First full day in southern Utah

Ohboy, ohboy, ohboy!!! Yes, that would be my Retriever side coming out. Why do you ask? ;-)

So, today was the first full day in southern Utah, and because Mom forgot one of TaiChi's meds, she had to find a pharmacy that carried the eye drops, and get them phoned in and then go pick them up.

Finding a pharmacy was no problem; Mom is an expert Googler. Teehee! But then Mom needed to call them. And neither her nor Dad's cell phones work here (we are in a Major Cone of Silence), so Mom tried their internet phone thingy, but while the internet signal here is good enough to play on the computer, it isn't quite good enough to do the phone thingy. So Mom got a local phone line hooked up to the House With Wheels (we have actual plug-in phones in the House With Wheels), and then spent (literally) trying to buy some phone cards online so that she could make long distance calls. Apparently buying phone cards is slightly more complicated that getting a license to carry a concealed weapon. So says Mom, and I have a feeling she knows.

Anyway, Mom finally got the calling card thing handed, and got TaiChi's eyedrops called in to a "local" (meaning only 20 miles away) pharmacy. Wanting to blow off a little steam after a few hours of mutter words that I am too young to repeat, Mom decided to take me on a little stroll.

Literally Right Behind the RV park is the Virgin River. They have a little embankment, and then some steps, and then there you are. I guess this is a low time of year for the river, as we had to pick our way through some rocks and marshy spots (some of us picking less carefully than others of us!) to the actual river.

Seriously. This is Right Out Our Back Door!!!

Biggify to get the full sense of it!

Pretty nifty, huh?

So after our little stroll, it was ready for Mom to go to the town of Hurricane (pronounced 'her-i-cun', not 'hur-i-cane'... for whatever reason...) to get TaiChi's meds and she wanted to check out a bi-sickle ride that she found on a site called "MapMyRide.com". It was a 20-ish mile ride and supposed to be fairly flat - which is the kind of ride they were looking for.

Mom asked me if I wanted to come along, and always being game to check out new scenery, I went along. I mean, you've got to know the lay of the land, right?

So we got TaiChi's meds, which was boring. And then we had to go to a hardware store, which was equally boring. Except that Mom was amused by the pink handguns. Hmm.. Aiming for a specific market?!? 'Aiming'. Heehee! Yes, I amuse myself!

Anyway, after the ROTE was done (and for which I got NO treats... but that wasn't entirely Mom's fault - she kept getting a little lost, and was focusing on where she was going and not so much on stopping at McDonald's. But she'll know for next time!), we went in search of this bi-sickle route.

And Mom got lost several times, but found the route. And talk about Middle Of Nowhere. But Mom didn't get pictures because she was too busy trying to follow the route. Did I mention that we got lost a couple of times? Including once turning into this neighborhood of little teeny houses all packed together like bees in a hive. It was a little creepy. But I barked when one of the neighborhood kids waved at me, so I guess it wasn't TOO creepy. Just the no yard part was creepy....

Anyway, after driving through ranch land forever, Mom came up over a hill and just gasped: "Oh wow!" Biggify this picture...

A reservoir in the middle of nowhere. Not at all what Mom was expecting! But Very Pretty!

And then down the road further? Sand dunes!!! There was even a big machine pushing some of the sand off the road.


It was REALLY cool! Mom's not sure if she and Dad are quite up for this ride yet, as there are a few more hills on the ride than Mom expected, but she thinks they might start off riding sections of it.

But it was a great drive! And Mom might go hiking tomorrow morning with the 'social group' at the RV park in order to scope out some local hikes that I can go on, because now that I am acclimatized, I am Ready To Go!!!! (If she doesn't make it out with the group, she did get some maps, but I think she'd like to go with a group first, so she doesn't get lost, because, well, her sense of direction is not exactly The Best....)

So... I'm really happy that we are here, and Mom and Dad seem to be really happy, too! TaiChi has been going on little walks, and Mr. Bufus has been making himself Quite Comfy in the House With Wheels. *happy sigh*. I love the House With Wheels!

BTW, the Road Karma donation went to Mollie Jo and Bobo's charity, the Mayfield/Graves County Animal Shelter because their Mom does a lot of driving in transporting rescue doggies, and it seemed like a good match. And besides, Mom has a big crush on Mollie Jo and Bobo! Thanks for all the good suggestions; we'll add them to the future donation list!

*kissey face*
-Fiona, the soon-to-be hiking 'doodle!