Then we went back and packed up!! :-(
Monday, May 7, 2012
JP faces her fears.
Friday, we woke up and headed south again to the lighthouse. The waves weren't as big as they were the day before, but they weren't small either. Because of the size and the heaviness, I was wicked nervous about surfing there. I asked Nate if we could check out Frisco so we drove south. The tide was wrong so we drove back north. I don't believe that I'm a huge cry-baby and I can usually take a lot of crap before I start to cry but on the way back north, I started crying. Nate was like, "why are you crying?" and I told him that I was scared. We went through all the worst case scenarios and he kept telling me that I would be fine. I texted my cube mate/ super friend, Anna to tell her that I was about to go surfing on this crazy wave and I was super scared. She gave me words of encouragement and I sucked it up, got ready, and off we went. The paddle out wasn't bad at all. I followed Nate through some rip current and paddled out really easily. I tried to stay on the outside so I could get a shoulder and stay out everyone's way. I finally caught a wave but wasn't able to stand up on it. I then caught another wave, stood up and turned and rode it a bit too long. Next thing I knew, I was being slammed and spun and turned and I wanted to come up for air, but the wave want ready for me to come up yet. So I gave it another second and I was up. I quickly got on my board, turned around, and paddled back out. I was able to catch another wave and I rode that one out. I got out because Nate was out of the water. He had the dogs and wanted me to get back out so he could get a picture. So, I paddled out. I caught another wave but didn't get on to my feet fast enough and got slammed again. Finally, I caught a wave and Nate was able to get a pic.
Once we got done surfing, we became tourists again and climbed to the top of the lighthouse. Because it was the first day that the lighthouse was open, it was free. We climbed to the top and got some pics:
Nate and I decided to try heading north to check out more of the island and see if we could find any surf spots. We drive to the northern edge of Pea Island and had the beach to ourselves for as long as the eye could see... We didn't find any surf but we found tons of shells!
We headed back to the house and then went and walked along the beach again. We walked forever...
Then we went back and packed up!! :-(
Then we went back and packed up!! :-(
Is that a wave out there?
Finally, we got waves on Thursday! But it also brought overcast skies and childish temps. We got up and drove south to the lighthouse. The boys saw the panicked look on my face and we drove further south to Frisco. The tide wasn't right there so we drove back north. We then drove to the other side of the lighthouse, but the walk was too far so we walked back to the car and drove back to the other original side of the lighthouse. Because there were tons of really good surfers, the waves were huge and heavy, and you basically could not make a mistake, I sat out that session. And Nate and Erin talked for about 20 min deciding what to do...
I finally told them to get their butts out there so that we could go south to Frisco when the tide turned so they finally got dressed.
They surfed for an hour or so. I watched and took pictures. Then we got lunch and headed to Frisco. Once we got to Frisco, I'm not sure Nate has ever seen me move that fast to surf. There was a sweet left and I was excited. I caught a few waves and had some fun... Then everyone had fun messing with me. A set came in and all the little short boarders and Nate caught a wave and I somehow, missed them all. Then I looked back and saw a black fin stick out of the water. I laid down and started boogeying in towards the beach. Erin, our housemate, and some stranger asked me what was going on. I said, "I just saw a fin and I don't think it was a dolphin." they started laughing and continued paddling out. Since I was no longer the furthest out, I stopped paddling too. Then they started saying things like, "you are probably right. That probably wasn't a dolphin" and "you know girls smell and taste better than boys". Yeah, they were real nice. I kept my eyes on the horizon and saw the fin again and it was indeed a dolphin... Jerks!!! :-)
After I got slammed a few times, I called it quits for the day. I got to wait for Erin and Nate to finish up but they didn't stay out much longer. However, the water was like 80 degrees so it was nice to just sit in the water waiting for them.
After we got all dressed and got the boards back on the car, we headed back home, rested and ate. We tried to see the crabs again, but they must have taken the night off because we didn't see them. Bummer!!!
I finally told them to get their butts out there so that we could go south to Frisco when the tide turned so they finally got dressed.
They surfed for an hour or so. I watched and took pictures. Then we got lunch and headed to Frisco. Once we got to Frisco, I'm not sure Nate has ever seen me move that fast to surf. There was a sweet left and I was excited. I caught a few waves and had some fun... Then everyone had fun messing with me. A set came in and all the little short boarders and Nate caught a wave and I somehow, missed them all. Then I looked back and saw a black fin stick out of the water. I laid down and started boogeying in towards the beach. Erin, our housemate, and some stranger asked me what was going on. I said, "I just saw a fin and I don't think it was a dolphin." they started laughing and continued paddling out. Since I was no longer the furthest out, I stopped paddling too. Then they started saying things like, "you are probably right. That probably wasn't a dolphin" and "you know girls smell and taste better than boys". Yeah, they were real nice. I kept my eyes on the horizon and saw the fin again and it was indeed a dolphin... Jerks!!! :-)
After I got slammed a few times, I called it quits for the day. I got to wait for Erin and Nate to finish up but they didn't stay out much longer. However, the water was like 80 degrees so it was nice to just sit in the water waiting for them.
After we got all dressed and got the boards back on the car, we headed back home, rested and ate. We tried to see the crabs again, but they must have taken the night off because we didn't see them. Bummer!!!
Day 3 - more paddling, more touristing...
The third day of vacation brought more paddling and chillier temps... Instead of trying to venture back into the ocean for another round of paddling with the dogs, we decided we would try the sound side this time. We paddled for about an hour and a half into the wind. Oakley rode on my board for the first half and then when I got tired paddling her lazy bum against the wind, I kicked her off... Plus we were away from people and the rode so I wasn't worried that she would annoy anyone. We stopped in a little cove and rested and let the dogs rest. Then we paddled back. Nate literally took his shirt and put both arms in it, held the shirt over his head, and used it as a sail! It took us about 30 min to get back to the car. We packed up the boards, heading home, cleaned up and headed for another adventure.
When we drove in, I had looked up Steak 'n' Shake on yelp and thought there was one in Kitty Hawk. If you were not aware, Steak 'n' Shake started in my hometown so if there is one easy to get to, I make Nate go! So we started driving north... Being the smart girl, I decided to double check that there was a Steak 'n' Shake and was very saddened to find out there was not one... So next in the list... Mexican!!!! We ended up getting lunch at the Bad Bean Taqueria in Kill Devil Hills and it was DELISH!!! I highly recommend if you are ever in that area. I got a special pork quesadilla and it was so very yummy!!!
We were then going to check out the Wright brother stuff but when we pulled into the parking lot and realized we needed to pay for it, we turned around. We then drove to Jockey's Ridge State Park. It is a monster sand dune where you can hang glide off the top. Being cheap bastards, we just walked around the dunes with the dogs. Here are some pics from the park:
When we drove in, I had looked up Steak 'n' Shake on yelp and thought there was one in Kitty Hawk. If you were not aware, Steak 'n' Shake started in my hometown so if there is one easy to get to, I make Nate go! So we started driving north... Being the smart girl, I decided to double check that there was a Steak 'n' Shake and was very saddened to find out there was not one... So next in the list... Mexican!!!! We ended up getting lunch at the Bad Bean Taqueria in Kill Devil Hills and it was DELISH!!! I highly recommend if you are ever in that area. I got a special pork quesadilla and it was so very yummy!!!
We were then going to check out the Wright brother stuff but when we pulled into the parking lot and realized we needed to pay for it, we turned around. We then drove to Jockey's Ridge State Park. It is a monster sand dune where you can hang glide off the top. Being cheap bastards, we just walked around the dunes with the dogs. Here are some pics from the park:
My two cute boys!! :)
Nate and I self portrait:
Oakley was jealous and wanted her own self portrait!
Nate doing front flips and back flips on the dunes!!!
On our second day of vacay, my true love came to me... :)
Tuesday of vacation started off with a bang... well, not really... Oakley seemed to be better with some running and a good night sleep.
We decided we would try a second attempt at paddle boarding with the dogs. The winds were howling again, so we walked a mile or so down the beach so we could just sort of float back to where our housemates were. I got our long leash and leashed the two dogs to each other and then made sure that that we knew were the other end was. :) I put Oakley on my board and was going to let Scout swim. I think the water was just a bit too cold for Scout so he quickly jumped up on the board too. So, I was paddling around with the two dogs on my big board. Nate was on his board just keeping an eye out for us making sure everything was going ok. As we were paddling back towards our housemates, we saw a pod of dolphins approaching us. I was sooo very excited. I started paddling towards where they were coming, but in my head was thinking that I didn't want to get tooo close. As we kept paddling, the dolphins got closer and closer. Then as they were about to swim by us, two of them turned and started swimming towards my board with the two dogs on it. I looked at Nate and was like, 'They are swimming towards me! This is awesome!' and then looked down and saw the two dogs and thought, 'oh.... this is NOT awesome!' I started paddling back towards the beach sorta quickly. I was putting together different scenarios in my head... If the dolphins come up and nudge the board and we all fall off, how do I get the dogs back on the board quickly enough that I can go off and swim with the dolphins!!! Thankfully, the dolphins just came to inspect us and left us alone. But it was exciting...
After the dolphin excitement, Scout decided he was done sitting on a board. He kept jumping off my board so Nate would go and fetch him up and put him on his board. Then he would jump off Nate's board and I would put him on my board. Then he would jump off my board and Nate would put him on his board and then Nate had enough of his craziness so Nate kept his hand on Scout's float coat so that Scout couldn't jump off his board and we decided that it was enough. We paddled back to the beach.
Once we got back to the beach, we hung out with our housemates on the beach. One of our housemates was a fisherman and had all of his fishing stuff with him. While he was there, he caught at least 3 skates... I am not sure if he caught any fish. Here are some pictures of Nate helping getting the skate back in the water so it would survive:
After we hung out on the beach for a bit, we decided to head back to the house to eat lunch. We then decided to head south and check out some of the surf spots. We drove to the Cape Hatteras lighthouse to see if there was any surf there. Then we touristed it up a bit and checked out the lighthouse:
We then drove further south to Frisco. We saw what a terrible bi-atch that Irene was:
We also saw some dead jellyfish on the beach:
But there was no surf... We did decide to stop in at a local surf shop and ran into a guy wearing a Molly shirt. We talked about Buck and how much of a cool cat that he is. We then headed back to the house, rested up, made dinner and then Nate and I took a stroll on the beach.
I really, really wish that they would come out with a camera that could just be a part of your brain so that when you forgot your camera at the house, there would be photographic evidence of what you saw... When Nate and I got to the beach, we fired up the head lamps and much to our surprise, saw something scurry towards the water. We both looked at each other and then looked back down and something else scurried to the beach. We immediately said, "crabs, sweet!!!!" so the next one we came up to, we inspected it closer. Then scout came over and inspected closer. The minute scout put his nose to the crab, the crab positioned itself in its defensive pose. Then scout continued to sniff at it... Then scout picked it ... Then the crab snapped at scout... Then scout flung it at me... Then I screamed like a girl... Then scout picked it up again but instead of gently picking it up, he gnashed into it and killed it and ate it. Then we didn't laugh anymore because that happened at least 10 more times, less the flinging and the screaming. At first, Oakley was terrified of the crabs but saw how much scout was having with them so she started sniffing at them too. However, every time they moved when Oakley sniffed at them, she would jump away... Then she would try to sniff again and they would scurry to the water. It was quite amusing!!! Needless to say, Nate and I walked on the beach for about two hours that night watching the crabs and the dogs interacting with the crabs.
We decided we would try a second attempt at paddle boarding with the dogs. The winds were howling again, so we walked a mile or so down the beach so we could just sort of float back to where our housemates were. I got our long leash and leashed the two dogs to each other and then made sure that that we knew were the other end was. :) I put Oakley on my board and was going to let Scout swim. I think the water was just a bit too cold for Scout so he quickly jumped up on the board too. So, I was paddling around with the two dogs on my big board. Nate was on his board just keeping an eye out for us making sure everything was going ok. As we were paddling back towards our housemates, we saw a pod of dolphins approaching us. I was sooo very excited. I started paddling towards where they were coming, but in my head was thinking that I didn't want to get tooo close. As we kept paddling, the dolphins got closer and closer. Then as they were about to swim by us, two of them turned and started swimming towards my board with the two dogs on it. I looked at Nate and was like, 'They are swimming towards me! This is awesome!' and then looked down and saw the two dogs and thought, 'oh.... this is NOT awesome!' I started paddling back towards the beach sorta quickly. I was putting together different scenarios in my head... If the dolphins come up and nudge the board and we all fall off, how do I get the dogs back on the board quickly enough that I can go off and swim with the dolphins!!! Thankfully, the dolphins just came to inspect us and left us alone. But it was exciting...
After the dolphin excitement, Scout decided he was done sitting on a board. He kept jumping off my board so Nate would go and fetch him up and put him on his board. Then he would jump off Nate's board and I would put him on my board. Then he would jump off my board and Nate would put him on his board and then Nate had enough of his craziness so Nate kept his hand on Scout's float coat so that Scout couldn't jump off his board and we decided that it was enough. We paddled back to the beach.
Once we got back to the beach, we hung out with our housemates on the beach. One of our housemates was a fisherman and had all of his fishing stuff with him. While he was there, he caught at least 3 skates... I am not sure if he caught any fish. Here are some pictures of Nate helping getting the skate back in the water so it would survive:
We then drove further south to Frisco. We saw what a terrible bi-atch that Irene was:
We also saw some dead jellyfish on the beach:
But there was no surf... We did decide to stop in at a local surf shop and ran into a guy wearing a Molly shirt. We talked about Buck and how much of a cool cat that he is. We then headed back to the house, rested up, made dinner and then Nate and I took a stroll on the beach.
I really, really wish that they would come out with a camera that could just be a part of your brain so that when you forgot your camera at the house, there would be photographic evidence of what you saw... When Nate and I got to the beach, we fired up the head lamps and much to our surprise, saw something scurry towards the water. We both looked at each other and then looked back down and something else scurried to the beach. We immediately said, "crabs, sweet!!!!" so the next one we came up to, we inspected it closer. Then scout came over and inspected closer. The minute scout put his nose to the crab, the crab positioned itself in its defensive pose. Then scout continued to sniff at it... Then scout picked it ... Then the crab snapped at scout... Then scout flung it at me... Then I screamed like a girl... Then scout picked it up again but instead of gently picking it up, he gnashed into it and killed it and ate it. Then we didn't laugh anymore because that happened at least 10 more times, less the flinging and the screaming. At first, Oakley was terrified of the crabs but saw how much scout was having with them so she started sniffing at them too. However, every time they moved when Oakley sniffed at them, she would jump away... Then she would try to sniff again and they would scurry to the water. It was quite amusing!!! Needless to say, Nate and I walked on the beach for about two hours that night watching the crabs and the dogs interacting with the crabs.
Friday, May 4, 2012
First day of vacation and my fat skinny dog eats her weight in dog food
Our friends rented a house in the Outerbanks for April vacation and had asked Nate and I if we wanted to go in with them. We waffled a bit but then when I found out that we could bring the dogs too, I was in. Going on a week long vacation and having someone take care of the pups is too stressful for anyone including me and boarding them for a week is TOO expensive so a vacation with the dogs is the best type of vacation for me!
We headed down Sunday and arrived Sunday night and was ready to roll first thing Monday morning. Monday morning, I got up and was just going to let the dogs out to pee. Then our friend came outside with his dog and was like, 'let's go to the beach'... ok... you twisted my arm! We walked to the beach with the dogs and my two were psyched!! Scout ran and ran and ran and chased every bird he could see for a mile and kept running and running. Oakley just followed behind.
After we got back, I woke Nate up so that Nate and I could get breakfast and go grocery shopping. We found a little restaurant in Avon and were really excited to biscuits and gravy on the menu. So excited that Nate took a picture of it:
We went grocery shopping and then on our way back to the house, Nate wanted to check out a pier to see if there was any surf. He got out of the car and I stayed in the car with the dogs. Nate started waving at me to come look. I got out of the car to see what was the fuss. He pointed and said, "Look, dolphins"... I was in love!! :)
We got back to the house and decided to meet everyone at the beach. We took our paddleboards and the dogs to the beach. We were going to try and paddleboard with the dogs. Just getting the boards to the beach was a bit of a battle. Once we got to the beach and the winds were blowing at least 30 mph, we knew we were in for another battle. We walked the boards about a mile down the beach and attempted to get in. Scout typically just likes to swim along with us so we let him swim and I took scaredy cat Oakley on my board with me. For some reason, I decided to put her on the back of the board instead of putting her in front of me like how I usually do (probably because I got her on the board and she wasn't budging). I got on the board and went to get past the breakers. I hit one wave and she washed right off the board!! So she started following me and I paddled out past the breakers. I thought everything was good. I was trying to slow down to let the dogs catch up so that if they wanted to climb on the board, they could. However, the wind was whipping us so fast, that there was no slowing down. I was just sailing away from them. Nate saw that I was starting to freak out a little and he tried to paddle towards them. He was paddling against the wind and again, futile process. The dogs then just turned and went towards the beach, thankfully. We paddled towards the beach as well and were finally all reunited. The dogs must have been freaked out because within minutes of getting back to the beach, the dogs started to tussle. Poor little buddies!!
We hung out on the beach for awhile longer and then decided to go back to the house and get lunch. We ate lunch and then chilled out for awhile. The outerbanks are the mecca for the kite boarders so we decided to go check out people kite boarding on the sound side. It looks fun. Nothing special, but fun. The first place we went, they had a rail set up, but no one hit it. We went to another spot and Nate being the nice guy that he is, helped a few guys bring their kites down and helped them launch them. So sweet!! :) Again, we watched for a bit and then headed back to the house. Our housemates ordered some pizzas so Nate and I decided to order one ourselves and went with one of our housemates to pick them up...
And then the drama unfolded...
We got back to the house, and Nate and I went to our room to put our stuff away. I went and fed the dogs and Nate was on the deck. Oakley took about 2 bites of her food and walked away. I looked at Nate and was like, 'uh.....'. Nate is our food hound and NEVER EVER EVER would turn down a meal. Normally, she eats her dinner in 2.3 seconds! :) I went over and was going to pick her up to see if she was ok. (Yes, she's my baby and yes, I pick up my dogs because they are my babies... I admit it!!). When I grabbed her around her belly, she instantly started heaving. She threw up twice. I ran and got some paper towels to clean up her puke. I thought it might be sea water from our adventure paddleboarding so I was a little worried. I sat on the deck with her a few minutes and felt around. She started moaning and I noticed how big and tight her belly was. I was like, 'this isn't good...' We were trying to figure out whether or not this was vet worthy and I decided to clean up the puke. I looked at the puke, finally, and was like, 'uh... this isn't oakley's food. this is Newp's dog food'. We yelled upstairs to our housemate, Erin, to tell him that Oakley threw up Newp's food and then we walked into Erin and his wife's room.... there were ripped up plastic bags all over the floor.... 8 of them!! Erin and his wife put each meal into a bag so that they bring just enough food with them. They brought some extras (thank goodness) but not 4 days worth of extras!! So here we are on a dang island and my dog just ate 4 days worth of their dogs food!! I felt like such an a$$hole!!! As I was a little panicked that I was going to need to take my dog to the vet to get her stomach pumped, Nate once again, stepped up and said, 'I'll take her for a skate'. So he got the dogs all ready and went skating with them. She went to the bathroom and burned a bunch of calories so my panic-ness started to subside. We took them on a walk on the beach after the skate and she ran around more and went to the bathroom again. She took like a 2 pound dump later in the week and about a week later, she got her figure back so everything worked out in the end. She didn't learn her lesson... but on to the next adventure..
We went grocery shopping and then on our way back to the house, Nate wanted to check out a pier to see if there was any surf. He got out of the car and I stayed in the car with the dogs. Nate started waving at me to come look. I got out of the car to see what was the fuss. He pointed and said, "Look, dolphins"... I was in love!! :)
We got back to the house and decided to meet everyone at the beach. We took our paddleboards and the dogs to the beach. We were going to try and paddleboard with the dogs. Just getting the boards to the beach was a bit of a battle. Once we got to the beach and the winds were blowing at least 30 mph, we knew we were in for another battle. We walked the boards about a mile down the beach and attempted to get in. Scout typically just likes to swim along with us so we let him swim and I took scaredy cat Oakley on my board with me. For some reason, I decided to put her on the back of the board instead of putting her in front of me like how I usually do (probably because I got her on the board and she wasn't budging). I got on the board and went to get past the breakers. I hit one wave and she washed right off the board!! So she started following me and I paddled out past the breakers. I thought everything was good. I was trying to slow down to let the dogs catch up so that if they wanted to climb on the board, they could. However, the wind was whipping us so fast, that there was no slowing down. I was just sailing away from them. Nate saw that I was starting to freak out a little and he tried to paddle towards them. He was paddling against the wind and again, futile process. The dogs then just turned and went towards the beach, thankfully. We paddled towards the beach as well and were finally all reunited. The dogs must have been freaked out because within minutes of getting back to the beach, the dogs started to tussle. Poor little buddies!!
We hung out on the beach for awhile longer and then decided to go back to the house and get lunch. We ate lunch and then chilled out for awhile. The outerbanks are the mecca for the kite boarders so we decided to go check out people kite boarding on the sound side. It looks fun. Nothing special, but fun. The first place we went, they had a rail set up, but no one hit it. We went to another spot and Nate being the nice guy that he is, helped a few guys bring their kites down and helped them launch them. So sweet!! :) Again, we watched for a bit and then headed back to the house. Our housemates ordered some pizzas so Nate and I decided to order one ourselves and went with one of our housemates to pick them up...
And then the drama unfolded...
We got back to the house, and Nate and I went to our room to put our stuff away. I went and fed the dogs and Nate was on the deck. Oakley took about 2 bites of her food and walked away. I looked at Nate and was like, 'uh.....'. Nate is our food hound and NEVER EVER EVER would turn down a meal. Normally, she eats her dinner in 2.3 seconds! :) I went over and was going to pick her up to see if she was ok. (Yes, she's my baby and yes, I pick up my dogs because they are my babies... I admit it!!). When I grabbed her around her belly, she instantly started heaving. She threw up twice. I ran and got some paper towels to clean up her puke. I thought it might be sea water from our adventure paddleboarding so I was a little worried. I sat on the deck with her a few minutes and felt around. She started moaning and I noticed how big and tight her belly was. I was like, 'this isn't good...' We were trying to figure out whether or not this was vet worthy and I decided to clean up the puke. I looked at the puke, finally, and was like, 'uh... this isn't oakley's food. this is Newp's dog food'. We yelled upstairs to our housemate, Erin, to tell him that Oakley threw up Newp's food and then we walked into Erin and his wife's room.... there were ripped up plastic bags all over the floor.... 8 of them!! Erin and his wife put each meal into a bag so that they bring just enough food with them. They brought some extras (thank goodness) but not 4 days worth of extras!! So here we are on a dang island and my dog just ate 4 days worth of their dogs food!! I felt like such an a$$hole!!! As I was a little panicked that I was going to need to take my dog to the vet to get her stomach pumped, Nate once again, stepped up and said, 'I'll take her for a skate'. So he got the dogs all ready and went skating with them. She went to the bathroom and burned a bunch of calories so my panic-ness started to subside. We took them on a walk on the beach after the skate and she ran around more and went to the bathroom again. She took like a 2 pound dump later in the week and about a week later, she got her figure back so everything worked out in the end. She didn't learn her lesson... but on to the next adventure..
Oakley in all her bloated glory... Not a happy camper with a super full belly...
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