Snoop Dogg Adventures

Snoop Does the Music Walk Downtown

2011-09-23T11:04:00.001-04:00

Snoop hasn't gotten out much lately, but he made a little trip out last weekend to Music Walk downtown. He travels in my backpack...

I had a veggie quiche and fresh fruit at The French Connection, along with a Sex on the Beach...

...and when there is booze around, you can't control Snoop!

We traveled around, making stops at Riddim Runway (a charity fashion show organized by our friend Stacy)...

...Woodrow had a burger and beer at the Red Rock Saloon...

...and finally ending back at Howl Gallery/Tattoo...

This is the same gallery where I got my tattoo last month...

We listened to The High Chiefs perform out in the courtyard, and they were awesome!

We hope to maybe get Snoop out on a camping adventure next month. We'll see how it goes...

Tales from the Corn Portal

2010-10-28T21:42:00.001-04:00

Are you fascinated by all of the weird and wonderful things to be found out on the internet and around the world? Then you may like my new blog Tales from the Corn Portal. This blog will host all of the weird stuff that I come across in my day-to-day ventures around the internet. Check it out, but be forewarned-- some of this stuff can get downright creepy, and other bits are nauseatingly cute and adorable! Check it out!

Snoop Dogg Does a Mini-Adventure

2010-10-03T21:57:00.005-04:00

This weekend we decided to go on a little camping trip. Just a chance to get away, destress from technology and get some physical exercise. So we headed out to one of my favorite spots: Caloosahatchee Regional Park.

We booked our favorite spot (which is a great spot in winter when it's cold outside, but probably not a great spot when it is hot outside. There is nearly no shade!), and started unloading gear. On the path to our spot, we spotted these pretty berries.

This is beautyberry. They are supposed to be edible, but not too tasty.

While we setup camp and Woodrow charged his solar batteries, Snoop did what he does best and slacked off...

Woodrow and I decided to have a contest to see who could set up their tent the fastest (we each brought our own tent, since they are too small to comfortably sleep two people). Ready, set, go!

And about 7 1/2 minutes later we both finished in a tie.

I love this park, because you often feel so isolated from everyone else. We decided to go for a hike while we waited for dinnertime, and this is a shot looking back at our campsite.

I don't know what these flowers are, but the were pretty little things.

And then I spotted these guys, who had a very delicate look to them.

Woodrow kept smelling something sweet like Jasmine, and I had him smell these to see whether this might be where the smell was coming from.

He said he thought it might be.

At one point on the trail, I spotted this fungus. I'd never seen a fungus so big!

Woodrow broke off a piece to try drying out and burning, as he has heard it makes good tinder.

Here's another pretty little berry shrub...

Some flapping at one point caught my attention, and I saw this moth. I tried to get video of it flapping, but it got camera shy and sat still once the camera was on it.

Here was another fungus growing out of the base of a tree...

And I spotted more berries...

And further on I spotted the leaf on one of these berry bushes to be all rolled up. I wonder what's inside?!

Berries, berries everywhere!

I saw this sign at one point, but I have no idea what it was supposed to mean.

Hmmmm... a fork in the road. Left or right? I had a feeling left would take us back to the campground, so we went that way. (Woodrow has no sense of direction.)

And I spotted yet more fungus...

Once we got back, it was time to start the fires and get dinner going.

First I sprayed foil with Canola spray, and put a tilapia filet and a few scallops, a couple pats of butter, a squirt of mayo, the juice from half a lemon, a sprinkle of chopped parsley, salt and pepper, and some sliced onion.

I also did packets of veggies with corn, chopped potatoes, diced onion, parsley and butter (and salt and pepper.)

We put the packets on the fire to cook.

On a trip to the bathroom, I spotted this big boy dead near the entrance.

At dinner time we had salad with marinated onions, tomatoes and cucumbers (marinated in Italian dressing for several hours)...

...fish and scallops...

...and corn, potatoes and onions...

Yum! Not bad at all! However the second the food hit the table, the flies began descending. It got worse and worse, and began to turn into a horror movie. We began to set "decoys" off to the side, to direct the flies away from our eating...

At one point, I think I counted about 40 flies on the corn cob. Ugh! But without the decoys, they were constantly swarming our food and faces while we ate.

As the sun set, I loved the way that it lit up the tops of the trees.

Unfortunately sometime soon after dinner, the rain began. Since our tents are pretty small (and it was really warm and steamy and stuffy in them with the rainfly on each), we each retired to our separate tents.

I spent awhile reading, and eventually fell asleep. Around 3:30 AM, I heard Woodrow get up to use the bathroom. While he was gone, I saw a large circle on the door to my tent. I wondered what it was, and I put my face close to the mesh of the door to try and tell. That's when I seemed to see the eight legs coming from the body. Holy Canoli! I realized with the 1 inch body combined with the legs, we were looking at a 3 inch spider! I thought about turning on a light and trying to get a better look at it, but I thought that I would probably freak out worse if I could really see it well! So I left well enough alone. A minute later, the spider scampered out of view.

Once I heard Woodrow return, I told him, "Hey! I have got the biggest spider on my tent! This thing is bigger than those Wolf spiders that I get at my place!" I told him that it had scampered off, but I thought it was in the upper corner of my tent, between the tent and the rainfly. He shined his flashlight on that area, and this is what I saw...

I'm wishing that there was a better way to show you the perspective of his body size, but I was NOT putting my finger right up by him! However that seam is probably 1/4-1/2 inch in width.

Woodrow smacked the side of the tent a few times to see if he could make it leave, but the best he got was it moving here, directly over my head...

I told Woodrow that if he now looked through the vent, he could probably see the spider. He looked and said, "Oh man! That thing is big! That has to be 3 inches from leg to leg!" I told him, "Yeah, you thought I was exaggerating, didn't you!"

I think that this was a Huntsman spider. Here's a better pic of a Huntsman...

*shiver* These things freak me out worse than anything! I'll take my Wolf spiders any day, even though I'm terrified of them!

Well, we figured that the spider wouldn't be able to get inside my tent, and it would probably leave on its own before morning, so we would just let it be. Throughout the night, whenever I woke I would look up to see whether I could see the spider still there. By the moonlight, I could still see the outline of its body well into the morning as the light was beginning to come into the sky.

But by 7:30 AM, when I awoke, my spider visitor was gone. I got dressed and ventured out to see about the water collection around the tent.

I don't have a footprint (a type of "tarp" specially designed to fit your tent) for my tent, so I just use a tarp. This means that moisture collects under my tent, and with the rainstorm the night before I had quite a bit more than usual.

See that vent? That is the one that was visible in the pic with the spider, just to give you a little perspective. That vent is probably 12-14 inches across.

But once again I was struck by the way the sun lit up the tree tops.

The fire was spent and didn't survive the rain storm...

The grill was still...

I also spotted this pretty little Caesar Weed next to my tent...

At least it's pretty when it isn't growing in your yard. Have you ever tried to pull one of these weeds? Fuh-get-about-it!

So we decide to make what we had planned for dessert the previous night (before we got rained out) for our breakfast. While Woodrow got the stove prepped, I grabbed my camera and showed him the pics of the spider from my view the night before. I decided to clear a spot to begin the prep work, and moved the foil pan that sat out the night before. And what was right below it? Either the same spider from my tent, or one very similar! I screamed and yelled for Woodrow to get up from the table! He jumped up and asked what was going on, I told him, and we began searching for where the spider had gone. I finally spotted it hiding down in a table leg that had turned into a water reservoir given all of the rain recently.

Can you see its eye glowing?

So we settled into the OTHER side of the picnic table, and I began prepping breakfast. It was very simple...

Chopped apples and a pat of butter cooked until soft, then add caramel sauce and walnuts.

It is better to include apple pie spice as well, but we had put that in the car the night before and didn't want to go get it. So that was our breakfast, which had been intended to be our dessert the night before.

And a little Blackberry Sage tea. Mmmmmmm!

We decided to go ahead and head home, as we were exhausted and hot, and had had enough of spiders and mosquitoes.

I had intended to make eggs and potatoes in foil packets for breakfast, but we didn't feel like trying to get the fire going again. So I decided instead that I would try doing it at home in the oven. This way I would know whether this would be a good alternative in the future when camping.

So I mixed eggs and milk in a bowl with some diced jalapenos, mushrooms, diced onions and chopped parsley. Then added some salt and pepper and scrambled.

I made little bowls out of foil sprayed with Canola...

I poured in the scrambled egg mixture, and sprinkled with cheddar cheese. And then folded up the foil packets.

In another foil packet I sprayed canola and put diced frozen (semi-frozen, as the cooler didn't keep them frozen too well) and diced onion with a pat of butter, and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Then I put the foil packets on a cookie sheet, and baked them in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes or so.

The eggs came out quite nicely...

It was like an omelet. The potatoes were almost like whipped potatoes, they were so mushy. Part of the problem was that they had been frozen, and there was too much water for them to brown. They would have been better if I had just diced up the new potatoes from the night before.

Otherwise they were very good!

I told Woodrow that even though my camping ventures may not turn out as I plan and can be quite exhaustive and stressful, I still enjoy my time out in nature. I still feel a sort of "release" and destressing that goes with disengaging from technology.

But I'm not sure when I'll be ready to camp again, after having been tag-teamed by gigantic spiders!

Snoop Loves the Ladies of WOW 2010

2010-04-12T07:45:00.037-04:00

It's that time of year again! Time for the Weekend of Women's Adventure! Snoop and I did this for the first time back in 2008, and he insisted on doing it again with me this year. So we left work early on Friday and set out for Caloosahatchee Regional Park in Alva, FL.

We arrived at the campground around 5 PM on Friday, and the park attendant told me that this year I could drive around to the lodge and actually park right at the lodge. Woo hoo! Last time we had to haul our gear in a wheeled cart, so this was pretty cool!

We headed down the road to a side entrance, and passed through the gate...

...and meandered around the winding road...

...and got our first glimpse of the lodge.

I had intended to setup camp under the same tree as last time, but found that not one but THREE tents were already in my spot! So I cased the grounds and found this inviting spot under another tree set apart from the rest...

So that's where we decided to setup camp.

It was a little further away from the lodge than some of the others, but that was okay with me!

Since the weatherman had called for some scattered showers, I decided that it would be prudent to put on the rainfly this time. I've never really put up the rainfly before. Well, not propertly. I've tossed it on for privacy once or twice, but never for actual shelter. So this was a first.

Then I unloaded all of the gear and setup the sleeping mat in the tent, while Snoop does what Snoop does best...

This was my first time using this sleeping pad, so I was hoping for the best. My last one wasn't thick enough (1 inch), so I had to use it on top of a thick exercise mat. This new sleeping pad was rated well, and 2.5 inches thick.

So with everything unloaded, I head over to the lodge to see what was happening.

What a surprise! Pizza and salad was on hand! They don't usually provide food on Friday. So, wouldn't you know, I had already grabbed a bite to eat on the way to the lodge.

So, I signed my waiver and got my "goody bag" and schedule, and then headed out to see what was going on outside. There was quite the little tent city setting up under my tree from my last attendance.

This couple even brought flamingos to decorate theirs. Love it! I remember the two of them from my last time here, but they didn't have the flamingos then!

Then I decided to move my Jeep over near my tent, and I was set!

I sat around at the picnic table at my site and read for a little bit while I got some shots. This was the airplant that I used as my natural "broom" for sweeping off the table and the bench. It worked pretty well!

In this pic I spotted some fruit on a tree...

This used to be farmland, and so there are still grapefruit trees and grapes and other edibles around the property.

I climbed in my tent for a bit and and got a shot out of my tent entrance...

About 6:40 PM, it was time to head out on a hayride with the girls...

...and Snoop, of course.

The hayride was done by Dave, and his wife was riding along with us.

We crossed N. River Road to the north side of the park...

...and continued on over bumpy...

...and, at times, muddy dirt roads.

We entered an open clearing where Dave hoped to show us some deer, but for some reason the deer spooked and ran off before we could reach them. The shot below is the only image I could get of the deer.

Can't see it? How about now?

Uh, yeah. Too bad. He said that they usually aren't easily spooked by the tractors or carts.

We circled around the park, and started heading back as the sun was lowering...

I just love old oaks, don't you?

Then we headed back across N. River Road...

...and headed back across to the lodge road again.

When we reached the dirt road to the lodge, Dave pointed out the neighboring property...

...and informed us that the neighbor had recently acquired a pet camel named Isaac, and that it answers to its name. He said that he recently was passing by and spotted Isaac lying in the field. He pulled over, got out, walked up to the fence and called out, "Isaac! Come here, Isaac!" and UP Isaac jumps and runs over! Dave said that Isaac leaned into the fence and threw his head down into his body, just seeking attention and a snack. After some petting and Dave's failure to produce a snack, Isaac lost interest and moved on.

That evening we sat around the fire and roasted marshmallows and made smores. Snoop included!

Oh, by the way, in the picture above is...I forget the name of the woman on the left, but remember that she works for the Sierra Club and calls herself a tree hugger. To her left is Heather, Karen and another Heather. Yep! That's right! 18 women attended this weekend, and there were three Heather's including myself! In fact, I could swear that there may have been a fourth as well, because we had nearly half of the women camping around the bend away from the lodge, and I could swear I heard someone from that group call someone "Heather" a few times. So I'm not sure whether or not we may have had a fourth Heather!

I found that two of the other girls travel around with a rubber ducky and take pictures of it in front of different venues.

Snoop thought that this was an interesting concept.

Nice fire, but the mosquitos were pretty bad this night, plus the gnats and other bugs were attracted to the headlamp I was using to read. So I retired to my tent about 9 PM to read, and the rest of the girls broke it up soon after.

I checked out the schedule for the next day, and I was excited to see both kayaking and archery on the agenda, as well as a night hike!

I think that I probably fell asleep around 10:00 PM or so. Then I was woken around 3:30 AM to the sound of a dog running around maniacally and barking. It sounded nuts, and from the sound of its voice it continued running all over the place. It's bark would get far away and then would be pretty close, and then further away and closer, then further and further away, fading into the distance, and then closer and closer again. Around and around and around. This went on for probably 45 minutes. I finally fell back to sleep. Otherwise I slept very well this night. The sleeping mat was very comfortable, and I didn't hear any of the other things that people spoke of the next morning. Some said they heard what sounded like a donkey in the middle of the night, some heard owls, and I heard one woman even had a battle with a raccoon in the middle of the night even yelling out, "Is anyone gonna help me with this raccoon?!" I didn't hear any of that, and slept like a log!

I woke the next morning to the beautiful sun rising up and shining through the tree...

While many still slept or lounged, I got up and gathered my things and headed over to the showers in the regular campground. I enjoyed the walk...

There's another grapefruit, just sitting out in the middle of the campground...

Humor me for a moment while I have an interlude with my friend Pam. Pammy: If you go camping with me in Caloosahatchee Regional, these are your bathroom accommodations. Here is the sink, mirror and electrical outlets...

...and here is the outside shower cubicle...
You have to keep pushing this button to make the water flow, but at least it's hot water!

And here is the bench where you can put your towel and clean clothes and shampoo and such...

...multiple hooks for hanging stuff...

...and this is what you're looking at while you shower...

Unfortunately I'm also looking at things like this freaky little spider that was next to me the whole shower...

After the shower, I walked back to the lodge. They had cordoned off the area from casual visitors...

Oh! And I figured this out the night before! It was hot and stuffy in the tent with the rainfly on and no breeze. I was laying there looking up and saw this sort of "slit" in the rainfly over a zippered slit in my tent. I unzipped my tent and reached up into the little "portal" and realized it could be propped open, allowing a little airflow. Yeah baby!

After my shower, I headed in for breakfast. There was fried bacon and hash browns, fruit and eggs. There were also sliced mushrooms and chopped pepper and cheese. So you could make yourself an omelet or scrambled eggs if you wished, which is exactly what I did.

After breakfast, it was time for kayaking. It turned out that only six of us showed up for kayaking. Karen (whom I had met the night before on the hayride) had never kayaked before and asked whether I would go tandem with her. I agreed. So we headed out with two guides taking the lead and rear.

Early on into our trip we came across a gator. Unfortunately we were going too fast for me to get a shot, while I was also trying to steer us and handle the camera at the same time. So this was the best I got...

About halfway into our trip, we stopped at "Party Island". This seems to be a manmade island where people come to have cookouts and such. The last time I kayaked out here, we passed by this island when a bunch of people were partying on it.

Our guide Kelly gave us some background on the dredging of the Caloosahatchee, how it was straightened, the oxbows lost, and the effects on the environment and eco-system.

Then we all got to see what happens when a large cruiser flies by too quickly.

If we had still been out on the water when this thing passed by like this, we would have had a hard time managing those waves!

After the history lesson, we got to dig our hands in and try to dig up a little history of our own! We grabbed some trowels and sifters, and we dug in the sand around the edge of the island in search of fossilized shark teeth. I picked this spot to start out...

I started sifting through, and I turned up lots of small live clams...

...but not much else. Then finally I found a shark's tooth! It wasn't fossilized, so it probably wasn't all that old, but it was a tooth! I found the first one, and then another woman went on to find two more.

After that, we hopped back in our kayaks to circle around to the "gator side" of the island and head back to the park. On the way I spotted this great big bromeliad up in a tree.

I also got a couple of shots of my usual favorites out here. For example, I love this pink tree. I've never gotten close enough to see what it is...

...and I always love the three colorful chairs in front of this house...

Wow! Was I wiped out when we finally made it back! Our guide Kelly said that the trip was about 3 miles. Not too bad! The second stretch was a nightmare, with a strong wind in our face. Whew!

We got back to find lunch waiting for us. Sandwich rings and chips!

Two of the attendees (I think their names were Diane and Willo) are vegetarians, and they introduced us to this yummy salad. It is raw grated sweet potato, pineapple, pumpkin pie spice, and just a dash of agave nectar to sweeten it.

Mmmm! Next time I come to the weekend getaway, I think I may try to bring my own veggie food like this, too!

Next it was time for a craft project. We were making "Glowing Flowers" votive candle holders.

First I grabbed my supplies and chose my flowers and leaves.

After coating the holder with glue, the leaves and flowers were stuck on.

The tissue paper gets stuck on over that.

After that it was time for archery. We had two members from Lee Country Archers come to give us a little demonstration and allow us each to try our hand at it.

The archery members demonstrated a number of bows and the different rules associated with them.

Then we each got a chance to shoot.

We each got five shots. The guy said that I was a natural, and could do very well at this sport with practice. These were my five shots...

I loved it! I would definitely consider taking this up as a hobby.

Next was basket weaving using intact Saw Palmetto fronds. I started out great! My basket was tight and uniform! It looked beautiful!

Then I got stuck at about this point. I didn't know what to do with all of those loose ends. I could never wrap my mind around it. So I never finished the basket. I just got too frustrated by it!

Later this afternoon I decided to take the rainfly off of the tent. It was just too hot in the tent with the rainfly on. This allowed me to finally get a look at the freaky little guy that I'd seen hanging out on the outside of the tent since I'd gotten up that morning.

He wound up hanging around until sometime that night. He disappeared after dark.

This is the view I love so much from inside the tent when there isn't a rainfly on it.

This gave me some good air circulation. So here I sat about 5:30 Saturday afternoon, listening to an owl hooting nearby as I waited on dinner.

A little while later I went in to check on things in the lodge. I found that Kelly had brought by her guides to shark teeth and fossils. Seems my tooth, as seen below, is probably from a Bull Shark.

And this other item that I found is supposed to be the fossilized mouth part of a ray, or some such thing. I've seen quite a few of these around in the Caloosahatchee in the past.

Shortly after we all made our own dinner packets. I put some sliced chicken, frozen carrots, cauliflower and brocolli, peppers and mushrooms and onions in foil along with a tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Folded that up and popped it up on the grill.

After probably 20 minutes or so on the grill, I had this. Mmmmm! This plus a salad makes a good dinner!

After dinner, we went on a night hike. We started out walking along the shore of the Caloosahatchee. I spotted this area, which looked to me like it could be an area where animal cut through to the river. Or it could be an inlet that allows water from the woods to enter the river. That is probably the more likely explanation.

This was a neat area. A bunch of dead debris with a hole dug through to the river.

We stopped at an observation deck, where we got a group photo of the 11 of us who did the night hike.

Then we continued on, as the sun continued to set.

Eventually the flashlights were busted out, and this was all that I saw...

We estimated the hike to be about 2 miles. After a day of kayaking, archery and hiking, I was exhausted and in bed by 9:30 PM!

This night was the slowest night on earth! It was one of those nights when you keep waking up, needing to use the bathroom, but not wanting to get your shoes on and get your glasses on, and grab a flashlight and trudge across a pitch dark field to do it. So you keep trying to sleep through until morning. You wake up thinking "It must be nearing morning." You look at the time and see it is 2 AM. You try again, and wake up and it is 3:30 AM, then 4:15 AM, etc. Finally about 5:45 AM I awoke to the sound of rain. Yep, rain. Remember what I did earlier Saturday?

Yep. I took off my rainfly. So at 5:45 in the morning, I had to put on my shoes and grab my keys, get in the Jeep and pull the rainfly out and put it back on again by flashlight. Thank God I had done the rainfly on Friday, or I would have been lost and had no idea what I was doing in the middle of the night. But it wound up being pretty easy for me doing it a second time, even if it was by flashlight and in the rain.

So at that point I wound up staying up and reading and listening to the rain and the blowing wind. It didn't rain too hard. About 6:30 AM two owls started hooting back and forth to one another.

I finally dozed off again around 7 AM, and then got up at 8 AM and had a bagel and banana for breakfast. I broke down my camp about 9 AM, and was ready to head out in no time.

Before we left, Snoop posed with Karen (my kayaking partner) and Cindy (who organizes this shindig). Karen came all the way from Fort Lauderdale for this getaway, and plans to try to come back again in October!

So it was a good time all around, and now that I know that they are also doing it in October I'll try to do it again later this year. Maybe Pammy can make it next time!

See you guys in October?

Snoop Dogg Does Manatee Park

2010-03-06T21:33:00.022-05:00

If you build it, they will come! Manatee have been coming to the warm waters off the Orange River for decades, attracted in the winter months to the warm discharge from the power plant. The county finally got the smart idea to build a park along these prime manatee winter feeding grounds, and invite people to come see them out in full force.

We went kayaking out here a couple of years ago, and we were surprised to have a manatee appear from out under our kayak, where it promptly flipped onto its back and sat there and licked our kayak for probably over 10 minutes. Who ever knew that a kayak could taste so good? Unfortunately we didn't have a camera on this day, when we were so close to a manatee that it would hit us with the spray from its nose when it snorted!

Since that day we have been eager to have a similar encounter. So I've been waiting all season for just the right day-- a day that was still cool enough for the manatee to be hanging around, but warm enough for us to be out on the water. I decided that last Saturday was the day.

Evidently everyone decided the same thing! We showed up at Manatee Park to find the place overrun with people. However we had no trouble getting a kayak. Normally I prefer to have my own kayak, but given the shoulder trouble I've been having lately I decided it would be better if we shared one.

We went down to pick up our kayak, and I was amused by this sign.

My mind saw it as meaning not to feed the gators by falling or diving in, or tossing in crabs.

Everyone else seemed to be doing canoes, which I am no longer a fan of. Kayaks all the way, baby!

When you first start heading out from the launching point, you have to pass under this bridge.

The water was so shallow through this whole pass that we kept getting stuck and have to dig in our paddles and try to shove ourselves along and break free of the sand and muck.

But finally we made it out into the open Orange River.

Usually we head left when we come out, which gives a more scenic route and allows us to flow with the current on the return trip. But this time we decided to try right, towards the Caloosahatchee, since that is supposed to be where the manatee prefer.

We didn't get too far before coming across an osprey eating on top of a dead palm tree.

I got video of the osprey as well...

We were amazed by these huge canoes that we spotted. They would easily hold 10 people, and were styled after more traditional native canoes.

We had a big stretch of water in front of us, but it didn't take long before the manatee appeared.

At first I was really nervous, given how HUGE these things are! Some were about 10 feet long and a 1000 pounds. Very intimidating when you see a manatee bigger than your kayak going underneath it, and the water is only about 3-4 feet deep in many spots. So I would worry that we would run up over one, and there wouldn't be enough clearance in the water and we might tip. Here's a video I call "Nervous Nellie"...

Here are a couple of other videos of the manatee...

We probably spent an hour out kayaking, and then headed back in. Then we went to check out the manatee from the manatee lookout.

I think we counted about 18 at one time right in front of us.

Manatee have no natural enemies, but most of them carry the scars of boat impacts.

On average, manatee come up for breaths about every 3-5 minutes, but may stay submerged for up to 20 minutes when resting.

I got a little video of the manatee from up top. It's funny. I had just overheard a tour guide tell a group that manatee aren't like porpoise-- they don't leap out of the water and splash around and play. At least "not unless they're getting freaky" or something. And just moments later, I saw a large splash from the manatee.

Snoop insisted on getting in on the action as usual.

Look at that tail...

Lovely creatures.

We did notice what seemed to be a big boulder off to the side...

...but found that it was a baby that was sitting off by itself. I wound up asking a volunteer about it, and whether there was any reason to be concerned that it was away from its mother. He said that they weren't concerned yet, but were keeping an eye on it. He said that the mother was probably nearby, and they were most likely aware of one another through little clicks that they use to communicate.

I was just concerned, as usually babies are seen with their mother for a couple of years, like this guy...

We watched...

...and watched...

...and watched.

We enjoyed watching the manatee for awhile, and then we walked through the gardens for a bit. I like this flower. Looks like firespike or something...

This was the view from the bridge, looking back at the kayak launching area.

...and down the other way.

Oooooh. Pretty flowers!

We came across this gator on the path...

Snoop got a little too close...

We were going to leave him to suffer the consequences of his recklessness, but then we saw this...

...and decided to rescue him.

We headed out to the dock to look around, and I spotted a ranch across the water. While I watched, I saw one of the horses excitedly gallop up to the barn. He must have heard the owners messing around in there, and was probably hoping for a snack!

While I was taking pics of the ranch and horses, these guys showed up...

The guy that is waving proceeded to hold up a finger as if to say "wait", and then acted as if he was going to moon us. We laughed, and the woman with him said, "Don't tempt him! He'll do it!" Funny.

Some other visitors to the park took a pic of the three of us, and we reciprocated and took their pic...It was a good day. We've waited all year to get a chance to kayak with some manatee, and I hope to do it again next year. Hopefully by then maybe I'll be less of a "Nervous Nellie" when they show up on the scene!

Snoop Dogg Does Las Vegas

2010-01-23T19:46:00.051-05:00

I had the good fortune recently of finding myself in Vegas on business. And Snoop had the good fortune of knowing me, because he got to go with me.

We arrived in Vegas at Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon around 8 PM PST...

The first thing that we always do is take Snoop's picture on the bed...

...and take a tour of the room.

Did you see that? Not a bad TV, huh? I'm big on hotel TVs!

The next thing I do is check out my view. We were staying across the street from Bally's, where the convention was going on...
...and the pedestrian bridge that you could use to go from Bill's to Bally's.

I checked my view just as the water show was going on.

I caught the end of the water show on video, as I gave a quick tour of the view outside my window. Please note that the building behind Bally's is NOT Caesar's Palace. That was actually next to Bill's.

Night life on the streets of Vegas can be a little seedy. There are hootchie mamas in tiny dresses everywhere you look, and tracts laying all over the sidewalks with naked women and their phone numbers.

But when you go out onto the sidewalks in the morning, there isn't usually a tract to be found. They sweep them all up before the people hit the streets in daylight. (I could go off on a whole religious tangent here about evil under the cover of darkness, but I won't!)

Day One

In the morning, I was up around 6:30 AM to prepare for work. I hopped in the shower, where I discovered one of my favorite things: this window...

The first day, I took the pedestrian bridge across to Bally's. I found that the "down" escalator was out of service and had to take the elevator...

Then you cross using the moving sidewalks, and enter into Bally's...

Every morning I would walk through Bally's, all of the slot machines and gaming tables, in order to get to the conference room...

This was the first day, when we had to setup our booth. This video shows the walk through the hall...

So this was our booth before we got it all setup.

It stretches all the way down to the other two black chairs past Chuck. The boss decided this year that he was going to get "comfy chairs" for the booth, to make people want to sit down and stay awhile.

I worked on putting our new banners together and getting them hung.

While we were setting up the booth, I spotted this guy riding around on a cart putting out the tablecloths, and thought it was a pretty efficient way to get the job done...

Get the banners hung up, set out some laptops and projectors and screens, and put out your "freebie" stuff and flyers, and you've got yourself a booth!

One thing we've discovered is that home inspectors love back scratchers!

I guess that is probably because most of them are men, and men love back scratchers! So we give away LOTS of these at shows!

Once we got that finished, I ran to get a bit of breakfast before the inspectors began flooding our booth. I decided to try out the Sidewalk Cafe in Bally's. I had quite a bit of wait standing in line, but got to check out this display while I did so.

I had a veggie omelet and wheat toast and coffee. Quite a tasty breakfast!

After breakfast, I headed back to begin the show. Across from us is Russ.

Russ usually sets up shop across from us at shows, since his software integrates with our software. Russ is a very upbeat guy-- he's always "on". I asked him one morning in Vegas: "Russ, is your wife as cheerful as you in the mornings?" He sort of paused, took a deep breath, exhaled, and then rolled his eyes and shook his head and said, "No. Not at all. Not at all." I get that. Someone like me can OD on Russ' cheerfulness within a few days. But he usually has good "freebies"! This year it was this...

I thought this would be good in a camping kit or an emergency kit, so I made sure to get one! (Or actually got Chuck to steal one for me. Chuck was also my designated licorice-stealer. One of the fun things at shows is going around and seeing the freebies the other vendors have sitting out, and snag some!)

This is Rick.

He's one of our resellers that came to help us man the booth this year. I had to be sure to get a pic of Rick, because he looks so much like my uncle Tim. I wanted to show my Mom...

And this is another Rick...

This is Rick Yerger. I just had to get a shot of him, because he is one of our "celebrity users" so to speak. We used him in some advertising a couple of years ago. He used to be on the DIY Network, although I don't think he is anymore. He's a nice guy. That's him with my boss and another user.

We have another "celebrity user" who has appeared in things like West Wing and XXX: State of the Union.

At the end of the first day, we were served food. I forget what all I ate, but I remember a tasty meatball and a mini BBQ pulled pork sandwich. I also ate this...

Oh snap! The one on the right was carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The one on the left? Well I just know that it was sweet creaminess in a chocolate shell. Yum!

When food is served, home inspectors sit and eat and relax, and mill around the booths. This is when it gets busy.

The rest of the time, they are in classes and it can get quiet at the booth.

And so day 1 ended, I headed back to my room around 8:30 PM and called it a night!

Day Two

Day Two began as Day One did, only this time the booth was already setup. So it was a morning of talking with inspectors and promoting the software. At lunch time, I took a break to grab a bite to eat and headed over to "Paris".

Paris is part of Bally's. As you enter Paris, you come upon this...

Look at the beautiful stained-glass ceiling over this fountain...

When you get to the streets of Paris, this is what you see...

It's hard to believe your indoors, isn't it? This reminds me of Sunset Station in Henderson where we stayed last time I was in Vegas. There was one area near the ceiling that I found really interesting...

This had such depth to it. They gave the illusion of an entire city visible beyond the rooftops in the forefront, and the way that the smoke alarms and such had been painted made them look like birds flying through the faux sky.

While in Paris, I ate lunch at a little French bakery. I got a turkey and swiss sandwich on possibly the best sandwich bread that I've ever had before. I then followed it with a piece of chocolate-raspberry mousse cake (I just couldn't resist!). Very nice lunch!

That evening the boss decided to take all of us to the Golden Nugget for their buffet. The five of us piled into a taxi and headed across town to Fremont. Our timing was impeccable. Just after we arrived, the lights went out on the surrounding streets, and we found that we were in for a treat...

The show was really awesome! They sure know how to keep people pumped up and spending and gambling!

After the light show, we headed on to the Golden Nugget. Just before I went inside, I turned around and got this shot...

Very cool! Then we headed into the Golden Nugget.

Welcome to the Golden Nugget...

We headed through the casino and upstairs to The Buffet...

Can you tell I hate to have my picture taken?

We got a booster seat for Snoop...

...and he was a bad boy and just ate dessert...

Personally I wasn't very hungry, as I ate a late lunch. So all I had was salads and fruit.

That marinated eggplant salad was really good! I think everyone enjoyed their dinner, although we made Snoop the brunt of some of our jokes.

After dinner we had a few photo-ops. This is Paul with Snoop.

Paul is from Montreal, Canada. He's a Frenchie.

Here's Snoop in front of the Gordie Brown Showcase sign.

To the left was the wall of celebrity photos...

This wall contained pics the likes of Whoopie and Don Rickles...

...Johnny Cash...

...and Tony Orlando.

Afterward we headed down the escalator back to the casino...

Snoop and I played the slots and won a few bucks...

Then we hit the roulette tables, where I learned how to play and wound up doing quite well. In fact, I won on the number 28 three spins in a row! Do you know what the odds are of that happening? All in all, I won about $60 on roulette (taking into account my loss earlier that evening). I would have loved to have kept playing, but the guys were waiting on me and we had to get up early for work the next morning.

When we walked back outside, I almost thought that it was daylight...

I understand now why Las Vegas uses all of the bright neon lights everywhere. It fools your mind into thinking that it is daylight, so you'll keep going and going and going...
So we hailed a cab, got back to our hotel, and Snoop and I celebrated!

It was a good night!

Day Three

Day Three started like the others. Work began around 7 AM. At some point, I decided that I had to get something to eat, and I headed downstairs to the underground area of Bally's. While I waited for my Chicken Teriyaki and Tempura bowl from Ichiban, I took a look around. And this was one of my favorite things that I saw...

Look at those candied apples! Are those not some of the most beautiful things you've ever seen? I even saw one candied apple that was covered in caramel popcorn and drizzled with caramel and chocolate. Oh, no you di'nt! (Oh yes I did! How the heck do you spell the urban "di'nt" of the word "didn't"?)

My other favorite thing that I saw while downstairs was this...

Oh yes! That is Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga, all in one machine! My biggest regret in Vegas is that I did not play a few games, but I had to get back to work.

I got back to work, and this was one of my last pictures before we shut down for the day and started breaking down the booth.

Snoop was at the booth...

...and he even took a minute to pose with one of our users. This is Dave. If I remember correctly, he lives in CA, but has a cabin near Reno that he offered to me and one of the guys last time we were in the area.

So our time at the convention ended, we broke everything down, packed it up, and I had a couple of boxes taken to the business center for shipping. While in the business center, I spotted this sign that I found interesting...

That night the boss decided that he was taking us to dinner over at Caesars Palace...

We walked over, as there was a pedestrian walk that connected our place to the Palace. On the way, I got some cool, foggy pics of Vegas.

After entering Caesar's Palace, this is how you are greeted...

Beautiful, huh?

This was a nice painting straight ahead as you walked in the doors...

We tried heading to the older part of the hotel, in search of a restaurant to eat at. We headed through the casino, past the fountain of Poseidon...

...and this amazing store that sold chocolates and such...

Here's some video that I got walking through the shops. Warning to adults: The statue nudity in the following video will make children giggle hysterically, and may leave you with questions to answer.

And here is more footage of our walk through another field of slot machines...

Then we entered an area of shops and restaurants. You will recognize the names of many of them...

This video ends at the restaurant that we ate at: Trevi...

This was my view from inside Trevi...

...and this was my dinner...

Mint and Pistachio Risotto with Pork Medallions, a dollop of creme fraiche and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar (fancy food always has long names like that). Oh snap! This was one of the best meals that I've ever had in my life! Strangely enough, it tasted kinda like Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, which you wouldn't think would go well with the pork and vinegar, but it was "delish"!

I got a shot of the guys, and then we got a shot of all of us together.

That's Chuck of California, Paul of Montreal, Carl of Florida and Rick of Arizona...and then, of course, me and Snoop. Snoop had a little too much too drink...

...and actually wound up nearly falling down drunk.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and collapsed in exhaustion. We didn't get to bed until around 11:30 PM, and we had to be up around 3:30 AM to pack and get ready for the airport shuttle that was to pick us up at 4:15 AM.

So, in conclusion, I found that Vegas can be a blast. However I also found that it is all an illusion.

The lights give the illusion of daylight 24 hours a day...

The pillars in Caesar's Palace are metal...

This Caesar medallion that was on the wall of the pedestrian walk? Fiberglass...

And the women just add to the illusion...

I enjoyed Las Vegas and look forward to visiting it again in the future. Viva Las Vegas!

Snoop's Dream Tent (Giveaway)

2009-05-19T15:52:00.004-04:00

This tent is Snoop's dream. Just check it out! It includes:

A rechargeable battery that powers outlets in the tent.
A 4-5 person tent.
A power fan/light

All from Eureka, who made my current tent, which I am IN LOVE with!

Did I hear someone say "awesome"? Oh, maybe that was me! Check out the giveaway on My Charmed Life.

Snoop Dogg Goes Camping and Falls in Love

2009-03-08T20:52:00.012-04:00

Well Snoop has been after us, wanting to know when we were going to take him camping. So yesterday we decided to pick up and do it. Snoop was so excited, he was in the Jeep before we had loaded up our camping gear! Before we knew it, we were on our way to Caloosahatchee Regional Park in Alva, FL.

We arrived at the park late in the day, probably around 4:30 PM. The park house wasn't open...

...so we went and checked out the bulletin board.

We looked at the campground map to decide where we might want to camp.

We also saw a notice stating that we were under a fire ban due to the dry conditions. Darn! We had already brought firewood and were planning on cooking dinner and roasting marshmallows over fire. What now?

We finally got to speak with park personnel. She let us know that fires created with regular untreated wood were not permitted, but those created with Duraflame were. We hopped in the Jeep and checked the GPS for nearby grocery stores. On our way out, we spotted an armadillo at the gate entrance.

We'll call him Jerald, because all armadillos are named "Jerald". Hey, I didn't make the rules. That's just how it is. All armadillos are "Jerald", and all spiders are "Fred". Deal with it.

So we went about ten miles to the nearest grocery store (Winn Dixie), and checked there for Duraflame. Nada.

We sat in the parking lot and debated on what to do. Did we still want to camp out if we couldn't build a fire? Did we want to drive another 7 miles to the next grocery store to look for Duraflame so we could have a fire? We finally decided to do it.

We arrived at the next store (Publix), and again no Duraflame. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

Now what? We decided to get charcoal instead, as the girl at the park had mentioned that the camp sites had grills.

We headed back to the park, paid for our site and started loading up our gear.

The park has a parking lot out front, and a line of wagons that you can use to haul your gear to your site.

We had two wagons of gear. Snoop wasn't really any help. He just lounged in the Jeep and then on the packed wagons while we did all of the work.

Walking into the campground, I spotted a weather station behind the park house.

We passed through the gate that blocks vehicles from traveling into the campground.

We rounded a bend on the path, and came to the first spot on the right loop, which is actually the last camp site. This looked like it may actually be a good spot. It was a large spot, there were no others nearby, and the bathrooms were right behind us. This is where we decided we would stay. Site number 25.

Looking up towards the gate entrance...

...and down the path towards our nearest neighbor...

...and the bathrooms and showers behind us.

There was a little showerhead across from our camp site.

I wouldn't be showering here.

We had to work fast, because sunset was only perhaps an hour away. We setup our tent...

...put out the chairs...

...and I started on dinner.

Dinner was Polska sausage, peppers, onions and potatoes in foil packets, and some baked beans (Woodrow's last minute purchase at our last grocery store).

While dinner was cooking, I went to take a shower. They have an outside shower, but at least there is hot water. Woodrow got a shot of my feet when I was in the shower.

He also brought me a flashlight to help me find my way back to camp.

I got some pictures of the shower this morning when it was light outside. You come in the door and lock it...

There is a little ledge for you to put your towel and clothes...

And when you go around the wall opposite the door, you get to the shower...

When I got back to camp, Woodrow gave me a headlamp to wear.

Not at ALL dorky looking!

While dinner cooked, I looked at a book, and Woodrow drank that of which we do not speak...

...since we arrived at the park to find out that it was not permitted within the park. Whenever he would leave the camp for a minute, he would put "that of which we do not speak" undercover.

Snoop wasn't concerned. He lounged by the fire and kicked back with a cold one, unconcerned with rules.

Dinner was deemed ready around 8:00 or 8:30 (funny how time has no meaning when you are camping out.) We had our foil packets...

...and our beans.

Mmmm. Look at that blackened sausage. Yummy!

After dinner we decided to roast marshmallows. However we didn't have a fire to roast over. What to do? I told Woodrow that I would just do what I did as a kid-- use a lighter. (Mom would probably die to know that as a teen I would sit on the living room couch and roast marshmallows over a candle.) Woodrow agreed to give this a try, only to find that our lighter was now out of fluid. What to do?

I will not be deterred!

Now let me explain that I am one of those people who likes a well-charred marshmallow...

Ah, yeah. That is marshmallow perfection.

Full of melted gooey-ness!

After we cleaned up and took some of our food stuffs back to the Jeep for safe-keeping during the night, we headed into the tent to relax. It was about 9:00 PM.

This was the shot inside the tent, looking down at our feet...

...and up towards our heads.

This morning we awoke early, and I remembered that the time had changed. So while the clock said 7:30 AM, it was 6:30 AM by my biological clock. After 20 minutes or so I got up and headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and change my clothes. I was drying my hands when I looked down and saw this.

I haven't identified it yet.

By the way, after I got back from the bathroom, I spotted Snoop's sword.

Everytime I see it, I'm amazed that it is still there. This little sword is a souvenir from our night out in New Orleans, when we went to the Redfish Grill and had drinks. I can't believe that it hasn't fallen out of his pants and been lost yet. (UPDATE 4/11/10: We no longer have the sword. It was lost soon after this camping trip.)

Woodrow started packing up the gear while I took a little time to read and wake up. Then while Woodrow took the first load back to the Jeep, I started breaking down the tent.

The tent. Let me tell you about my tent. I love my tent. It is a Eureka Spitfire 2.

Last night we loosely put on the rainfly, just for the privacy-- not because we worried about rain.

I bought my tent because it was mostly mesh, which is what I wanted.

I wanted to be able to look up through the roof of the tent and see the stars, and see what was going on around me. And the mesh is so fine, that it will keep out everything. Even the droplets of water on the underside of the rainfly stayed out.

The only real drawback in my eyes is the snug design.

It is roomy and comfortable for a single person. It is a little snug for two. If you are used to sleeping two to a double-sized bed, this tent may be fine. But otherwise it is a little tight for two people plus gear.

That being said, I love my tent!

After we packed up camp, we had a quick breakfast of vanilla yogurt and chopped fruit and granola...

...and then we went for a little walk around the campground. I noted which sites I liked for the future. On the way, we heard a strange sound. We found that it was coming from this little bird.

I haven't identified him yet, but he made a very unusual sound that I hadn't heard before. I think he was coming down for water. (UPDATE 4/11/10: I believe that this is a Catbird. The weird call that it kept making was a MEOW sound.)

I also spotted lots of vines. We have lots of vines around south Florida.

These, of course, come in handy around creeks for swinging! Kids enjoy them, but many of them are potato vine or Kudzu, both of which are invasive non-natives that are smothering out native species.

As we walked along, I spotted a grapefruit in the bushes. Huh?

How did that get there? Then we looked up.

Ah! A grapefruit tree! Then I remembered that this property used to be owned by a farmer, and there were lots of different fruit trees and bushes located throughout the park. Last time Snoop and I came here, we spotted an orange tree in the woods.

We spotted other walking trails...

...but we didn't have time to check them out. We had plans to go kayaking at 10:00 AM.

We went up to the entrance to look for the hosts who would hook us up with kayaks, but we didn't spot them. So we hung out for awhile. Snoop spent sometime lounging on the Jeep while we waited...

...before joining us over by the bench.

Finally the hosts showed up, we paid for our kayak, and then headed over to the launch site to meet them.

We got our kayak, and Snoop settled in. He never helps out.

We headed out into the water, past the dock and through the lily pads.

The lily pads are pretty, and some boast a lovely yellow flower.

Just after we passed the dock, a woman on the dock told us that her son had just spotted an otter in the water. We looked for it, and we found it.

She was very playful and inquisitive. I think that she's used to being fed by people, as she kept popping up near us and getting closer, as if anticipating our feeding her. She was so quick, that I had a hard time getting any shots of her, but I did get a few.

Snoop was in love. She was a beauty. She was charming. He couldn't get enough.

But we had to intervene. We knew that this couldn't be. It was doomed. He's a stuffed doll that lives on a shelf in an office. She's a beautiful water creature that has fish breath. They just weren't right for one another.

We went a little further down, and we spotted this guy up on the bank.

He was a big boy. Ahhh. This was probably the mate of the pretty girl we had seen before. Snoop understood now that it was best that he had given up his pretty girl. She already had a mate. He didn't want to break up a family.

I got some video footage of the big guy. Sorry for the low quality of the video. It is hard to see my camera display in the sun, so I am constantly shifting it around to try to figure out whether I'm looking in the right place.

He had a "back entrance" into the water, where he would head down towards the water, but would never appear at the water's edge to the right. Suddenly straight in front of us we would see him peeking out at us from "UNDER" the land in front of us. There evidently was a little hole there allowed him to slip down into the water unseen. Very cute! Unfortunately he was so hard to get a good shot of that the picture above was the only good picture, but I got video, baby!

Here are some other photos from our kayak trip out:

This was looking down the river towards the Gulf of Mexico, but you have MANY miles to get to the Gulf!

And a shot looking across the river.

I loved the look of this pink tree from the distance. I didn't get close enough to see what it was, but suspected it may have been a Hong Kong Orchid.

There were a couple of these "corrals" around.

We suspected perhaps they were for crab traps, and the corrals kept them from drifting around the river.

I loved the look of this "parasitic" tree.

There were lots of boats out on the river.

At one point, a plane flew overhead. I had a hard time getting my camera out in time.

We went around one of the islands that that Army Corp of Engineers cut out, in order to look at some large boats that were docked at an inn.

While back there, I got these shots of a "field" of lily pads...

...and this barn.

This was the place where the boats were moored...

I actually don't know whether this is an "inn", or just someone who allows boaters to moor there. I think that might be the case.

This was a shot from across the other side of the river.

There are an amazing number of cows located along the Caloosahatchee River.

We slipped down a little tributary off of the river, and were warned by some inhabitants that were heading out on their boat to be careful, as there were gators a little further on. We went a little further and got this shot...

...and then turned around to head out. We weren't in the mood to deal with gators!

On the way back out to the river, I spotted this mailbox and wondered what it would be like to be the postal person that dealt with THAT!

A mailbox up on a post on the dock! Since I didn't see anything else like this on the river, I have to think that it is a 'joke' or just for decoration.

While out on the river, I liked the look of this dock with the patio furniture set out.

I think that the dock was at the same house with the three chairs.

For some reason, I didn't get a closer shot of the three chairs. I loved the look of them.

We spotted this boat dock, with a rope swing and lighthouse on top.

On the way back to the park, I got some shots of the lovely vegetation.

After we returned to land and left our kayak and gear, we had to walk back to the parking lot. On the way I got some shots of vegetation and life still unidentified.

On the side of the path, we spotted this muddy ditch just *full* of tracks.

Some of the prints looked like large and small pig hoof prints, so I am thinking that perhaps there was a wild sow with piglets around here. There were also some small prints like perhaps an opossum or something, and maybe raccoon. (UPDATE 4/11/10: When I went by here this weekend, this same area was full of water, after the heavy rain we've had this "dry season".)

I spotted these berries that looked like blueberries, but haven't yet identified them for sure.

We saw a couple of these zebra butterflies flitting around.

At least, I think that they are called "zebra" butterfly.

I remember that these berries used to grow on the pasture fence next to my house when I was a kid. I don't remember what they are called, but remember that they are supposed to be poisonous.

This lovely flower was just growing out of the dead leaves.

I think that this might be grapevine.

There was this lovely little pink flower.

And there was this interesting shrub that had this "pincushion" fruit that dangled from it.

We spotted this palm tree, which looked to me to be a "bear tree", used by a bear to mark it's territory.

I know when I was here last year for my "Women's Weekend", I had heard that there'd been reports of a bear in the area. (UPDATE 4/11/10: I doubt bear, as they've said that bear have been tracked to the park as they pass through it, but have never actually been seen by anyone on park grounds. So I would guess that this was more likely caused by raccoons or maybe even squirrels using the bark for their nests or something?)

Speaking of my weekend here last year, we took the trail back that passes the lodge where we stayed last year for our weekend.

Last year I was camped under this tree.

Woodrow spotted this scat under a palm next to the lodge, and pointed it out to me.

He knows how I love me some scat! (I'm fascinated with trying to determine what animal left it behind. I know. Weird. I also love the smell of skunk. Okay? Don't ask.)

So that was the extent of our trip this weekend. On the way home, we did get slowed down by an accident.

On the way home, we swung by my mother's house. While petting her dog Katy goodbye, I looked down and saw THIS right next to us.

Looks like a Wolf Spider. Anyone who knows me knows that I have arachnophobia. However I am fascinated by that which freaks me out! So we had to break out our cameras and get pictures! We put down a quarter to give size perspective. He was a little bigger than a quarter.

Freaky!

Mom was worried that I would run over him when I was leaving, so she tried to scoot him into the grass using a stick. He wasn't having any of that and ran right towards me instead! He wound up under my truck. I told her that I just didn't want him under my tire. She nudged him a little further and then said, "OK! Go now! Really fast!" I did, and the spider survived and ran off into the grass. We respect all life and try to live with compassion and do what we can to not kill anything. We do catch-and-release whenever possible.

So that's how we ended our weekend. It was fun, and we'll have to see whether I make it to this year's Women's Weekend, which will be out at the same lodge again.

And maybe Snoop will quiet down for a little while. He should be on his best behavior, if he has any hope of coming with me to my Women's Weekend again this year!

Snoop Dogg Does the Owl Festival

2009-02-21T21:25:00.014-05:00

UPDATE 2/23/09: Per Libby's request (from Neas Nuttiness), I am putting a disclaimer on this post that snake pictures do follow! If you do not like snakes, please be forewarned!

I've mentioned before on my other blog that we have adorable burrowing owls all over this area, and they are the official bird of Cape Coral. I pass by a number of them every morning on my way to work...

...and today we all headed over to the Seventh Annual Burrowing Owl Festival.

As we walked from the parking lot at the festival, we passed some nature paths, and decided that we would later have to take a little hike before we left.

We also spotted a lookout in the distance, and figured that the nature walks would take us to the lookout.

I also spotted an osprey flying around.

And on the path, I found that I liked the look of this dead tree.

Eventually we spotted the Kennel Corn vendor and the display tents. The first thing that we encountered in the festival grounds was Julius the Red-Tail Boa.

I love snakes! I've said before that the rush of power that some people feel when they hold a gun in their hands is the feeling that I get when I hold a snake. They are wonderfully powerful and sleek animals! So of course I had to take this opportunity to hold Julius.

But it was warm out, and Julius got very active and hard to handle.

(BTW, I'm not missing a tooth. I just happen to have a big space between two teeth that can make it appear that way. Guess it never mattered enough to me or my parents to do anything about it.)

Next we ventured into the wildlife tent. First a guy from Manatee Park grabbed us and started teaching us all about the local manatees. They had a manatee skeleton on display, and Snoop wanted his photo taken with it.

Did you know that, unlike human ribs, a manatees ribs are solid? There's no bone marrow in them. They act as lead weights to help the manatee sink to the bottom of the ocean or creek where they feed. The manatee also use the methane gas in their bodies to help them surface again for breaths, like a submarine uses ballast tanks to sink and surface.

There were also rat snakes in the tent...

...and what I think was a black snake, although it was hard to see in its hiding place.

There was an owl presentation going on, but not for burrowing owls. This guy looked more like a Great Horned Owl.

They also had a booth with a young monitor lizard, to educate people on the invasive species.

They normally get 4-5 feet in length, and are often seen sunning themselves on the banks of canals.

But the cutest thing that we saw in this tent had to be the little Evening Bat.

Look at that face! This little guy was actually full grown.

While walking around the festival, we saw a couple of the greyhounds that were brought by the greyhound adoption group. A couple of the dogs were wearing "donation" blankets for collecting donations.

This poor greyhound had just been given up this morning by its adoptive family.

We went through the other display tents around. One of the vendors was with a pollination club, and they had lots of honey for sale. Snoop got his picture taken in front of the honey table.

They also educated us at the festival on recycling.

After exploring all of the tents, we decided to go on a nature hike. We decided to start out on the mulched path.

We stopped early on into our walk to check out the estuary.

Nearby I spotted these purple flowers and an interesting...bee? It's body shape looked like a bee, but the coloring was more like a wasp.

We made it to the lookout...

That lookout sure felt unstable! Up on top, you could feel it shake back and forth as people climbed up and down the stairs. But the view was great! You could see out to the estuary that we had just stopped by....

...all the way out to the Gulf of Mexico...

...the canal in the background...

...and Snoop wanted his picture taken looking out on the owl festival in the distance.

After we came down from the lookout, we walked over to the canal and watched some of the little fish near the bank. There were a few fish that looked sorta like fantail guppies. The males had fanned tails, they were only about an 1-1 1/2 inches long, and the females were very plain looking. I was fascinated with the courting behaviour of the males. I watched one male stick right by the side of his chosen female, and one point appearing to even raise a pectoral fin in display.

We continued on the walking path, and I spotted a couple of small game trails on the way.

I also spotted lots of dung on the path. Being something of a naturalist, I always find this fascinating. It can be interesting determining what animal left this behind.

I think that this was probably from a fox.

I've seen those seeds in what I believed to be fox droppings before. They seem to pass right through their system intact.

Anyhoo...we continued on and spotted things here and there. I wanted to try to figure out what plant this was that had these berries.

I think that this is Sea Grape, but I've never seen the leaves this large before.

And I love this palm...

We spent quite awhile just watching the birds do what birds do.

These egrets would fly around here and there, apparently trying to catch prey...

There was one bird that was evidently the dominant one, and he would occasionally chase off the other one.

At one point, a Woodstork came in for a landing...

There were also a group of young ducks diving for food. Up, down, up, down...

Finally their parents showed up, and the family joined up in a train.

Here is a short video of a few moments watching the birds. It would be oh so peaceful if it weren't for the intercom and noise from the festival.

As we were leaving the birds, I spotted this sign up on a palm tree.

We worked up a good appetite on our walk, and decided that it was time to get a bite to eat. So we headed back to the festival and got in line for food at Mixer's booth.

Woodrow got the Johnson Brat and yummy onion rings, and Snoop and I shared a pulled pork sandwich and fries.

We ate our lunch in a pavilion next to a Native American vendor. I noticed that he had a cool spider on the back side of his tent.

So that was our day at the festival. We really enjoyed ourselves. And now for a few things that Snoop learned today about burrowing owls that he didn't know before.

The owls typically dig their own burrows, but will use gopher tortoise or armadillo burrows.
Burrows extend four to eight feet underground.
Owls are "site specific", and use the same burrow year after year, unless the burrow is damaged or overgrown, or they are harassed, in which case they will often move to a nearby area to start a new nest.
Nesting typically occurs February-August, with most nests beginning in March.
Females lay anywhere from 2-8 white, almost round eggs. The eggs are incubated for 28 days.
By the time the young are three weeks of age, they are found outside the nest stretching their wings. By four weeks they are taking short flights. Although they are flying well by six weeks, they don't leave the burrow until July or August. The young usually move one to three miles from the nest of their birth.
Burrowing owls live on average three years.
You can attract an owl to your yard by starting a burrow for them. To do this, remove a one or two foot wide triangular plug of sod from the lawn. This exposes the sandy soil needed by the owls for burrowing. You might also start digging a burrow near the top of the triangle, placing a pile of loose sand outside the burrow entrance. Place a perch near the burrow to get the owl's attention. Try to select an open, treeless area in your lawn that will remain dry during heavy rains and will be away from heavy vehicle and foot traffic.

(These bits of info come from the Wildlife Foundation of Florida)

Very nice day! I look forward to doing the festival again next year.

Bring Percy Home!

2009-02-09T20:56:00.003-05:00

Snoop has gotten involved in trying to resolve a dognapping and bring the little pug home. Percy has found himself dognapped to New York, and his Momma at Neas Nuttiness is pleading for his swift and safe return home to Florida. His kidnappers are keeping her posted on his whereabouts viaOne More Dive. Drop by and post a plea for Percy's safe return home! Or at least that his dognappers treat him to a Broadway play and trip down Times Square!

Snoop Dogg Does Cleveland

2008-12-28T09:20:00.005-05:00

This summer found Woodrow and I doing a business trip to Cleveland, and of course Snoop insisted on tagging along as a third wheel.

First we had to take Snoop's picture on the bed, or we would never hear the end of it!

Woodrow lounged on his bed, and checked out the menu while he listened to his iPod.

I always check out the room first thing, and this Marriot had a nice bathroom.

I know, what a dufus. What can I say? I like a nice bathroom in a hotel room. However I had to laugh at the caulking job on the tub. It was worse than the caulking job that I did on my own tub!

I know. Again, I'm a dufus. I notice things like the caulking job on a hotel room tub. How sad is that?

Our trip wasn't very eventful. We did have to visit another hotel for a class, and afterwards they invited us to attend their party at a bowling-bistro. Cool place. They have a bistro that serves pizza, phillies and wings, a full bar and neon bowling. Three of us teamed up to bowl together, and we all totally sucked. But it was fun!

When we needed to head back to our hotel, we asked the curbside attendant for assistance, and he got us a limo to take us back. It was a totally pimped out limo, gaudy and tacky, with a chauffeur that would have been totally comfortable in New Orleans.

Unfortunately Woodrow hasn't given me copies of the pictures that he took of our exploits around Cleveland, so I don't have anything at this time. However I do have a photo of the three of us at the bar in our hotel.

The trip was relatively uneventful, and not one of our more fun escapades. We'll see what we can turn up in 2009.

Snoop Dogg Does Reno

2008-12-28T08:37:00.005-05:00

Snoop and I made a business trip to Reno earlier this year, and it was a first for both of us.

Well, first my boss screwed up the flights. We flew into Sacramento, CA at around 1 AM PST/4 AM EST. Then we had to drive two hours through the mountains to get to Reno, NV. We got checked into our hotel about 3 AM PST/6 AM EST, and we had to be up at 6:30 AM PST to setup our classroom for our training class. It was exhausting!

Later that day, Snoop insisted that I do the traditional shot of him on the hotel room bed. (No, we do not share a bed! We always try to get two beds, or he sleeps on the floor. What kind of girl do you think I am?)

Then I went to the window of my room at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino to check out my view.

During our stay at the hotel and casino, we went down to the bar for dinner. I liked their setup. They had very colorful bottles of liquor lined up on the shelves.

It appealed to my aesthetic sensibilities.

Our last night at the casino, I went down and did a little gambling on the slots.

At one point I went to use the bathroom, and was fascinated with the sink, which was just faucets hanging over a flat surface.

Really cool! I want those sinks in my home!

The third day found me finally outside as we changed hotels, as we had a show to do at a different hotel. It was the first time that I realized that we had snowy mountain tops to look out at on the front-side of the hotel.

We switched over to another hotel. I forget now what it was. Something like a Holiday Inn or something. It sure couldn't compare to the Grand Sierra we'd stayed at for the first couple of days. However I did have a very vocal bird outside my room window.

The next day we headed back to Fort Myers. It began with a drive to Sacramento. Since it was now daylight instead of the middle of the night, I got to take in the view on the ride.

The trip was otherwise uneventful. I did break even in the casino, so my gain in New Orleans of $7.50 after an hour of gambling still stood.

Another trip down...

Snoop Dogg Does the Women's Weekend 2008

2008-12-27T22:09:00.004-05:00

Earlier this year, I signed up for a Women Weekend getaway in April. It was a three day camping experience for women only, but Snoop insisted on coming along with me.

We arrived at Caloosahatchee Regional Park to find that cars were parked at the entrance and you had to carry in your equipment. Luckily they had some wheelbarrows available to carry your camping gear, because Snoop was no help at all! I sorted through all of the stuff that I had brought, and chose what to leave behind to save myself from having to make a second trip.

The getaway was held at a pavilion with electricity and indoor plumbing. After arriving at the pavilion, I was instructed by the organizer to pick a site for my tent, and she suggested a spot under a tree, where it would be shaded from the heat of the sun. I took her advice and setup in the spot she pointed out.

It was located by a picnic table, and not far from the pavilion.

Shortly after setting up camp, we had a demonstration and lesson with a local archery club. They showed us different types of bows, proper form with a bow, and then gave each of us a shot at target shooting. It was really fun, and I wouldn't mind taking up the hobby.

That evening one of the women at the getaway (I forget almost everyone's names now) brought out her huge telescope and showed us a couple of things. Then another girl showed up and setup her professional telescope and showed us constellations and planets, and taught us the difference between planets and stars. There was a really cool moment for me. I was looking at the very bright full moon, and as I watched I saw a large bird fly in front of the moon and clouds. It was like something out of a movie, and I was the only one to see it.

I slept pretty well that night, as I was exhausted.

I awoke the next morning to find a beautiful view of the sun rising outside my tent.

While most were still asleep, I snuck off to some nearby bathrooms where the shower was. I found that the shower was actually outside. You just had a concrete wall surrounding you, and while the water was hot the air was COLD!

Later that morning, we went in search of grapevine with which to weave baskets. On the way, I spotted an orange tree growing in the woods.

Apparently the park was once owned by a farmer, which is why there was orange and grapevine growing in the area.

The guide also pointed out a berry bush, and we all ate a berry from the bush.

We spent awhile cutting down grapevine and lugging it back to the pavilion. Then we all tried our hand at weaving.

It took forever for me to get mine started. The vines kept breaking on me.

I decided to let my basket show me what it wanted to be, and it wound up turning into a strange thing that could hang on a wall.

Later that day we did some branding. That is when you burn drawings into wood. We also went kayaking. That was fun!

Shortly before dark we went on a hayride.

We traveled around the park, on roads no one else saw.

While out on the hayride we spotted a herd of deer. Unfortunately it was getting too dark and they were too far away to get a picture of them. We enjoyed the hayride.

That evening we sat around the fire pit and roasted marshmallows and did some more branding.

The next morning we had our final breakfast together, and another project or two.

We then received gift bags from the organizer of the getaway.

Then everyone lined up their baskets to show them off.

And then everyone lined up WITH their baskets, to show them off one last time before we parted ways.

Shortly before noon we began to break camp and head back to our separate lives. It was an enjoyable weekend, and I look forward to doing it again in 2009. And, yep, Snoop will probably crash the party again.

Snoop Dogg Does Nawlins'

2008-12-26T22:04:00.007-05:00

(NOTE: This story was originally posted February 2008 on my personal website.)

Woodrow and I had to go to New Orleans on business, and we decided to drag Snoop Dogg along. The majority of our time there it was freezing (high temps in the 40's or low 50's), some days with rain and/or 30 mph gusts. So, without a car, you didn't feel like walking around the city too much.

The first night, Snoop and I settled into our room and chilled. At the Quality Inn in New Orleans, they don't leave mints on your pillow; they leave spicy chips on your pillow...

They didn't have our rooms ready in time, so they upgraded us to suites. Snoop and I had a suite all to ourselves, while the guys had to share rooms...

I think it was our second night in town when all of us from work headed on foot down to Bourbon Street. We met downstairs in the hotel lobby and headed out. I got a shot of our company president, software programmer, and Woodrow while we waited for Scott to finish a phone call...

Outside the hotel our rooms faced a large building...

I didn't expect such large buildings around here.

We walked the way to Bourbon street, in search of a place to eat. Just down the street is the Ritz Carlton.

Before too long, we hit the infamous Bourbon Street...

Just a little ways down Bourbon, the debauchery began seeping in. Snoop pleaded with us to stop at Hustler, but we refused...

We stopped near Bourbon and Canal for dinner at the Redfish Grill, and enjoyed a very nice dinner and drinks for everyone!

That's all of us there. Snoop is hiding behind my head...

Afterwards, Woodrow, Snoop and I decided to go down Bourbon Street and see what all of the excitement is about. When we separated from our group at the Redfish Grill, our software programmer pointed down the street and said, "Sin is that way. I'm going THIS way." And off they went back to the hotel while Woodrow and I set off to see what this Bourbon Street is all about.

What did we find? That it's not about much. There's all of this fanfare surrounding Bourbon Street that makes it seem almost magical. In actuality it's a dirty, narrow street strewn with every kind of depravity known to man. Even given the things that I have seen and done in my lifetime, I found Bourbon Street one of the most unsettling things I've seen.

You can't really make it out here, but there was this beautiful, almost haunting and yet unsuspecting moment as we walked down Bourbon and spotted at the end of this long stretch of street what appeared to be a sillouhette of Jesus with arms outstretched...

It was created by lights shining on a statue in front of a church. It was really beautiful, especially when a horse and carriage then stopped in front of it.

We continued down to the end of Bourbon, and then headed back again...

Woodrow and I then headed on back to the hotel. However, we didn't know what we were getting into when we decided to do that. We wound up walking through some pretty bad areas, and even passed what appeared to be two rival gangs (groups of young folk, each group dressed in the same colors, yelling and screaming and shoving one another). Woodrow and I thought we might die. We finally made it back to the hotel, and swore we would never do that again! (Actually, one of our guys said that a relative of one of his in-laws had made a trip to New Orleans the week before us, and had been killed while visiting.)

Our last day in town, Woodrow and I got off early and headed over to the Aquarium.

We watched the penguin feeding...

This was a cool, HUGE eel as big around as my arm...

We saw a huge aquarium filled with sharks, manna rays and sea turtles...

I even got to pet a stingray and a baby nurse shark. The stingrays were funny little guys. They would come up and lift their bodies out of the water and try to climb up the wall of the display to see you.

And there was a big albino gator...

One of our favorite displays was the jellyfish displays. They had some really neat ones...

That evening, after the aquarium, we had a chance for one final walk around the hotel...

I had to get a shot of my "falcon guy", located on a building next to the hotel...

Then Woodrow and I walked around trying to find someplace to eat for dinner. The problem was, we were situated in the "business district", and it was Saturday night. Nothing was open. Even places like Subway were closed. They closed up about 7 PM on Friday, and didn't open again until Monday.

We found a restaurant not far from the hotel. We went in and sat at the bar while we decided whether we wished to have dinner there. We asked to see a menu, and this was the kind of place that sold liver pate, duck and pig cheeks. We decided to skip dinner, as we didn't want to run a $100 dinner bill on the company card. When we went to leave, the bartender asked whether Woodrow wanted to take his drink to go. I just couldn't get used to the fact that in New Orleans you can get your liquor in a "to go" cup!

We finally gave up, freezing and tired, and headed back to the hotel. We asked the concierge for some menus for restaurants that delivered, and headed up to decide what to order for dinner. On the way, we ran into the company president who invited us out with him and some of our affiliates. We accepted, and all of us piled into a car and headed out in search of food.

We found ourselves at Mother's, which is apparently a well-known New Orleans restaurant...

Yep, that's Snoop on the table. Mother's was established in the 1930's, and is known for their plate dinners ("plate dinners" seem big in New Orleans).

Afterwards, we piled back into the car (all six of us) and were terrorized by the driving talents of our affiliate Tom (distinguished older gentleman in the pic up top). His driving is insane!

We tried to figure out what to do next. We thought about doing a movie, and headed over to the theater located in a small mall. We found the mall mostly closed down (even though it wasn't very late), and not much of a movie selection. We piled back into the car again, while we tried to figure out what to do. We finally decided to head over to Harrah's Casino. I've never been to a casino before, so this was a new experience for me.

Woodrow and I headed out to the slots. He told me how to use the machine, and I pushed the button, and won $11 on the first try! We continued on for about another hour. I had decided that I would allot $30 to the slots, and after almost an hour I was down to my last couple of dollars. Woodrow had already lost his $30, so I decided to max out on my final bet. I hit the button, and the chimes went off, and I won $37.50! So, I wound up finishing the night up $7.50. Not bad for my first time on the slots!

So, that was our last "hurrah" at "Harrah's". We flew out the next morning, and came back to our normal lives and I returned to work the next day. It was an interesting time, but we have all agreed that we have no desire to see New Orleans again.

Hmmmm...where next?

Snoop Dogg Does NC, Part 2

2008-12-26T21:48:00.006-05:00

(NOTE: This story was originally posted September 2007 on my personal website.)

Okay...so where were we? Ahhhh, yes. We were heading up to see Mom's property. Mom recently purchased some lots on a mountain not far from Uncle Tim's. So we headed out to the highway and turned right, and 6 or 7 miles down we hung a left and started up the mountain. After much winding we came to the foot of a driveway and a black mailbox.

Now this incline may not look like much to many people, but remember that Mom and I have spent much of our lives in the flatlands of Florida. Looking up a driveway like this was very intimidating to us!

Tim headed up the paved driveway, passing a neighbor on the left. Halfway up the pavement stopped, and we found ourselves on gravel.

Curving around the driveway...

...we finally found ourselves at the top of the driveway by the pumphouse.

First we examined the top lot next to the pumphouse. This lot has a beautiful view of the mountains...

...and Tim says that the view will be even more spectacular in the fall/winter when the leaves are off the trees.

The back of the lot abuts the mountainside, and it is bordered by the driveway on one side and the treeline on the other.

The top lot looks down on the two lower lots, and it is about 5-10 degrees cooler up here than the lower lot.

After taking a look around the top lot (probably the best "building" lot), we ventured down the driveway to check out the middle lot.

This lot has some wild berry bushes along the driveway, along with some wild strawberries.

It also has some nice wild flowers...

Snoop even found a Turk's Cap Lily...

...and there were maple saplings galore.

The middle lot overlooks the wildness of the undeveloped bottom lot. This lot is my favorite, because of it's wildness and the creek.

After looking at the property, Mom and Tim spoke for awhile with the neighbor on the upper lot by the pumphouse.

In case anyone is looking for a mountain getaway, you may be interested to know that this neighbor is selling their home. I believe they are asking around $189,000 for it, which was a steal considering the cost of homes at the time, but this was mid 2007 before the foreclosure and banking crash. Who knows whether they're still selling, and if so for how much.

After speaking with the neighbor, we headed back down the mountain and back to Tim and Elaine's. We got one last look at the view on the way down.

Day Three found Mom and I downtown, and photographing what is supposed to be the most photographed courthouse in the country (don't you hate feeling like a lemming, when you learn that you are following along and doing the same thing everyone else does?)

While downtown, I spotted Woodrow's idol hanging over a shop window, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a picture for him:

I really love little downtown areas like this.

Day Four brought Scott and Stacy to town to visit, after a harrowing and nerve-wracking trip through the mountains with their pop-up trailer and poor directions. They wound up not arriving until about 11:00 PM at night, when they were expected in around 6:00 PM. They only found us after knocking on the door of a house and finding some kind neighbors who were willing to open their door to strangers and give us a call. There Mom and I were nearing midnight and standing at the foot of the driveway with flashlights to wave Scott and Stacy in from the road.

The next morning I got to see my favorite boy, Scott's Amazon parrot Bubba:
He's about 25 years old now.

While Scott and Stacy were visiting, we celebrated Scott's birthday with a trip to Mom's property and dinner out (and a little antique store shopping, which Scott was bored with as any good man would be once pushed beyond his limit).

Day 6 found us in Cherokee, NC located near Smoky Mountain National Park on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. One of the first things that you notice is how strange the native language is (I assume that it is Cherokee?)

The next thing you notice is how commercialized this town is. We stopped at the Visitor's Center to get our "bear"-ings:

Then we headed over to the Cheif Saunooke Trading Post Mall...

...where we did a little shopping, and stopped for lunch by the creek.

After lunch, we did a little shopping and rested in the courtyard. (This is where I bought the sapphire blue ring just before I went back home to Florida and bought my sapphire blue Cherokee!)

Afterwards we headed down the highway into Smoky Mountain National Park, and stopped at the first Visitor's Center. Snoop and I found a creek running behind the center...

..and the map located near the farm museum.

When we were done there, we headed a little further into the park, where we came upon a beautiful mountain creek at a scenic lookout. We pulled over and spent a little time taking in the view.

Then we climbed down creekside to take a closer look...

When we were done, we headed back towards Tim and Elaine's to get back for dinner. On the way back, I had to get a shot of Gimp and Crow's for Woodrow:

We got back and spent some time during our last evening in NC sitting on the front porch, while Elaine played catch with her grandson.

Day Seven was our final day, and time for Scott and Stacy to head north (and then head out again for another road trip), and Mom and I to head south back towards Florida. Mom and I took a different way home than we did coming up, and it made for a much more enjoyable drive. We also missed some awesome photo ops during the drive. One was a place called "Goats on a Roof", located near Tim and Elaine's town. There was actual grass on the roof with a fenced in area containing goats! Another was on a back country road near the North Carolina/Georgia border where we passed a coyote just standing on the roadside, watching as we drove by. Just a few hundred yards down the road past the coyote, we passed two deer in the trees just 15 feet off the road.

Mom and I spent the night in a motel once we got to Florida, and arrived home on Day Eight. We enjoyed our trip, and our visit with Tim and Elaine and their family.

We can't thank Tim and Elaine enough for their kind hospitality, and for Elaine's good cooking. Snoop and I hope to get back up there again before too long, and next time we'll have the 4-wheel drive to tackle that driveway on Mom's property!

Snoop Dogg Does NC, Part 1

2008-12-26T17:12:00.002-05:00

(Note: This was originally posted August 2007 on my personal website.)

Mom and I recently decided to take a trip to North Carolina, and Snoop Dog wouldn't rest until I promised to take him along.

Our trip to NC took an excessive 16 hours to arrive (in what should have taken about 12 hours). Construction nearly the entire way up, one serious accident near the Florida-Georgia border, and a lot of confusion around Atlanta really slowed us down. We finally arrived at Tim and Elaine's around 10:30 PM, after a nerve-wracking and foggy nighttime drive through the mountains with construction.

The next morning, we got Snoop's picture in the room we were staying in. Tim built this area of the house onto his existing home:

Snoop and I proceeded to do a little exploring around the area. We first ventured to the front porch, where we found Mom and Elaine enjoying their morning coffee. Suffering from arachnophobia, the first thing that I did was look around for daddy-long-legs, knowing that I would find some. I quickly found them everywhere:

I sat in one of the chairs for awhile, and before too long I found my hair tickling my arm-- darn breeze. I turned my head to look at my arm and brush my hair away, and spotted a large daddy-long-legs climbing up my arm. While I made a fool of myself jumping around and screaming, I am proud to say that I sat back down in that chair. You've gotta get back up and ride that horse again!

Then I decided to explore the yard and roadside out front.

I found an apple tree in the yard that still had an apple or two left on it...

...and a beautiful white-flowered tree in the front yard (I forget what kind of flower it was now).

At the end of the driveway, you could head right to head down off of the mountain, or head left to head further up the mountain, which would also take you to cousin Angie's place.

I found beautiful flora of all kinds along the roadside in front of Tim and Elaine's, most of it just growing wild:

And this beautiful tree, that I loved the look of. You can't tell here, but it was absolutely swarming in bees. I'm not sure what it is, but it looks like it might be some sort of laurel:

Even the surrounding mountainside was beautiful:

But perhaps most beautiful was the lot down below. The woman living below had beautifully landscaped her lawn with a pond and trees. It was truly breathtaking. The landowner would venture down every evening to feed the fish in the pond, and would be accompanied by her dog:

Next to Tim and Elaine's is a vacant lot with an old shack. I loved this old shack.

Flora wasn't the only thing to be found. There was fauna as well.

Butterflies would regularly land in the mud to drink...

...bees abounded on flowers, and sometimes bent the stalks in two with their weight...

...bugs crept along leaves...

...the bunny could be seen at all hours of the day...

...and cardinals flitted about every evening. However, no matter how hard I tried, I could not get a good shot of them during my trip. Finally on my last morning at the house, I caught this shot of a cardinal outside the bathroom window. It is the only picture I got of one during the whole vacation!

Everything was beautiful, and especially the mountain view!

A little later in the morning, Tim took us in the car and headed over to see the property that Mom had purchased sight unseen.

...and that is where Part 2 will begin...

Snoop Dogg Goes Gator Huntin'

2008-12-26T17:05:00.005-05:00

(NOTE: This was originally posted June 2007 on my personal website.)

Snoop recently bored of the office, and he asked Woodrow and I to take him gator hunting. So, off we headed to the Everglades! (Paul never took Snoop anyplace! He much prefers my stewardship over him...)

We stayed the night at the Ivey House, which is an old boarding house which I believe was originally used for workers building the Tamiami Trail back in the 1940s, or some such thing. Not knowing much about the Ivey House, we three were quite surprised to find that the beauty outside of the Ivey House belied the simplicity found within. We entered our humble shelter to find a single room perhaps 10 x 12 feet in size with a single bed, end table and wooden chair, and shutters that could be drawn over the window for privacy. No phone, no TV-- just a bed. Luckily, we had brought a laptop computer and DVD to watch, so we were set!

The place was really reminiscent of a hostel, and was being habitated by young kids sporting hiking backpacks. (NOTE: They do apparently have nicer digs available in the newer House built next door. We just decided to go the affordable route.)

We shared Men's and Women's bathrooms down the hall with the other guests, replete with shower stalls. The door on the Women's bathroom didn't even close tightly, so there wasn't much privacy for me. I have to say, though, that the simple accroutements of the lodging actually made our stay even more enjoyable. We got a kick out of the "quaintness" of it all, laughed, and both vowed we would love to do it again.

The next morning we rose early, to make sure that we had time for the free continental breakfast in the main dining room.

While in the everglades, we felt that we had to do an airboat tour (what everglades trip would be complete without it?) So, off to Speedy Johnson's Airboat Tours, which was conveniently located right next door to the Ivey House. We took a pretty crazy tour of the mangroves and sawgrass, and I was left with mixed feelings. I enjoyed the thrill of speeding around in a boat that barely skims the water, but was disturbed by the apparent disregard for the wildlife as we nearly ran over a mother duck and her baby, and narrowly missed plowing into a flock of small birds. We started off our tour with a manatee sighting, but the airboat captain was in such a hurry that Woodrow didn't even have time to get out his camera and get a picture of the manatee before we tore off again. However Woodrow did get these shots:

Snoop even got to captain the airboat for a time:

After the airboat tour, we headed to a state park not far away, where Snoop finally found his gator...

(There were actually probably a dozen or more gators around the area.)

After the state park, we stopped by the Skunk Ape Museum, dedicated to the local everglades equivalent of Bigfoot-- the "Skunk Ape". While there, we toured the little animal collection located on the premises. We were taken through the display by the museum owner, whose name I cannot remember, but he was quite an interesting character.

Our first stop was the juvenile gator that both Woodrow and I held. It felt exactly as I expected-- like holding a big python:

I was kinda annoyed that the guy bound the gators mouth with a rubberband, but then realized that the rubberband was pretty loose, and really just for the sake of appearance. He took it off when it came to be Woodrow's turn to hold the baby gator, and even got the little guy to open his mouth for the photo.

Then we ventured outside to the bird pens and cages where we had our hands full. There was the peacock who was displaying for his female...

...quite a few chickens banting around, and even some young chicks that would sneak through the fence to eat insects outside their pen.

There were also many caged birds like parakeets, cockatiels, greys, cockatoos and macaws. Woodrow got friendly with the cockatoos:

Unfortunately just minutes after this picture was taken, I took the cockatoo from Woodrow and the cockatoo took a disliking to Woodrow and flew at him and attacked him! Woody was left with a few pretty nasty bites. I got the cockatoo back, and it repeatedly flew after Woody to attack him. Not sure why, except that it is breeding season and it perhaps viewed Woodrow as a rival for my attentions?

I got a little friendly with the feathered ones myself.

This bird was a funny one. He had odd little quirks, and greeted me with a salute that he uses when he likes someone. He also liked to eat the caterpillars that he finds on the vine growing on his cage.

After the birds, we visited the resident gators. The largest was over 12 feet in length. I think that this guy was the smaller one, but even he was probably 8 foot.

We also found that down in the everglades there was an abundance of giant grasshoppers. You know, those ones that are about 3 inches long? You can't tell from this photo, but they were big fellas.

We even came across a group of about a dozen of them. We had to tip-toe around them to go see the emus.

This guy was so funny. He was fascinated by us, and seemed to expect that we were going to feed him.

So, after a full day of exploration and adventure, we had to bid "adieu" to the emu, and the gators, and birds, and grasshoppers and all, and head back home. Snoop wasn't happy to leave, but we promised that we will take him on more road trips in the future.

I don't know whether I want to visit the everglades in the summer, but I definitely recommend a winter/spring trip. Next time I'm taking an extra big purse to try and fit the emu in, and sneaking him home!

Introducing Snoop Dogg

2008-12-26T17:00:00.000-05:00

Hello! My name is Heather, but that isn't important. This isn't MY blog, but that of my comrade Snoop Dogg. Snoop used to belong to my friend and co-worker Paul, but Paul moved away to California (and now to Dallas) a couple of years ago, and he left behind Snoop Dog. I decided that I would let Paul see what Snoop has been up to since he's been gone.

When not out on adventures, Snoop Dog spends his days now on a shelf in my office at work.

This blog will give Snoop an opportunity to share his adventures with others. He's already done a bit of adventuring, and we are behind on chronicling his adventures. So we will start out with some of his past adventures that were previously posted on my personal website.

I hope you enjoy traveling along with Snoop Dogg!