A Camping Adventure

I am 1/2 way through my 13 day stretch of straight work.  Today worked 7am-7:30pm, will repeat tomorrow.
Due to such hours and my level of tiredness, "A Camping Adventure" shall be mainly a picture blog.  I have added a few minor comments, but for a better story make up your own commentary :)

Last weekend, Sarah, Penny, Buster, Bart, and I all went camping at Mount Lemmon...

First night camping - Sarah's apartment.  Rain on Mount Lemmon

Guarding the ice chest.  

1/2 of my car full for one night :)

hiking

Buster

Penny

Bart (short for Bartholomew) or Bart Bart, or Bart-mew for short.

Bestest buds

Yup....that's right, boxed wine.  Oh and a bucket hat :)

Bart is a camping dog - LOVES the dirt

My dogs - they like camping too :)

family photo

Penny hiding from the rain (and by rain, I mean sprinkling - the kind where you're like, "I think I might have felt a drop")

"GOOD MORNING" wake up call - Buster style

Pretty Posing Princess Penny

Again perfect example of what a good camping dog Penny is 

pooped out on the way home

Dog Park Adventures

There are always adventures in the dog park, especially with 2 wieners, but with 3 it is guaranteed!  What's this talk about 3 dachshunds you ask?  Well...you see my friend Sarah just couldn't resist getting one after spending the past year with Penny.
He is a long-haired dachshund and his name is Bart, which is short for Bartholomew.

Anyway back to the dog park.

First you have to say hello...butt sniff.  (eww...)

Just hangin' out!

So Penny was making friends with a furry little white dog, who thought she was a bit aggressive.  Penny is smelling Jack (white fluffy dog's name) and he kept backing up and backing up until...he dropped his little bottom into the water bowl I brought for my dogs.  

Then Jack proceeded to sit in the dirt.

White dog, with a wet bottom, and dirt = not a good combination.

A little white later, Jack's mom comes over to ask if he is bothering us.  Nope.  This is after he jumped up on the bench next to me.  As Jack runs up to his mom, she notices his brown bottom.

"Oh no, you got into poop."   hahahahahaha

He didn't get into poop - he just sat in our water.  Sarah and I didn't tell her, shh...it's ok she washed his bottom off with some water.  And later I watched him roll his entire body in the dirt.

The spotted dog above was not as fun as Jack.  He liked to sniff butt A LOT and then he liked to try and hump!

tsk...tsk

Penny wouldn't have any of this and kept snapping at him.  Above is Sarah trying to save Bart.

We were trying to keep spotted dog off our dogs when spotted dog's dad asked if he was bothering us.

Nope...except for the humping.  As spotted dog proceeds to try to mount one of the wieners...

Spotted dog's Dad "BABY - NO!"  and grabs dog.

Yup the humping male spotted dog's name was Baby.  Baby?!  seriously, that's ridiculous.

He proceeds to bother us occasionally - and one point Baby's dad walked over and said - no humpies.  

hahahaha

Totally needed at the dog parks - signs indicating "No humping"

Below are some silly pictures of a hot Buster being carried by Sarah.  Silly Buster :)

Then and Now

Has much changed over the last 5 years?

You tell me...

Graduation May 2006

Now July 2011

Not much - we pretty much look the same.  Different hair, different jobs.  I mean we actually have jobs :)

After being close friends for 4 years in college, the miles and years between us does not change the comfort or flow of conversation with each other.  Lots of laughs and reminiscing about old times.

It did not matter what we were doing over the weekend as long as we were together.

But for those who are curious about our LA adventures here you go:

Friday night - stayed up talking until 2 am and then all 3 slept together in a king size bed.  Good thing we haven't put on any weight since college.  ;)

Saturday:

     -  am:  brunch at the Grove, sadly no celeb sightings

     -  pm: spend the afternoon at the X-factor taping.  X-factor is a new reality TV show coming out this fall.  It's a singing competition.  Grand prize winner gets a 5million dollar record deal.  We saw 35 of the final 70 contestants from 200,000.  The first few acts were so bad we thought it was a joke and that we were on candid camera .  They later redeemed themselves with some talent.  My fav was a little girl - probably 10 years old.  Guess you know what I'll be watching this fall.

Then dinner after the show and drove around to see Hollywood Blvd and Sunset - nothing terribly exciting.

Sunday:

   -  am:  bfast at Venice beach and then walked around Venice Beach - much more grimy than I remember, so we drove up to Santa Monica Pier - much nicer.  Did a little walking around, shopping, talking, eating, etc - before heading back to Tucson

Best Friends

Tomorrow is the start of a weekend with two of my college besties!

Ryann - I have seen every year since I've graduated from Trinity.
Nava - I haven't seen since after the summer we graduated.  That's 5 years!

Well...tomorrow night the 3 of us will be reunited once again :)

Nava is back in the states briefly after spending the last 4 years in Haifa, Isreal.  She'll be heading to China to teach English this next year.


College Pics of the 3 of us!

It'll be a fun weekend with many more pics.  And lots of talking, laughing, and catching up!

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I've been MIA because I was on nights the week before last and then headed back to Tucson.  

Since being home, I've been unpacking and catching up on my long long long list of things to do!

I almost forgot

So what is the perfect, most refreshing drink to end a day out in the hot hot sun?  

A sonic - strawberry limeade slush!  YUMMY! 

Taken after my day at Monument Valley.  Gotta love the chunks of strawberries - I'm not such a big fan of having to maneuver my straw around those lime wedges to get to the good stuff though.

What's your favorite summer drink?

(and my truly favorite summer drink is the Mojito - that's not an option currently as my mint is in Tucson and I am currently residing in a dry county)

Monument Valley

As promised here are some of my pictures from Monument Valley.
You may recognize some of the scenery as it has been filmed for multiple movies and commercials.  I am sure my Grandparents would recognize it as they have seen every western movie ever made at least 5 times.
My mother recalled Forrest Gump and that this is where he turned around and decided that he was done running.

Still driving up to the Valley.

View from the lookout at the visitors center.  After realizing that the guided tour was $65 for 1.5 hrs on the back of a truck in some benches that had been bolted down without air conditioning, I quickly decided that off-roading in my SUV with air conditioning for only the price of my gas was a much better deal.  So....off I went down that little dirt bath you see in the above picture for 17miles.  The most off-roading I or my car has ever seen!

Me - to prove that I was there.

The different buttes and mesas each have their own names.  This one is the 3 sisters.

This is the Rain God Mesa.  It looks as if water has been poured over the top of it.

The next 2 pictures follow in succession of this one - as if panning to the right.

The Northern Window.

Small Town Life

You would think that I would be used to living in a small town, I grew up in one.  But not anymore - it's also very different when the only people I know are the ones I work with.  Every doc and nurse practitioner or physician assistant I have met does not live in Tuba.  They come up to work for a few days and then skidattle outta here.  Which I plan on doing the same.  Actually I did do the same yesterday, on my day off - I took a day trip to Monument Valley.

First some info about TC:
Tuba City has a population of nearly 10,000, twice that of Willows, but the catch is that the people are spread waaaayyyyy out.

Population density of Willows:  2,146.2/sq mi
Population density of Tuba city: 921.6/sq mi

Yet TC was not lost to the fast food chains.  They have a McDonalds, Taco Bell, KFC, Subway, and even a SONIC!
There is one grocery store, which is small with very little in ways of fresh fruit and vegetables.  It's a good thing I made a trip to my buddy Trader Joe and stocked up before I left.  Last night I had gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce (will also be my lunch today) from Trader Giotto.

Thankfully I have wii-fi internet at the place where I am staying otherwise I think I might go crazy with boredom!  And my baby, Penny had to stay at home.    :(

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Anyhoo.... I was refreshed and rejuvenated after my day trip to Monument Valley yesterday.

Here is just a preview of the trip.  More pictures to follow:

Have a Happy 4th of July!  I'll be working until midnight :)