Interesting Day

On Monday we drove down to Georgia to visit Laurie's mom. She and her husband, Bill live on a farm near Jasper. They have four horses and two dogs. It's been nice connecting with Priscilla and Bill, and I have really enjoyed the "down time." Today Laurie's two sisters, Sue and Carol (and their families), came in for a visit. It was so good to see all of them! Big family event + lasagna + nice weather = a super day!

By now you're probably wondering, "What is up with that bear picture?" Bill and Priscilla have a next door neighbor who has a big, 600+ pound bear for a pet! His name is "Chewy." Needless to say, Steve is a fascinating guy! He also has a pet coyote named "Wile E." (I have pictures and some video), a serval from Africa and a bobcat that lives in the basement. Steve invited me into the cage to pet the serval, that was fun! I was also able to see to bobcat, but she didn't want any company and I was happy to oblige!

Only Steve was allowed in the cage with the bear. He's had Chewy since he was a cub, so they get along great! Steve playfully "wrestled" around with him for us, it was great! Steve has a special license to have the animals and all of the cages are up to specification. Chewy has plenty of room to move around. His "pen" is surrounded by two 10 ft. chain link fences. The inside fence has three strands of electric wire to keep him from climbing out. We were able to go inside the first fence to get a really close look at him. Steve really takes good care of all the animals. He had a couple of really interesting stories about the coyote I'll have to share after I get home.