Adventures with Teh Bear... part 11

My vacation started on Wednesday, so from my birthday weekend until Wednesday was mostly boring.  We accomplished some of the home decorating stuff during that time, but mostly we ate chili (that Drew made with my birthday present (slow cooker), which was a recipe from the other birthday present (cookbook)) and home-made pizzas and watched the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition in Blu-Ray, No Strings Attached, and random TV shows that Drew would put on from Netflix that I managed to get sucked into every time.  Honestly, it was awesome.

Once my vacation started, we did more of the sitting around.  That was also awesome.  But by Friday, we finally decided to get out and do something.  I'm pretty sure Drew was also annoyed at me checking my phone/computer for any new emails from the Greyhound rescue group about my adoption approval/denial.  I was threatening to email them back and ask if they had reviewed my application or not by Thursday.  On Friday, I was going to wait till noonish and send them an email asking about the status of my application, if I hadn't heard anything.  Patience, not my virtue.

Drew and I had went out to have lunch at a Cafe in Leondardtown.  We actually didn't eat at the Cafe that I had planned on (because we wanted some normal, not expensive, but still delicious foods), but found somewhere else in the downtown "area", if you will.  We didn't really want to go back home after we finished lunch, so instead Drew opened up the S. MD map of places I have in the car (for just this purpose actually), and he suggested we go explore Point Lookout Lighthouse, which is at the literal southern most point of S. MD.  It was a straight shot from where we were, so I said okie dokie.

We drove for at least 45 minutes to get to this place.  We re-discovered the roads that we had taken to get to the seafood restaurant we'd went to on my birthday.  We went even further into Podunk than on my birthday.  We passed a Civil War Memorial/Graveyard (hello Mason-Dixon Line).  Finally, we came into the state park area.  Drew paid the $4 to enter (actually $5 since he only had a $5 and there was no one there to give change since it was the honor system type deal, and I didn't have an dollars to contribute) and we drove some more.  We passed a campground and several beach accesses.  We passed places that looked like houses where people currently lived.  We passed some picnic areas.  We went over a bridge.  I was pretty sure we were going to drive into the water and still not find a lighthouse.  But, alas, finally we found a very big box with windows house.  With a light on top of it.  With a fence around it.  Which was locked.

Newsflash:  not all lighthouses are like the ones on the Outer Banks.  This experience was a bitter reminder of the literal term "light house."  Touche, world, touche.

Point Lookout Lighthouse...  This ain't no Cape Hatteras.  (image)
Actually, the snow and grey were pretty much the exact same conditions as when we went.

We had planned to take photos, but since there was a fence and it was pretty dreary and fairly chilly outside, we decided that maybe One Day we'd just come back instead.  I checked my phone to see if anything interesting had happened since we started the journey, but for the first time since arriving back in America from Bahrain.....  I didn't have cell phone service.  Woah.  We laughed about this as I started the 45+ minute drive towards home.  After getting past the memorial/graveyard, my phone "Drrrrroid"-ed at me, letting me know I had either a text message or new email.  Being the most excellent driver that I am, and since we were behind someone that wasn't even going the speed limit (in an area where I'm sure cops don't even bother with, considering the low population), I checked to see what it was as a mini-Yay I have cell reception again-celebration.

It was an email from Greyt Expectations!  I had been approved to adopt a Greyhound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There were squeals and giggles and excitement and maybe even some bouncing in my seat due to an abundance of excitement.  It definitely made up for the lighthouse fail.

The reason for my earlier impatience was that the next day (Saturday the 11th) was adoption day, which I knew when I put in my application.  If I didn't get to choose on that Sat, I would have to wait 2 weeks!  Which would also mean that Drew wouldn't get to help me pick out the doggy...

Drew and I started talking about where we were going to go next.  Potentially DC or Annapolis.  But, it was already after 2, and it would take at least 2+ hours to get to either place.  By then, we'd be running out of daylight and it was still going to be cold outside.  We decided to push a DC/Annapolis trip off till Saturday, after the adoption stuff was taken care of.  Instead, Drew found another state park (Calvert Cliffs) in Lusby, over the bridge.  If it was just as dead as the lighthouse state park, we'd check it out then leave.

We finally passed the road that goes to my apartment.  We went through Lexington Park.  We crossed the bridge.  We discussed why there has been no invention of heating elements for bridges to prevent them from freezing before the road.  We started toward Prince Frederick.  The state park was on the right and not very far off the highway.  We had already decided if we had to pay to get in, we weren't going.  Especially after paying $5 to drive to a closed lighthouse already.  We stopped at the guardhouse to pay (no jk), but there was no one in it.  There was also no where to leave the money, like at the previous park.  So, we drove on.  We saw some orange construction tape up, but we still stopped at a map to see what this park was about.

Calvert Cliffs has several hiking trails.  We figured, what the hell, and decided to test out one of the trails.  I parked and we started walking.  Drew had seen that the red trail was the one being worked on, but was open on the other end.  The area we walked to was where the orange, black, and red trails started.  He asked me which I wanted to do and I just shrugged.  Till I saw the sign about how hunting was allowed past the sign we were standing at and that bright clothing was suggested, at which point I quickly decided that my clothes weren't vibrant enough to be in huntin' land, so the end of the red trail it was!

After walking for a while, I started to become curious why the park was called Calvert Cliffs.  I hadn't seen any cliffs, just small mounds and lots of trees (no complaints).  But I could tell that we were going down in elevation, and Drew said that maybe the cliffs were at the beaches, since the photo showed the cliffs near the water.  We kept going and found a decrepit pier type walkway into a water area where most of the trees had been knocked down/cut down/gnawed down by the beavers.

Huh.  I'm not sure that's safe.  Interesting, nonetheless.

We kept walking, because Drew said that eventually the trail would end at the water.  After some runner scared the bejesus out of me, a pit stop at a far out porta-potty (which was pretty conveniently placed AND, impressively, had toilet paper), and a little longer of walking.. we finally arrived at the water.  I still didn't see any cliffs.  But I did see some strange thing in the water and another disappointing MD lighthouse down the coast a pretty good distance (I knew it was a lighthouse from the light on top).

Drew then climbed a mound of sand and discovered the cliffs, which he promptly pointed out to me, so I'd stfu be satisfied.  I took the opportunity to get some photos, since the entire day was supposed to be about exploring/taking photos and neither of us had done much of the latter.

Enjoy this self-done photo shoot.... and the captions.. :)

Drew:  See there ARE cliffs.
Me:  *Sticks out tongue*

I was sure that a huge wave was going to miraculously appear and swallow Drew since he was in the Danger Zone..

Hey look!  Actual cliffs, like in the pictures.  Huh.

Drew was being an adventurer while I was just snapping photos.  You can see the lighthouse in the distance.  Barely.  Kinda.  Ish.  If you have good eyes.

I'm actually not sure what was in the middle of the water.  But I took a photo anyway.

Then Drew and I decided to be silly and get some photos together.  We got the cheesy kissy photos, but I'm not sharing those here because I have rules.  I will share some of the funny ones though.

Note:  Drew does have the option to edit these posts.  Most of the time he doesn't unless its a shared opinion post.  But, I will still probably get shit from him for putting some of these up here, but I made sure to pick ones where we both look silly.... not just him.. :)

hehehehehehheheheheheheehe.
Ok, lets be honest, most of those were of me being silly and I just had to even out the silly face tallies with this one.

Did I mention it was cold outside?  Cause it was.  I was wearing a sweater AND my jacket.  I was wearing BOTH hoods because my ears were pretty chilly.  We didn't even hold hands on this stroll because our hands were shoved in our pockets.  At least we can say we're hardcore walkers.  That and if one of us had tripped on a root/rock/the ground/random uneven spots in the ground, we'd have probably taken each other down.

The path we took was about 1.5 miles long.  Neither of us had been prepared for a 3 mile hike that day, but we were both pretty glad we'd worn tennis shoes.  After we finally arrived back at the car, there was a celebratory photo to show that we'd survived the wilderness together (and didn't got shot by any hunters).

Yurtle the Turtle/Indigo Montoya between us.. and a very redneck camper/truck thing behind me, which I assessed to be a vehicle of a hunter.  Just a feeling.

Edit:  I got my days mixed up on the snow.  Oops.

Up next:
I make a lunch for Annapolis.
We pick out a dog.
We do some more stuff.

PS.  Previews make this so much more fun!  :)