Final preparations

Good morning!  Hope you are all enjoying a relaxing weekend.   We are wrapping up the first week of Autuman 2019 and it's definitely feeling like Fall out there!  It has been a rainy week here in Michigan so it has been hard to get out for many adventures and the girls and I are getting a little restless! I was hoping to get out today, but we've got another rainy day in store for us, so we'll just have to wait and see if we can get out for some fun.  I know Peaches is ready for some!

It has been a pretty uneventful week as well.  Most of my time this week has been spent checking items off of my to-do list.  I've had lots to get done, both at work and at home, in preparation for my upcoming vacation. 

Last minute shopping for a few items, getting a haircut, and finalizing hotels and rental cars, as well as firming up plans for all of my vacation activities; it's been keeping me busy.  I just can't believe in just 4 days I'll be leaving for Hawaii!  I've been thinking about this trip for so long and here I am, less than a week away from finishing my journey to all 50 States and all 50 State Capitols.

The hardest part of the preparation for this trip, at least for me, has been preparing the girls for their very own little vacation.  While I'm sad that they won't be joining me, they're going to spend an entire week with Nicol so I know that they will be well cared for and very loved.  But I sure am going to miss them!

This weekend my plans were to spend the weekend at home in order to clean the house, decorate for Fall/Halloween, and start packing.  Other than a few items that can't be packed until the last minute, my packing is done.  I've also cleaned the house and have shopped for most of my fall decorating supplies.  While I still need a couple of items, I should be able to pick them up today.  With the rain today, I may have to delay the actual decorating, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to have everything decorated by tomorrow night.

Since I got so much done yesterday,  the girls and I should be able to sit back and relax today.  I  need as much time as possible to get in some quality snuggles before I leave!

I plan to try to write at least every couple of days while I'm traveling so you can share the journey with me.  I've got lots of fun planned as well as some relaxing beach days.  This really is going to be a special once-in-a-lifetime adventure and I'm excited to share my upcoming journey with you! 

The Summer's End

Good morning and welcome to the final day of Summer.  When we wake up tomorrow, Fall will have officially arrived.  It hard to believe that in less than 10 days will enter the month of October.  Where has this year gone?!?  But today I am not going to worry about the arrival of Fall.  Instead, I'm going to go out and make the most of our final day of Summer 2019.

I've got a lot going on in my life right now, and I've been busy over the last week trying to tie up loose ends.  It seems like this has been an ongoing theme over the last couple of weeks here at my house, but with a big vacation coming up in less than two weeks and everything else I'm working on, it is just part of my current routine.  Hopefully as we get through the month of October, things will slow down a bit and get back to normal around here.

If you know me, then you know that even though things get crazy, I still make time to get out for some adventures with the girls.  And if you know anything about GSPs, you know that if I didn't get them out for some fun, life might be even crazier around here!  These girls require a lot of exercise and mental stimulation and I am thankful that they give me something fun to focus on when life starts to get busy.  We entered the week knowing that it was the final full week of Summer and that soon, the weather will start to change, but this week the weather was still warm and summer-like and I planned to take full advantage of it.

Both girls had vet appointments this week, Maddie for her monthly adequan injection for her arthritis, and Peaches for a slight yeast infection in her ears.  Maddie's appointment was Monday evening and it was a beautiful night, so I was happy to take her out for a stroll along the Hayhoe Trail in Mason after her appointment.  I love to take any opportunity I have for a little one on one time with her because there is nothing quite like a peaceful stroll with Maddie.  It allows me to slow down and really enjoy the moment I am living right then.  I think she enjoys her alone time with me too.

Peaches appointment was Wednesday afternoon and while she was happy to see all of her friends when we first arrived, she is not a fan of being poked at.  After an ear cleaning and a nail trim. she was ready to escape from that place as quickly as she could!

Friday night we made a trip out to Sleepy Hollow State Park to visit with my parents.  They camp at Sleepy Hollow a few times every year and so it is an annual Fall tradition for us to spend some time with them while they are there.

I got home from work on Friday, fed the girls, and then headed out the door for our evening at Sleepy Hollow.   Both of the girls knew something fun was about to happen and I know that as soon as we took the exit off of the expressway, Maddie knew where we were.

We arrived at the campsite with much excitement and, as is typical for any trip there, as soon as we arrived my mom and dad where ready to start our hike around the park with the girls.  They have learned that there is no relaxing until we've gotten a good walk!   It was a beautiful evening for a walk and the girls even got a chance to stop at Lake Ovid for a bit.

When we returned to the campsite, we had a quick dinner and then enjoyed sitting out around the campfire while Maddie relaxed and Peaches remained on high-alert for any critters that might dare to enter her domain.  It was a great night and I left with three very tired girls!

Saturday we had some adventures planned with Vanessa and headed out mid-morning toward the Fort Custer area.  There is a beautiful stretch of North Country Trail through this area and we were going to take advantage of the nice weather and make some progress toward our 100 miles.

We started out strong, even Maddie was moving at a pretty quick pace, and we had finished our first mile in no time.  But over the next 1/2 mile the heat and humidity really caught up with Maddie and she began to slow down, so at 1 1/2 miles, we turned around and returned to the Jeep.  I was pretty impressed with how well she did and was happy to get in a 3 mile hike for the day.

After our hike, we headed just across the road from the NCT trailhead to visit the Fort Custer Recreation area.  We couldn't pass up the opportunity to get our State Parks book stamped and do a little geocaching.  We weren't there very long, but I think we've found another area we need to spend some more time exploring.  The craziest thing about our visit there was the number of people we saw on the beach and swimming, after all, you don't expect to see that on September 22.

We left the Fort Custer Recreation area heading toward Marshall because we had planned our whole day around helping with a rescue transport.  In Marshall, we met with Ruth to pick up darling little Charlie, a Weimaraner mix who was making his way from a foster home in Illinois to his forever home in Canada.  After an hour-long drive through the rain, we passed Charlie off for his next leg in Durand and then headed back to drop Vanessa off and then head home ourselves.  It had been a good day.

Today started out rainy so I've been busily cleaning, paying bills, and working on some other odds and ends, but the sun has come out and the girls are getting restless.  I think for our last day of Summer we'll be heading out for another fun adventure this afternoon...maybe we'll even add a few more miles on the North Country Trail.

I hope you all get a chance to get out enjoy the day as well!  

State Parks, the North Country Trail, and beyond!

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity for us. It is hard for me to believe that it's only been two weeks since Labor Day!  Boy have we been trying to make the most of what remains of our Summer.  From our walks close to home, to our North Country Trail Hikes and State Park visits, we are discovering new places regularly and we are enjoying all of our adventures to places both new and old.

We have spent a lot of time adventuring with friends lately, and I was excited when my good friend, Kim, and her family came into town with their Bernedoodle puppy, Baxter.  The girls hadn't had a chance to meet Baxter before and I was nervous about how Peaches would act, but after the initial introduction, she relaxed and was happy to be out exploring with a new friend.  We had a great walk around the MSU campus with them and they all sat nicely for a picture at the end of our walk.

We have also been enjoying working toward our goal of visiting all of Michigan's State Parks.  We spent a full day exploring Michigan's Thumb with Vanessa over Labor Day weekend.  It was a great weekend to get out and explore this beautiful State.  Our first stop that day was at the Sanilac Petroglyphs.  It's a tiny park with a short trail and we discovered that most of the people who stop here visit the petroglyphs site and nothing more.

While it isn't a very large State Park and the trail isn't much more than a mile, we enjoyed a nice hike through the woods while we were there.  I think this was the perfect place to start our day because the girls settled in nicely for the trip after this stop.

After our visit to the Petroglyphs, we continued on our journey through the Thumb.  With snacks provided by Vanessa...because I am horrible about remembering to eat...and a few stops for some geocaches along the way, we made our way to the Point Aux Barques lighthouse for a short hike, a little geocaching, and a great view of Lake Huron.

The lighthouse was hopping that day, so we didn't take a tour to the top, but we enjoyed the views before leaving.  We continued our trip around the tip of the Thumb to our next stop, the Port Crescent State Park.  Of the State Parks I have visited so far, this is one of my favorites.

There are lots of hiking trails and we decided to take the trail on the dunes along the Lake.  Sand, dune grass, and a Great Lakes' view are all things that make me happy!  Of course we had to stop on the beach and stick our toes into the Lake and let Maddie get a drink before heading back to the Jeep.  I think we all really enjoyed this stop.

Our final State Park stop of the day was the Albert E Sleeper State Park in Caseville.  We were all pretty tired when we got here, but we were determined to get my State Park book stamped and to do one more hike...and a little more geocaching.  We had a nice walk through the woods, and surprisingly, Maddie got a little second wind while we were here, so we were able to hike longer than I expected.  By the end of our hike, we were all tired and hungry, so we loaded the girls into the Jeep and headed into town to find something to eat.

Vanessa doesn't have the best track-record when choosing restaurants, so I was forced to choose...and after looking at the reviews online, we headed to Iggie's Pizza.  It's a small pizza place with no indoor seating, but there were picnic tables outside and the food was pretty good.  If you're in Caseville, you should check them out...the calzone sandwiches and breadsticks are pretty tasty! Of course, I had to get a picture of the girls in this big green chair. It had been a good day(despite the fact that shortly after this picture was taken, Maddie decided to snack on some poop and had stinky breath most of the drive home-eww!).

After spending way too much time away from the North Country Trail, last weekend we made time to head into Albion to get some miles toward our Hike 100 challenge.  It was a cloudy, drizzly, and humid Friday evening, so I wasn't sure how far we'd go, but the girls both did well and we were able to get in 2.5 miles on the trail before heading home for the night.  It was nice to be back on the trail.

The next afternoon, I had time scheduled with a potential adopter to do a home visit for ISR, but before that visit I had several errands to run and was hoping to also get in a couple of fun stops along the way.  While I had planned to be up and out of the house early, we slept in a bit instead and headed out a little later than I had originally planned.  The girls were happy to be out running errands with me, and after taking longer than I expected, we then headed toward our first fun stop of the day, the Meridian-Baseline State Park.

The park was only a short distance out of the way from our home visit, so it worked out perfectly for us to stop here.

This is another rather small State Park with a short hiking trail, about 1 1/2 miles round-trip, and an interesting history.  It is the baseline for surveying for all of the townships in the State of Michigan...although I read all of the historical Markers, I'm not sure I can really explain it to you, but it was an interesting place.

We hiked out to both of the survey markers, grabbed a couple of geocaches along the way, and then headed back to the Jeep to continue our journey to Stockbridge for our home visit.  I always enjoy those visits because I get to meet people who love GSPs as much as I do.  This visit was no different, I met a very nice family and their handsome GSP Winston.

We'd had a great Saturday, but had even more fun planned for Sunday.  Sunday morning, Katelyn joined us as we headed out for a day-trip to Chicago to visit Emmalee and attend the ISR Reunion.  The girls and I were happy to have company on our drive to Chicago and were excited to see Emmalee.  Luckily, Sunday morning traffic into Chicago is pretty light, so we had smooth travels with only a couple of slight delays along the way.

We took part in the poop-flinging contest(it wasn't really poop) and the girls had fun with the bubble chase and the peanut butter licking contest.  Peaches even came in fourth place!

At the reunion, I was happy that Peaches was on her best behavior and was able to spend time interacting with some of the other dogs, even while she was on leash.  This was a huge accomplishment!

Our friends Barb, Tom, and Sherman, also made the drive in from Michigan to attend the reunion and Peaches was excited to see her friend! Overall, a good time was had by everyone, even poor Emmalee who had a horrible allergic reaction to the dogs.  It was nice to get to spend some time with our rescue friends and all of those brown-spotty dogs!

This past week, we weren't able to get out for many weekday adventures.  With rain and storms in the forecast, and two nights out of town for work, I wasn't able to spend much time with the girls.  Friday was a busy day too and we weren't able to spend any real quality time together.  But I did my best to make up for it on Saturday and Sunday.

After a long and exhausting week, Saturday started out slowly, but I had promised the girls some fun so we headed out to explore Frances Park.  It was a beautiful evening and after a nice walk around the park, we headed over to the rose garden to enjoy some end-of-summer blossoms.  I was pleased to see so many beautiful roses still in bloom.

Sunday morning we slept in and enjoyed a slow, peaceful morning.  It was much needed after the long week I had had.  But eventually we were up and around, finishing up laundry and cleaning and some other odd-and-ends.  Thankfully the weather held-off and, after I finished housework, we were able to head out to Marshall for some time on the North Country Trail

We haven't been to the riverwalk in Marshall for a while, so there were all kinds of new smells and interesting things for the girls to sniff.  It was a beautiful afternoon and we were able to add another 2.4 miles toward our 100, leaving us with about 28.5 miles to go.

It was a great way to end our week and head into a new week relaxed and refreshed.  The girls even let me get a good picture of them at the end of the hike!  It's not often that they cooperate and both look at me at the same time. 

It has been a busy 16 days and somehow, we're now in mid-September already!  Where has the time gone?  I am excited to continue to work on our State Park goal and have some plans over the next couple of months that will hopefully allow us to check off some new State Parks while also chipping away at our NCT miles.  I'm hoping to have our miles done by Thanksgiving at the latest this year.

While most we have completed almost everything on Peaches original bucket list, we continue to add things to and check things off of that list.  What I've actually discovered is that really we're just trying to make the most of every day that we have been given.  We have lots of future adventures planned and the next couple of months should be very exciting for all of us.

I will end by sharing something pretty cool...at least I think it's cool.  Our friend Emmalee traveled to India this summer for some clinical work as part of her Medical school training (she's a second year med student at Northwestern).  She returned from India with a gift for me that I absolutely love...

While her goal was to bring back a full bottle, the store in India made her drink the Mt. Dew before she could leave the store.  But I still have this awesome bottle all the way from India.  I think it's pretty cool!

Thanks for continuing to follow along on our journey.  The girls and I appreciate each and every one of you and can't wait to share more of our fun adventures with you!  

The Move

Hello friends  and happy Saturday.  We have lots of adventures to share from our long Labor Day weekend last week, but boy have I been busy this week.

After a fun-filled Labor Day weekend with friends, I went back to work and had to move my office.  I spent hours on Tuesday and Wednesday emptying drawers and cabinets and packing up all of my mementos and pictures from throughout the years. Its amazing how much stuff you can accumulate over a 22 year career, and even more interesting when you haven't moved in 10 years.

I found things that I carefully moved and stored 10 years ago...and then haven't really needed since.  I also found some special items which have traveled with me from office to office and desk to desk.  I have saved some items as a reminder of all of my history with Ameriprise and I have some special items from throughout the years.  It just made me smile to think of how much things have changed since I started working with Ameriprise 22 years ago.

I was sad to take down my wall of memories and especially sad to lose this desk.  It was perfectly set up for me and made my work life easy.

I was also sad to lose my windows and my more spacious office, but change is inevitable and you just have to learn to go with it.

My new office and new desk are much smaller and I have a lot less storage space,  so I spent several hours Thursday and Fridsy reorganizing and getting rid of things I don't need any more.

I was able to donate some unused office supplies to the shelter, some books to a local library, and some other odd and ends, like a pencil sharpener that has literally been with me my entire career, to Goodwill.

When I left the office on Friday,  I felt like I had accomplished a lot in a short, 4-day work week.  My office is 95% organized and I can get back to doing my real work again.  But boy was I exhausted! 

I had planned to write the blog today and share our adventures of the last week with you all, but I had errands to run,  volunteering to do, and of course,  I had to take the girls out for some fun too.  With all we had to get done today, I've had no time to relax, but I still wanted to share a little piece of my busy week with you. I know it isn't as fun as dog filled adventures,  but sometimes that's just the way life goes!

Tomorrow the girls and I will be driving to Chicago with their Auntie Katelyn and picking up their Auntie Emmalee, and then heading to the Illinois Shorthair Rescue Reunion.   We're excited to spend time with friends and to see our ISR family! It's always a good time.

So I'll end tonight with a promise to catch you up on our Labor Day adventures as well as all of the fun of the last week.  Who knows, maybe I'll have time for a mid-week post!

Until then, here's a cute picture of the girls to end tonight's post...because they are too cute not to share!  Wishing you all a fun Sunday and looking forward to sharing more of our adventures with you again soon!