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Yesterday was my 38th birthday. It was a good one. Breakfast was cooked for me, I got to go on a fantastic hike, the family cooked me a very tasty dinner, and I got a few very thoughtful presents. Today it feels like life is back to normal. The sink is full of dirty dishes from dinner last night, there is school to be done, and the bathroom needs cleaning. However, the sun is shining and it looks like it will be a beautiful day.
I haven't written all summer, so perhaps the question is, Why start now? The only answer I can think of is, Why not?
So, with that thrilling introduction, let me tell you about my day. It didn't start as early as yesterday, but 7:30 AM found me rushing out the door, loaded down with my pack, my shoes, my dog, her pack, and a bag of banana muffins. After a quick stop in Riverside to use the facilities and meet up with Paul and Casey from the meet up group, we all headed north. I was afraid we were lost before we even got the trail head, but we arrived at the end of road 423 without any trouble.
I got my puppy! She is a bluetick coonhound from North Carolina. I've named her Tesla, though I'm still unsure what her registered name will be. She has only been here two weeks, but she is growing fast! I'd like to report that she is flawlessly housebroken, but I try to keep this blog based in reality. She is getting close to housebroken, but I still have a bit of training to go on that front. The biggest thing I'm working on right now is "come". I'm very excited to have my own dog again, though. The training is all part of the fun. I'm still unsure of exactly what she will be trained to do. I know the basics, like she is going to go to a few shows this summer and she is going to do a lot of hiking. The part I'm still deciding is if she will be a hunting dog or a search and rescue dog. Right now I'm leaning more toward hunting. I don't actually have any desire to kill a mountain lion, but I would love to see one. I just found out last week that it is now possible to get a permit to hunt lions with dogs in Washington. One hound isn't enough to hunt a cat, but Kerri has two hounds and her neighbor has another. I think four dogs would be enough! In the meantime, I will continue teaching her to come. No matter what she does she has to learn that one!
In other farm news, I have my first baby boer goat! Well, Cinnamon had babies last year, but they weren't bred by me. I suppose I should say Stetson has his first baby. The baby had a rough start, the girls found him cold and unable to stand. His mom, Kiwi, is a first time mother and it had been a cold night. We dried the baby, Valentino, off and got some warm colostrum into him. I was kind of unhappy to use the colostrum from the freezer on the first baby born, but he needed it. I bought myself a new stomach tube this past winter and it was very easy to use! By the end of the day he was strong enough to stand and nurse. He is now four days old and seems to be doing well. We've been gone down to Thornton, so I haven't actually seen much of him, but I'm hoping to work outside for a few hours today. The weather has been extremely wet, but the next 7 days we are supposed to be dry and fairly warm, so hopefully the farm will dry and the mud will vanish.
I'm not sure what my plans are for today. Everyone still seems to be sleeping. Katt is here visiting, so I want to do things that will interest her, but I'm not sure what that will be. Katt bought a new puppy on Sunday, so I'm sure playing with our puppies will be a prominent feature of the day. I'm thinking of taking them for a hike up on state land near Tum Tum.
I'm still trying to plan next summer's personal vacation. Right now it is unsure if I will be hiking in CA with Jean or guiding in OR with Bob. Both would be wonderful. It sounds like I will know for sure on March 4th.
Well, I suppose I should go wake up children. I've let them sleep in over an hour late, but the animals are hungry.
Well, I have no better excuse for my lack of writing beyond the fact fall has been very busy. I meant to do a nice write up about elk camp, but it didn't happen. Here is a brief clip of something that happened at camp, though:
Jeanette, Tyler, Sabrina and I took a walk this afternoon. Jarod and Kylie started at the same time as us, riding their mountain bikes. It didn’t take too many minutes before they were out of sight around a bend in the road. Sabrina and Tyler had their bikes, as well, but they kept waiting for us, so we mostly stayed together.
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Friday afternoon we piled into the truck, hooked up the trailer loaded with our camping gear, and headed out of town, picking up Jarod on our way through downtown. It was a long drive, but at least we knew exactly where we were going this week. The girls had checked the last Harry Potter book on cd out of the library, it was very enjoyable to listen to and made the drive pass swiftly. It was after dark when we pulled into camp, so I was particularly glad that the tent was still set up from earlier in the week. It didn't take long to spread out sleeping bags and tuck in for the night.
I had been expecting to spend Labor Day at home, but Wednesday of last week my plans changed. Friday afternoon at 2 I picked Jarod up from work and we headed south. The children had all gone ahead first thing in the morning with Jeanette, Jarod's mom. I was a bit worried about finding the place where John, Jarod's brother-in-law, was camped. Although we didn't have very clear directions, we didn't have any trouble finding the camp.
