Random Ramblings

   The days are getting shorter, the weather is getting colder, and I am getting older. Here are some random basic things about my life these days. There are no photos that really go along with any of this, so this may be a bit of a boring post.

    The other week, I tried making this recipe for Chewy Granola Bars, courtesy of Lynn via Sally. They tasted delicious, but there was one slight

Gunther's Almost Little Sister

   A few weeks ago, Gunther almost became a big brother. If you have read the previous posts, you will know that I went on a Hippie Road Trip to a Hippie Festival. It was on the trip home that Gunther almost got a little sister.
   As we were driving thru Arizona, we made a pit stop while on an Indian Reservation. Out running around the parking lot of this little podunk gas station were two little puppies. The one was super friendly and let us pick it up right away. She was very cuddle-ly. While I was holding and playing with the friendly puppy, a guy came out of the station and asked if we wanted to take her home. I said no, we had a long drive ahead of us. When I told Brittany that, she said "We'll take her! I know of someone that is looking for a puppy! She would have a much better life if we take her home with us!!" So I went and found the guy and made sure it was really ok for us to take her and to ask what kind of dog she was and how old. He didn't really know anything other then he thought she was 2 months old and told us to take her.

   And that is how we ended up with this cutie riding along.

...And The Hippie Festival

   After we finished climbing in Moab, we headed on down the road to Flagstaff. I think it was only a few hours drive and we got to the campground about dark. We set up the tent and then went to find Jake and Brittany's aunt and uncle, Roger and Julie, who were actually in charge of the entire Pickin' in the Pines festival. (Roger and Julie got us into the festival in exchange for our volunteering at the festival. They were very kind and generous!) Jake and Justin ended up jammin' with them around the campfire until about 2am.

This pickin' and jammin' around campfires until 2am was a regular occurrence all 3 nights.
The next day, we spent most of our time in downtown Flagstaff checking out all the outdoor recreational stores as well as other little shops. Coffee

The Hippie Road Trip...

   Earlier in September, I went on a road trip with Jake, Brittany, and Justin, to Flagstaff, Arizona. The main purpose of this trip was to attend the Pickin' in the Pines bluegrass festival. The other main purpose was to go climbing in Moab, Utah. (Just an FYI: if you're ever on a road trip with Jake, it is guaranteed that there will be climbing at some point.) Jason was unable to go with us due to work, and I was unemployed at the time which gave me lots of free time. No dogs were allowed on this trip because the car was already full, plus they weren't allowed at the festival. And now we begin the journey I called "The Hippie Road Trip!"
    It all started on Wednesday morning. I packed up myself, my camping gear, Gunther, and Gunther's overnight bag for his extended stay with Salem's grandparents. I mosied over the summit to help pack the travel car, and to go with Justin to take the dogs to his parents. Salem and Gunther were in heaven being able to spend 6 days on a farm! I felt really bad for the parents, though, having to put up with those two together for that long!!! After the 2.5 hour round trip to deliver dogs, we got everyone together, the car packed, and food to eat. It had been raining all day and the plan was to drive west out of the rain and end up in Moab at about midnight. Great plan, but it didn't work. We drove thru hard rain pretty much the entire way to Utah, took turns driving, and ended up in Moab about 3am. It was to late to find a campground (and kind of pointless at that time) so we parked in a supermarket parking lot and proceeded to try and sleep in the car. 

The little Honda Civic car.