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!

ROAD TRIP!!!!!

We’re HERE!!!

We left ParkCity at about 11am today, and said good-bye to those snow-capped mountains.


I, of course, helped Dad navigate.


Because otherwise he wouldn’t have know to point the wagon train toward Las Vegas.


And I alerted him to the Smokeys.


Good thing, too, because, there are definitely sections of the road where we can go 75mph with no problem. Yes. When you get to The Middle of Nowhere, Utah, the speed limit is 75mph. And it would be Really Embarrassing to get pulled over in the House With Wheels for speeding!

Middle Of Nowhere, Utah.

Actually, there were a few sections of the road where they were doing a “speed limit test”, and bumped it up to 80mph! 80!!!


Mom tried about 5 times to get pictures, as there were two big ‘test sections’ (and me without my #2 pencil…*sigh*) but Mom mostly managed to get pictures of the bug splatter on the windshield, instead.


I was a little worried about these 80mph sections, because the speedometer on The House With Wheels only goes to 85pmh!!!! What if they decided to test a 90mph speed limit some place?!?


For the record, The House With Wheels does go 80mph, but Mom didn’t get a picture. Probably because she was too busy trying to get pictures of the speed limit signs! Heehee! (Yeah, I know. You can’t get good help these days!)

At least Mom remembered to get a picture of The House With Wheels towing the Box On Wheels (aka the Jeep).


Oh, so for some of you, who get worried about 40,000lbs of screaming death going 80mph, we mostly drove around 75mph, because Dad had to be able to give me scratchies while he drove.


But I can see why they’d be testing out sections where you can go faster, because there is A Whole Lot of Nothing in central Utah.

*yawn*


We stopped at a couple of rest stops where we got to pretend that we were a truck. Note from Fi’s Mom: with the Jeep, we are longer than most single-trailer semis, and we're not exactly flies to the triple-trailer semis.


Lookitme!!! I’m a truck drivin’ dog!!!


TaiChi traveled really well, sleeping most of the time, and Bufus hung out in the back, and didn’t toss his cookies once. I think it’s because Mom took his cookies away from him…

And then. AND THEN! We were coming out of the high plains (like High Plains Drifter, but without Clint Eastwood shooting lots of bad guys and inciting people to paint the town red), and turned on the road that was to take us to where we were going.


And WOW! The bug-splatter picture doesn’t do it justice, but rest assured that Mom will get TONS more pictures while we are here. And she’s already trying to convince Dad that we should stay until the end of December! I think the fact that it is supposed to be 82 tomorrow might have something to do with it!

Mom managed to get a couple pictures of the RV park before the sun set.

I think I could be very happy here!

I can hardly wait for Mom to figure out where the good hiking trails are, because this is My Kind of Country! Dad has said that even he will start hiking!!!! I am SOOOO excited!!!! And even though Mom and Dad should have brought their mountain bikes down, too (long story as to why those bikes didn't get to come with us), Mom think they can find some good road biking.

BTW, Mom hasn’t had a chance to check on the links that you posted for the charity to get green papers, so there is still some time to name a charity, if you want, because we had great Road Karma!

*kissey face*
-Fiona

PeeEss: Given that it is supposed to be 82 tomorrow, I’m liking my haircut more and more!

First Come, First Served

We're getting ready for our trip to southern Utah tomorrow, and since I'm completely devoid of pictures or gripes, or even cute anecdotes, I'd like to offer up some green papers to charity of the first person (dog/cat/goat/etc.) who comments with a link to said aforementioned charity who will accept Mom's credit card/Paypal account. (I'd normally go for all takers, but I think Mom has "The Mail" in the mail box already, and I don't think she's going to be mailing anything else for a few days.)

So....

Name your charity and give me a link.

I think of it as good travel karma. Not to mention the opportunity to help those who don't have but totally deserve parents who are total suckers, erm, softies... as warm and loving as my own.

So comment early and often. Because Mom may pick more than one rescue organization. Just for giggles. (And Dennis, while it will take Mom a while to mail some green papers to the wonderful people who took you out of the desert and brought you to an oasis like Mad Max when he went all user-friendly, if you can give me the purported original source of that quote (the 'early and often' part), Mom will send green papers to those crazy people (not your Mom and Dada - the organizational people) who rescued you. And I'll even give you a hint; while it was associated with Al Capone, he wasn't the first guy to say it... And yes, your Dada can Google it.... "Flames. There are flames on my car!" Heehee. I still can't believe that your Dada had to look that one up!!!)

Because helping out homeless beasties creates travel karma. Oh, and Mom says that if you have an organization that does unique stuff (and has cool baseball caps, or something equally cool) like Clive does, comment, even if you aren't first (his organization, if I got it right, is Irish Guide Dogs). Mom is shopping for Christmas presents, and believes that animal rescue related stuff makes the best presents.

So... Comment early and often!

I'll post again with winners when we get settled in Southern Utah.

*kissey face*
-Fiona

Sometimes I am so clever I scare myself!

Mom is STILL busy with this packing stuff. She had this big day planned of going to the House With Wheels and “identifying” the stuff that has to come out of the House With Wheels (stuff that we might need over the winter), figuring out what we need in the House With Wheels while we are down in the south, and what stuff can stay down there, and what stuff has to come back with us when it’s Mom and Dad and TaiChi and me and Bufus in the car. Which means that she’s not going to be able to bring a lot of stuff home. Unless she locates a UPS store. Or thinks that we (meaning TaiChi and Bufus and I) are going to handle a 4 hour drive with the car stuffed to the gills. Lemme just tell ya right now – that isn’t going to work! I need room to get comfy, and Mr. Bufus needs his big crate, and TaiChi, well… I’m actually not sure how she’s going to travel in the car…. Mom may have to get another crate for her…

So, Mom had this great day planned of organizing, and going grocery shopping, and doing stuff at the House With Wheels. And frankly, I didn’t really like her plans. I mean, I like hanging out with Dad, but I don’t like Mom “being busy” for such long periods of time. It interferes with my zoomie time and my ear-scratchy time, and the time where I’m in the backyard humoring Mom by pretending to get all excited about her horrible throws with my Kong toy. So, to paraphrase Johnny Cash, I devised myself a plan that would be the envy of most any dog. I snagged Dad’s phone, and monitored Mom’s progress by reading the text messages she was sending him with updates on her travels. And right after she had left Petco (and you questioned whether I was really paying attention or not!) and had entered the grocery store, I threw up all over the bed. Both blankets, the sheets and even a little bit on one of the pillows. I knew that this would result in Mom having to come home and spend the afternoon washing blankets with me.

Clever, no?

To make sure that I spewed on schedule, when Dad was upstairs doing stuff with his guitars, I took the opportunity to sneak upstairs and eat cat food. And it worked like a charm!

Right after I threw up, Dad called Mom and she cut her shopping trip short so she could come home and wash blankets. (And really, they probably needed to be washed anyway…)

See, I am not as dumb as I look. Even with this silly “streamlined” jar head hair cut I’ve got. True, Mom spent a lot of time in the kitchen and laundry room doing laundry, and other “organizing” stuff, but at least she was home. AND, if you notice, I nabbed her after she had gone to Petco, so I was rewarded with a Snugga Wubba. That didn’t last too long. I don’t know what it is with these Wubba, but I love ‘em so much that they seem to have a short life span. In this case, so short that Mom didn’t even get pictures of me with it. Although, Mom performed some surgery, and I have a slightly shortened Wubba to play with. But I’m tired now.

But, I did get to spend some quality time with my Little Big Sister, TaiChi. She is really The Best Sleeping Partner EVER!


And…. Even though I don’t like things on my head? I got to wear Dad’s hat. I generally don’t like things on my head, but since this smelled like Dad, and I’ve seen him wear it, it was all OK.


See how I cleverly forced Mom home to hang out with me?!?

And besides, I looked all hip!

Yo!

*kissey face*
-Fiona

Of Haircuts and Snowsuits and Things

Mom’s been “busy.” Again. Some of her being “busy” seems to involve having a whole bunch of screens open on her computer and her doing a lot of tapping on the computer. And she calls that work? Uh-huh. Work. And then she’s been helping Dad with his work (well, she says she’s been helping Dad – I’m not sure how she can actually help Dad, since his work seems to consist of him tapping on the computer and talking on the phone).

She’s also been busy with starting to get us packed to take the House With Wheels to southern Utah (outside of St. George). Mom and Dad have pushed the departure date back to Monday, because while it has stopped snowing, it has gotten Really Cold. (And Mom got me a haircut. But more about that.) And it is cold in central Utah, too, and the roads (I-15, specifically) can get icy, and Mom and Dad don’t want to have to worry about the House With Wheels on icy roads. And it gives Mom more time to pack, because she’s been busy with this Other Stuff.

Other Stuff including getting TaiChi and Bufus into the vet, to make sure they are doing okay. Being old and all, Mom says they have to go in more often than me. The good news is that Mr. Bufus has medicine that seems to keep him from tossing his cookies when we are driving. Which makes Mom happy, as she’s the one who has to clean up, because Dad is the one driving.

Mr. Bufus, sleeping on Dad's head, and NOT tossing his cookies.

Mom has also started work on Christmas presents for people, so she’s been busy with that, too. But at least she can do that while spending quality time with me at the same time. So I guess I’ll let her do that.

Anyhoo, back to the hair cuts…. Yeah. Um. It’s like 3 degrees out (Note from Fi’s Mom: it’s in the low 20s at night and 30s during the day, so methinks you are exaggerating just a tad) and Mom decides that NOW is the time to cut my hair. By a professional, thankfully! (Note the second from Fi’s Mom: we are going to warmer climes in a couple of days, and I plan on taking you hiking, my dearest Fi-ster, and if I kept you with long hair, you’d get HOT. And you don’t like being hot. So just trust me on this kiddo.) AND. And, TaiChi didn’t have to get a haircut. She got her face and feet cleaned up, but HER hair stayed the same length. (Note the third: TaiChi doesn’t go hiking like you, and she’s got thin hair. And she’s OLD. She gets cold easily.)

Yeah, whatever. All I know is that TaiChi looks like she's got a snow suit on, while I look like I'm ready to be conscripted into the Marines.

Snowsuit.
Enlistee.

Seriously. Is that FAIR? Yeah, I thought not. But I guess I can't complain TOO much; at least I didn't get dressed up as a squirrel (or anything else, for that matter) for Halloween!!

Let's look at this again.

Pretty old lady modeling her snowsuit.


Me? High and tight. At least they left my ears at a respectable length. Private Fiona reporting for duty, sir!

*ahem. At least Mom takes me to a good groomer, and doesn't attempt to do this herself.

Oh, and you know what else Mom has been slacking on? Basil, the usually white standard poodle that the groomers have, and who hangs out at the shop pretty much every day, had been colored pink, and had been shaved in a really cool spiral look. Basil didn’t mind (we talked, and he told me); actually, he kind of liked it, because his parents colored him that way for a photo shoot, and he liked being the center of attention for the photo shoot. And actually, he looks quite handsome in a punk rocker sort of way. So Mom has to stop by get a picture of him, too.

So, since Mom’s been slacking, I’ll leave you with a couple pictures of late-night snow zoomies that I did a couple of nights ago when it was snowing. Now it's melting and muddy. Which is fun too, but these are sort of cool pictures.

Note my military-issue laser eyes!

These laser eyes are seriously cool!

Oh, and Mom wants to say something…

Thanks, Fi! I just want to throw out a huge thank you to my wonderful friend Vuboq for the AMAZING pottery that he sent me. But, being the slacker that I am, I haven’t taken any pictures yet; I actually want to wait until daylight to get the pictures so the flash doesn’t make the glazing look funny. But THANKS!!! Really amazing pieces! This guy is an artist!

*kissey face*
-Fiona, Private First Class

Wordless Tuesday: SNOW!!!!