South Carolina

Posted on October 17, 2013October 17, 2013 by Dusty Roads

If someone says South Carolina to you what is the first thing that comes to mind? To me it’s the heart of the south. Maybe Gone With the Wind was set in Georgia but for some reason it’s Charleston SC that makes me think of southern hospitality and Southern Belles, like Scarlett. Sorry Margaret Mitchell, I shouldn’t move the location of such a beloved classic.:)

I have a sister-in-law from Charleston. My brother met her when he was stationed at the Charleston Naval Station. She’s always been a good sport with us “northerners” and she has a really wild sense of humor. I haven’t seen her in awhile but I have these great memories of laughing till my sides hurt! Good times! But most of the visits have been elsewhere, not in her home state of South Carolina, so forgive me, Ellen, if I don’t get it quite right.

Charleston SC is known own for its rich history, well-preserved architecture, distinguished restaurants, and mannerly people, Charleston has received a large number of accolades, including “America’s Most Friendly [City]” by Travel + Leisure and “the most polite and hospitable city in America” by Southern Living magazine. (See, I’m not the only one who thinks of Southern Hospitality.)

About 70 miles south of Charleston is 5,000 acre Hunting Island State Park, home to loggerhead turtles, alligators, herons, and oystercatchers.

Also part of the low country is the Famed Hilton Head Island. This is one of the most popular and developed resort areas on the eastern seaboard.

It includes 25 championship golf courses and 300 tennis courts. My friend “Ace”, a tennis fanatic, has attended tennis camps at Hilton Head.

I also hear a lot about Myrtle Beach. That’s a big tourist area but close to Myrtle beach is something much closer to my heart. Someplace I intend to make sure I visit. Believe it or not I first heard about this place at King Richard’s Faire. Then I saw a show on one of the TV channels…Travel Channel, Animal Planet …one of them. The place I really want to visit is Myrtle Beach Safari. It’s on T.I.G.E.R Ave.

TIGER Stands for The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species. The same people that tour with the tigers and ligers with the medieval fairs run this sanctuary. http://www.myrtlebeachsafari.com/ As I recall, a day at the sanctuary getting to play with the animals is VERY expensive but I wasn’t able to check the cost while I was preparing this post. Their “tour season” seems to have ended so they may not have posted their tours for next season yet. But the video on the website is running and I think if you check that out you will understand why I want to go there so badly.

Although I haven’t had the opportunity to explore SC to my heart’s content I was there for my brother’s wedding. So I think I have to count SC on my “yes” side even though I still want to go back.

My new tally 15/25…10 more states to go in the countdown.

A Message from The Mayor

Posted on September 12, 2013September 12, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Stubbs Mayor Cat

I’m happy to report that I am now back home in Talkeetna, where I continue to mend. I must thank my brother from another mother, Morris The Cat, for helping to cover my medical expenses. All donations I’ve received that exceed my expenses will be donated to the Mat-Su Animal Shelter, to support fellow animals in need.
Unfortunately due to my strict recovery diet, I am unable to drink my usual catnip-laced water from my wine glass, but I do hope to be back in my normal routine in the near future. Thank you all for the cards, packages, donations, and Facebook love you’ve shown me during this difficult time. I do hope you will all consider moving to Talkeetna so that I can repay you with town-wide dance parties and mouse hunts, because let’s be real, there will be a party as soon as I’m back on my feet.
Love, Mayor Stubbs

Cat Tails

Posted on August 31, 2013August 31, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Good evening my friends

I admit I am very late with a post today. I had planned one entry but the more I thought about it the more I just found it too sad. It was about my niece-in-laws dog that just died. But like I said, the subject is too sad. I love having pets but how I hate saying the final goodbye.

So while I tried to find another subject on such short notice, Rocky kept climbing all over me, head butting me and in general making a nuisance of himself. Once he finally plopped (and I mean that literally) down and I began to pet him he went into his really lovable mode.

When he’s like that he wiggles and tries to squeeze as close to me as possible. His little paws open and close like he’s kneading the air and he drools! Yup, since he was a little , tiny kitten he’s drooled whenever he was really happy and content.

At first I was concerned something was wrong with his teeth or mouth and dragged him off to the Vet. After careful examination I was told “He loves you. You should feel honored.”

Over the years he’s gotten bigger but he’s never stopped drooling. Just now it isn’t cute little drops, it’s buckets of drool. He shakes his head and the drool flies. It isn’t all the time, only when he gets really , really relaxed.

So tell me, have any of you had a cat that drools? Now you know you are loved.

A Day at the Zoo

Posted on August 27, 2013August 27, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I think the saying is “a walk in the park” but for me and my friend and her family it was a “day at the zoo”. Nancy has been working 3 jobs all summer so squeezing in our annual summer jaunt was turning into a challenge. We were down to the wire when a Tuesday opened up in all our schedules at the same time! YAY! I picked up Nancy and her two children, Alex and Dawn, and we made a bee line to the Franklin park Zoo.

I love zoos and it had been a couple of years since I’d been to this one. Nancy said the kids hadn’t ever been to this one. Located in the Dorchester section of Boston, Franklin Park Zoo is truly an urban zoo. You can even get to it by subway.

A really unusual feature is FREE PARKING! In Boston that’s more rare than the animals on exhibit!

We had a beautiful day for our visit. The weather was sunny and warm but there was a breeze.

There was a new playground since my last visit and we spent a good deal of time there.

We spent the whole day! The Zoo was closing up shop as we made our way out the front gates.

We’d covered everything from the petting zoo to the Bird World.

We saw the gorillas and the tigers and lions.

My favorite is the Budgie Aviary and I think the kids liked that too. They didn’t want to leave.

We also enjoyed the Butterfly enclosure.

Alex was reluctant at first but pretty soon the turtles had his attention.

The giraffe was a treat as it was right at the fence stretching it’s long neck to eat right over the heads of the crowd.

I had to stop by the prairie dog enclosure. The sentry even smiled for the camera.

Leaving the ostrich behind we made our way to the car after a great day!

A Seal Of Approval

Posted on August 16, 2013August 16, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Great White Sharks are prowling the shores of Cape Cod once again as the seal population continues to explode. If there was any doubt that the great predators are here to stay it was dispelled when the discovery channel aired Shark Week and the Great Whites of Cape Cod were prominently featured.

I would still like to see a Great White Shark but I would hate to have to go to South Africa to see “air jaws” when we have our own crop of “Jaws” right here at home. At first they were just hanging out in Chatham eating the seals of Monemoy Island but now it appears that they are spreading northward toward Orleans and Truro.

So on a sunny day last week I headed to Chatham to see for myself. My last visit to the seals on Monemoy was back in 2010.

A lot of changes can happen in 3 years. The first change was that the little shuttle isn’t running. I’m still researching ways to get to the island but in the meantime I called the Beachcomber Seal Tours and made a reservation for an afternoon trip.

The tour didn’t leave from the Fish Pier this time. They said that parking had become impossible there so they had us go to their marine showroom and then shuttled us to the boat in a green trolley.

We had a full boat for the afternoon trip. The boats stay in the harbor so are pretty small, certainly nothing like the whale watching boats. As we loaded a seal popped it’s head up right by the dock.

Even though we could say we’d seen a seal, that wasn’t part of the tour. We actually had a bit of a ride to get to the harbor near the seals. As we approached North Beach we saw the first of the seals.

The tide can swing up to 9 ft. here between high and low tide. The tide was still low so the sand bars were just below the surface and the seals were sitting in the water on these submerged sand bars.