Animal encounters

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. My honey and I had been housebound for a while because we were both had colds that hung around for a long time. So we decided to take off for a little camping trip.

We had a great campsite right on the lake and set up our tent. We hiked all the way around the lake. It was a nice level hike which is my favorite kind! No crazy mountains to clamber over. I'm originally from Canada so moving to California has been quite an experience. I still marvel at palm trees and the ocean. Not to mention the mountains! And I love the flowers and foliage. There is so little rain here that the plants have to be pretty drought resistant. The lack of water even makes the trees look different - magical. They're all twisted and crazy looking.

After our dinner of cheese dogs and beans we sat around the campfire. Rick found a big lizard and caught it. He can hypnotize lizards just by stroking their belly. He can hypnotize me when he strokes my belly too but that's a topic for another post.

Later that night he went to go get more firewood and when he came back he had a huge bullfrog in his hands! It was the biggest frog I've ever seen. Rick had to hold him with two hands.

I was up most of the night because I could hear all these mysterious animal sounds. It was amazing but a little bit scary especially when an unknown creature of some size made off with our garbage bag. I could hear him outside the tent jumping up and grabbing it and then trodding heavily off with his loot. I was too afraid to look outside.

When you go camping it's not always a very comfortable night. So you wake up very early because there is no point in remaining in your musty sleeping bag. Rick is a morning person. He popped open a can of his favorite coffee energy drink and set off on an early morning hike. I managed to munch on a granola bar and drink my juice in our comfy camping chair but I was not up for the hike.

Rick came back with a big grin on his face and a huge bull snake in his hands. He never ceases to amaze me. I like snakes. I think they are beautiful and I love how they feel. I won't pick one up though unless I know it's disposition. Bull snakes are not venomous but they can be aggressive. This one was nice and mellow in Rick's hands.

I'm posting some pictures of our animal encounters.

When I met Rick in Second Life, we were always having adventures together. And we are still having adventures. Every day with him is an adventure. We aren't in SL much these days. We've tried it since we've gotten together. It's just hard for me to look at his avatar and mine when I know he's right there in the same room as me. We still have our home in SL because we love it and we created it for each other. And we both pop in from time to time. I love the new effects for water and sky in SL now. It's beautiful. And I love sculpty prim shoes! Finally, Astrid has shoes that look real and sexy instead of kind of dorky and awkward!

SL is a magical place. I'll always love it. But right now, there is so much magic in this world with Rick. It's like I've stepped into SL. Except I don't have Astrid's and Sorcha's fabulous wardrobes. Or hair. I don't mind though. I'm not very good in heels. Even in SL I was always walking off cliffs or plunging to the earth from a skybox!

"We live in a beautiful world. Yeah we do..."

-Beautiful World, Coldplay