I yurted

The title of this blog post sounds like something an eight-year-old would whisper to another eight-year-old. Anyway, Michael, Moose, Rusty and I borrowed a yurt for the weekend. We tried to convince Moose that water wasn't scary and to stop chewing on tarps, wood, shoes and us. We slept in, went swimming, read and played a lot of Sequence. Yeah, Sequence; we're cool.

It was cold, but this is not the proper way to float on a tube.

Michael had to stand in the middle, slapping the water and yelling before Moose would consider entering the stream. Once he did get it, he would jump across like a gazelle. I wonder if there are canine swimming lessons...or doggy water wings.

 Rusty was such a show-off.

Overall the yurt was great, but I did have an altercation with a herd of cattle when I went on a solitary mission to get water at a nearby campground. When I got to the spiget, there were 7 or 8 cows standing around, just chewin'. I realized then that cows are HUGE, and I am small. I told them I was a vegetarian and recommended that they just kindly move, but I ended up having to run at them swinging the water jug yelling--it really was more of a wild yodel. They mooooved (get it?) and I promptly broke the jug somehow. I really don't know how I cracked it, but I ended up with no water and "There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza..." in my head. Stupid cows.

Super Secret Date

Well, I'm the best girlfriend in the world. I took Michael on a super secret date. (First we set the camera on my car and self-timed ourselves.)

I blindfolded Michael, drove to Layton, and ate at the Cracker Barrel.

 
That's right, the Cracker Barrel. He gorged on home cookin', sampled the rocking chair collection and browsed in the gift shop. It was pretty funny.

What he doesn't know is I secretly filmed him singing to the radio, while blindfolded. I'm so glad I have a blog--what an amazing platform for secret videos and such.

MOOOOSE

I would like to announce my new friend Moose. Michael got a dog!!! (I think he's half mine, but he'll be living with Michael for the next year with only weekend visitation for me.)

We went to the Humane Society in Salt Lake. I'm super supportive of the Humane Society, especially after visiting the state-run animal shelter which featured tiny kennels, lots of messes in the cages and some sick, sad looking dogs. I got Rusty (who's name was Scraps) almost 11 years ago from the same place. Rusty visited to meet our new friend. I know I've said it many times, but Rusty is the best. I chatted with some of the staff and they were so happy to see Rusty's triumphant return.

We visited two days in a row and at about 6:40 on Friday afternoon Michael decided on Moose (who was named Mugan...what is that? Megan spelled with a U?). We waltzed up to the front and declared our intentions. We were 10 minutes too late to adopt that day. It was very hard to leave him in his cage for one more night. On Saturday, we came to get him.

I think he was happy to see us again.

I hope all you blog readers click on this picture and check out Michael's smile--it's a love smile.

Jackson and Michael sat with him before he got microchiped.

So far things have gone pretty well (minus one mess in the basement). Moose was transferred from another kennel and was rescued somewhere in Southern Utah. He's about 11 months old and solid black. Moose was at the Humane Society for two weeks. I thought that was crazy since most dogs are only there for a few days and he's so sweet. But the staff told me that no one wants black dogs, that they don't seem unique enough. Moose is rather unique. For example, he's afraid of balls. What is that. Dogs love balls. Jackson tried to convince him, but we haven't gotten anywhere yet.

Things have been going well so far, someday he'll learn his name and figure out what "no" means. I think we're pretty lucky over all. I'm so glad that Michael and Moose will have each other to hang out with in Spokane. They're going to cuddle, I just know it.

First bath, poor guy.

Rusty is a pretty good host, although I think he's a little sick of the puppy antics.

Welcome to the family Moose...now, get off the couch.

I have to say, I got a little emotional at the Humane Society. Each dog has a paper with its name and some notes about his/her personality, including the "Intake Reason" listing why they came to the humane society. One of the dogs was a fuzzy sheepdog with a blue bandana. She was about ten years old, which was a little too mature for Michael's lifestyle. I was reading through her info, and pretty much burst into tears, when I read "Intake Reason: Owner died." If you're planning on getting a pet, they have some beautiful cats and dogs (they're cheaper too) no need to get a pure-breed weirdo, get a pet that needs some love.

To the Midwest

**Disclaimer, I've been all sickly and busy the past few days so this blog post is a little late, and a little long.

After a little over 10 days in the midwest, I can safely say that I'm very happy to be out of the heat and back in my own bed. It was a good trip, although if I ever have to try to find vegetarian food at an I-80 exit again, I might scream. Gross, gross, gross. It really made me miss Eugene, where vegetarians are just pansy vegans.

Here's the trip in 50 words or less.

The road was long, but Harry Potter on tape helped a bit. We went to my Aunt's beautiful house, got to see a slew of relatives and did lots of swinging and Pokemon-ing with my cousin Ashley's cute kids. We also watched RAGBRI a cross-Iowa bicycle ride from the Missouri river to the Mississippi--it was hot, but we had secret weapons (umbrellas and cold drinks). Michael met his first pig, learned about corn, kept asking "how can it be this flat?" and helped me catch lightening bugs.We visiting a bridge and a butterfly-filled garden and sweated in the mid-west heat--it really is amazing how different 95 in humidity feels, compared with 95 in dry, dry Utah. We then drove to my Grandmother's small town, Albia, Iowa and visited the town square and the water tower (in walking this quarter mile, we managed to see the whole town). Then we went to my Nana's house in Rockford, IL. We looked at her amazing elephants, played Scrabble, and I met my new cousin for the first time. We drove into Chicago for a day and visited the Contemporary Museum of Art, took an architectural boat tour, and went to the Art Institute--what can I say, my family loves me. My Nana talked to us about my mom's childhood (which was amazing blackmailing material) and about hers and my grandpa's life quite a bit. We looked through old pictures and Michael even let my Nana (who's legally blind) get about one inch from his face to take a look at him--she confirmed my suspicions: he's quite attractive. After all the visiting and sweating, we headed for home. Since my Grandma can't drive anymore (although she doesn't share this opinion) my sister was going to drive her car home and take it to school with her. There were two problems with this plan: 1) it's a '95 Mercury Sable and 2) it's a '95 Mercury Sable. Let's just say the transmission gave out in Burns (aka nowhere), Wyoming, and we ended up selling it (to a family that reminded me very much of the Riddle family in the 6th Harry Potter) for scrap. Oh man. What a trip.

Alright, that was more than 50 words, but a lot of things happened. Here's the photo version of that last paragraph:

Our favorite rest stop. What's yours?

Michael was very impressed with the Cracker Barrel and insisted that our time there be recorded. (Those are sarcastic thumbs.)

You may think this picture is blurry, but it's actually the humidity fogging up the lens.

Michael and some show pigs.

This was a neat bridge for cyclists built over an old railroad line near my Aunt's house. Proof that everywhere has more city art projects than Salt Lake.

 

I wonder if it made any of the bikers mad that I was taking pictures of my spectating family instead of them.

Doesn't he look dainty?

Susan, James, Chris: bicycle warriors!

 Lightening bugs!

My Aunt has a friend, and a new idea for a bracelet.

 Considering a seven-year-old took this, it's pretty good.

 Chicago! The new Marilyn. It wasn't my favorite, but it sort of demands a photo op.

 Because I know you wanted to know.

 We're on a boat!

What a pretty city.

The Sears Tower and something from the 70s, obviously.

 The Art Institute. One of my favorites. I wish I lived closer so I could sit in front of the Giacometti's for hours, instead of rushing through.

 Ha!

See, we're in love.

 My Banana Nana and Laura, chatting about...everything.

One of my favorite things about my Nana is how much she loves elephants--she's collected about 400, although most of them have been given away or sold now. She's given me a few over the years. When I was in 8th grade she gave me the very first elephant she ever got when she was 14. I have it in my apartment in Logan. If I had to pick a favorite thing, I would chose my little brown and orange circus elephant. She even gave Michael a few elephants, she called him over and told him to pick anything he wants for his desk. She hopes he'll write about it someday. This trip I took home the bookends on the left. I really love them. 

This is the man who we sold the car to--he smoked his cigarette the whole time we were there, including when he filled up some cans of gas. Dicey? I think so. Really though, isn't this the Marvolo Riddle of Wyoming? I wish I had a picture of his son and his pet snake (just kidding, he didn't have a snake).

R.I.P Sable. I would like to say that we had a good run, but we didn't even make it to Cheyenne.

I would now like to apologize for this incredibly long blog post and thank my mom for reading all of it. Thanks, Midwest--it was swell.