A Seagull, Mouse and a Bait Dog

At 6:30 this morning we woke to the sound of a mouse gnawing on something. No we were not at the Hope Lodge but at a very nice cottage in Stony Brook, New York (Long Island). You see we did get to go on our trip after Jim's doctor appointment yesterday morning. The NP took samples to run for bacterial and viral infections and they did a chest x-ray which came back negative. Jim probably has a lingering sinus infection but with a post transplant patient you have to take everything serious. The NP said she would call us later if she needed to phone in a prescription so off we went to Long Island. Jim has been planning this overnight excursion for awhile and we already had to postpone once due to him not feeling well. Yesterday we left a little after 10:00 and Enterprise upgraded us from a midsize to a SUV at no extra charge.
Our first stop was Sagamore Hill, home of Theodore Roosevelt from 1885 until his death in 1919. Unfortunately the tours inside his home were already booked but we walked around the property and down to Oyster Bay. We also visited the Roosevelt Museum and the Visitor Center. It's amazing how much history I have forgotten. It was a good reminder to see what a great man Teddy was. After leaving Sagamore Hill we found President Roosevelt's gravesite. It sits on top of a hill overlooking Oyster Bay.

We arrived in Stony Brook in the early afternoon and checked into our cottage at the Three Village Inn. When we opened the door to our room Jim was very disappointed. It was basically a little room without a view and little space to move around the bed. Jim went back to the main lodge and asked if we could change rooms and for an extra $40.00 they upgraded us to a lovely king suite overlooking the Long Island Sound. It was really nice. First the upgraded car and now the room. That horseshoe is working again. We even had a small refrigerator in the room which came in very handy since we had a cooler full of drinks and food. Jim can't eat out so we had to bring all our meals with us.

Before sunset we walked over to the marina across the street to look at the boats and water. There were a few people on the dock fishing and one of the fattest seagulls we had ever seen perched near the docks. One of the guys said the gull was a regular and hangs around waiting for leftover fish pieces. I took a few pictures of the gull and shortly thereafter a man came and cast his line into the water and the gull became tangled in the fishing line. We couldn't tell if the hook had gone into him but everyone was trying to decide what to do. The man with the fishing pole wanted to just cut the line and release the bird but a female fisherman said "no...let's pull him in". They managed to get the seagull covered with a towel and pulled up on the dock. He was really tangled in the line. The lady was holding his head down covered with a towel and one other man was trying to help her. Something inside me said to help and I went over and knelt down to help the woman. They had already removed some of the line but he was still tangled. By now it was just the woman and me and the bird. I felt all over the wing and couldn't see where the tangled line originated. We switched roles and I held the gull down while she felt around. The gull would wrestle a little and then be still. It was as if he knew we were trying to help. Unfortunately we never got him free of all the line but we cut it as close to his body as we could and let him go. Jim said he flew off strong. I had my back turned in case he flew at me. We also met Bruno, a rescued bait dog who was sweet as could be.

So back to the sound of gnawing this morning at 6:30. I quietly went into the kitchen and there below the refrigerator was a piece of chicken moving back and forth as a mouse was trying to pull it into the space below the refrigerator. It was a determined varmint. Last night after dinner I put all the food and trash in the plastic trash bag and tied it up. That mouse bit through the trash bag and pulled the piece of chicken over to the refrigerator trying to get it through the crack to his home. He wasn't even scared when I entered the kitchen and started taking a video.  Pretty gross. When we checked out this morning I mentioned the critter incident to the manager and they comped our entire stay. Three lucky charms so far in 24 hours.

On our way back to the city we stopped at several seaport towns along the upper part of Long Island, Port Jefferson and Belle Terre. It was another beautiful day and the water looked nice.

As we approached Manhattan the weather changed and you could see the haze hovering above the city. It was great getting away, great physically and mentally. It also helped us keep our minds off of the PetScan coming up this Friday. Let's have good thoughts everyone!! We find out the results on Tuesday of next week when we meet with Dr Sauter and then HOPEFULLY it's home to Virginia next Thursday.