Maverick Meets the Parents

Maverick and I enured the 11-hour ride to Pennsylvania- we traveled under the Chesapeake Bay in the Norfolk tunnel and through Allegheny Mountain in West Virginia. He had a lovely time taking care of "Gramma K" after her surgery. She was glad to have the furry friend to keep her company, too. Maverick loved to run free in the yard and woods, and he was on his best behavior for his grandparents. When he wasn't outside, he was looking outside, watching for anything and everything. He saw lots of cows and did lots of exploring in the woods. We were all sad to end the vacation but very happy to see Ben when we got back!

Sea Turtle Release

We took our first trip to the Southern Outer Banks! There was a sea turtle released in Hatteras that had been rehabilitated from a shark bite. She returned to the sea all fixed up and we had a fun time scoping out the area. The water is sooo much warmer there as the Gulf Stream meets the shore so it was like swimming in Naples! And of course, everyone knows the story of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse that had to be moved inland a number of years ago. We're looking forward to returning back to Hatteras in a few weeks to visit Sarah for her birthday, yay!

First Trip to 4x4 Beach

We live about 1 mile south of where the paved road ends and the beach-driving-only begins, but I have not been up in the 4x4 area yet... until yesterday! The first sea turtle nest in the area was discovered near the Virginia border so Ben & I went up to investigate. The 12-mile trip on the sand was pretty adventurous. Lots of deep ruts, soft sand, and WILD HORSES! There is actually a fence at the start of the beach road that ends at the VA-border (see second picture below), to keep the horses protected, so they just roam free on the beach. That was a real treat to see.

But the turtle nest was even more of a treat! First of all, the tracks from the sea were amazing- the nest was almost 60 feet from the water's edge, which would have been very difficult for the mama turtle to crawl through all of those tire tracks, it seems. We hope there are about 100 little loggerheads heading to see the sea in 80 days or so. We'll have to post a blog on our "nest sitting" in a few months to keep everyone up to date!

Needless to say, we're both enjoying work! We've done a ton of necropsies (or animal autopsies to determine cause of death) so its a nice break to evidence of a live, healthy turtle, rather than the dead ones that keep washing up. And they say that whales and seals sometimes come up on shore in the wintertime, oh my!

The Sarahs' Weekend

What a fun weekend! Sarah came to visit and we had a ball! Some time at the beach and touring around out little shopping center was good for us girls to catch up. Ben prepared a gourmet meal for us while we had cocktails and chatted away. We got a little silly trying on some wigs and beards for the In Search of Mermaids program that Ben and I put on at work (we have to dress up like Hercules and an old sea-captain and act on stage- its rediculous) but Sarah did enjoy seeing some of our fine-skills during another of our famous duets: the Sea Squirt Sing-Along! Every Sunday, we put on a dog-and-pony show for the kids and parents and sing "splish splash I was picking up trash" and "don't worry, be hoppy" with lots of dancing included, free of charge, haha. Check out Ben playing the kazoo!

We also had a Beach Exploration class this morning, which was a nice way to spend the early hours. Picking up shells with families on vacation reminds me of my days of Sandlapper Tours in Charleston. But... we can walk to this beach from house which is much more fun! Thanks Sarah for taking so many pictures!

Sarah brought her kayak and we paddled into the sunset on Currituck Sound last night... then came home and had a big dessert while being fascinated by the National Geographic Channel. Its so fun to have a friend who not only appreciates our dorkiness, but loves to do the same things, too :)

Happy Friday the 13th

Since Ben and I met on Friday, October 13th, we love to celebrate every time one pops up on the calendar. And let me tell you, Ben outdid himself on this one... he bought me a planter and petunias for the porch! They are so pretty and make our place look much more homey. Thank you Ben, for being so wonderful :)

Otis Loves Toes

Apparently my sweet little Otis is a toe-muncher! Why are we putting our feet in his box, you ask? Ben feels that Otis should be able to roam freely throughout the house, so we now have a free-roaming tortoise, who hides under the bed and/or futon for up to two days at a time before we get out the flashlights and hunt for him! I still can't believe it myself, but Ben has been telling me for weeks that Otis bites his toes while he's watching tv, etc. I expressed my disbelief over and over and told him he was making it up... until he caught it on video! For the record, Otis has NEVER gone after my toes, or Maverick's, but seems to only prefer Ben's (maybe they stink, hehe?) See for yourself in another one of Ben's home videos.

As a special treat for the shelled-one, we went for a walk in the neighborhood to a juicy prickly-pear cactus for a snack. Poor little guy seems so small looking up at the huge cactus! He's been loving the hot weather though- its so much hotter and more humid than in south Florida! Of course the water temperature is not nearly as warm as I'm used to: its only 60-degrees here, when the wind blows the Labrador Current from the arctic, and only around 74 when the wind blows the Gulf Stream up from the south. But its so nice to be able to walk to the beach, even if the water feels like ice!

Ben's First Day

I came home for lunch today, as always, and Ben greeted me with great news: he got the job... and made me lunch! He's working over at the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education and I can't wait to go to work together :) In fact, he already started work today... job offer at 12-noon, arrived for work at 2:30! That's gotta be the quickest turn-around ever, haha. He got all of his paperwork out of the way today so tomorrow is a real day of work. I'm so proud of my Ben! We celebrated tonight with wine, cheese, fruits & veggies, friends and Mavs at the beach.

We are going to have the same work schedule- Sunday thru Thursday, so please let us know when you would like to visit! We're always up for Friday/Saturday road trips, too! Maverick loves "to go for a ride" so we're up for trips to see everyone. If only Naples was a quick trip! We miss El Kubino, Le Susan, Le Pay-ton and the rest of the crew so much.

Date Night!

I'm so excited I can hardly type! Ben has surprised me with a trip to the movies... to see Sex and the City. We've been working so many hours this weekend and a date night is just what we need!

I've been thinking about this movie since I heard it was coming out and I can't help but think of all of the fun times in that dinky apartment in Charleston, where Carrie and I would watch hours and hours of the dvds! I miss all of my girls from Charleston! You might all be getting a sappy phone call tonight on my way home from the movie, haha :)