Poisonous Snakes at the Rest Stop

It’s important to be safe at rest stops. We love to travel and go on day trips. One time we were coming back from the outlet mall in Ellington Florida, it started pouring really hard as it tends to do in Florida. We had to pull off the road because we couldn’t see anything. It was honestly pretty scary and not safe to continue driving. Thankfully we found a rest stop to just stop at and wait out the rain. As you know, rain storms like this usually don’t last long in Florida in the rainy season. After the rain stopped, we decided to get out and use the restroom. As the rain was clearing and I could actually see the signs that were right in front of me, I saw a warning sign for snakes. Not just your garden variety of snakes, but venomous dangerous snakes. If you know me at all, you know I hate snakes, venomous or not. I was pretty scared to get out of the car, but we had a fairly long drive. I was very aware of my surroundings that day.

I was used to alligator signs and occasionally seeing an alligator off in the distance, but snakes was a new thing. I have been in situations where snakes were probably present, but they didn’t make themselves known to me or I would have freaked out. I think I am more scared of snakes than alligators. I could just cut up the alligator and deep fry it. I have heard horror stories about rest stops. I am sure you have heard them too about women being kidnapped at rest stops and people hiding in their backseats waiting for them to return.  While most of them are probably just urban legends, it is good to be vigilant with your safety especially if you are alone.

Here is my post about Rest Stop Safety.

Is It Just an Urban Legend?

I love learning about Urban Legends. I am not exactly sure when I learned about them. I remember I would spend hours reading about them online. I think they are so interesting. It becomes like a giant game of telephone. I am sure you remember playing telephone where you tell someone something and by the time it gets passed down it has changed. They also play in to our worst fears that these things can happen. They have been around for a coon’s age. They are recycled throughout the ages and also updated to fit the times. Maybe it has to do with the first time I saw Adventures in Babysitting with the man with the hook, which is a very famous urban legend.

Some of them are really scary, I remember there would be times when I just had to shut the web page because I was scared. I know that people have written ghost stories about them as a basis. It always ends up being kind of ironic, escaping death only to die a more gruesome death a few moments later. They are things that could possibly happen but no one actually knows for sure. It’s always a friend of a friend that it happened to. I believe they are also a good scare tactic of the unknown.

I remember when I saw the movie Urban Legends, I was dating a guy named Steve, and we went out to eat and then to the movie and drank hot chocolate. I don’t do well with scary things. So, I was freaked out a little. Thankfully Steve was a nice guy that didn’t try and scare me. So, Steve where ever you are Thanks! I am a big baby though and get scared really easily. I didn’t really like the movie too terribly much because it scared me. It was making them real and they were no longer urban legends. I am not sure if I have seen the second one and I am not sure I want to . I haven’t watched the movie pretty much after it came out. No thanks. Nothing scary for me, I get nightmares and I can’t sleep for days. I avoid scary movies at all costs. I am sure you are thinking that movie wasn’t scary but like I said I am a baby.

I do however love to watch the tv show Urban Legends on the Biography Channel. It is on Saturdays at noon and there are 4 episodes that play. I like it because they tell you three stories and you have to decide which is fact and which is just an Urban Legend. I like that they tell some things that really happen. I think that is why I like Snopes because they tell you if it is true, false or unknown. When I watch Urban Legends I find myself thinking, I really hope that is an urban legend, because that is nasty or scary etc. Usually it is but there is always one that is real and really happened. They even go as far as occasionally having the people that it happened to on the show saying my name is such and such and this is true. If it is not true they sometimes explain why it can’t be true.

Do you like urban legends? What are some of your favorites? Do you watch the show on Biography?