First We Had Snow Moose And Now We Have Snow Deer

In a previous blog entry, I had photos of Snow (albino) Moose and now we have photos of these beautiful Snow (albino) Deer.
These photos were provided to my by our friend, John Jakobs, from Ontario Canada. Unfortunately I do not know who took the photos, so I can't give them their proper credit.
These twin Snow Deers were seen and photographed behind the Gray Rock Cafe in Grayling, Michigan.
These really are beautiful animals. I would love to see these deer and the Snow Moose too, so that I could personally see and photograph them. Thank you John, for sharing these with us.

Our Visit To the Outer Banks aka OBX

Veronica and I took a couple of days to go and visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was a mixture of business and pleasure. There will be future blog entries about the business portion of the trip but this blog entry will focus on the pleasurable aspects of the trip. Here are some photos that I took while we are on our way to Manteo. There were some expensive condos and it looked like everyone that lived there owned a rather large boat. Funny thing...all of the boats looked basically the same except for the owner of Piglet..the little boat that wanted to be a big boat.. It actually made for kind of a cool looking photo.

Here are some views from the Ramada Inn we stayed at. During the off season the rates are great...$49. As you can see, the seas were rather calm. I really wished that there was an off shore storm or something like that. The photography is more interesting when the seas are active.

Man and his best friend going for a stroll on the beach

This fine feathered friend is Sabrina, the hotels mascot.

Our trip to Cape Hatteras

There were sand dunes of all sizes along the road

Fishing boats that could be seen from a bridge that we were on

A lone bicycle rider along a desolate sand dune lined roadway

There were so many houses on and near the beach. Each one had its own identity and character. I say identity because most of the houses are given names to represent something or someone that is important to its owner.

If you are a movie buff, you might recognize the photos of the house below. It is the house from the film...Nights In Rodanthe. This film starred Diane Lane, Richard Gere and Christopher Meloni. The name of the house is Serendipty. Supported by pilings at the edge of the surf, the three-story house stands farther out in the ocean than any other on the beach. It has the authentic weathered look achieved by only the sturdiest Outer Banks cottages. It is situated on the southern border of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, providing a vista of wild, undeveloped beach. When he built Serendipity in 1988, developer Roger Meekins sunk the pilings more than 14 feet deep and poured concrete around them. It was the first house constructed in Mirlo Beach, a subdivision on the northern end of Rodanthe. For more on the story of the house and of the filming of the movie, please click on this link..... Serendipity There is a really great video on the link of the storm that rolled up the coast and had an impact on the house and the filming of the movie. The house is in the process of being moved up the coast. By looking closely at the photos below, you can see the house on a special moving truck. As I am writing this blog entry, the moving of the house has stopped. The truck and house is stuck in the sand and an upcoming Nor'easter, over the next couple of days, will probably slow the move down further. I wish that our trip had been a couple of days later. I would have loved taking photos during the storm. For more info on the Serendipity, please check out these links... More Serendipity Info and Slideshow of the Actual Interior of Serendipity Last but not least...here is more information on the house and of the actual move.... The Moving of the Serendipity

Below is an actual video of the moving of the house or at least their attempt to move the house.

Here are the photos that I took of the Serendipity. This house had so much character to it.

I found this van parked close by to where the Serendipity was located.

Other beach houses in the area

A lot of these houses were huge and almost all were on really high stilts/pilings

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. This lighthouse was moved from its original location, which was located closer to the beach. It was amazing that they could move this structure in one piece to its current location.

There was another couple viewing the lighthouse. They were from Austin, TX but had previously lived on the Outer Banks. We took turns taking each others photo.

More Humor From Up North

Tomorrow morning Veronica and I will be heading to the Outer Banks.
Before I left, I wanted to share with everyone, a little humor that was sent to me by my friend Ken Gauthier, from up in Canada. Thanks again Ken for sharing this with us.

WHY WOMEN SHOULDN'T TAKE MEN SHOPPING

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse. Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from the local Target.

Dear Mrs. Samuel,

Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Samuel, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking.

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in House wares to go off at 5-minute intervals. 3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in House wares. Get on it right away'. This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money.

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.

6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs were called.

9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were...

11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme.

12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.

13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'

14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!' And last, but not least:

15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, and then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.' One of the clerks passed out.