8/30/2012 Everybody Has One!

(Rehoboth Beach, DE)

Yep, everybody has one. No, I’m not talking about opinions and I’m certainly not talking about that other thing that I know some of you are thinking about. I’m talking about a favorite teacher. We all remember a teacher that somehow made a great impression on us.

I went to Oak Grove Elementary and Junior High School.

(Picture taken by Brian Donahue and used with permission)

My favorite teacher of all time is my 5th grade teacher, Mr. Len Keller.

I found Mr. Keller on Facebook two and a half years ago and wrote him an email. Since then we’ve talked on the phone several times and emails fly back and forth several times a week.

I’d like to share that email I sent him. (I’ve deleted last names of my classmates)

OMG...I can't believe I found you! I have searched for you on the Internet before but couldn't find you. I have looked in phone books when in PA, but didn't know what town you were in. YOU were always my favorite teacher. I remember the first day of school and I was scared to death of you because I had never had a "man teacher" before and had no idea what to expect.

I was a student of yours in Oak Grove Elementary when I was in the 5th grade. You knew me back then by my given name, not my nickname Snookie and back then I wasn't a Quinn. Gosh, you mean to tell me you didn't recognize me from my Facebook picture? MR. KELLER! I'm crushed!

Ok, enough with the suspense, back then, in school, I was known as Mary Lou Rhoads. Some of my classmates that year were Letty H., Kathy D., Donna M., John P., Norman M., Billy S., and Mike M. to name a few.

If I remember correctly, you have a son named Christopher, you married Helen, or maybe you didn't and because of obvious reasons I can't get that name out of my head. Our class met her when you took us to Philadelphia to see "How the West Was Won".....in technicolor! Also that day we went to see the Liberty Bell and you bought a little replica bell and used it in the classroom to call the fish in the fish tank to the corner for feeding. That was when you explained Pavlov's Dogs to us.

I got my first D on my report card that year. I'm much better at fractions now!

This was the year you used the word "hell" and we all gasped. A group had done something with one of the bulletin boards and it wasn't very good by anyone's standards and when you saw it you responded with a very real grownup reaction, "That looks like hell." We didn't think you'd ever stop apologizing, after all, we used much worse on the playground.

I think my most memorable memory of you is that, because of you, I never, ever misspelled the word separation. I remember many of us had gotten it wrong on a spelling test, spelling it,,,, seperation,,,,and to drive your point home you wrote it on the blackboard in fairly large letters and put this HUGE capital A where we had all written that e.

S E P A R A T I O N Thank you Mr. Keller!

So there it is, I have found my all time favorite teacher. Now, do you remember me? If not, lie to me and tell me you do and that I am your all time favorite student! Ok, maybe not the last part, I guess that's pushing it. However, I do know that I was one of your favorite students that year. How do I know that? Because you always picked me to roll up your sleeves on your long sleeve shirts. AND....you gave ME the newspaper to read your engagement announcement to the class. So I was one of your favorites ...right? RIGHT?????

So, I grew up, graduated, worked for awhile, went into the "family business" the National Guard, met my husband, got married, helped raise his two sons, worked some more, he retired early, I quit, we sold the house and now are full time RV'ers. And what have you been doing for the last 46 years?

That's right, we are nomads, gypsies, trailer trash, whatever you want to call it. We are livin' the dream! We are presently in Arizona, sunny, warm Arizona,,,,oh, I'm sorry, that was mean, you back there in the east with all that snow, What's that saying???? Sucks to be you! Seriously, we are truly livin' our dream. We spend our winters here and travel the rest of the time,. Last summer we were in Alaska.

I write a blog and you are welcome to read it, you won't find separation misspelled once! Of course I don't even know if I used the word separation at all. You can google my name, Snookie Quinn, or just click on this handy link I've provided here. The Quinn's Awesome Journey If you have the time, I would suggest that you read the blog from the beginning. It's been a helluva trip and I think you might get a chuckle or two along the way. Oh yeah, I'm an easy read too.

So Mr. Keller, oh wait, I'm fifty six years old, I don't have to call you Mr. Keller anymore!

Lenny! Lenny baby! Hey Len!...... Just doesn't seem right.... So Mr. Keller, how has life treated you? I'd love to hear back from you.

Snookie (aka Mary Lou)

Well, actually, he insisted that I don’t call him Mr. Keller anymore and more often than not I’ll start my emails out as “Lenny Baby” or he’ll answer my email and sign off as Lenny Baby. We’re having lots of fun with this.

So why am I bringing this whole favorite teacher thing up? Because after 48 years we had the pleasure of spending an evening together.

Len didn’t stick with teaching but instead went into the business of selling school textbooks. He loved the job so much that he’s still doing it and refuses to retire.

Business brought him to Dover, Delaware this week and he decided to stay over an extra day so that Bob and I could meet him for dinner.

He fondly remembered a great seafood buffet he had years before so we agreed to meet at the Rusty Rudder Restaurant in Dewey Beach.

Bob and I hadn’t been to this restaurant in years. Dewey is typically a twenty-something beach town but since everyone has gone back to college and it was during the week so those working were home doing their employment thing, it was practically a ghost town.

Len was waiting out front for us and it was so wonderful to meet him once again. I still see the man that taught me when I ten years old in the man I see today at fifty nine.

Introductions were made and we went in to our table. Bob and Len hit it off right away and talked about so many things. Len envies us our lifestyle, especially the time we get to spend in Arizona, his favorite state.

The buffet was very good and the men thoroughly enjoyed the raw bar.

The restaurant sits right at the water’s edge and the deck faces west. It made for a beautiful sunset.

The two and a half hours we spent together flew by like two and a half minutes. We agreed we would meet up again next summer when Len travels out west.

Oh, before I forget. The son he had I thought was named Christopher? Turns out he’s a Charles. Len did in fact marry Helen and with the last name of Keller they thought it best she go by her middle name Brenda. Some things I remembered correctly, others, eh, not so much.

Of course we had to take pictures.

Lenny Baby, you made this trip home all the more special and I thank you for making this reunion of ours happen. We can’t wait to spend time with you next summer.

Len Keller….my all time favorite teacher.

8/28/2012 We Finally Met!

(Bethany Beach & Fenwick Island)

I have a friend that I’ve been emailing with, talking on the phone with, she follows my blog, I helped her set up hers and gave her lots of hints on traveling in an RV but we had never met. Her husband Tom and I were in the same National Guard unit for a short while and Bob had met him several times through the Guard.

Bob and I met up with Tom and Tracy D., Francis (Zabby) and Dee Z., Mickey and Cindy M. at the National Guard’s Bethany Beach Training Camp in the FamCamp at Tom & Tracy’s site. After three years of corresponding we finally got to meet. Hugs and handshakes all around we all settled in for a little gabfest before going out to dinner.

Smitty McGee’s was their restaurant of choice.

I knew what I was having before we even got out of the truck.

Drink orders placed it was time to start reading through the extensive menu. (Tom, Mickey and Bob)

Dee and Zabby

,,,,,and finally my friend Tracy.

I have everyone pictured here except Cindy. I took her picture but it wasn’t a flattering picture and I try very hard not publish unflattering pics of my friends. After all, I want them to stay my friends.

Well, we ate and talked and ate and talked and laughed and ate and talked some more. When we were just the last ones in the place practically we moved our little party back to Tom & Tracy’s place.

We talked until the mosquitos just got too bad to stay out anymore.

We thoroughly enjoyed our evening with these friends.

8/26/2012 The Never Ending Thunderstorm

It started raining yesterday afternoon. It came down in buckets, so fast the ground couldn’t absorb it. Mild flooding started after a few hours and we kept a watchful eye on radar.

The thunder rolled and rolled and the lightning lit up everything like daylight. Great bolts of lightning streaked across the sky and it was quite the show to say the least.

Everyone remarked that they had never heard thunder like that before. We certainly hadn’t. It just kept coming without a break.

This storm lasted from yesterday afternoon until 3 a.m.. Even though we had gone to bed at our regular bedtime of around eleven, we were up numerous times checking local radar to see how much longer this could last. It just seemed to hover over us. The relentless thunder was the worst. We could pull our day-night shades and for the most part block out the bolts of lightning but the rolling thunder we just couldn’t get away from.

Our phones even sent us weather alerts.

So this morning after the ground having about four hours to soak up the rain this is what was left.

Bob’s sister Carol, her hubs Pat and two of their grandchildren are here. They arrived yesterday and got to enjoy the storm too. Doesn’t it figure the three year old would sleep through it?

So we were sitting outside of our place talking the afternoon away and this fella rides up on a bicycle into our yard and extends his hand to me and says, “I’ve been waiting a year and half to meet you.” I stood up and shook his hand and then he said, “Mike V_______.” I looked at him and repeated his name and then it made sense. MPV8439! Frequent reader! Yes, I knew who he was! It is just so wonderful to actually meet the people who read here, who follow our journey. Of course we had to have a picture taken.

Mike, you made my day, my week, oh heck, my summer! Thank you so much for looking us up and coming over so we could meet you.

We had seafood for dinner. Pat makes the best crab cakes and Carol spent hours making Clams Casino. I made potato salad and we had Grillin’ Beans. They even made extras for our freezer that we’ll get to enjoy later. Thank you Carol & Pat!

8/25/2012 Thankful for a Morning Routine

I have a routine I go through every morning that I go to the marina. I don’t mean the brush my teeth, comb my hair kind of routine at home, that is a given any day of the week. I have a routine when I arrive at the marina to get my day started.

After gathering everything I’ll need while still in the truck, I make my way to # 2 golf cart. I stash my morning Pepsi, my book, my camera if I’ve taken it out of the truck, the truck keys, my tip cup and I put the golf cart key in the ignition. If the seats are wet from dew or an over night shower I’ll go to the café and get some paper towels. Of course I dry off my seat but also the back seat because I don’t know how soon it will be before I’m transporting two drivers at a time. Next, I pull from under the back seat a black plastic box that a car battery would fit into and place it on the front floor next to the go pedal. From behind the front seat I pull out the “picker”.

I unplug the golf cart and I’m ready to start the day.

The first thing I do is go to the ramp parking lot to see if any of the trucks/trailers that are already there are too big for this lot. If there I give each driver a pre-printed notice that they should be in the remote lot. When a truck with an exceptionally long trailer parks here they know they are too long but for the most part are just too lazy to park in the remote lot and walk back. It’s not all that far. It usually only takes one notice and they park where they should.

After this is done I take a ride to the remote lot to see if I have any trucks or cars parked there and if so I try to find out who owns them. On a nice weekend day I’m going to need every space available and the lot is clearly marked that it is for truck/trailer combos. Most times these stray cars and trucks belong to fisherman who are going out on the Judy V headboat and I’m able to get them to move it or they are fishing from the bank of the Inlet and I’m able to get them to park in the proper lot.

I do a quick sweep of the remote lot for the bigger pieces of litter such as empty water bottles, aluminum cans or empty cigarette packs. Noticeable stuff.

Back to the ramp lot for a thorough litter pick-up is next. Cigarette butts and whatever else I can find. After this I go to the next parking lot over which is where the boat owners who are spending the night on their boats park. Using my fancy litter picker uppers I pick up litter of all sizes.

The first thing I picked up today was a receipt of some sort.

I deposited it in my black plastic box sitting on the floorboards and went in search of the next piece of litter. It didn’t take long to find as it moved across the parking lot with the breeze. I was in hot pursuit!

Yep! A twenty dollar bill! There was no one in the parking lot this cloudy morning so I laid claim to it quickly. Uh, this went into the cotton receptacle attached to my shorts, otherwise known as my pocket. I rode up down every lane in that parking lot in case there was more flyaway money skimming across the macadam.

I only lasted an hour at work today before the skies opened up and the rain fell. There would be no boating today.

Back at home my sister-in-law and I sat out under the awning and talked about this, that and everything. Until the rain came that is.

It doesn’t promise to be a very good weekend.

Bob and our brother-in-law Pat went fishing at the rail and came home soaked to the bone. It rained pretty much all afternoon.

As I type this we are having thunderstorm after thunderstorm roll through. It looks like a flood zone as it has rained so much and the ground can’t absorb it all fast enough. I’ve been watching radar and we’re going to be having quite a night for the next few hours.

Before I close this I want to welcome a new frequent reader….Mark who shares his travels with his wife Lauree. You can read their blog HERE. We hope you enjoy the journey Mark, yours and ours!

8/24/2012 I Don’t Do Spiders!

(Rehoboth Beach, DE)

As the title says, I don’t do spiders! In any way, shape or form.

When I went to the marina this morning I was getting my golf cart ready, as usual, and I happen to look up over the seat and saw this side to side and top to bottom spider web framed by the seat, roof and roof supports. And then I saw IT! This spider with a body the size of dime and legs that extended out to a good inch to an inch and a half. It may as well have been as big as THIS as far as I was concerned!

Oh it creeps me out just to post this picture!

Anyway, the spider must have seen me because it ran up into a crevice where the roof meets the roof support. Oh great, what do I do now? I can’t leave it there because sure as I my name is Snookie Quinn it will crawl the length of the roof support all the way around to the front of the cart and then drop down while I’m driving which causes a breeze and it will blow back towards me and drop down the front of my shirt! Ewwww,,,I feel like something is crawling all over me now, why did I ever start this post?

So I keep looking over my shoulder as I drive the golf cart over to the boatyard. I see Ian first and tell him that I need a hero. He asks what the problem is and I tell him and he hands me a can of OFF. “Uh, no Ian, that isn’t going to work, you need to come out and KILL it!” He does look for it and can see it up in the crevice between the roof and the support. He tries his handy 8 in 1 tool but the pliers part isn’t long enough. He grabs a pair of needle nose pliers out of a nearby tool chest and is successful in nabbing that creepy-crawly thing and disposing of it.

Being me, I think out loud and say, “Gee, I hope it didn’t lay eggs in there.” Ian assured me that it didn’t. I asked him how he could be so sure and he replied that it was a male spider. I asked how he knew that and deadpanned, “I have good eyesight.” So the spider was gone and I could go on with my day. Of course the rest of the morning I did feel imaginary things crawling up my leg every so often.

I got through the rest of the morning and it was rough because it just wasn’t busy. I was working during the low tide but things would certainly pick up for Bob during the afternoon shift when the tide was coming in.

I spent the afternoon on the beach with forever friend, Elaine. We haven’t seen nearly as much of each other as we hoped to this summer due to our trips to Wilmington on days off, her frequent houseguests, rainy weather, way too hot for the beach weather and sometimes the ever popular reason, life just gets in the way.

We sure did enjoy ourselves today. I don’t think there was a 20 second pause in our conversation the whole afternoon.

That said, the very end of our beach time posed a problem. You see, we kept talking and I was aware that I had to go to the bathroom and I thought if I just didn’t think about it, it would go away. I used to be able to do that. Now that I’m older, eh, not so much anymore. So I sat there enjoying this girlfriend time until I could no longer ignore that my bladder was screaming,,,,,

“EMPTY ME!” “NOW!” “EMPTY ME NOW OR I’M GOING TO BUST WIDE OPEN!!!”

Now it was bad enough that I was going to have take the time to gather my belongings and trudge through the sand to get to the uphill ramp, which just goes on forever, which would ultimately lead me to the ladies room but I just didn’t think I was going to make it. I had to stop several times during that uphill climb and do a very, very modified version of the pee-pee dance, in hopes that I could hold it just a few minutes longer. Why, oh why, didn’t I keep up with those kegel exercises? Is it too late to start them again now? Elaine took my beach chair and my beach bag in hopes that in doing so I could walk faster. While I appreciated her offer its very difficult to walk with your legs squeezed tightly together from the knees up. I finally made it to the bathroom and quickly found an empty stall. I was kicking myself for putting my T-shirt on over my bathing suit because I had to take the time to take that off first. Needless to say there was no time to assume the stance, oh hell, I was lucky I could even hover at this point. Thankfully, the Goddess of Urine was looking over me and I didn’t pee on myself. Oh, and I did check to see if the toilet had a lid or not. It didn’t. (Remember this?) (Note to self: When the urge strikes,,,,GO!)

Bob’s sister, Carol, and her husband are down this weekend with two of their grandchildren. Not with us, they have their own RV. We all had Capriotti’s subs and steak sandwiches for dinner and sat around outside until the bugs chased us in.

Rain is predicted for the weekend, we’ll have to see how things play out.

Since we had to come in I jumped on the computer to see what was happening in the Facebook world and to play my next moves in the Scrabble games I have going on.

I also checked out the blog because I’ve been watching the stat counter closely these past few days. This blog has hit a milestone. Thanks to you frequent and not so frequent readers my stat counter has turned 250,000 hits! Now I have to be honest here. When I checked it the counter was reading 249,996. Just four more page views. I had to do it. I refreshed the page and expected to see 249,997 but instead saw 249,998 because someone had come to the blog. I had to act fast if I was going to do it. I refreshed again and then again. It was one time I was hoping no one was coming to read my blog! I did it!

Thank you readers! I appreciate every one of you!

8/23/2012 Totally Boring Day!!!

It was slow at the marina today for both our shifts. I just sat around near the ramp and took rides for litter pick up to help pass the time. Litter, mostly being cigarette butts. It amazes me that people will use the earth as their ash tray. I used to be a smoker and I can’t say that I never threw a butt down or out the window when driving but for the most part that is something I didn’t do. I was taught how to field strip a cigarette during basic training in the Army and it was a practice that I kept up in civilian life if I couldn’t find a butt can or trash receptacle. I always had to check our pockets for filters when it came wash day.

I was suppose to spend the afternoon with my friend Elaine on the beach but her errands kept her busier than she anticipated and the day wasn’t the sunny, warm day predicted. We’ll try again tomorrow.

Bob cooked the clams up after his marina shift was over and they were put into the freezer for future use. The seagulls were hanging around in hopes he would throw them some. No such luck!

Thanks to Mike U. for telling me the chainsaw figures I couldn't think of the name for a few posts ago are Tiki gods. That term will work. Another anonymous commenter suggested they were totems or fetishes. I think totems would also work.

8/22/2012 So Long Dianne

(Rehoboth Beach, DE)

Morning chores and a load of wash done it was time to finish our game of Mexican Train from yesterday.

By mid this afternoon it was time for Dianne to take off to catch the ferry to Cape May. She didn’t want to get caught up in afternoon work traffic so she opted for a three o’clock sailing.

This wasn’t an emotional goodbye because we’ll see Dianne again. Either at her place in Jersey or at my parent’s house in Wilmington. So it was just a c’ya in a couple of weeks kind of so long.

Dave, a fellow workamper, (Sue’s husband_ went clamming today. He doesn’t like clams so offered the tender small ones to Bob. Bob loves them so he is one happy camper. Dave just likes digging for them and is happy to share them.

Back to work tomorrow.

8/21/2012 Mexican Train Day!

After breakfast, Dianne and I were sitting outside under the awning when she asked if I had played Mexican Train this summer. I hadn’t, but knew that Sue, a fellow workamper, was home so I went to ask her if she wanted to learn to play. She jumped right on it and the game was on!

Sue picked it up right away and it all came back to Dianne after just a few plays. It was a pleasant day to be outside, sunshine and a gentle breeze. it doesn’t get any better than this.

We played the afternoon away and had to cut the game short because Sue had to go to work. We’ll finish the game in the early afternoon tomorrow.

I had decided to make a dish that I have only made once before for dinner. Bacon wrapped chicken.

The brown sugar, chili powder and garlic powder mixture the bacon wrapped chicken get rolled in just brings such a special flavor to this dish. Mix that with a squash/zucchini/tomato dish I make and a garden salad with butter head lettuce just made the perfect meal. If nothing else, we’ve eaten exceptionally well this visit.

Evening came and Dianne took a long walk to the top of the bridge to try to work off some of our dinner.

(thanks for the use of picture again Ronnie)

TV and more talking and it was another day down.

8/20/2012 Dianne Comes to Visit!

(Rehoboth Beach, DE)

She’s visited us in Alaska, in South Dakota and now in Delaware. Not that visiting us in Delaware is any big deal, after all, she lives in Jersey.

Dianne, our former neighbor, long time friend is here for a few days. She drove to south Jersey to Cape May to catch the ferry which would save her lots of time and gas. Would have being the operative words here. When she got in line she wasn’t able to get on the ferry because it was full meaning she would have to wait for the next one. That isn’t so bad because the ferry runs ever 40 minutes or so.

So she finally gets to the campground and it was lots of hugs and smiles and so glad to see you’s. We sat outside and talked while Bob caught the afternoon high tide.

We decided that we needed to go out to dinner. Smitty McGee’s was our restaurant of choice.

I knew what I was going to have for dinner before we even left home.

Bob ordered an order of clams on the half shell and Dianne and I decided to share an appetizer.

Would you ever think to put a

Soft Pretzel….

Cheddar Cheese….

and Crab Dip….together?

Smitty McGee’s did and it was delicious!

We enjoyed every forkful. If you ever get the chance to have a soft pretzel smothered in crab dip and covered with melted cheddar cheese, by all means, order it.

Bob ordered fish, salmon, I think, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Dianne ordered Shrimp Salad open faced on Rye bread, covered with melted cheddar and bacon.

I had my favorite, the Hawaiian Ciabatta.

I would have never thought to put caramelized pineapple and fried onions on the same sandwich. Oh heck, I would have never thought to even caramelize a pineapple ring let alone put it on a sandwich!

We ate until we couldn’t anymore. Mainly because we cleaned our plates.

On the way home we passed this colorful row of the beach houses.

We watched some TV when we got home, talked lots more and turned in around 11. It’s so good to be with Dianne again!

8/16–8/18/2012 Marina Time

(Rehoboth Beach, DE)

I always, well, almost always, take my camera to the marina with me. On the 16th I didn’t. I am kickin’ myself now. I even looked at it before I left that morning and thought to myself, “Nah, I’m going to take that today.”

Across from the marina, close enough to see plainly, there is an island. A small island to be sure but its loaded with wildlife. There is a foot bridge that one can cross to go over from the marina to the island to explore it if one wishes to fight off the mosquitoes and ticks. To give you an idea of how close, or far away, this island is, if someone was walking over there you would see a person but wouldn’t be able to tell who it was.

I was sitting in the golf cart and happened to look over to the island and was looking at these rather large white things all over this stand of trees. There had to be twenty – twenty five of these white blobs. They didn’t move they just seemed to be attached to the trees. I had never seen anything like this all summer and I look over to the island quite frequently as its in the line of sight from the ramp area. I couldn’t tell what it was and just sat there looking trying to figure it out.

I didn’t even notice the boat that was being put in and was startled when the lady came over to ask a question. I must have jumped when she spoke to me because she said something on the order of…. you sure are deep in thought there… . I pointed to the white blobs and asked her if she knew what it was. She was just as surprised as me and couldn’t figure it out either. She called her husband over and asked him if he knew what it was. It was while we were standing there looking, trying to figure out what these large white blobs were, that one moved. They have heads! On long white necks. Come to find out from one of the dock hands that they were Snowy Egrets! Typically, these aren’t big birds so we’re thinking they were spreading their wings for some reason. I have never seen them in the trees before, just walking through the shallow area or flying in or out. He went on to tell us that they do this a couple of times while they’re here and he doesn’t know why. He said I should see them in the trees for a few days and then I won’t. Just my luck, they were in the trees the past two days. This may be the only day I’ll get to see it and my camera is at home. The lady who was going boating did take a picture with her phone but I was longing for my Canon and telephoto lens.

The egrets hung around the trees most of the morning and then I looked and they were all gone. I’m hoping they’ll be there again so I can get a picture.

This wasn’t the only strange thing with the birds today. A blue heron visited the ramp in the afternoon and that is most unusual as the herons hang out at the island or in the shallow waters.

As luck would have it, I took the camera the next day and when I arrived there were two egrets in the trees. I waited hoping more would arrive. Of course then the ramp got busy and I didn’t pay the island any mind the rest of the morning. Saturday? NO birds in the trees.

(Note to self: TAKE the camera!)

8/15/2012 Back to the Beach

(Wilmington & Rehoboth Beach, DE

Mom and Dad had an appointment at the eye doctor so I was on my way south around one o’clock. After lunch. After a Casapulla’s cheesesteak. Time is getting short and I have to get them in while I can.

On the way back to the beach I stopped at Walgreen’s to see an old friend. For those of you who started reading this blog from the beginning you will remember the name Tanya. Tanya was my neighbor and very good friend when we still had the house. Of course, with us leaving and her having a fulltime job with three kids as a single mom, well, time just didn’t permit for us to keep in touch like we wanted to. Of course she didn’t know I was going to stop by and was quite surprised to see me when I walked up from behind her. I got a huge hug and even had to ask her to let me go because I couldn’t breathe. Luckily, her department wasn’t busy and we had about 20 minutes to catch up. I’m going to make it a point to visit with her and the kids before I leave here.

I made a few more stops along the way to get fresh veggies. I love our farm markets and veggie stands. We have been all over the country and we just don’t see stands like we have here in the mid-Atlantic states. I will give kudos to Salt Lake City because I do remember one really nice farm market there.

This one that I stopped at today has a side business of woodcarving with a chainsaw. I know these things have a name and for the life of me I can’t think what it is as I type this. Anybody?

As nice as it is to have some great one on one time with my parents its always nice to get home. I arrived home to find out that Bob has been having good luck with the fish. He enjoyed his time the past few days but was also glad I was home once again.

8/14/2012 Boscov’s… Again

(Wilmington, DE)

My great niece, Cassidy, spent the morning with us this morning.

Isn’t she a cutie?

She doesn’t like me. Every time I try to pick her up she cries. Every time I try to play with her she cries. Every time I look at her, yep, she cries. I understand that I’m new to her and she’s leery of me but I can’t even look at her! I caught her off guard to get this picture.

It was back to Boscov’s today with Cindy. I really should have gone yesterday with my parent’s because when they got home and I saw what they bought I wanted one!

Yep, a Dirt Devil Steam Mop. These things normally sell for around $60 and they were on sale for half price plus the discount. For $23 and change I couldn’t go wrong.

Cindy and I shopped the departments we didn’t get to yesterday and made a trip to Joann’s Fabrics too.

The afternoon and evening brought game after game of Hand and Foot with mom and a nice long talk with my dad about this and that.

I love this one on one time with my parents. I cherish every minute.

8/13/2012 Darn Those Cops in Their Unmarked Cars

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

I WANT TO GIVE FAIR WARNING THAT THERE IS SOME ADULT LANGUAGE IN THIS POST. IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED THEN PLEASE SKIP THIS POST.

I was up before the alarm went off this morning going through a mental checklist of what I had to take to Wilmington with me in addition to my overnight bag. I had to pack the truck in hopes that in doing so that I wouldn’t wake Bob. I knew that was next to impossible but I at least wanted to try.

I’m making the trip to Wilmington solo and Bob is going to stay at the beach. He decided this last night. There are several reasons for this, the first and foremost is that the fish are biting! Secondary to that is that there really isn’t much for him to do at my parent’s house. There is no remote control for him to hold because my dad has it firmly clasped in his own hand which means you watch what Dad wants to watch.

I have plans with my BFF Cindy and of course my mom and I will spend hours playing Hand and Foot and talking the hours away and getting some shopping in.

The plan was for me to drop our truck off to have some preventative maintenance done on Monday, spend time with the parents and get some visiting done and then return to the beach on Wednesday.

So I get everything I need to take north and I hit the road just minutes after 6:30 a.m..

Now let me give you some background here. Heading north, I go through three beach towns. Dewey, Rehoboth and Lewes. For people who have beach houses here, or live here year round, it would not be unheard of for people who are still employed to be on the road at this time of the morning and heading north, like to Dover which is about an hour north or to Smyrna which would add another half hour…or even further north.

I make it through Dewey and Rehoboth Beaches with no problem. Just north of Lewes, where the area is more rural, I take notice that radar is set up and saw one woman pulled over getting a ticket. I took notice that she was standing outside of her car and that she was dressed in a pretty blue dress and pumps. Yep, going to work. I keep a watchful eye on the speedometer.

Fifteen minutes later I see a fellow pulled over and take notice that he had a dress shirt on so I will assume that he too was heading to work. I watch the speedometer really close now.

At one point the cars in the right hand lane seem to be driving at a snail’s pace. A constant 51 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone. I put my left blinker on and change lanes. I take the truck up to 59 mph and hang there. I’ve always heard that four is the magic number and if clocked at going just four miles over the speed limit you won’t be stopped but if you hit that magic number five over, you’ll get nailed for sure. There’s no one behind me so I stay put. In the meantime, the first vehicle in the line of slow cars in the right hand lane catches up to me and stays about one half car length behind me in the right lane.

When I was being taught to drive it was stressed that you should look frequently at your mirrors which I have always made a habit of doing. Everything was going fine and when I checked my rearview mirror I was extremely surprised to see a car that is so close to my back bumper that I seriously doubt that a piece of paper could have been slipped between mine and his. Close enough that I couldn’t see his lights. That close! Where did he and two cars behind him come from? They had to be driving like bats outta hell to catch up to me and they came quickly because not too much time had passed since the last time I looked at my mirrors.

I put my blinker on to change lanes back to the right lane and the maroon SUV was still a half car length behind me. I couldn’t see his two front headlights in my mirror which would insure a safe lane change. I kept looking in my side view mirror in hopes that he would either speed up or drop back so that I could move over. I pressed the accelerator a bit more taking me up to 62 and the SUV was still too close for me to change lanes. I was ever conscious in knowing that radar cars were set up in various locations. Was it National Radar Day or what?

Finally, the SUV takes notice of my blinker and drops back. I was finally able to see his headlights in the side view mirror so I changed lanes.

I could not believe that car followed me so closely because he certainly couldn’t see around me or over me because the truck is so big. I was so mad that he put us in that unsafe position. How mad was I??? Mad enough to quickly roll down my window and flip him off as he passed by me. To give him the Hawaiian peace sign. To let him know with that ever popular hand gesture that he was # 1! As he got even with my truck I also yelled…Asshole! Yeah, I told him!

With that he got in front of my truck and went all the way to the shoulder. After I passed him he got back in the lane behind me and turned those damn lights on! Oh no! An unmarked police car!

I’m going to tell you our conversation verbatim. The police officer’s part will be in red print. Mine in black and my thoughts in blue. Capital letters will indicate YELLING and you will see lots of CAPS!

I pulled over and was determined to give him a piece of my mind. He came up to the truck and yelled at me. Yes, you read that right, he YELLED at me so I YELLED right back. Our conversation went like this.

Him: I’M DETECTIVE _______ I SAW THAT YOU FLIPPED ME OFF AND I ALSO KNOW WHAT YOU CALLED ME!

Me: WHAT WERE YOU DOING ON MY BUTT LIKE THAT? (Is he trying to intimidate me by yelling? If so, this dog is barking up the wrong tree!)

Him: DON’T YOU YELL AT ME!

Me: WHY WERE YOU TAILGAITING ME LIKE THAT?

Him: WHY DID’T YOU CHANGE LANES?

Me: I COULDN’T CHANGE LANES, DIDN’T YOU SEE THAT MAROON SUV IN THE OTHER LANE?

Him: I TOLD YOU DON’T YELL AT ME! WHY DIDN’T YOU CHANGE LANES?

Me: I COULDN’T GET OVER! WHY WERE YOU ON MY ASS LIKE THAT?

Him: DON’T YOU YELL AT ME! (Pal, you are lucky I don’t just smack you at this point!)

Him: THIS IS GOING TO COST YOU $500.00 IN FINES! (Hmmm,,,not buying that, you said you were a detective when you gave me your name, detectives don’t carry traffic ticket books. Nice try chump but your lame attempt to scare me isn’t going to work)

Me: FOR WHAT? (He was trying his darnedest to intimidate me and I wasn’t falling for that!)

Him: FOR CALLING ME THAT NAME AND FLIPPING ME OFF!

Me: I HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND I CAN CALL YOU ANYTHING I LIKE AND YOU DRIVE LIKE SUCH A JERK YOU DESERVE THE FINGER! (I think it made him mad that I was standing my ground)

(He stopped yelling at this point)

Him: Let me see your driver’s license and registration.

I handed him my driver’s license and he says, You live in Texas? I told him no, that I didn’t live in Texas. He asked how I can have a Texas driver’s license if I didn’t live there. I had to explain full time RV’ing to him but it took him a few minutes to grasp the concept that we live wherever we happen to be parked.

Of course the first insurance card I handed him was expired. (Note to Bob: please clean that envelope out)

By this time we have both calmed down a bit.

Him: I’m not going to give you a ticket,but you can’t call people asshole’s anymore or flip anybody off. Look, if you do that again somebody may just shoot you. It’s road rage. Besides, you are just a few years older than me and isn’t the behavior of a teenager?” I knew there wasn’t going to be a ticket as soon as he said Detective. Yes, perhaps it was the behavior of a teenager, however, I have no control over my middle finger. It just seems to jump up all by itself and asking me not to call stupid driver’s assholes, well the chance of that happening is as good as me actually weighing what my driver’s license says I do.

Me: “But do you understand why I couldn’t change lanes? Radar is out, the SUV wasn’t moving and I was pretty much stuck there. That I wouldn’t take the chance of a speeding ticket by radar?

He agreed that he saw the SUV and understands where I’m coming from.

We were finally talking civilly to each other and I offered my hand to shake his and he accepted it. He told me to be safe and I him to quit tailgating. He laughed.

Whew.

I made it the rest of way without incident and Cindy met me at the service center and I dropped the truck off. We’re getting an oil change, having the brakes checked and having the transmission serviced. In a few hours we’ll be several hundred dollars poorer.

From there we went to Boscov’s. I saw the sales ad and thought it would be good to check it out. It was very good! I got a hundred dollar ($99.00) bathing suit for 75% off and then took 15% more off that because Boscov’s gives military discount. I ended up paying twenty two and small change for it. I also got a $42 summer top for 50% off and then the 15% off that again. I ended getting that for about $18.

Once at my parent’s they asked me if I wanted to go to Boscov’s, of all places, with them. I explained I had already gone. So off they went and I made some phone calls and read some.

Dad made shrimp for dinner. He makes the best shrimp! I stood next to him to watch how much of everything he puts in and I think I can do it. He always cooks celery and onion first in the water with beer, vinegar, kosher salt, pepper and Old Bay seasoning. When they are done they are spooned out and we eat that while the shrimp are cooking. Hmmm, Hmmm, good!

Mom and I spent the evening playing cards of course.

What a day this has been!

8/12/2012 Best Laid Plans and Lots of Fish

Plans are made to go out with Steve and Kerri tonight. Dinner and who knows what afterwards.

Bob spent the afternoon fishing at the rail. He got into a school of blues and brought a few in. He threw them back except for two which he gave to our neighbor to cut up for bait for his crab traps.

I spent the afternoon packing for the next few days. We’re going to Wilmington to see my parents, get work done on the truck and get some shopping done to stock up on some things we can’t get elsewhere. Case in point…. we like hot cherry peppers on our sandwiches. We can’t find quart jars of hot cherry peppers out west. We can find the peppers but they aren’t hot. So we’ll stock up.

Steve stopped in the late afternoon to let us know that they couldn’t make it tonight after all. His brother and sister-in-law have come to the beach unexpectedly. It happens. Bob and I were disappointed because we don’t know when we’ll see this couple again. There has been talk that sometime in the next two years we’ll meet up somewhere. We hope so because we have come to really care about these two.

We watched bits and pieces of the Olympic’s closing ceremony during the evening.

8/9-8/11/2012 Rain Makes for Slow Days

These three work days have been slow ones. There’s a chance of rain everyday and that keeps the boaters away. I’m getting lots of reading done so I really can’t complain.

It has been raining in the late afternoons which happens during Bob’s shift. His hours get cut short by a bit but it’s Mother Nature so he doesn’t get too concerned about it. Besides, its awfully boring sitting in a parking lot all by yourself, just you in your golf cart, no trucks with trailers attached.

Our friends Steve and Kerri are back down for a long weekend. They visited with us Thursday evening and we’re hoping we can get some more time with them while they’re here.

8/5-8/8/2012 Days Off and Nothing To Do

These four days off we really didn’t do much. Actually, Bob went to the marina on Sunday morning because it was thought that it would be very busy because of the White Marlin Tourney going on. That wasn’t the case, the ramp lot was never filled.

We’ve spent a lot of time online shopping for a new RV. We’ve narrowed it down between two that seem to have everything we want and more. Of course, we had it narrowed down a few weeks ago also but then found a few more dealers for the make and model we’re looking for. But I really think this is it this time. We have to stop somewhere and we’re satisfied with what we’ve found. We’ve started an email to the dealer with questions and its been returned with answers and sent back out with questions we didn’t ask the first time and now the negotiations are getting started. Of course they first number they throw out and where we have to be are world’s apart. This is where the dance begins. I think Bob really enjoys this part. Me? Not so much. I don’t like this back and forth, it gets too involved and too intense for me and why, oh why, can’t they talk about the numbers in a way I can understand? I swear its doublespeak and I just don’t get it. I don’t like the game playing, just give me your very bottom line and if it falls within my comfort zone we’ll strike a deal. That’s the way it goes in a perfect world, I know. I know that the dealership has to get as much out of us as they possibly can and we want to pay them the least amount that we possibly can. I would rather much I send an email and say, “This is what I’m comfortable paying you” and they reply, “Hey Snookie, that’s great, we’ve got a deal!”

I had some questions about the Shark! post that I made a few days ago. I’d like to take the time to answer them now. No, we didn’t keep the sharks and there’s a very good reason for that. Those sharks were of the Thresher family and they are on the endangered list. We heard recently that the Fish and Wildlife people were out on the water checking to make sure that fish that were on board the boats were of legal size and that no one went over their limit for a particular species. It seems one fisherman caught a thresher shark, didn’t know what it was and kept it anyway. He got slapped with a $2500 fine.

SamB! Welcome, we hope you enjoy the journey. Sam started reading this blog from the beginning and finally caught up to present day on the August 1st post. How long did it take you and how did you find us Sam? Have you signed on as a Frequent Reader yet?

Hitch itch is starting to set in. It’s not real bad yet but we’re starting to think of what stops we’re going to be making if we have to make a detour to Tennessee to pick up a new rig, will we stay in private campgrounds, state parks or hit military bases all the way south. Will we set the wheels in motion and beeline to Key West or take our time? Everything will be determined on how well our negotiations go at this point.

8/4/2012 SLAMMED! ALL DAY LONG!

I went off to work this morning and Bob never even stirred. He had gotten up 3 a.m. the day before, went fishing all day and didn’t go to sleep last night until nine or ten. He is one tired pup.

I took my book with me, as usual, to read during the lulls and when everything is running smoothly and I’m not needed to direct traffic or help with boat lines.

I had a feeling it was going to be a busy day so I thought it best to go in a little early. I arrived at the ramp at 6:30 a.m. and found Matt, one of the dock worker’s there holding down the fort. Seems when he arrived at 5:40 the ramp lot was already filled then and he had already started shuttling boaters from the remote lot.

My first trip over to the remote lot I took notice of three cars and a charter bus parked in the truck/trailer lot that I knew for sure I was going to fill today. I hightailed it to the head boats to see if the cars belonged to any of the fisherman. Nope. I did find out the fisherman were on the charter bus and that the bus driver was around somewhere. Matt went back to the ramp to cover that and I went in search of the bus driver. It took me only a few minutes to track him down and then I had to find a place for this huge bus. I found a piece of state ground that wasn’t being used and made an executive decision to place the bus there. It could be moved later if need be.

Back to the ramp and there were no less than ten boats waiting to be launched. Thankfully, it all went smoothly.

The major rush seemed to be over and the rest of the day it was just one after the other with small intervals in between. If I made one trip to the remote lot and back I made a hundred.

My new friend Spencer showed up and put his boat in but had to wait for a friend of his. He found his old friend, who he hadn’t seen in seven years (or so) via Facebook. He was in the area and they agreed to meet in the marina and spend the day out on the Bay catching up while drowning worms.

Spencer explained that he and Ed were close friends but when Ed moved to this area from Pennsylvania, of course they each went their separate ways and lost touch.

I took this picture for them.

They were like little kids, so excited to be spending the day and going fishing and renewing a great friendship. It made me happy just to watch them.

I watched them as they boated out of sight.

Once they were out of sight my attention was on the tasks at hand. Matt had to get to his regular job at the gas dock so I was on my own.

I didn’t stop from that point on. I was in constant motion, helping with boat lines, directing traffic, answering questions, parking trucks/trailers in the remote lot and shuttling the drivers back. Constant. Motion.

At eleven clock I called Bob to get a feeling on how he was doing. He sounded tired. I made the decision then that he should stay home and I would work his shift too. Now my reasons for this were twofold. Reason number one, when Bob is tired, as he is now, Bob gets cranky and with as crazy as this day was I just didn’t want him to have to deal with this. to have to deal with his cranky butt for the next two days. Reason number two, I was making money hand over fist! I keep this little, clear, plastic cup in my golf cart in which I place a few dollars in the morning. When I give the boaters a ride back from the remote lot they are so thankful the didn’t have to walk, they tip me. I’m sure that little cup sitting there with the dollar bills showing is a bit of an incentive and that’s okay with me! When I get a five, which is not all that unusual, I make sure that one shows!

Let me clarify something here. The state frowns on tipping. Snookie doesn’t care what the state frowns on. I used to refuse the tips and Bob still does because of this last sentence on our paperwork explaining our job.

Do not accept tips.

I was going along with this but then I’ve seen money change hands more than once here and I thought there was no way I’m passing this up anymore. I talked to a few of the folks here and it seems if its offered, its taken. So now I’m taking too. Gladly, with a big smile and a sincere thank you.

My afternoon, which is way busier than the mornings, ran pretty smoothly. I had a few that didn’t want to follow my directions but I stood my ground ramp and didn’t let them get away with undermining me. All it takes for one to do things their way and the whole operation runs amuck.

By five I was down to two truck/trailer combos in the remote lot and about a half dozen in the ramp lot. It was time to call it a day.

I truly understand now what the phrase run ragged really means. I was exhausted when I got home. Needless to say I was in bed and asleep by nine.

8/3/2012 Bob Goes Deep Sea Fishing

Bob and Billy were good to their word that they would be quiet and wouldn’t wake me when they got up at 3 a.m. to get ready to go tuna fishing. I never heard a thing until the alarm went off so that I could get up to go to the marina.

Bob, Billy, my uncle, Kenny, his sons/my cousins, KC and Sean and a friend of his whose name I don’t know were the six who went on this charter trip. They went out with Captain Steve on the Pandemonium.

While they were out fishing I was at the marina slaving away. Yeah, right.

Actually, it was a steady morning but nothing that involved me. The boats were coming to be launched came one at a time and didn’t need help.

I met the nicest fella today. He launched his boat and was waiting on his wife and some kids to arrive. While he was waiting we struck up an easy conversation. Our conversation jumped from subject to subject and I thoroughly my time with him. Oh by the way, his name is Spencer.

He couldn’t imagine what was keeping his wife and when he called her she said she was only five minutes away.

I had to check the other lot to make sure cars weren’t parking in the truck/trailer area so I bid him a safe day on the water as I was sure he would be gone by the time I got back.

As I was returning to the ramp I saw a woman with two kids in the car stopped at the entrance to the marina. She looked both ways and seemed lost and perplexed as to which way to turn. I had a hunch and I called out to her as I passed in my golf cart, “Are you looking for Spencer?” The look on her face was priceless! She just nodded like she was still stunned that someone would whiz by on a golf cart and ask her if she was looking for her husband, by name no no less. I waved my hand to follow me and I took her right to him. This is when I met Jenelle. I don’t think the kids were theirs but nephews I think.

The day proved to be a long one as I’m used to leaving at noon. I did make sure to take an hours lunch to get away from the ramp.

This was my first experience in the afternoon and its quite different than what I experience in the morning. When I start the day, everyone is happy to be going out on the water and their hopes of catching a big one are high and they are well rested and its not 100 degrees with 95 % humidity. And the beer drinking hasn’t started yet. Happy people.

The afternoon? Whoa, not the same! Nobody wants to wait their turn for the ramp to come in, everybody is hot, some have had too much to drink, not many but some, and they didn’t catch any fish. I learned early on to take charge of the ramp so that some boaters didn’t butt in front of the ones who are doing things right. I did have a few who tried to glide ride into the ramp but I stood my ground and told them to stop and to go to the courtesy dock. They didn’t like it, but they did it.

By four thirty my lot was pretty empty, I went over to the charter area to watch for the Pandemonium to come in. I tried calling Bob but they were still too far out and out of cell phone range. I tried every ten minutes or and finally got hold of him. It wasn’t good news. He told me there was no sense in hanging around to take pictures because there were no flags flying to show what fish were brought on board. One tuna was caught and KC brought that one in. He had the longest or shortest straw. I only know that they draw straws for “fish on” position and they would have had to bring in four fish before Bob would have gotten a chance at the rod and reel. It was a huge disappointment for the guys but the tuna just weren’t there. Of course KC shared the tuna so Bob will have it for dinner one night.

Poor Billy was queasy all day in spite of the Dramamine taken last night and again this morning.

We watched the Olympics and I think all of us fell asleep pretty early.

8/2/2012 It’s Back To Work

(Rehoboth Beach, DE)

Back to work. Back to the grind. Oh who am I kidding?

The marina was pretty busy this morning which was a pretty big surprise to me. I wasn’t slammed by any means but it was steady, which is good.

Shortly after I got home ,and Bob took off for the marina, our friend Billy showed up. He’ll be staying with us for two days because its time for the tuna fishing trip that was re-scheduled from July.

We sat around and talked for awhile and then decided to get some errands ran. We had lunch stuff to buy for tomorrow, beer to buy for tomorrow, the ATM machine had to be tapped, so Billy and I took off heading south.

He is so easy to grocery shop with! He didn’t throw yucky things like kipper and sardines into my cart! He just quietly pushed the cart and followed me up and down the aisles. The best part? I didn’t spend 20% more because he was with me! YAY for shopping with men you aren’t married to!

When we went to the liquor store to get the beer, you guessed it, he went into the walk-in cooler and carried out that heavy case of 30 Bud Lights. You go Billy!

The run to the ATM machine? He was driving so I gave him my card and told him what the PIN number was. He never once asked why was I taking the amount of money I was taking out of the account. He didn’t ask what the balance was. Nothing. Nada. Jeannie, I think I’m in love with your husband! Can I have him? Oh, wait, on second thought….

Returning home I got their lunches made for the fishing trip. Four ham and cheese sandwiches on small rolls , apiece. A baggie full of cubed cheese for each. Pickle spears in case that queasy feeling hits. A Tastykake apple pie and baggies filled with Cheese-its. Beer was iced down and everything was ready for them.

Dinner. What to do for dinner. One of the guys mentioned something about going out and I jumped up and exclaimed, “That’s a great idea!” Now, where to go? No one could specifically say, “I want Italian” or “I want Chinese” so Bob suggested Smitty Mcgee’s down in Fenwick Island.

Hey, somebody else was cooking, somebody else was cleaning up, somebody else was buying. I knew this already because Billy told me earlier that he insisted he treat Bob and I since we had him stay with us. This whole scenario certainly worked for me!

So off to Smitty McGee’s we go. I got very adventurous with my choice for dinner. I feel like I should almost preface this with a drum roll…. I didn’t have a hamburger! It’s true, it isn’t that they don’t serve them, I just wasn’t interested. Instead I had a Hawaiian Ciabatta. Now imagine this….very thinly sliced boiled ham, stacked about a quarter inch thick or so, caramelized pineapple rings, fried onions, bacon, melted cheese, I chose provolone, honey BBQ sauce on a ciabatta roll and its all baked until the cheese melts. I’m talkin’ to die for! I must have sighed with every bite because Bob asked for a bite and agreed, hmmm, hmmm, good! We will be going to back for sure! I couldn’t tell you what the guys had, I could only focus on mine. It was that good!

Back at the house, the guys settled in for a early night because they had to get up at 3 a.m. to go fishing. I can’t even imagine!

The weather report is good, I’m going to cover both shifts, so I sent them off with have a good time, catch a big one, don’t forget to take your seasick pills and whatever you do,,,,don’t wake me up at three in the morning.

8/1/2012 SHARK!

(Fenwick Island, DE)

Bob and I packed a cooler, gathered everything we would need for a day on the beach and headed down to Diane and KK’s vacation house to go surf fishing with them and their brother-in-law, Willie.

It was supposed to be a nice sunny day today but the skies just weren’t showing that. No matter, we were going to the beach!

Diane had the surf tag on her truck so we all piled in and headed to Fenwick Island to access the beach. There were very few trucks on the beach due to the cloudy skies but we weren’t going to let that deter us. Especially me since I don’t have a fishing license and was content to sit in the truck and read my book this cloudy day.

View looking south…



It was time to get some serious fishing started.



When fishing, it is never too early for a beer and there must always be one open according to KK.

The sky really got dark on us for awhile.

Bob getting his fishing line ready.

This was the first time Willie had ever been surf fishing and he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

It didn’t take long and Diane brought in a fish. A king fish I think.

Clouds came and went all day long. Sometimes we’d have a real quick shower and sometimes all five us sat in the truck for 15 – 20 minutes waiting for the sudden rain burst to pass. As long as we didn’t see lightning we were okay.



Bob was just as happy as he could be to be surf fishing. Since we have a truck with dual wheels on the back we can no longer go on this soft sand as we’d bury ourselves faster than you can say, “You gotta a fish on your line!”

It is possible for him to park our truck on one of the crossover areas and walk over the dune but you have to walk so far to get to an open area to fish from that its just not worth it. On a day when the temps hover around 90 degrees or above, and you have a bunch of stuff to carry, walking a distance in the sand can be just too much. The problem is that there are way too many who want to drive their trucks on the beach and using the fisherman’s beaches as their swimming beaches. The rules say that one must be “actively” fishing but there are a whole lot of families on the beach who cast out a line and then stick the pole in a sand spike and call it fishing. It comes down to money to tell you the truth. The state likes selling those surf tags as they bring in a pretty penny and the bureaucrats in Dover don’t care that the buyers aren’t playing by the rules. As you can imagine, this is a real sore spot with true fisherman.

Now I don’t quite understand the stance Diane has taken in this next picture.

As you can see by the dark sky, we were getting ready for another downpour.



Bob casting.

After awhile Bob had one on.

It gave a good fight and took Bob about 15 minutes or so to bring this one in.







Willie had a hard time carrying it out of the water.

Look at the teeth on this thresher shark!

Bob was quite happy with his catch.

…..and the skies turned dark again.



None of us could believe what happened next! Can you figure it out from this picture? (I have no clue why this picture is in black and white)

Maybe this one will help you figure it out.

Ok, I’ll tell you. Diane, KK and I were standing by the truck, Bob and Willie were standing by their poles nearby. Diane’s fishing pole is in a sand spike about fifteen feet away from the truck. Something bit real good on her bait and took off with it. The pole came out of the sand spike and was being dragged down the beach, hence the line where the the pole was being dragged. We all noticed it at the same time and Diane started to go after it but it was just too fast. KK and I are yelling, “Run Diane run!” The guys now take notice and they stand there dumbfounded watching this pole slide into the ocean. Afterwards we all just looked at each other because even though it only took seconds it seemed to have happened in slow motion and we couldn’t believe what we just saw. Luckily, Bob was quick thinking and reeled his line in as fast as he could and cast it back out again across the area where Diane’s pole went in and started reeling in. He caught her pole! Just as we couldn’t believe the fish took it to begin with we couldn’t believe Bob got it back because it couldn’t be seen anymore from the shoreline. Oh wait, it gets better! Fifteen minutes later, Bob is at the truck cutting more bait or getting a beer, whatever, and darn if a fish didn’t take his bait and take off with it too. Sure enough, there goes Bob’s pole into the water. Fortunately, Bob saw it before it disappeared and was able to run after it and grab it before it was out of sight. This was an exciting 20 minutes as you can imagine.

The clouds parted a bit and the sun came out for awhile and all was right with our world. Seems as though that fish came back for more of Diane’s bait but this time she was ready for it.

Yep, another shark!



I think Bob was just a tickled as she was!

GOOD FRIENDS, GOOD FISHING, GOOD TIMES!