11/16/2024

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that's why I send and his wife took me out to dinner. They live near Palm Springs and they took me to a nice restaurant in Palm Springs for a lovely dinner. I left the dog in the van, the weather was quite chilly, and she did really great. 

This morning Miss Vivien Butterfly and I got going early to Joshua Tree National Park. Since this was day two for me, it meant hiking. The rule at National Parks is that dogs are allowed on roads, parking lots, and picnic areas. They're also allowed 100 ft from any of those places. Since Joshua Tree has most of its sites within 100 ft of the parking lot, is Vivien was able to see some things.

I did a little bit of hiking. I can leave the dog and the bird for about an hour hour and a half without any problems. 

Joshua Tree National Park you're very unique landscape. It's very rocky with super large rocks. Since this is not my first time here, I think I've had enough of Joshua Tree for quite some time. 

Until tomorrow...

11/15/2024

Crystal day at Joshua Tree National park. But first I dropped the dog off at a doggy daycare to spend part of the day while I drove around the park. The boarding facility was 5 minutes from the entrance to the park. My first went to the visitors center to get my passport stamp, t-shirt and map. 

I decided to do the 26 mile Loop while the dog was in the boarding facility. That way I could drive the whole thing and map out what I wanted to do in the next day. I only had until 1:00 because I had to take a zoom call and National Parks do not have any Wi-Fi. 

The park was great it was a very relaxing drive around since it's off season. It was not very crowded and I made a plan for the next day. 

I use the doggie boarding parking lot to make my zoom call and when I was done I picked up the dog and we went back to the campsite. 

When you walked all around the campground after dinner and then bought some TV. 

Until tomorrow...

11/14/2024

Got up early and got going. We had a long day of driving ahead of us to get to Joshua Tree National Park. We were staying in Desert Hot Springs at a very nice Campground. 

Once again I had to get up early to give the dog the medicine so that she would not be stressed out in the car. We got to the campsite late afternoon and set up camp. 

This campsite has a lot of amenities and I chose it so that we'd have things to do at the campground since it was a desert. Campground has mineral spring type hot tub, heated pool, unheated pool, bocce ball, kids playground, dog park and more. I'm looking forward to them mineral bath. 

Until tomorrow...

11/13/2024

Got up early to give the dog her new motion sickness medicine. She has to get it 3 hours before we leave. So I started packing the van. 

Once I could put the dog in the van, we took off. The three of us going down to Joshua Tree. Our first stop was Solvang. Unfortunately, since we stopped to buy a water hose, the one provided for me was bad, we ended up getting to Solvang at 4:45pm. The town literally shuts down at 5 pm. We walked around a bit and went back to the campground to heat up chili. 

Until tomorrow...

11/12/2024

Got up early to get a taxi to a train and then hike for half an hour to go get the van. Once again the van pick up was less than perfect. It was still water in the gray tank which is dishwater and shower water. There was also a lack of water hose. I decided instead of arguing with them I just go by my own water hose. 

But I finally got it and got home, put all the dishes in the dishwasher, wash the whole van down. You may ask why when supposedly they clean it. I don't trust that they actually clean it. 

Then I started loading things in. I loaded up all the things except valuables. So clothes, food, dishes, etc. that takes me a couple of hours of walking back and forth to the van. Luckily my neighbor allows me to park the van in his driveway and I give him free candy and pastries. 

All of the rest of the stuff and the pets in the van tomorrow morning. 

Until tomorrow...

11/6/2024

After having groceries delivered, I began making chocolates. This time I made more coffee and a batch of peanut butter. They look great. 

Later in the evening I decided to decorate them. 

I am not sure which of the dark chocolate stars I like best. The roses are decorated with some edible glitter. Just having fun. 

Until tomorrow...

11/5/2024

I had no client work to do today. I was supposed to have a meeting but it was cancelled 15 minutes into the meeting time. 

I have a love/hate relationship when clients cancel meetings at the last minute. On one hand I have more time to do other things. But on the other hand, I most likely didn't schedule something that I needed to do because I had a meeting scheduled. I may have rushed to get to my office for that scheduled meeting. I also think it is rude to schedule an hour of my time and just not show up and send a text saying the meeting is cancelled and not because of some emergency. Maybe it is just me.

After walking the dog, I started to make chocolates. I tried a new version of the coffee chocolates and they are great. I may not sleep tonight but that may also be because it is election night. Ugh. 

Until tomorrow...

11/4/2024

I didn't have much work to do today, so I decided to experiment with some chocolate. I made a vegan ganache that I hope had staying power. I also made some dark chocolate chili with Pepito's. Delicious. 

I had the gardener here to finally put in my front garden. It is a small space but it needed something. He put in 6 succulents with purplish rocks around them. It looks just as I pictured. Partially because I copied it from a house in my neighborhood. They say copying is the greatest form of flattery or something. 

I spoke to a friend and her son has a tortoise. I always wanted a tortoise (and a panda but only one is attainable) but couldn't figure out how the logistics. She says her son feels the tortoise should be rehomed. I am all in. That would make a bird, dog and tortoise. 

Until tomorrow...

11/1/2024

I had to go to the dentist to get a tooth checked. I was worried that the feeling was falling out. But it turns out the tooth is fine. The dentist just had to file down a little bit to make it flatter. 

Other than that my day was pretty chill. I walked the dog a couple times I met with a friend to continue working on her website and told her my finished vision board. 

Until tomorrow...

11/3/24

Today the clocks were turned back an hour so I slept in. After taking a bath, I walked the dog. Then I did laundry and most dreaded task: invoicing clients. I was proud that I finished invoicing by dinner. In-between invoices, I roasted brussel sprouts and baked some tofu for dinner. 

It was a super nice day and I wanted to go hiking but life got in the way. 

Until tomorrow...

11/2/2024

We got up early and went on a hike. It was an hour away and had elevation and switchbacks. Just what the doctor ordered for Vivien. She did okay with all the movement. I'm going to go again next week to see how she does.  I don't want to drug her to get in the van but I will if I have to. It's just a little relaxing pill.

The hike had great views and a .7 mile loop that we did twice to get our steps in. 

Until tomorrow...

10/24/2024

I decided that the dog needed to be washed today. She took a dip in the water in Olympic National Park and hasn't smelled great since. So today was the day she got dunked in the water and washed. She smells so good now and seems happy. 

Later in the afternoon I started to not feel well. I don't think it's from washing the dog, I think it's from from not feeling well. And yes I tested for covid but no it's not covid. I just laid down on the couch and took a nap until it was time to get up dog. 

Until tomorrow...