Fall is in the air…really!

I’m an Arizona Girl. My favorite season is fall. You get the picture, don’t you?

You can imagine my excitement as I embark on a trip of a lifetime to New England in the fall!

My sister, Julie, just retired from 30 years of teaching. (Shout out to Julie… she’s an AMAZING teacher!) To celebrate this major milestone in her life, she has spent the last year planning a fall trip to New Hampshire, Maine, New York and Maryland. Of course, we didn’t want her to celebrate alone… so my mom, my sister, Becky, and my daughter, Taylor, are joining her! (I know… it’s a tough sacrifice, isn’t it?)

I’d love for you to join me as our journey leads us through breathtaking views of fall foliage, covered bridges and whatever our car (and my camera) discovers!

NEW ENGLAND TRIP {day 1}

My trip began Sunday, October 2 as I packed my bag (o.k… bags) and said my goodbyes to my family. I have to say, it was rather an unusual and abrupt start…

After rolling out of bed, I passed our new little family member, Maddie, curled up on a pillow on our floor. (We rescued this sweet little 2 year old Mini Schnauzer from the shelter… more on her later!). I just couldn’t resist… I curled up on the floor beside her to give her a little snuggle!

Knowing I had to leave in an hour, I excitedly hopped up to finish getting ready. However, within minutes of standing up, I experienced a sharp pain on my… um… (o.k., all pride aside)… my backside! The pain was intensifying as were my efforts to figure out what was going on. Then suddenly, I had the horrible thought that I was the victim of some sort of bite. I grabbed a flashlight and lo and behold, a scorpion was standing his ground right where I was laying!

What are the odds? I was due at the airport in less than an hour and just experienced my first scorpion sting… on my bum! I immediately searched out info on the internet as my husband, Neil, corralled the little pest in a cup. Most of the information was reassuring, saying there are over 60 different species in Arizona but only one that can cause problems.. the Arizona tree bark scorpion… “The bark scorpion is nocturnal, prefers to ambush its prey, and usually feeds on crickets or roaches”… eew!

I called the Arizona Poison Control Center (dreading the question…”and where did you get bit?”), and the kind, knowledgable gentleman on the line confirmed that it was a tree bark scorpion and reassured me that other than experiencing some extremely uncomfortable pain, tingling and numbness, I’ll be just fine. He also said that the worst part will be the next six hours… great, that covers the entire time I’ll be traveling, sitting on the airplane, sitting on my…

Well, I’m happy to say I survived the flight, although it was extremely long and uncomfortable! But the rainbow at the end of the “storm” was made up of beautiful fall colors from right outside our room’s window!

Thanks for taking the time to join me! More to come…

 

 

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