ONE DAY UNTIL DOG DELIVERY

It's been a week that I have been home. It's been a whirlwind of activity. Today I cleaned the house and went to acupuncture. My left knee got tweaked unloading the van. I've been heating and elevating at night. 

Tomorrow is the day I pick up the new senior dog. Everyday I change her name but I have to settle on a name by tomorrow because I sign the paperwork. 

Today I came up with Butterfly Eclair. I kind of liked eclair but it will get shortened to Claire and I am not sure I like Claire. My idea of Potato is too mean. But I like butterfly. Papillon means butterfly in French. I came across a website of French names and I chose as my last name idea: Miss Vivien Butterfly. I can call her Viv or Vi. She needs a serious and sophisticated name. She is a sophisticated girl. 

Tomorrow is the day. I cleaned the house since the foster mother is coming over. I also made a small No-Bake Orange Cheesecake (vegan of course). 

Until tomorrow...

CHOOSING A NAME

This morning I went over and got Lucky's ashes. Lucky was cremated and because I was away, the vet held onto the ashes. The ashes come in a beautifully etched wooden box. It was smaller than Happis box but she was a smaller dog. 

Then I had my interview and review of paperwork for the adoption. There was a glitch in the meeting because I was late due to a client emergency. 

The folks were super nice. They didn't have much more to tell me except Midge was probably with an older person who could not continue to take care of her. I need to get her walking to shed those pounds. 

While I was at the vet, I made Midge's first vet appointment for next week. 

I have been throwing around names: Potato, Pudge but they seem negative. Then Malone but that didn't seem right. Then I spoke to my brother and he said butterfly. I need to think on that. 

Until tomorrow...

A DOG!!

I received an email from the dog foster mother and she was so nice. She invited me to her home to see Midge. She is a slightly overweight Papillon. She is still wearing her cone but it comes off soon. She just got spayed. She is 8 years old and cute as a button. 

I went in the late afternoon to see Midge and she is sweet. She has the exact opposite energy of Lucky. Lucky was high energy, high anxiety and needed to guard everything. This made Lucky not a cuddler. She liked things the way she liked them and would protect that to the end. 

Midge (gotta change that name) is a sweet soul. She cuddled up to me on the couch and fell asleep on my leg; cone and all. She let me pick her up and she gave me lots of kisses. 

I decided that I am going to adopt her. 

Until tomorrow...

ANOTHER DOG?

Tonight I was browsing dog adoption sites when I saw this adorable dog. She is 8 years old and was surrendered for unknown reasons. She has good health and doesn't take any medicines. She just got spayed. 

So, I sent a request for information to adopt her. An hour later I got a message saying she was available. I was given the foster mother's email. 

I sent a message to the foster mother and we will see what happens. 

I'm kind of excited at the thought of getting another dog. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY OF CHORES AND A MATTRESS

I got up and realized I needed to finally get a new mattress. I was so comfortable in the van and this mattress won't let me sleep in the middle because it has divots. This weekend there were mattress sales so I got a good deal. Do you know they sell $14,000 mattresses? It better come with a car for that price. 😂

When I got home, I put things away from my trip. I washed dishes and did another load of laundry. I tried to light my oven/stove again but still no luck. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY OF REST

Today was my day of rest. I took a bath and relaxed. I put a few items away from the trip. I did some laundry. 

I didn't do much of anything. It felt good. 

Until tomorrow...

WENT FOR A HIKE

I got up early and went for a 2.5 mile hike at a nearby park. I've learned the secret: go to your hiking location before 10:00 am. 10:00 am is the magic time when the majority of hikers show up after breakfast. When I was leaving at 10:30 the parking lot was full. When I arrived I was the second car parked. 

After the hike, I went to a vegan outing. Yesterday I made chocolates to give out. They were a huge success but these types of events are being discontinued so I am not sure I can sell them. It is a fun project, not a money maker. 

I got some food to take home for dinner. 

Until tomorrow...

RETURN THE VAN

I got up early to finish cleaning the van. I had to dump the gray (dishwater) tank, dump the toilet cassette, and drain the water. It is not hard just time consuming and there is lefting involved. 

Once the cleaning was done, I drove it to the rental location. Just so happened there was an accident on a highway that slowed my ride back home. 

My home is full of all the items from the trip. I was too tired to touch any of it. 

Until tomorrow...

TRIP - DAY 30

Well, I found out that the bathrooms at this campsite close at 10:30 at night and open at 7:30 a.m.  What am I supposed to do at 6:00 a.m.? You probably don't want to find out what I did. It's a little TMI. 

I closed down camp pretty quickly and we were out the door at 7:30 a.m. I drove for many, many hours until I reached home. 

Once home, I unpacked the van for about an hour. Then I began cleaning and defrosting the refrigerator. That van looks great. I got tired and decided to soak in a bath. My thighs are still killing me from my Angel's Landing hike. 

Until tomorrow...

TRIP - DAY 29

This posting will be quick. I left Zion National Park and drove through the Mojave Desert, Las Vegas and crossed over the Virgin River multiple times. The Virgin River was behind my campsite in Virgin UT. I also saw a sign for Zzyzx Road. Sounds like Elon Musk's kids name. I drove in three states: Utah, Arizona and California. 

The scenery was awesome and so different from the snow, green of the north and the red rock of the south. This was all hot, windy desert. 

It was a 4.5 hour drive. I got to my campsite and got my site. I needed propane and drove to a FlyingJ. The guy put in the propane and when he touched the propane spout, the metal casing under the propane fell off. The screws had come undone. No, it wasn't an attempt to injured me. It was wear and tear. The reason this is dangerous to drive like this, is because if a large rock or something hit the propane tank with no covering, it could get punctured and that would be bad. 

I contacted the company but no one responded immediately so I called a repair man. He was sweet and within an hour came to the FlyingJ. (For those who don't know what a FlyingJ is, it is a gas station plus large market. They all have at least 12 pumps and lots of diesel. They have high roofs over the pumps, so truckers and RVs love them. But they also carry propane to fill a RV or van tank.) 

The man tried to fix it but didn't have the tools. So I followed him to his business and once there he drilled a new hole and put in a new screw. I should be good to go. 

Let's tally it all up:

1. Weird alert on dashboard

2. Non-functionong fan (which now works sometimes).

3. Flat tire/replaced tire

4. Weird noise that we thought were the brakes (it is still doing it but quieter) 

5. The "Check brake pads" notice came on once but not since 

6. The plate fell off the propane tank.

Not too bad for a month.

Update on my health: after the hike up Angels landing, I took a long hot shower. This morning I took a long hot shower. It mostly doesn't hurt except when I squat down or get in and out of the van. Then it is a bit excruciating. It will take a few days to stop being sore. 

Until tomorrow...

TRIP - DAY 28

What a day!! I got up early so I could catch the RV resort shuttle to Zion NP. It was a short shuttle ride to the park to hike Angel's Landing. Once we got to the park, I followed the people to the shuttle inside Zion. 

The switchbacks leading up the trail were developed in 1924 and are known as Walter’s Wiggles, named after Walter Ruesch, the first superintendent of Zion National Park.

On the shuttle, I got off on stop 7 Grotto. I saw two people I knew were going to Angel's Landing because I heard them talking. I followed them to the entrance to Angel's Landing. The Grotto entrance. 

The hike is pretty hard. First I walked through some rocks. 

Refridgerator Canyon .5 miles

Then began the switchbacks. They started out long and ended up short but very steep. There are 21 switchbacks. The shorter ones are called Walters Wiggles named after Walter Ruesch, the first superintendent of Zion National Park.

Once the switchbacks ended we were at Scout Lookout.

Then I went on the Hogsback Chain section. Yes, it is as hard as it looks. This was where we had to show our permit and ID to the ranger. 

This starts the dangerous portion which is why I had to have a permit to hike. They started permits because the hike became so popular and there were too many people on the trail. 

Everyone goes up the same way they come down. I was climbing over boulders and walking on sections that are 1.2-2 feet wide. There were many parts that have no walk or chain. This hike is the most dangerous in the USA and some say the world. 

There is a chain for some of the hike. It is helpful to pull yourself up. Some of the hardest parts are at the end. 

The final stopping point before you walk down is the Angel's Landing Summit. 

If you want to get the experience from your own sofa, watch this video. 

Https://youtu.be/YP5ma83xr9w?si=WT8MLU3j6rq_-tlT

Then we had to climb down. Coming down is in some ways easier because of gravity but it's also a bit slippery in places so you have to be very careful. 

All this to say, I missed the shuttle back to the RV campground. The people were nice enough to allow me to squeeze in to the van on the last shuttle pickup. 

Once I got back I rested for a little bit, then took a very hot shower, talked to friends and family members, made dinner, and relaxed. 

I'll have to wait to see how much I can walk tomorrow. My thighs are killing me. 

Until tomorrow...