Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 10, 1 by mellielong

mellielong wrote:
I'm ba-ack! Well, my vacation was less than perfect, but it was definitely interesting. I'll narrate as I post my bf pics. The first problem was that my car died at the second toll plaza on the WV turnpike. I handed the lady the money, and when I went to take off, the VW (New Beetle) died. Just died. I knew since it had just passed the 100,000 mile mark (and was now past warranty) something was sure to go wrong. Tow people wanted $260 to bring me into Charleston, so instead we slept in the car and in the morning Dad (who I was travelling with and has a Ford F150) went to U-Haul and rented a trailer to tow me with. We got it to the dealership to find out that my timing belt had broken - and destroyed my ENTIRE ENGINE! Luckily, since I'm the original owner, the dealership "rolled back the mileage" and since my engine had its own 100,000 mile warranty, the ($7,000) engine was going to be replaced at VW's expense. They tried to have me done by the end of the week - but the wrong engine was sent. So they have to keep my car a few more weeks in WV. In the meantime, they rented me a car (again, at VW's expense) and I have to go back in about three weeks to pick up my car. At some point in all the drama, I lost my debit card. I cancelled it after checking that no one had used it (thankfully), but it was one more annoyance.

I have to give major props to Moses VW in Huntington, WV (these people are golden). Also, the folks at the second toll plaza who let us use their bathroom, checked on us in the middle of the night, and came out to help shove my car up on the trailer (while I fearfully clutched the wheel and tried to guide it up the ramps). I've always said that I love going on vacation up in WV because the people are so nice and it just reminds me that there are still lots of good people in the world.

So after all that, I got to grandma's house and took a nice walk around the yard. FYI, grandpa died last Sept so this was the first visit to grandma since the funeral. Grandpa liked pawpaws and had several trees in the yard. I inspected them all for caterpillars, and while something had been eating it, I couldn't find anything. Grandma said they had a couple of late frosts when I asked why there was no fruit. I did find this little guy sitting in the yard. I think it's a Carolina Satyr, but feel free to confirm or deny. I didn't have my book with me, but I knew it was in there!