Cornerofmadness lived with me for a few years in my house in Florida that had a few quirky things. And one was the ability for small critters to get into the house. And one of the little critters that crawled into the house (after a thunderstorm) was a rather large wolf spider.

Like her leg span was almost the size of my spread hand.

COM is terrified of spiders.

This one was in the bathroom.

I had to catch her before COM needed to go in there (though she did follow me in there and nearly fainted at the sight of the spider).

Somewhere I have a photo of the spider next to my hand and you can see the reflection of her eyes from the flash.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Cool! When I was little, the house we lived in had a garter snake somehow get into the basement. XD To this day, no one has any idea how it got there. XD (It probably followed the field mice in. XD)

WOW! o.0 That makes the one we saw look like teeny tiny lil thing! XD

So am I! I can look at them from afar, (and get kinda close too), but I'm doing 0 to 60 in one second flat, if they're heading my way. XD Got bit by one that made really sick too. XD And I HATE walking into spider webs. XD

*is dying* I had one join me in the shower when I was rinsing the shampoo out of my hair. T.T I TOTALLY feel her pain!! XD

That must be a really cool pic!! :D

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Before COM moved in with me, I found a tiny snake in the house. I was terrified it was poisonous - red black and yellow, you know - and my dog was pawing it.

Now, granted, the snake was barely as long as my first finger and about as big 'round as an earthworm. Still, my dog was having too much fun trying to kill it. So I scooped it into a jar and took it to a local pet store, which verified it was a king rather than a coral snake.

So I let it go in my yard. :D

The wolf spider was HUGE. She was just...a big ol' Shelob and I hated throwing her out into the rain since she was so wet, she could barely move.

I don't like walking into spider webs either.

Ugh for getting bit. I only have been bitten by a couple of snakes and a few different dogs.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Yeah? OY! XD I hope it turned out to be a non-poisonous mimic! And your dog was okay!

Awe... Poor lil snake! I'm glad it was non-poisonous! :D

:D

Awe... but still a SPIDER. XD And this is from someone who LOVED "Charlotte's Web" as a child. XD So much so, I told everyone that when I got bigger & got married & had a daughter, I was going to name her Charlotte after the spider. XD Hasn't happened yet. ;P

They just creep me out! XD

I never got bit by a snake, but I have been bitten by dogs & my parakeet Jaki. She didn't like being touched by me or by Chicken Nuggets, her would-be mate. XD The few times I had to catch her (she had gotten out of her cage a couple of times while I was cleaning it out), she let me know exactly how she felt about that! One time someone had left the powder room (which is off the den, where I keep my birds)& I was trying to hand tame her, she had enough of me, flew around the room & ended up going for a swim. XD So not only was she mad about that, I tried to clean her off in the sink (I know big dogs will out of the toilet, but still XD)& she bit me so hard (I had to keep hold of her) that she drew blood! I think she must have been an eagle or something in her previous life. XD

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I've never been bitten by a spider, as far as I know. I have killed a few poisonous spiders, mostly because I was working for a Girl Scout camp and the spiders were too close to the girls.

Yeah, I bear scars from two dog bites - one on my hand and one on my thigh, from two different dogs. Fortunately, the snake bites didn't scar. :D

HEE, Charlotte is a great name, I love it! "Charlie" for short. Even though I don't nickname people often. :D

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

This one made me feel like I had the flu, until I felt all the lil lymph nodes from my eyebrow, were I got bit, down my neck, get rock hard. I know it's bad to kill them as they eat bugs, but better to kill them than risk the girls getting bit.

Aaah... I got bit by a dog that walked past me. Me & a friend were walk to her house & a kid was walking the dog & as we passed each other the dog bit my calf. Didn't break the skin, but I was scared of getting rabies shots. Since we followed the kid home, Dad went to the house & told them what happened, the kid backed the story up, rabies tags were shown & I breathed a sigh of relief. ;P Luckily, all the snakes I've ever handled, never bit me. XD

I know, right? Charlie is such a cute nickname for a girl. :D It depends on the person whether or not I give them a nickname. :D

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

That's a pretty bad bite!

Obviously, none of my snake bites were from poisonous snakes but they did give me an adrenline rush. I was told non-venomous bites are more or less like wasp stings so you can have reactions to them. I was bit by my then-husband's boa (she was very hungry and I'd been playing with my dogs/cats prior to reaching into her aquarium - so she smelled FOOD) and again by a black racer I was trying to rescue in a downtown metro setting. I did rescue the snake, using a police baton and shoving said snake into my backpack. I took it home and turned it loose in the woods behind my house.

I was attacked by a friend's Mom's dog, an overly-protective border collie, who tried to get my throat twice (ripped my shirt pretty badly and when I kneed him down both times, decided to bite my thigh instead). He didn't break the skin, either, but my thigh swelled up pretty huge. I didn't report the bite to anyone but the dog later bit someone else. He had to stay in quarantine for 10 days and my friend and I picked him up to take him home and he crawled in my lap and cried the whole way home. So I forgave him. :D He was severely undersocialized, so it wasn't his fault.

The other dog who bit me was a little Yorkie-something mix who'd escaped the house where he lived. I saw him on the street and stopped to catch him. He was terrified and bit me a few times though only broke the skin on my left hand. I was already on anti-biotics for something else and that carried me through - and I knew he was too well-groomed to be rabid. But the ACC kept him for the ten days anyway before returning him to his family.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

It really was!

Aaah... I had no idea that could happen! I'm not even sure if bee/wasp stings are part of my allergies. I did put my hand down breifly on a wasp, I hadn't noticed was there & got a lil sting, that was itchy. XD So who knows with a snake? XD You can't blame the poor snake if she was that HUNGRY. XD I can't believe she actually smelled them on you enough to think you were food! like WOW! Awe... that was cool of you to rescue the poor snake.

Awe... poor you & the dog! I think that's why a lot of those tiny dogs bite; they're not properly socialized & they get frightened of the "big bad thing" (person) just wanting to pet them. Still the dog's lucky you guys didn't live in an area where he'd be called aggressive & sadly put down because of it.

Awe... I don't blame him for being terrified! He just wanted to get home. They say dag bites are bad if they shake you, than a simple puncture. Cat bites are supposed to be really bad cuz of all the bacteria in their lil mouths. XD

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, I am not allergic to bee/wasp/snakes. :D

I didn't blame the snake for biting me, I was stupid for not washing my hands. :D I fed her (the snake) within the next couple days.

My Dad thought I shouldn't be afraid of critters, so he'd bring home snakes, spiders, preying mantids...then dumped them in my hands.

I did feel sorry for the little dog. He was terrified. But I think something happened between the time he escaped and the time I found him, really. I could understand frightened but there were other things going on, I think.

Yup, the border collie did want to go home! He never had a problem with me after that.

I have read that cat bites are worse.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Here's to a sweet new year.

It sounds like you had a great time, bum foot aside. (but omg this heat)

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Here, here!! :D

I did, thanks! Thankfully, my foot is feeling better! I think being forced to stay home, where I sat on my butt & played on my compy, helped everything heal. Stupid insurance denied the foot MRI, but at least I was able to get one on my ankle & I'm just waiting to hear if I can go back to work. Nothing really hurts anymore & the swelling & bruising have also gone away, except by my toes & above my ankle. XD That'll eventually go away too & if my foot bothers me, the podiatrist said I can come back & he'll treat it. :D

OMG! Yesterday was a KILLER with the heat! Today it's FREEZING!! What is wrong with the weather? XD

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Generally with foot things, if you rest it will heal.

Insurances suck


Today is still hot A.F, tomorrow we're expecting the freeze and I want it because saturday I'm outside

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Good to know, I probably should have taken a week off in the beginning, instead of what feels like forever. XD

They sooo do!

Sorry to hear that! It RAINED yesterday, & again today, but not as bad, and it was really cold this morning. I need to go out & bring in the garbage can. XD It should still be chilly as they said a high of 59 last night on the news. I guess all that rain missed you. I'm glad it'll be getting cold by you & I hope it stays that way & sunny on Saturday so you have a nice day. :D

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

It's hard to stay off your feet though which contributes to the slow healing

Rain on Sunday BUT tonight the cold front is expected. Crosses fingers

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

And I can't at work. We're told we must be on our feet at all times unless a group of kids want to play a game with you. XD Not so bad in the morning as it's only 2 1/2 hours, but afternoons are 2 3/4 hours up to 3 1/2, & sometimes longer if mom or dad are stuck somewhere & are late.

Maybe it'll hold off on Saturday. I hope you get colder temps tonight!

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Yeah being on your feet is a problem with this sort of thing

it's supposed to be nice Saturday (but sadly nearly 80) and pouring on Sunday so I have to go Saturday

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm feeling better, so I have a feeling I'll be getting a doctor's note saying I can go back to work. I'm tired of being home. *sighs*

Dang! Any trees to giving you some shade? Where they have the one I've been to, there's a ton of trees (especially by the jousting) so if it gets too hot in the open areas, you can always find shade & they do have one cooling area with a "mister" to help cool you off.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Well that's good.

Nope, open field, that's part of why I wait until October for it

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Aaah... Makes total sense!

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

still too hot today but nowhere near as bad as last year

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

That's good. Here's overcast & grey & warmish. XD

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Raining hard here

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Aaah... it's not really doing much of anything here.

[kattrip033.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear you had fun overall. Sorry to hear the beach was so hot though.

I didn't know The Ambassadors played reggae! (I could also be thinking of a different band xD)

The fat and sassy squirrels made me giggle.

A tip for another time maybe, but I know here fish & chips is on everybody's menu (we're a fishing port XD) and it always comes with tartar sauce and rarely is there vinegar on the table, but most places, if you ask, they will bring some out to you. And by most, I mean I have never been told no, but statistically there has to be one that won't/doesn't.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Kat! It was just a hot day in general. XD

I tried finding them online & while they supposedly have a FB page, it didn't look like them. XD This was 4 guys, (guitar, bass, drums, percussion/vocals) and a girl who played keyboards & also sang. I wish I could find their card, but I can't. XD And it seems like there were several bands with that name, so yeah. XD

XD They make me mad as they can clean out my big bird-feeder in a couple of hours. (That normally takes the birds a few days, if they squirrels don't get wind of it.)

I think vinegar is British thing as you can get it with vinegar at fake!England in EPCOT. The salad dressing actually wasn't too bad. :D I know I could have asked, but they seemed confused & gave it to me even though I told them I didn't want it. XD Sometimes it's better to improvise. ;P At worst, I would have gotten myself some ketchup, so it's okay.

[kattrip033.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, Kira. XD

Ahhhh

Ours at the beach are quite creative thieves, so I understand.

At least the dressing was okay. Vinegar is a British thing, but its common enough, you can usually ask, especially if it's touristy area.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

:D

*nods*

Aaah... So it's not only ours, hunh? XD

Yeah, seeing as it was either that or ketchup. XD It was the aquarium's cafeteria, so somewhat touristy, but the guy serving the food was clueless when I mentioned the vinegar... XD