the great dismal swamp and aurora

we left elizabeth city in the early morning and it was 41 degrees! brrrr..... after getting through the bridge into the dismal swamp, we immediately got boarded by the coast guard for an inspection. AGAIN? they were two very nice-looking young men who complimented us on the warmth and cleanliness of our boat. they said, "you should see some of these sailboats...!!" it reminded me of how people pack for going through customs, putting all their dirty underwear on the top so the officials would be so disgusted that they wouldn't bother going through the whole suitcase! is that what the sailboaters do? in any case, we were early for the south mills lock anyway so there was time for it and when it was over, we received our "good as gold" certificate. as the day progressed, it warmed up and turned out to be this beautiful spring day on one of the prettiest sections of the ICW. 

the pedestrian bridge opened for us at the NC dismal swamp visitor center but we kept on going instead of stopping for the night. we had to wait for the bridge at deep creek and then eventually stopped at elizabeth's dock right before the deep creek lock for the night. our intention was to leave the next morning but since we had lots of time to get to norfolk, we decided to stay an extra drop dead gorgeous day. it was very relaxing and the surroundings were beautiful, not to mention the presence of unsecured wifi. it was nice to sit for a day. a southbound PDQ sailing catamaran turned off after locking through and joined us at elizabeth's dock.

the view from my desk

same view at sunset

the next morning, as i was talking to the people on the PDQ, robert, the lockmaster, came over and invited us to the lock office for coffee and doughnuts. this was around 8:00 a.m. with the first scheduled locking for 8:30. robert kept us there until noon since no southbound or northbound boats made an appearance for either the 8:30 or 11:30 locking. it really was a special treat as robert is famous for being the authority on the dismal swamp canal and for being just a great all-around guy and a wonderful character to get to know. we really had a good time and since no one was in a hurry to be anywhere, no one bothered to look at the time. the problem was that in the early morning, i had received an email from the dell tech asking if he could fix my computer that day instead of at the scheduled appointment the next day, and i told him that we would probably be at the norfolk yacht club at noon. unfortunately, i had left my phone on the boat when we went off to the lock office with robert. by the time we got back, i had a zillion emails and three missed phone calls and a text from the dell tech. it was noon and we were still behind the deep creek lock! and robert kept us until it got good and rainy - it was pouring when we locked through with the 1:30 group! only five of us northbound, no southbound.

as i was looking through my email, i found one from my friend, claire, with a hot lead from the richmond times on nine beagle puppies at mathews, VA, available immediately. so, after locking and putting all the fenders, fenderboards and lines away, i called the phone number on the ad and confirmed that a female beagle puppy was available. i found out where they were located and said i would call back. then i called our friend, norman, who we were planning to see in norfolk to ask if we could borrow his car. he said he would drive us there. aside from the time when the dockmaster at cocoa offered to bury consuelo in his garden if that would make things "easier," i have never had a meltdown about that whole situation. i nearly lost it over the phone with norman - the power of kindness and friendship just gets you right "there" sometimes, you know?  i had been saying all along that we would wait until we got back to deltaville and settled, but dean snead, the beagle man in mathews, said that he could not guarantee the availability of puppies, etc., and i understood completely. everything just fell into place in a matter of minutes and i was completely unprepared both in practical terms and emotionally. the funny thing is that it would have been a way shorter drive from deltaville to Mathews!  as it was, with the evening traffic across hampton roads, it took us two hours one way from norfolk. norman was already waiting for us at the marina and as soon as tadhana was securely tied and plugged in, we jumped into his car and off we went to look at beagle puppies. i might mention here that norman, his wife, betsy, and long-legged-hound-something, peggy sue, another of consuelo's buddies, and i go back a long way - a few years before i had even met tom. 

when we finally pulled up at the colonial beagle club farm, mr. snead was giving the puppies their first set of shots. there were two females to choose from. i was surprised as i was expecting the usual tri-color beagles which, in fact, the mama beagle was, but all the puppies had a preponderance of black. the daddy beagle was there as well, and he was mostly brown. the bigger female had a really pretty face. the smaller female had some interesting markings. it reminded me of when i got consuelo - the same situation with only two females to choose from and the bigger one being prettier. i ended up with the littler one both times. with consuelo, it was because she made it pretty clear that she was MY dog. with aurora - that is her name - right now, i can hardly remember because everything just happened so quickly! i do remember tom saying that he liked the white tip on the beagle tail and that we "should get the one with the white flag." anyway, after all was said and done and i had written the check and handed it over to mr. snead and everyone was teary-eyed and had given everyone else a hug or a handshake, we were back in the car with aurora in my arms and peggy sue sniffing at her over my shoulder. we stopped at the tractor supply store and bought a crate, a tiny little collar, puppy chow and a stuffed toy so that aurora would have something to sleep with the first night. later, after putting aurora in her crate for the first time, we stopped for dinner before finally heading back to the boat.

back at home - and we didn't get in until past 10:00 p.m. - aurora didn't seem uncomfortable at all, hopping around playfully and sniffing everything. then she went into her crate by herself and lay down. i had to entice her out and have tom keep her busy while i made the crate smaller with a box and some books and put in a bath mat and an old pair of fleece pajama bottoms for a makeshift bed. she pooped and peed numerous times before i got around to putting down a pad. she actually did pretty well that first night even though we had to get up a few times during the night to poop and pee.

what a day it had been! between robert and aurora and everything in between, the day did not go quite as we had expected. it was exhausting but we had the best time, we now have our new little one, and everything will fall into place eventually. 

meet aurora - the newest member of tadhana's crew, ship's pup