What IS this??

Yesterday I was at the campground office unlocking the door when I noticed this fellow (or gal) and could hardly believe my eyes!  I have never seen anything like it - it's so huge, it must be a mutant or something.

The big black spots look like eyes but I think it is a marking to scare away predators.  This thing was 5 inches long and an inch around.  As I said, I never.  Anyone have any idea what he is?  I asked everyone (even the FedEx man) if they had ever seen one.  We did a lot of research online, but couldn't identify him. 

The rest of the day was uneventful as I did the wash and checked in three campers.  Our CG manager was kind enough to cover for me from 5 to 7pm as some friends who just arrived back at the CG were celebrating their 38th wedding anniversary and asked us and others to a dinner.  We were going to the Apple Barn Restaurant with four other couples.  The selections on the menu included soup or salad, and two sides.  They had everyone's favorites and it was difficult to choose, but Gary decided to have liver and onions (!) and I had the grilled trout.  Our waiter, Dave, started to hand out our bills, but asked if anyone wanted cheesecake, chocolate cake, and although I was talking, I heard 'chocolate' and ordered a piece of chocolate cake.  I was the only one who ordered dessert, but I handed it around and everyone had a little bite.  Thank goodness, it was huge, and I couldn't have finished it all myself.

After dinner, we drove home in Betsy and Rick's new Ford Fusion and she asked me to come in and see her sewing machine.  She is a quilter and stores her machine in an overhead cupboard!  Sure enough, she opened a little door over the couch and pulled out a little machine.  Then she showed me her beautiful quilts!  And their beautiful Montana fifthwheel.  They are not full timers yet, but hope to be able to sell their home in Cary, NC someday soon. 

Around 11pm the TV warned of an approaching storm with strong winds heading our way.  Then we saw the lightning and heard thunder, so Gary jumped out and rolled up the awning and put the chairs away.  As usual, we waited for the winds, but we seem to be really protected on this side of the mountain.  I've mentioned before that NOBODY does anything at all about any storm warning.  Well, this is our home, and we're going to take every precaution we can to protect it.  So we will continue to roll up the yard if necessary just to be safe, not sorry.

Today was chemo day, but we lazed around while I made French toast out of that raisin pecan bread I got from the Old Mill Cafe last week.  Ohmygosh, it was delicious!  Around 12:45 we ventured outside to unroll everything and Alvin stopped by in his golfcart.  He confirmed that the CG owner is ready to sell if she gets the right price.  Hopefully that won't be until after we leave.

Everyone at the Thompson Cancer Survival Center is Soooo nice.  They always ask how Gary is and give him a warm smile.  The radiologist asked for records, and we put them on a flash drive.  It was all confusing to them, so I ended up sitting at the nurse's computer to open them, but the crucial records were missing from the downloads.  We ended up having to call the Dr. in Sarasota.  By then Gary had had his blood work done, he was OK to get his infusion so we walked into our 'private' room and waited for the third type of chemo to finish dripping.  Finally at 4:15 we were driving to Walmart to pick up a couple bags of groceries and a minute card for Gary's phone.

We won't know the side effects of this drug until a little later, but it is supposed to be one of the milder ones.  We can only hope it works like magic. 

UPDATE:  The caterpillar has been identified (thank you Google) as the Hickory Horned Devil and burrows into the ground to morph into this:  the Royal Walnut Moth.  That's the most awesome thing that's happened lately!