In our home it’s always Dog day! But today’s the perfect excuse for all of us dog lovers to brag on ours.
CJ & Esme got to hang out with me at work today, meeting and greeting people and their dogs. CJ loves the people, Esme loves the dogs.
How did your dog(s) spend National Dog Day?
Freddie Mercury doesn’t really give a crap! He knows cats are superior.
In an effort to keep me going with my regular blogging, I do have a few topics I want to talk about. However, I’m just not in that focused mindset tonight. Instead, I choose to ramble on about what I’ve been doing lately.
The majority of my free time has been devoted to running or training my puppy (who’s no longer a puppy) and spending time with my senior puppy. It’s been too hot outside to bring any of the dogs along with me during my runs, but I do let them join me for my post-run cool-down walks. They seem content with that. My mileage is beginning to pick up, with my midweek short runs being anywhere from 3-5 miles. It’s getting tough squeezing them in with my already full weekly schedule. So far I am managing. Something’s going to have to give though IF I DO get in to the Laugavegur Ultramarathon for next year!
Today I enjoyed a little over 6 miles on foot with 3 great people! Holy cow, was it humid! It was apparently only about 77 degrees, but the humidity was 88%+ and it didn’t take long for us to get drenched! My hands actually started to get pruny around mile 3.
The rest of my day has been devoted to getting stuff together for round #2 of the Run for the Toilets. Our first attempt was very lackluster, but I blame myself. I didn’t have the time to prepare well, and it was in July. There is SO MUCH going on in July for everyone. If you have kids, you’re likely at the peak of your summer vacation. If you’re a runner (not like me) you likely don’t want to run in 80 degree weather at 8AM with 78% humidity. I am a rarity. I love to run when it’s hot and steamy outside! Granted, I tend to keep my distances short, or I take several breaks.
And this evening I decided to update my blog.
So there you have it. My day on a web page.
Thanks for following along!
The Run For the Toilets 5K & 8 Miler will take place on Saturday November 30, 2019 at the Onancock Elks Lodge #1766 located in Accomac, VA. The following are links to the downloadable forms for the Run For the Toilets 5K & 8 Miler.
You can register for the event online using this link.
Stay up-to-date on the happenings leading up to the run by joining the Facebook Event Page.
On Tuesdays I teach SoulBody Barre Unhitched early in the morning and later in the evening. In between those two classes I work at my regular job. It makes for a very long day, yes, but I do enjoy it. I would have to work on a Tuesday anyway, and if I wasn’t teaching I’d be doing a workout at home or running. So why not make it a party and invite others to join me, and get paid for it?! I do love my job, if I didn’t I wouldn’t still be in the same field after this many (>20) years. However, leading a group exercise class is my favorite!
If I could teach group exercise, run with friends, do yoga on the beach, and play with my dogs (and invite others’ dogs over for play dates) all day every day, I’d be in heaven. I need to find a way to make a living out of all of these things combined, and still find time to blog because I enjoy that as well!
Have a great day.
I have not run at all in over a month, and not regularly since May. I kind-of trained earlier this year for the 8th Annual Run for the Animals Half Marathon, but nothing else. I signed up for a 25K trail race earlier this year (it was peer pressure!) which is to take place the first weekend in November. I figured it was time to start training as this trail race will be the determining factor as to whether or not I am going to sign up for the Laugavegur Ultra Marathon in 2020. If I can’t finish a 15.5 mile trail race in the “hills” of the DelMarVa Peninsula, there’s no chance in hell I’m going to survive 34.2 miles in the volcanic mountains of Iceland! And I really, really, REALLY want to do Laugavegur.
My training officially started yesterday, August 1st. I did a mile after work. It was a slow walk/run interval mile but I figured I’d wean myself back into it. Today I did a 3.5 mile 2/1 Run/Walk and have to say that it felt pretty darn good. Tomorrow I will do some HIIT training and weight training, and plan to get in at least 4-5 miles on Sunday.
I’m planning on sticking with the Galloway Method of running ever since my achilles injury. I feel so much better when I finish a run using the run/walk/run method. I don’t get as painful, especially in the hips, and I just feel better overall during the workout. I will also incorporate a lot more yoga while I am training. I’ve been learning more and more every day about the practice and it just makes me feel so good! It helps clear my mind, relaxes my body, and I feel stronger and more flexible when I’m finished with a session. There’s so much truth to the “it’s all in your head” mentality when it comes to difficult tasks, and running a long distance, or any distance when you’re just not feeling it, can be a very difficult task. I am trying to learn meditation while running.
Esme joined me for a post-run cool down walk off-leash today. She did AWESOME! She’ll be running with me in no time, once the weather cools off a bit.
Working on running manners with Esme off-leash
I am looking forward to getting back into the running groove. I’ve been out of it for so long now, it seems, that I’ve forgotten just how great it makes me feel. Also, I am looking forward to getting Esme trained to run with me! I let her join me for my cool down walk this evening where we worked on her not crossing in front of me, and especially her slowing down/stopping in front of me. I think she’ll get it in no time. She’s proven to be a very quick learner. Her off-leash training is going very well, so we’ll work on off-leash running down our Neck when the weather cools down a bit.
Now I must spend the rest of my free-time working on my training schedule! I have to manage every minute of my day if I’m going to successfully complete this training AND continue to blog… 😉
I will do my best! Stay tuned…
I want to open up a discussion about Flea prevention. All too often I run into clients that don’t use any flea prevention at all, or they only use it during certain months of the year (most often spring/summer), or they’ll use it when they “see signs of fleas.” That latter one really makes my head spin.
Some of the common excuses I get for not using flea prevention are:
Let me address each of these, one at a time.
This excuse is most commonly used with cat owners, but I have heard it from my fair share of dog owners too. If your dog or cat never sets a paw outside of the confines of your home, she is still not immune to fleas. Unless you live in the middle of the desert or frozen tundra, there are fleas everywhere in the environment. Those fleas will do whatever it takes to get to your pet too. They will hitchhike on your pant leg as you walk from your car into the house after work. They will hide in your folded pant cuff while you’re out mowing the lawn or gardening, just waiting for you to take them to their next blood meal (ie: your dog or cat, or ferret, or hamster/gerbil/guinea pig). They will come into your house on a mouse, or just crawl through the tiniest little crack in your doorway or floor or wall. The fleas will find a way into your home.
10 times out of 10 when an anti-flea prevention pet owner comes to us with a skin irritation complaint, fleas are the primary culprit. They always seem surprised when we comb off flea “dirt” (flea excrement) from their cat that doesn’t have fleas. Or if we happen to find a live flea on their dog, it must have picked it up on its way into the veterinary office.
Easy way to tell if it’s just dirt or if it’s “flea dirt:” Place on a white paper towel and get it wet. If it turns brown or red, it is “flea dirt.” If it stays the same color, it’s just dirt.I don’t want to put unnecessary chemicals on my pet, on me or around my house ever! The key word there was unnecessary. I will use necessary, safe chemicals around me, on me and, if needed, in me if it’s better than the alternative.
Think about this people. Start with what you consume on a daily basis. Do you eat processed foods? Do you wear lotions, sunscreens, perfumes, anti-perspirants/deodorants? Do you wash and condition your hair? Do you use hair products for styling? Do you launder your clothes? Do you wear insect repellent? Do you take medications for any reason, over-the-counter or prescription?
If you answered yes to any of the above, why wouldn’t you do the same for your pet if it could improve their overall wellbeing and health? Prior to the introduction of topical flea preventives, flea dips were commonplace. Flea dips consisted of dousing your pet in a pyrethrin. Pyrethrins have been deemed safe for the environment because they degrade rapidly, but they can be toxic to humans and other mammals. Pyrethrin toxicity occurs most quickly through respiration, but can also happen more slowly through skin absorption. Geez. If you are the person bathing your pet in a pyrethrin, both you and your pet are going to be victim to the aerosolizing of the pyrethrin as you hose your dog or cat down. The skin absorption is going to be a given for your pet, and a possibility for you, unless you’re wearing gloves during the bathing.
Frontline Top Spot was one of the first true flea preventives on the market. It’s active ingredient is fipronil. Fipronil has been proven safe in the environment and to mammals for decades prior to it’s evolution into topical flea preventives for pets. It has been used in agriculture for decades, and if you’ve ever had your home treated by an exterminator for termites or fleas, I guarantee you they used fipronil!
Now, let me ask you this. You don’t want to put chemicals on or in your pet, but you are okay with your pet contracting a blood-borne parasite, intestinal parasites (tapeworms), and/or having to live with constant and chronic skin disease? And then there is the potential for your pet to transmit disease to YOU. Have you ever heard of Bubonic Plague? It is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is spread by fleas. So please think again about flea prevention if this is your excuse for not using it.
Sure, this is definitely something that could happen. If you use a topical product, there is the possibility that your pet might have a skin sensitivity to the carrier or the chemical itself. Then try something different. Try an oral preventive if you pet is sensitive to topicals in general. The number one carrier used in topical products is isopropyl alcohol. Some people are sensitive to isopropyl alcohol, but it doesn’t mean it is a dangerous product. If your pet reacts poorly to an oral preventive, then use a topical. There are several different preventives on the market, oral and topical and some injectable. Keep trying until you find the product that your pet tolerates well!
Fleas are disgusting! They are annoying pests to us, but especially to our pets. Imagine living with thousands of little bitey bugs covering your body, biting you for a blood meal several times every second, causing the most uncomfortable itch you could ever imagine from head to toe. Every damn day.
If you are using something that is over the counter (Hartz, Sargents, Pet Armor, Flea Shampoo, etc.) and your pet is still suffering from a flea infestation and/or flea allergy dermatitis, talk to your vet about appropriate flea prevention, please. Owning pets does not come without cost. Either pay for flea prevention that works, or continue to pay your veterinarian for regular exam fees, skin cytologies, steroids, antibiotics, and other skin care medications (tell me again about how you don’t want to put chemicals on or in your pet?). The former is the best option, and the safest and most comfortable option for your pet.
I love my dogs and my cats. I would never EVER think about using anything on them that I thought would be even the least bit harmful. I have seen what “homeopathic flea remedies” look like. They don’t work. I have witnessed the agony of a cat nearly hairless with moist dermatitis from head to toe that would go into a seizure if you touched it because it itched that bad. I have experienced it all folks. Lemon doesn’t work. If it did the lemon industry would be making bank. Diatomaceous earth doesn’t work. If it did we’d see a lot more of it on the market being advertised as such. Essential oils (tea tree oil, lavender, etc.) don’t work! They might help by deterring some fleas from jumping onto your pet, but most fleas aren’t phased by it.
And now the floor is open. Share your opinion(s) on the matter in the comments. This is how we all learn and grow. If you agree or disagree, have something to add or comment about, please share!
They’re really pretty short little blurbs, but if you need to catch up, check out Part I, Part II & Part III before proceeding. If you’ve been following along, continue on.
Not going to lie, 2016 and 2017 were pretty shitty (pardon my language, but that is the most appropriate term in my humble opinion), especially to Chris. We did finally sell our California house in 2016, but that was the only big positive thing that happened during that time.
In February of 2016, Chris lost his sister, Angela, to cancer. Then in May of 2017 his father passed away of a heart attack. Shortly thereafter he learned that his position at Wallops was being dissolved, and he would no longer have a job as of August 1, 2017. Then we got word about his mother passing in late September. It was a really rough, somber time for Chris and me.
After we returned home from Chris’ fathers funeral, we talked seriously about possibly moving back to the Midwest. We wanted to be closer to “home” mainly to be able to visit with Chris’ mom more frequently. She was by herself and wasn’t in the greatest of health, though you never would have known it if you were just meeting her for the first time. We figured we’d take a year or so to come up with a plan. Well, little did we know we wouldn’t have that much time.
Several months after Chris’ mom passed, things started to calm down a bit. We decided we did not want to move to the midwest, but would much rather stay here. Whether we are a stone’s throw from our family members or a thousand miles away, there’s nothing we can do to keep certain things from happening. Chris found work at a local retail outfit that sold lawn equipment and repaired small engines. It was something different, he was working with a close friend, and it was temporary. He enjoyed it for the most part, but it just wasn’t him. He actually tried to purchase the business at one point, but just couldn’t make it work. The price being asked versus the profit the place made just wasn’t a good idea. So he left there and moved on.
He’s currently working with a private carpenter, learning all kinds of new things. Which is great given our current situation…
I am still working at the animal hospital, but have also been teaching a group exercise class at the local YMCA for the last 2 years.
About 5 years ago I became interested in group exercise. I had already been running for several years and was working toward bettering my self in terms of my health and physical fitness. I enjoyed (and still do) running, but needed something different. I needed some other type of training to work on strength and flexibility. I started taking some group exercise classes at a local boutique fitness center. One of the classes I started taking was called Pound. Oh my goodness, you talk about FUN! And a killer workout too! I enjoyed the class so much that I looked into what it would take to become certified to teach the class so that I could bring it to more people.
In March of 2015 I became a bonafide Pound Pro! I taught classes at the same boutique studio that I was taking classes.
POUND Pro Training March 22, 2015 in Springfield, PA.
My POUND Posse shortly after becoming certified!
Not long after becoming certified for Pound, I learned about another pre-choreographed format of group fitness called SoulBody. They offered two different types of a barre-inspired workout. After looking into it I realized that it was right up my alley. I looked into trainings to become an instructor and found a training being hosted in Bethany Beach, DE. That was only a little more than an hour drive for me. I signed up immediately.
In May of 2016 I became a certified SoulBody instructor and have been loving bringing this format to as many as possible. I started at that little boutique studio. After a few months, I wanted to do more, so I started to check in with other gyms and fitness centers. I finally was able to convince the YMCA to bring SoulBody into their Group Exercise line up in 2017.
SoulBody Barre UNHITCHED March 2017
We have both come to love the Eastern Shore of Virginia, especially our little neck of the woods. We live on a nice sized property in a very quiet, almost secluded area, surrounded by trees and agricultural fields. Our community is very generous and friendly and we couldn’t imagine living anywhere else on the ESVA. Once we decided we wanted to stay here for good, we started looking into buying the little piece of heaven we’ve been renting all these years.
On Tuesday July 16, 2019, at about 4:00 PM, the property became officially ours. The rest of the story has yet to be written…..
2012 after Hurricane Sandy swept through. She was a Tropical Storm by the time it reached us.
More of our Winter Wonderland!
Our little abode covered in snow.
CJ waiting for someone to toss his aerobie!
If you need to catch up, check out Part I and Part II before proceeding. Or just read on and if you get lost, I warned you…
Now Chris and I are both working full time. He was working at Wallops Flight Facility and I got a job at Atlantic Animal Hospital. He had a 30 minute (23 mile) commute, I had a 10 minute (4 miles out, 3 miles back) commute. His job paid a LOT more than mine and his hours were more flexible than mine so I couldn’t feel but so bad for him and his commute. Though he did realize it was a good thing that he could make a 23 mile drive in under 30 minutes. In California a 23 mile drive would’ve taken at least 45 minutes to an hour no matter where we were going.
I was home long enough with the dogs and cats before I started working to get them well acclimated to their new home and surroundings. Chompers and C.J. were both the most trustworthy dogs on the planet, so I never had to worry about them getting into anything they shouldn’t. I just worried about them chasing critters outdoors, especially at night, and that only happened when we were home with them.
PRODUCT PLUG: Noxgear Lighthound Vest has been a GODSEND for us since moving to the Eastern Shore of Virginia!
Esme sporting her Noxgear Lighthound vest during an evening stroll.
After being at the animal hospital for a few weeks, I had a conversation about the ticks in the area. My dogs were on Frontline Plus but I would still find numerous ticks on them, some were dying but several were engorged, enjoying a nice blood meal. One of my coworkers had suggested we get some chickens on the property. The chickens love to eat bugs, including ticks. Someone else had suggested we get guinea birds. Chris and I discussed it for a few weeks and decided on giving chickens a try. Before we even had a coop built I brought home a dozen little baby Silkies.
It took only a weekend to erect a small chicken coop. I came up with the design and Chris helped me build it. I thought I did pretty good considering I am not a carpenter.
Our first Chicken Coop. It was small, raised and completely enclosed. It served its purpose for a few years before we realized a few design flaws!
A few weeks after we brought home the biddies, they were ready to go to the coop. We confined them in the coop for about 2 weeks, then started letting them out to explore the yard during the days when we were home.
By early Spring the chickens were well acclimated to their home. We would let them out to free range when we were home, and they would return to their coop every evening. I had zero experience with raising chickens prior to bringing these home. I have to tell you, it was pretty easy to raise them from hatchlings to free rangers! I was not familiar with this particular breed of chicken either and thought they were the cutest things ever. They are a small, bantam type chicken with fluffy plumage. We called them our poodle chickens.
Our silkies were very friendly and personable, and loved a snack of stale bread or left-over French fries.
By late spring we started to notice that we were no longer finding ticks on our dogs or us. Then there was a little added bonus that started to appear in the coop…eggs! And they were the best-tasting eggs we’ve ever had. When we had extras we’d share with our friends and neighbors. If we were going to be making a trip to the midwest to visit family, we were sure to bring eggs with us. Chickens. Who’d-a thunk it when we were leaving California…
In the years that followed, we both completely embraced the rural lifestyle of the Eastern Shore of Virginia. We have met some very amazing, interesting, and wonderful people during our time here. We had come to truly accept this as our home. We felt at home. We wanted it to be our permanent home.
Then things started to get a little rocky for Chris at Wallops. His project was losing funding and he wasn’t sure whether or not his position would still exist when it was time for contract negotiations. Every year he managed to still have employment! Until the summer of 2017. The project was no longer getting any funding. At least not enough to keep him on it. He got laid off.
…To be Continued… Stay tuned! And thanks for following along!
If you haven’t already, check out Part I before continuing. Or not.
As we turned down our little Neck that would lead us to our new home, my eyes widened and my jaw may have dropped a little bit. It looked like heaven. A house here, a field there and there and there, another house here, a thick grove of trees on both sides of the road, a little house there, another field, and then we came upon our little bungalow. It was, and still is, the cutest little place on a property that is magnificent! I could hardly wait to let the dogs out to run in this wide open area! They already had some of that at my parents’ house, but this was home! They would get to run here every day. But…
…crap! There are deer all over the place. Foxes. Raccoons, opossums, muskrats (all things my dogs would love to chase!)…and TICKS. I already knew there’d be fleas and was prepared for them. But the ticks. Yikes.
I arrived, with the dogs and cats, to our new home in early December. The weather was cool here, with highs in the 50s & 60s and lows in the 40s and 30s. It was really pretty nice considering what it was like when we left Northern Illinois. There were deer everywhere. In the midwest we contend with deer all year long. In California, we didn’t have to deal with deer, or many other wild mammals for that matter, at all. Those critters stayed in the mountains and foothills near the area we lived. When we’d go hiking in the foothills we’d come across a jack rabbit here and there, maybe evidence of a coyote, but otherwise all of the wildlife we’d happen upon was avian, arachnid or reptilian.
Neither ticks nor fleas, or mosquitoes for that matter, were an issue for us in the desert. Probably one of only 4 good things about living in the desert, in my opinion. We didn’t have to worry about flea and tick prevention, and heartworm prevention was not a top priority either. I would keep some Frontline Plus on hand to use if I knew we’d be making a trek up the mountains or to the East. I’d have Heartgard Plus on hand to use if we would be traveling to the midwest.
After being on the Eastern Shore of Virginia for one entire week I learned that I had trained my dogs well in terms of their recall. Nearly every single time we would let them out to eliminate or explore, there would be some critter worth investigating. All it took was a “EH!” and they’d stop dead in their tracks. So the wildlife issue was not an issue at all. But the tick issue? We were not only finding ticks on our dogs, but we were picking them of off ourselves every day. Yikes! Thank goodness I stocked up on some Frontline Plus before I left California. It worked well. I’d find a few well-fed ticks on Chompers and C.J. every now and again, but mostly they were dead or dying. But they’re still just freaking gross. Chris found one on him one day in a place that you would’t go searching for one. It freaked him out so much that he had me shave his head shortly afterward, worried that there might be ticks hiding in his mane. He had long hair for the majority of our time in CA, got a decent hair cut just prior to his interview here in VA, but he had never ever had a complete buzz cut. Welcome to the boonies city boy!
Chris already had a job lined up prior to our relocation. I had sent out resumes to all of the local veterinary clinics once I learned we’d be moving. I had gotten a response from only one of 5 veterinary clinics on the Eastern Shore before I left CA. They wanted me to fill out an application. Chris went and picked one up for me, as I was still in CA and wouldn’t be leaving for a few weeks. He filled it out to the best of his ability. When I finally arrived on the Eastern Shore, I called and scheduled an interview at the animal hospital.
Just a few days after I arrived I visited the animal hospital that I had been in contact with. I had a nice tour of the facility, met all the staff and then sat and chatted with the practice owner for a few minutes. It all seemed promising, then I was told they didn’t have any positions open at that time but they would keep my application on file for 6 months. I was a bit bummed, but I still had plenty of unpacking to do to keep me busy for a little while. It really was a shame because the practice was less than 3 miles from where we were renting. It would have been an ideal place for me to work! Alas, I had to keep searching.
A month had gone by and, though I wasn’t desperately in need of employment, I was ready for a job. I had settled into the house, unpacked what was unpackable for the short term that we’d be living there, learned to navigate my way from home to all of the important places: DMV, grocery story, post office, hardware store, etc. I figured out right away that I’d be spending a LOT of time shopping on Amazon. I continued to look for work that I might be able to tolerate. My heart and soul wanted to continue to work in the animal care field, but after having been ignored or denied employment at every veterinary facility and animal care facility (SPCA & Animal Control) I started to pick up applications for factory work and retail work. Then I received a call from the animal hospital that seemed interested in me from the beginning.
There was a recent and unexpected opening at the animal hospital and they hit me up because of my experience (ie: I wouldn’t require much training). I hadn’t had any other offers at that point so I took the position…as a Receptionist. Did I want to be a receptionist? No, because I’m a technical person, not a people-person. But I did know how to field phone calls and triage patients at the front desk quite well, and I really needed a job so I took it. The pay was okay, and it was more than the nothing I had been making, so I was all in!
Something was meant to be, because I was a receptionist there for maybe 6 months until I got repositioned as a veterinary assistant. I double-dutied for the longest time, but now am able to keep to the technical stuff more, which makes me happy-er. I am still willing to fill in on occasion when needed as a customer service specialist. Truth is, whether you’re a receptionist, a vet assistant, a licensed vet tech, or a veterinarian…you’re still a customer service specialist! I just prefer that title to be lower on my list of responsibilities, if you get my drift. I went into animal science for the animals.
Again, I digress. So I got a job! And it was something that made me happy. I am still there, if that tells you anything.
To be continued…
…or so we think and hope.
Since we met 23 years ago, Chris and I have lived in just a few different places. We spent some time in Omaha, Nebraska while he was in graduate school. Then we took off to Southern California where we spent 8 long years on the Western edge of the Mojave Desert. We have since found ourselves on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. We have been here now for 12 years and have come to love the area so much that we would love nothing more than to spend the rest of our days here.
When we were in California, Chris applied for, got and accepted a job at Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. I had never been to Virginia but had heard of and read about such areas as the Blue Ridge Mountains, Richmond, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and the entire Hampton Roads area. I was less than thrilled to be moving into a “city.”
As chance would have it, we had a friend in California that was from the Eastern Shore of Virginia. We started to ask him for some information about the area. As it turns out, the “Eastern Shore” is actually a little peninsula that lies between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area is very rural and riddled with agriculture and aquaculture. I became very interested and wanted to learn more! I didn’t have much time to learn about the area as Chris accepted the position and we were on our way from the West Coast to the East Coast in just a matter of a couple of months.
Chris left California and reported to work about 3 weeks before my departure from the West. I was left behind to tie up all the loose ends; pack up the house, meet the movers, hire handymen to come in to finish all of our incomplete “home improvements,” get the house on the market, and so on. Unfortunate for us, this relocation was happening right at the time of the last housing market crash. We had a buyer initially, and all went well until the eleventh hour when their funding fell through and…no sale. Thankfully these folks agreed to rent the house until they could make another attempt at purchasing the home. We allowed this to happen because we didn’t want the house to sit vacant as we continued to pay a mortgage on it as it was losing value. No worries, right? That’s a whole other blog post…
After traveling far and wide with my riding partner, my adventurous Uncle Don (who flew out to CA, helped me finish up some final touches around the house for a couple of days, helped me pack what was left in the U-Haul trailer, and put up with me for about 3,000 miles), I made it to my parents’ house in Northern Illinois just before the Thanksgiving Holiday. Chris flew out to join us for Thanksgiving. Then he and I, Chompers, C.J., Penelope and Lazarus, finished the last leg of the move East together.
NO trip through the mountains between the months of October and April are ever going to be without some kind of weather hazard. Well, we ended up spending the night in a parking lot outside a gas station somewhere in West Virginia/Western Maryland. I cannot recollect the exact location, but I do remember looking for road signs for hotels and there were so few! We saw one early on and, of course, they were NO VACANCY. By the time we made it to this service station we were done risking the hills and winding roads while pulling a U-Haul trailer behind us! Things got really cozy in the back of my 2001 Ford Escape with 2 big dogs and 2 cats! We’d get up from a snooze every so often to turn the vehicle on and heat it up when needed, but we stayed relatively warm, but cramped.
The next morning we had breakfast at the little diner attached to the service station we used as a camp site. The people were very friendly and the food was, well, it was a diner and it was breakfast. It was eggs, bacon and toast. Delicious always.
It took about 8 hours for us to get from our makeshift campsite to our NEW HOME on the Eastern Shore of Virginia!
I cannot lie, when we got to Annapolis and to the Bay Bridge, I was not convinced that we weren’t going to be living in a congested area. I am not a city girl, I do not enjoy city living, and I was not about to go from where we were in Rosamond, CA to something more populated and ridiculous. Chris assured me it would all change in just 20 minutes after we get over this ridiculously high and long bridge. I’m glad he was driving at this point.
Wow, this post is going on a lot longer and in much more detail than I anticipated. I think I’m going to have to do it in parts because, thinking about all of the happenings from where I started (in 2007) to today, a LOT has happened! I’m having diarrhea of the typing fingers and thoughts I guess. I digress…
Chris was right. After we crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from Annapolis to Kent Island, it only took about 15-20 minutes before civilization nearly ceased. There were buildings here and there along Route 13, with some homes scattered along the way. Whenever we were coming into a town there would be your little service station, maybe a restaurant/diner or two, and some other small businesses (used car dealer, pawn shop, thrift store, coffee shop, home store, … it was varied). I was ecstatic! THIS is what it was like growing up where I did! I hated it as a child and young adult, but have learned to appreciate the serenity and sense of community as I’ve aged. I couldn’t wait to see our new, temporary home!
We signed a 6 month lease on a property that we never saw in person, but we knew they were relatively close to Wallops Island, and dogs and cats were allowed. We figured we’d only be there for a few months anyway. After all, our house out West was in escrow. After we take care of that we could look into buying something out here on the Eastern Shore. We’d find an area we really like and start seeking properties for sale.
…to be continued…
AnimalWhiz 