October 22, 2012

Monday, October 22, 2012

            Woke up around 8:00 AM. Slept like a baby. The ambiance of the ocean waves stroking the shore combined with the sound of the crickets whistling made the perfect lullaby.  Dad was already awake and up enjoying his morning coffee on the terrace while reading the paper.  Kellie had told us she would pick us up and take us to the airport around 9-9:30 AM.  It was closer to 9:45.  Island Time, Mon!


             Kellie took us down the “road that never ends” once again and then through town in Christiansted, where we stopped at a coffee house for breakfast.  As we sat down waiting on our order, Kellie’s phone chirped.  Dr. Bailey was already waiting for us at the animal shelter.  Kellie told her we’d be there in 30 minutes.  She hung up and suddenly we were rushing our servers and changing our order to go.  Next thing I knew, I was attempting to butter my bagel as we twist and turn down the windy roads that is St. Croix.

            We are greeted in the parking lot of the shelter by a flock of beautiful peacocks.  Kellie leads us down a path behind the “Spay Waggin” where a very pregnant blonde is perched on top of a picnic table.  Kellie introduces us to Dr. Laura Bailey, the main veterinarian for the shelter.  She immediately begins showing us around the van (“Spay Waggin”) and the surgery suite of the shelter.

             Dad begins preparing himself for surgery while I get Marsden, one of the staff members, to show me the adoption center.  Nearing the end of the tour, we come across Kellie showing Brad around so I join them and Marsden excuses himself.

            

We stepped into the kitten section and my heart nearly broke.  “I’ll take them all” I exclaimed only half-joking.  Kellie immediately begins talking to Brad and I about the possibility of us transferring a couple of them back with us.  Unsure how Dad will react, especially with all our customs run-ins, I try not to get me hopes up.  But hey, it can’t hurt to ask right?

Meanwhile, back in the surgery suite, there are kittens already pre-meded and Dad is prepping for surgery.  Kellie takes Brad to the airport to rent a car and I stay to help in any way that I can.  Dad has 2 girls assisting him directly with the surgeries.  The main helper, Stephany, knows her way around very well.  Her assistant, Shana comes in and out of the room throughout the morning to help when she is needed.

             I help by taking each kitten when they are in recovery.  Brad stops in at some time in between and lets us know he is going to go get some groceries since he isn’t needed.  After the kittens, Dad performs 2 big dog spays and 1 big dog neuter.  Upon starting the dog neuter, the kittens begin to wake up fully and try to move about.  The 1^st one didn’t seem as active as the other 2.  Concerned, I pick him up and notice he is bleeding a little from his suture site.  I inform Dad, who by this time is finishing up the dog neuter.  Dad looks at the site and uses some surgical glue to keep the kitten from bleeding further. During the morning surgeries, we had seen Brad outside the window wandering around.  He finally joins us in the surgery suite and we socialize for a bit before heading out.
           

On the way back to our house, we decide to stop for something to eat.  Kellie had told us about a great restaurant called Cheeseburger in America’s Paradise.  Since we had plans for dinner and by now it is 3:00 in the afternoon, we decide to order something small, or “Scooby Snacks” as the waitress called it.  We split the Deluxe Nachos with chili. We enjoy our meal very much and soon we were back on the road to the house to prepare for the night’s festivities.

We meet Kellie, Dr Bailey and her husband Mike, on the pier at Christiansted.  The night life on the pier was filled with people bustling about.  Dr. Bailey has a very cute little black and tan Chihuahua attached to her hip.  For that reason we have to find a place to eat outside.  None of us minded that of course, since it was such a beautiful night.  We settled for Angry Nates which has greet seafood and steaks.

We socialize for a while, enjoying our company.  Mike and Dad talk about planes and flying while Dr. Bailey, Kellie and I talk about animals and such.  Mike looks at his watch and realizing the time (8:00PM).  The presidential debate will start at 9:00 PM and neither he nor Dad want to miss it.  We say our friendly goodbyes and head back to the house.

Once back and turning on the TV, however, the men realize there is only 1 channel available and the debate is not on it.  They play with the remote and buttons for a good while then give up.  Being the hero that I am, I step in and see that the TV is set to satellite and not cable.  I switch it and put on the Channel search and Voila!  We have the debate.  We only missed the first 10 minutes of it.  That concluded our 1^st official day on the Island.