Snakes and Earthquakes

Eagle Lake is truly one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen.

When camping, during the middle of the week, we can arrive and very literally have the whole beach too ourselves.  It's pure bliss.

The water is clear and clean.  We all love to play and splash in it.

By the way, I just so love this photo of Hubby and S4.  Summer bliss all caught in one picture.

But imagine my total shock when one sunny day a snake appeared.

In the water.

I'm not sure the photo does it justice.  It was HUGE in water snake hugeness.  It slithered right through the swimming area.  The two oldest boys followed behind it (and took this picture) calling out "Snake! Water Snake headed your way!"

At first no one believed them.  But then as they seen it they began to clear out quickly - think a scene from JAWS - and quite the crowd gathered behind the snake to watch it make it's way clear across the swimming area off to the marshy grassy side where it slithered off.

I did not go to that grassy area the rest of the trip.

And I wasn't too keen on the idea of getting into my pretty lake either.  So I laid a blanket on the beach and settled in to read a book.

As I laid there I felt my whole body shift and move.  I checked the blanket and didn't see a thing (images of HUGE snakes did enter my mind) and I laid very still until my body stopped shaking.

I mentally took note thinking that it was a weird body experience and I may want to keep tabs on it and then lost myself in my book.

A bit later I checked my blackberry to see if I had a call from my husband (he wasn't at the beach this day, I just tossed that above photo of him in there because I love that picture) and was shocked to see the reports that there had been an EARTHQUAKE!!!!!

It wasn't some weird thing with me, I actually felt an EARTHQUAKE.

It was quite the day.

I eventually loved my lake enough to go back into the water, where my mom snapped this picture.

As we were driving back to the campground, I happened to notice a bike tire or something laying halfway across the road and thought maybe we should move it when the deflated bike tire PICKED UP IT's HEAD and SLITHERED AWAY.

I screamed.

I mean, I gripped the steering wheel and screamed my head off while that blue racer made a hasty escape.

The boys stared at me in bewilderment, not believing their moma could be SUCH a girly girl, but apparently I am.

I've never seen a snake at this campground and this trip we seen THREE, two of which were huge.

I'd rather think about the baby turkeys we seen.

My lovely twitter friends laughed at me and said the snakes had followed me from home.  I'd rather they had not.