I know the kind of cricket you're talking about, Kathleen. We got them in New Jersey too. Camel Crickets! They're not only HUGE but UGLY too!
They sure are! The crickets here are tiny, about the size of my pinky fingernail. Whew.
I'll bet that was one cricket that could fly! My brother lived in Charlottesville and I remember lots of ticks. I got really sick at the end of my first semester in college and tested positive for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. I had been to VA in August and never did figure out if there could have been a connection.
I'm glad you recovered OK, Kelley. Our daughter picked up a tick in VA when she was about 2. I'm not quite sure how that happened.
On a related note, just this morning I had to pry something out of my dog's jaws while we were on a walk, and it was a huge dead cockroach. UGH. So after that trauma (joking, of course) I treated myself to a book at Barnes & Noble.