Olean Festival, Flying Squirrels, Biker Dogs, Ferrets, & Someone Looked Familiar!

This is the 2nd post of today so be sure to scroll down!

This past weekend was a busy one!  Saturday "we" were at a festival in Olean, NY, with our Wildtree Table.  It wasn't awesome but it wasn't awful sales-wise.  However we were forced to leave 2 hours early due to a 'down pour'.

Usually 4 of us go to events - My Mom, Dad, Sister, and I.  My parents had other obligations which I will tell you about in my next post.  So my sister and I were at this event - for the most part - by ourselves.  My Dad helped unload and my Mom stayed for about an hour.

There were many 'interesting' things that happened during this festival for us.  First you will see these TWO photos of - basically - a wall.  This is the side of the Rec Center at the Park in Olean that the festival was at.  When we first arrived this image was NOT present.  I noticed it about 30 minutes afterwards.

As you will see in the 2nd photo it's a closer look!

After MUCH deliberation about 20 of us came to the conclusion that this was a Black Flying Squirrel!  I have only seen photos of Flying Squirrels before and have never seen one in real life or up close.  This was a very tall building but the squirrel was quite large.  Flying Squirrels are generally nocturnal animals so it's rare to see them during the day like we did.  I kept an eye on this "cutie" all day!  He was there well after we left and would shift positions every 20 minutes or so thru-out the day!  After doing some research on Flying Squirrels in our area I have found they are rare and listed as "Least Concern" on the Endangered Species scale.  I was so excited to have seen one in real life!  It was one of the highlights of the weekend - for me.

BUT...the CUTENESS didn't stop there!  Saturday in Olean was real fun and there were LOTS of cute dogs roaming around...including this one!  His name is Winston and he and his family were there visiting the event as well!  They were among some of the Bikers that attended.  Winston is a Biker Dog as you can see from his goggles and carrier vest.  We were told that he LOVES riding motorcycles!  He's a Chihuahua/Pom mix and he was so sweet!

Another 'furry friend' we were watching was a man walking his albino Ferret!  What a neat day!

Another cool thing that happened Saturday during this event was that I recognized a guy next to us - a fellow vendor - who looked SO VERY FAMILIAR!  It was driving me crazy and I was trying NOT to stare.  Long story short - he was doing the same thing - looking over thinking I looked familiar!  Come to find out we went to college together and we haven't seen each other in 15 years or so.  He has been doing wood working as well as handmade bracelets with quality beads among other things.  He told me he was doing a lot of Pet Accessories, too!  My sister and I ended up buying 2 bracelets from him as well as a Wine Bottle Holder that I will be giving my Dad tonight for a Birthday Present (his Birthday was yesterday).  I hope I get to see his other creations at future shows.  It was neat to see him after all these years and funny we both recognized each other!

Like I said before - we were forced to leave early due to heavy rain.  My sister and I are not as good as my Father when it comes to packing the car up - but - we DID IT!  Here's a funny picture of my sister after we fit everything into her Nissan.

My sister was pretty funny this weekend!  It was great sister time.  I will tell you more about that in my next post.  I realize this entry is a bit long already.

Questions of the day: Have you ever seen a Flying Squirrel?  When's the last time you had that feeling you knew someone - how did you handle it and what was the outcome?  Did you see any "cute" or "interesting" this past weekend!?