The servants are back in line

After a little beating, a little withholding of kissey face, and a stern talking to, the servants (meaning Mom) are back in line.

Mom and Dad took me on a hike today, and (get this) Mom actually brought the camera! Can you believe it?!? (Yeah, me neither!)

Since I can't go into Zion National Park, Mom has done a bunch of research and got a bunch of maps of the area that show trails on BLM (Bureau of Land Management, for those of you who don't live in states/countries that have big chunks of land that need managing...). And there are A LOT of BLM trails. Apparently some of the best mountain biking in the country is on the BLM land around the National Park. And mountain biking trails are also perfect hiking trails.

So, today we went on a section of the JEM trail. Mom documented the hike.

C'mon, Dad!!! Let's GO!!!

This looks like it could be interesting.... Let's see if Mom picked a good trail.

Hey... There's a river down there!

Wow. We're kinda high up here!

I don't know what you're looking at, Dad; I think I saw something on the hill side that looks much more interesting than that scenery stuff.

Oh. So that's what you were looking at. Got it!

Wow!

No pee-mail here, so Mom better get out the map!

That's a long way down! You get to walk near the edge, Dad, not me!

Okay, good trail choice, Mom. Now, do you have any treats in that backpack of yours?

We'd better get moving Dad. I think those clouds are building.

I mentioned that you get the cliff side, right?

Back to the car!

After-hike nap! (Well-deserved, I might add! It was really fun! And 4 miles - which isn't a bad start!)

And we did make it home before the rain:

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for taking me on such a great hike! I can't wait for the next one; I've seen Mom's stack of maps, and I just KNOW that she's going to find someplace else just as good!

*kissey face*
-Fiona the Intrepid

Pee Ess. If you want to see pictures from a hike Mom did two days ago with a group from the RV park, click here. They went to the top of Cable Mountain and looked 1,800 feet to the canyon floor below. And I couldn't go. Boo, hiss! (But she's got some pretty cool pictures, even if they don't include me!)

From the That Cannot Possibly Be Comfortable Files

Mom can't imagine how we are comfortable in these pictures. You would think the fact that we can sleep like this for hours on end would be proof enough. *sheesh*

*kissey face*
-Fiona

Thank a Vet

Take some time today to thank a veteran.


Thanks to all who served (and are serving) abroad and at home, and thanks to all the civilians who provide much needed support as well. And, as Tank so rightly pointed out, thanks, too, to all the canines who have served so diligently, as well.

Libertas inaestimabilis res est*

-Fiona and Family

*Liberty is a thing beyond all price - Civilis

I guess beating the servants works...

This was supposed to get posted Sunday night, but the internet was slow, and Mom was really tired. So just pretend that it is Sunday when you are reading this.

I really appreciate you getting all over Mom for her complete lack of photo-taking, because she’s gotten better. Sort of. Let’s just say that she had good intentions.

First, yesterday, Mom and Dad took me to an open grassy area and played football with me. Mom didn’t get any pictures, but this was because technically I’m not supposed to be off a leash at all (unless I’m in the ‘dog run’ – which is a bit of a misnomer, as the only dog that could actually run in there would be a miniature Chihuahua or maybe something smaller), and so Mom was “running interference”. I didn’t dash off or anything, but it made it look all official. And I got to race around to my heart’s content, so I’m not bummed that Mom didn’t get pictures. And I totally understand why she didn’t, because I'd rather run around and play football with no pictures than not get to play football. So it was okay.

And today. Today. Mom and Dad were going to take me hiking today. Mom got this fancy map that has all these trails that I’m allowed on, and so we were all rarin’ to go. Kinda. Dad was tired from not sleeping well, and it was cold and sort of cloudy, so we decided to go in the afternoon. So we hung out in the morning, and Mom took some “action” shots. She thinks she is such a smarty pants!

And after some quality hanging out time, it still hadn’t warmed up a ton, so Mom decided to do some grocery shopping. She has to drive in to Hurricane for groceries (about 20 minutes away). She did her shopping, and then, on the way back, Dad called her because Mr. Bufus was "not acting right". He was having problems piddling and when he did piddle, he was piddling blood.

Even I know that this is Not. Good.

So Mom came home with the groceries and found an Emergency Vet Clinic open on Sundays (anything open on Sundays in Utah is a rarity). Yes, all of us have the amazing ability to only get sick after hours or on Sundays. It’s a highly specialized skill. The clinic was in St. George. Which meant that Mom had to drive back through Hurricane, and into St. George. When it was all said and done, Mom was gone for a couple of hours, and by the time she got home, she was very tired, and it was too dark to go hiking anyway.

As for Mr. Bufus? He has a bladder infection, and is on a bunch of drugs, and Mom has to give him fluids twice a day. And she still has to give TaiChi fluids every day… So, yeah, Mom is completing all of her practicum hours to be a veterinary tech, if she ever wanted to become one. He has to go to a vet in a couple of days to have them check on him, but in the meantime, he gets lots of wet food (and I'm not allowed to sneak in and eat his food. Well, not much, anyway). He should be all right, but Mom will be playing nurse for a while.

So she had good intentions, and she promises that when we go hiking (hopefully tomorrow, although Dad has work in the morning, and Mom is pretty worn out after today) or any place else that we go, she’ll get pictures.

In the meantime, here are my action shots! Heehee!


These are mine.

You would REALLY like to give me some of your hamburger, wouldn't you?

Oooh, I am so irresistible!

Thanks, Dad....

Oh, and Mom is all excited because on the drive back from the vet, she saw a Ford GT. (Here's a stock photo - and it is even the same color as the one Mom saw.)


She didn’t know what it was, but thought it looked cool. And thought it was pretty funny when the highway patrol guy pulled up next to the Ford GT and rode along side it, looking at it for about a quarter mile. When she got home, she looked it up, and apparently they only made a little over 4,000 of them, so I guess this was a pretty rare sighting. I think she's in love! ;-)

*kissey face*
-Fiona

It is Really Tough to get GOOD help these days...

Seriously. It is really hard to get good help these days.

Fr’instance. Yesterday, Mom goes on a hike with this group of people from the RV park, partially because she wanted to go hiking, and partially because the hike leaders have “wintered” at this same park for the last several seasons and she wanted to pick their brains about places that I could go hiking. Because dogs aren’t allowed in National Parks. Someone jokingly suggested that Mom get me a ‘Service Dog’ vest to wear, and then I’d be allowed in, but Mom said that I wasn’t “well behaved enough” to get away with it. Me? Not well behaved? The nerve! So Mom goes off on this hike (which was in Zion National Park, and so I couldn’t go along…), and comes back with a bunch of pictures, and is all fired up about hiking.

Cool. Because hiking is good.

So today, Mom and Dad took me on a short walk around the RV park, and then Dad said that he wanted to go on a short hike. He hasn’t been hiking since his ankle surgery (over a year and a half ago), and wanted to ease into it. Ease is fine. So we drive the Box on Wheels (Mom says it’s a Jeep, but I think it looks like a box on wheels, and so that’s what I’m going to call it) just a little bit up the road and parked and went on a two mile hike. Which was great fun, as I got to get all dusty, and sniff things (although Dad pulled me away from this spiky plant thingy before I got too close). BUT. But, my secretary and photojournalist DIDN’T BRING THE CAMERA. Hello? McFly?!?

It was a great hike. Really. And Mom promises me that she’ll bring the camera next time.

Uh-huh. Sure, Mom. I think I may have to get a backpack and carry it myself to make sure that it goes on every hike.

Note from Fi’s Mom: Yep. You may very well be getting your own backpack – so you can carry your own water and dish.

Okay. Whatever. So. We get back from the hike, and Mom decided to test out the pool and hot tub. So far, this RV Park has 5 paws from all parties involved.

Then Mom had to go grocery shopping. I declined to go along, because I saw Mom’s list and she had a lot of stuff to get. And because some of the stuff on the list was non-grocery, she decided to go to Wal-Mart in Hurricane. Before Mom and Dad left Park City, three separate people told Mom that one form of entertainment in southern Utah is to go to Wal-Mart and watch the polygamists shop. Mom kind of laughed, knowing that there are polygamist colonies down south, but didn’t think much of it.

Note from Fi’s Mom: For those of you who don’t live in Utah/Idaho/Arizona, yes, there is a fairly sizeable population of fundamentalist Mormons who still practice polygamy. And unless the local church leader is actively marrying 14-16 year old girls to 40-something year old guys, law enforcement pretty much turns a blind eye. Heck, there was a town a few years ago where the Sheriff/Chief of Police (or someone like that) was a polygamist. I think he got arrested mostly because the state felt that having someone sworn to uphold the state laws, who was actively breaking one was probably not the legal representative they were looking for… Anyhoo, while the ‘mainstream’ Mormon church has officially stepped away from polygamy, there are plenty of people who practice polygamy. The women are readily identified by the long-sleeve, floor-length dresses they wear and long hair (either in a braid or bun of some sort).

So, Mom goes to Wal-Mart, and before she even got out of the car, called Dad to tell him that all the people telling her about the polygamists at Wal-Mart weren’t kidding. Apparently Mom saw a bunch of polygamists, but since her phone battery was dying, didn’t attempt to sneak any pictures. Because Dad has never seen a polygamist. Mom says that’s because the only place in Utah that Dad has ever lived is Park City, and there aren’t obvious polygamists in the Park City boundaries.

After coming back from Wally World, Mom decided that she wanted to get a map of the hiking/biking in the area so they could pick hiking trips that I could go on, and so they could also scope out road biking routes. A bike shop in Springdale (right at the entrance to Zion Nat’l Park) was recommend as a good place to go for advice, so Mom loaded me up, and we drove the 15 or so miles to the bike shop. And the closer you get, the more stunning the scenery gets.

But did Mom bring her camera with her? Say it with me… Of Course Not!!!!

I swear, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get good help these days!

The only plus is that Mom got this great map that shows all sorts of places that Mom and Dad can go hiking with me. And Mom found some good places for them to go bye-sickling, so that made Mom and Dad happy.

So, I will leave you with pictures of Mom’s hike from yesterday. The one I wasn’t allowed to go on because it was in a National Park. And what is up with that? Am I not a part of this great nation? Why can’t I get to see the wonders of the world, too? I’m going to have to talk to my congressman. Assuming that he’s not dining with the local polygamist leader…

(Biggify these for the full effect.)


*sigh* I guess I can't fire my own mother, huh?

*kissey face*
-Fiona

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!