Turtle Boil

My parents friend that lives on Ocean Isle is a Turtle Nest Mother. That means she gets to stay up until 11 for a few days with some other people and check their specific nest every 15 min or so as it is supposed to hatch. We went over Sunday night because that was Day 51, the day that the other nests hatched on the island. Nothing happened that night so we went back last night. Ryan thought it would be a couple days and it seemed that way when we showed up. We got there around 9:30 and there were no changes to the mound....another check at 9:45 and nothing. Our friend came over and told us we should go home. We about did but my dad was asleep in his chair and the rest of us were just watching the stars so we weren't in a rush to get up. Someone went to check around 10 and I honestly didn't even turn to pay attention. Then suddenly everyone starting moving and buzzing. The turtles were coming!

This nest had 129 eggs and they counted approximately 119 turtles last night so they call this a boil since a whole bunch came up at the exact same time (the opposite would be a trickle). Not being a turtle expert, I really don't know but that seems like a huge percentage of the eggs to have survived and hatched. Since this beach is replenished meaning sand is added to keep it from eroding too much, they have to move the nests back to the dunes so they are protected and won't be washed away. This unfortunately makes for a dangerously long "commute" to the ocean for the hatchlings so these "nest parents" build a trough down from the nest to a cooler and attract the turtles to it using flourescent lights. They then carry the cooler to the water and people stand in the water with lights and the turtles go out to the waves. From that point on it's up to nature. It was quite a sight and a huge, healthy boil. We had a great time and were so lucky to have gotten to see it. You can find more pictures here.

Anyways, that's our exciting news.

Steph and Ryan

*P.S. Jennifer you were right. Our friend said one of the islands north of here, near Topsail, had 89 nests which is a huge number. Ocean Isle had 19 i think but it varies year-to-year.

*P.P.S Pictures were difficult as flash was strictly prohibited (the turtles would go towards it). But Ryan and my mom managed to get a few good ones.

Surprise!

So I don't want to spoil the surprise until Ryan uploads photos--just check back later today! We all got to see something amazing last night that none of us had ever seen before--the kids will probably like the photos. Ryan and my dad are out catching their dinner, which they have not successful done together before. They took the kayaks so they could get to a more remote area so maybe today will be the day.

Fill you in once they return (and remove the fish stink!)!

Pics

Ok, here are 2 pics from this weekend. The first is the poutine. This dish is Ryan's which had bonus artery clogging toppings in addition to the gravy & cheese curds: bacon, peppers, onions, and mushrooms. I had fun learning that cheese curds really do squeak--I didn't really understand it until I ate one!



This is Ryan and I at one of the vistas near the top of Mont Royal. McGill's campus and the Old Port area are behind us (I believe). No that's not how Ryan is styling his hair now--it was REALLY windy! Although there are a lot of spikey hairdo's in this town so he would fit in. :)


Ryan is at work and I am doing school/internship work from the hotel and resting my tired legs. We fly back Wed. We have many other stories and pics but I think they will make more sense together so I will wait until we can upload more photos to write about them.

Montreal

Hi Everyone,

We just wanted to let you know that we are having a great time, but the internet connection is too slow to easily upload photos. We spent yesterday walking around some different neighborhoods and parks and eating. We checked a few of our Canadian food items off our list of things to do: poutine (fries covered with cheese curds and gravy--we have pictures) and Montreal bagels. Both of which were fantastic. I like their bagels better than ours. We also stopped to have a cappuccino and, even though we were already disgusted with ourselves, indulged in a crepe with a homemade caramel sauce and chocolate ice cream--delicious! Needless to say our feet were tired and stomachs full so we came back to soak our feet in the hotel hot tub and skipped dinner. We are off to more "touristy" things today. We are going to Mont Royal this morning and then down to the Old Port area. We will try to upload a photo or two tonight.

Steph & Ryan

Bonjour de Montreal!

Hey Everyone,

Wanted to take a quick moment to say hey and post a few pictures. I have had a good time so far in Montreal. I have been pretty busy with work (as I am basically working 2 jobs), but I was able to get out and see the city this weekend. On Saturday, I probably walked 7-8 miles all throughout the city. I went to the Old Port area, which is full of French architecture and cobble stone streets. I then ventured into Chinatown and ate lunch. I had a fresh and tangy Vietnamese sandwich with 3 kinds of sliced pork covered with cilantro and carrots.

I then wandered up and down Saint Catherine Street which is probably the busiest street in Montreal. It kept raining in stages throughout the day but that gave me an opportunity to explore Montreal's vast system of underground shops and pathways. Since the winters are so cold in Montreal many of the buildings downtown are connect by underground pathways so you don't need to walk outside when its cold. There are also underground malls and shops. Pretty smart!

On Sunday, even though I was very sore from Saturday (I also ran...), I decided to summit Mount Royal, which really isn't as intense it may sound. It basically a large hill just outside downtown Montreal. At the top, there are great views of the city, which you can see below.

I am looking forward to Wednesday when Steph comes to join me. I have had fun, but I think I will enjoy the city much more with her here!

Hope everyone is doing well! Take care.

Happy 4th of July!

We had an event filled 4th of July weekend. Saturday, Ryan went for a bike ride and I went for a quick run then we took off to the Nats game. We went early to try and see batting practice but it was just too hot to sit down by home plate and watch. So we sought some shade and hung out until the game started. We picked this game because Stephen Strasburg was pitching. The stadium was packed which threw us off a little because we are used to having the whole place to ourselves. It was exciting to see that many people care though.

We were supposed to go for a bike ride together Sunday but were exhausted and knew we had another long day ahead of us. We got BBQ to-go from a local restaurant and took some watermelon and went to watch fireworks. We chose a spot near where we went last year and again it was a great combination: fantastic view across the river and not to crowded. This year we were wiser and hung out for a good hour along the river to let the metro crowds die down and it was a great choice.

The fireworks were great and I hope you enjoy our pictures. Click here for more.

George Washington National Forest Camping

Two weekends ago we went camping with some friends at the George Washington National Forest--the guy has a lot of things named after him in this area! Haha! We had a great time even though the rain tried to damper things. We were able to get a fire going eventually and enjoyed sitting around it for a long time. We went for a hike (well my friend and I did, while the boys went for a trail run). They also had a beach area on the lake so we hung out there some. Ryan got to swim in a lake which he had been talking doing for a while. He was a happy camper!

The lake was gorgeous and we had a great time getting away from the city for a weekend. It was a nice change of pace.
Click here for more camping photos.

Since then we have just been working and I finished my summer semester classes. 4 semesters down; 2 to go. Last night we used some of my bday money to go to a great restaurant and had the most amazing food. It's called Zaytinya and they serve Greek, Lebanese, and Turkish mezze (small plates). We could go on and on about the food (especially the crispy brussel sprouts and phyllo wrapped lamb) but we won't bore you. Thanks Mom & Dad & Mr. and Mrs. Bechtel!

For those that don't know already, we are going to Montreal at the end of the month. Ryan's company needs him to cover for someone up there and take a look at their current processes to see if they can be improved. He is going up for about 2 weeks and then I am going up for the last week. It will be a lot of fun to have that amount of time in a city so that we can hopefully see a variety of things.

Two days after we return from that we are going to the beach for a week with my parents! We are soooo ready to be there already and talk about it everyday. So as you can see July is busy but should be a lot of fun. We are looking forward to the fireworks next weekend and will probably take a picnic to the same spot as last year. We are also trying to get to a Nats game soon so we can see the new "phenom" Stephen Strasburg. I'm not sure what's more amazing--his pitching or the fact that people are actually at Nats stadium. I guess we won't have the whole place to ourselves anymore.