My Bit of Earth

I'm the King of the World!

As you will recall, Nice Mom, Sweet Sister, and I made a trip to the Titanic Museum in Branson last weekend for Sweet Sister's birthday.  So, here we are standing in front of a blue screen with the deck of the Titanic digitally patched in on the deck of the Titanic. 

All joking aside, however, it wasn't as cheesy as I expected it to be.  I actually enjoyed the way they really focused on the people who were on board through the things they left behind (letters, jewelry, clothing).  It helped me to envision myself in their places, and see them as individuals.  There was also a lot of attention paid to making the overall environment consistent with what the ship might have been like.  For example, in the third class parts of the museum it was hot and loud, in the first class parts it was quiet with classical music, in the part of the museum that focused on the ship's sinking it was dark and cold.  And the reproduction of the staircase was very beautiful!

Maybe not worth a long trip, but certainly worth it if you're in the area and interested in that sort of thing.  More pictures here.

Wednesday Poll: The World is Full of Nice People

I was reading this post on BlogHer the other day (short story--the author gave a woman her ferry ticket and made a new friend) and it got me thinking about all the wonderful friends I've made while traveling.  Most moved in and out of my life in an evening--a few drinks, a few stories, some much needed help at just the right time--but they were friends all the same.  I like to think they're all happy, and I always hope their kindnesses to me were credited to them somewhere down the road.

For this week's poll:

Tell a story of a friend you made while traveling.

Comment and discuss.

Not Free

Have Dog, Will Travel

As a wrap up to our trip I wanted to post a little bit more of my thoughts--both practically and philosophically--about traveling with Moe. 

Practically speaking, the first thing many people have asked me about was the cost.  All told, it was roughly $300, which included his airfare ($200) and a health certificate from out vet ($90) that everyone said we needed, but no one ever actually asked to see.  I can hear people gasping, "But you could have bought another plane ticket for that!"  And it's true, we could have. 

However, you have to remember that when you have pets they cost you something to leave at home too.  Moe is a little intense to really leave with (free) family, so our options are boarding him ($200) or having a pet sitter come over to walk him ($350).  And--although I generally like the doggie daycare where we would board him and I love our dog walker--I still would have worried.  When you look at the alternatives (and given that we had planned an outdoorsy vacation anyway), it was actually cost and peace-of-mind effective to bring him along.

Reality is Back

After a long day of travel, we're all safely back home from our VACATION (except for Porter who is staying with Nice Mom and Sister until we can fetch her this weekend). 

It's nice to be home...but it was nice to be gone too.  I was watching TV at the airport in Houston and realized I've completely tuned out every scrap of news over the past week.  I have (or had, up to that point) no idea what's going on in Kansas, Iraq, or anywhere in between.  A pleasant ignorance, but sadly one that couldn't last....

Carnelian Bay

Coon Street Beach

Master Test with Drama

Today we went back for the second day of the Golden Gate Dachshund Club earthdog test.  It was the first time I had entered Moe in a master test and we were up first--needless to say, I was a little nervous.

Because I haven't talked about the master test yet, a little explanation....

Fuzzy Moss

This is What a Senior Earthdog Looks Like

Part of the reason we chose to visit Nice Dad and Nice Step-Mom when we did was because the Golden Gate Dachshund Club was having an earthdog trial nearby this weekend.  If you will recall (see here and here) when last we discussed the subject, Moe needed one more leg to earn his senior earthdog title.

As you can guess from the title of this post, he qualified...squee!!!   But (as anyone who does pretty much any dog event will tell you) there was, of course, much more to the story than that. 

Dried Yellow Flowers

No Ansel Adams

Floatin' in Dog Friendly(?) Tahoe

Day two in Tahoe.  Today we went on a rafting trip down the Truckee River (which flows from Lake Tahoe).  We did the self-guided Upper Truckee route, as opposed to the Lower Truckee which is a bit more exciting rapids-wise and hence requires a guide.  There were some parts that were a little slow on the Upper, but we had enough little rapids and rocks to dodge around to keep things interesting.

Moe was a pain in the butt really wanted to be in the water the entire time.  We let him trail along behind the raft in his life jacket when it was possible, but he strongly objected each time we had to pull him out because of rocks or rough water.  My idyllic visions of him standing nobly on the front of the raft were not to be, but we all still had a good time. 

Later that evening, we took Moe on a hunt for a dog friendly beach.  To digress a bit, part of the reason we decided to go to Tahoe over, say, Yosemite or somewhere else, was because from what I'd read it was a pretty dog friendly place.  Ehh...kinda-sorta.

The Bluebird of Happiness?

A Little Altitude

Today we drove up to Lake Tahoe where we'll be for the next few days.  After a nice lunch by the water in Tahoe City, we drove around to Emerald Bay and took a hike up to Eagle Lake. 

Phew!  I could tell (and I think my fellow hikers would agree) we were at a little higher altitude than any of us were used to.  The trail was supposedly a mile one-way, but it felt like much more.  Fortunately, we were rewarded with a beautiful little lake at the end.  Moe took a swim; the rest of us just kind of waded.  Then we headed back down to our little cabin for some well earned rest.

More pictures are here.

Wednesday Poll: VACATION Edition

For this week's VACATION poll:

You have one week, you can go anywhere in the world, you have enough cash to do whatever you'd like to do comfortably--where would you go on VACATION?

Comment and discuss.

California Moe

Vacation Day 1--Sleep.  Food.  Pool.  The Welshman is in heaven....see a video of him playing here.

The Flying Welshman

Despite a few little delays, we've arrived safely in California with Welshie in tow.  Moe did much better than I did handled the trip with his typical Welsh grace--sleeping though most of the flying parts and making passels of friends at all three airports.  Here he is with Sweet Husband in Kansas City, on the plane, in Houston, and (finally) in Sacramento.

That Sweet, Sweet Word

As of 1:37 this afternoon, I am officially on VACATION.  It's been a long time since I've had a proper VACATION, so I'm quite excited about it.

We're taking the Wee Welshman with us (Porter's staying with her Gram and Aunty) and heading for Nice Dad's house which is kinda sorta near lovely Lake Tahoe, which we shall also be visiting.  Aside from flying with Moe--which could just be adventure enough--we're going rafting and hiking and earthdogging and swimming.  I plan to wear crocs and flip-flops all week, eat seafood, drink wine, and maybe even have VACATION sex.  (I know, I know--too much information--but you're all grown-ups, you know how it is.)

I may or may not blog during the course of my VACATION.  The cabin we're staying at supposedly has internet access, but we'll see if it likes my computer.  However, I do have a couple'o'posts pre-scheduled so as not to leave y'all high and dry.  If I don't chat at you before then, I'll be back in a week or so (at the end of my VACATION).

The Bridges of Madison County

On our trip to Iowa this weekend, we drove by several signs pointing to "The Bridges of Madison County".  Since there's not a lot else to do in central Iowa with two dogs in tow, we decided to check them out.

There are six marked "Madison County" bridges--two of which were in the movie (Roseman and Holliwell) and two of which were in the book (Roseman and Cedar).  We were a little disappointed that they all pretty much looked the same, but it was still a nice drive.

Pictured clockwise from top left:  Hogback Bridge; Cutler-Donahoe Bridge; Holliwell Bridge; Imes Bridge; Roseman Bridge; and Cedar Bridge.  More pictures, including our earthdog trial, here.

Home Safely With Pictures

Sweet Husband arrived home safely last night. 

I don't know if I properly explained--he was in San Francisco this week taking an intensive stone setting class at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts with a friend from school.  Here are some pictures of their (long, uphill) walks around San Francisco, as well as a few shots of the school they went to, the outside of which is pictured left.

SNAG Conference in Chicago

Sweet Husband went to the Society of North American Goldsmiths conference in Chicago last week--here are the pictures.

Friday Field Trip--Capitol Dome Tour

Nice Carpool Gal and I have started trying to walk a bit at lunch. It gets us away from our desks, and it's helping me learn a bit of the geography of Topeka. (Like where the yummy chocolate store is!)

Early last week we were on such a walk when Nice Carpool Gal noticed there were people on top of the Capitol building. She said she thought it would be fun to go up there someday, like for a special occasion or something. A few hours later, I was sitting back at my desk working when an email popped up. Nice Carpool Gal had done a little research and discovered that anyone could go to the top of the Capitol Dome. In fact they have several tours a day.

A field trip was clearly in order. So we made a reservation, and, along with two other friends, we traveled the trecherous path to the top.

This is the Capitol dome from the outside as we walked up.*

And here's a shot from the first floor up at the dome. The ceiling that you can see in this picture is the inner dome. It basically ends where the green copper starts on the outside of the building. To get to the top of the building we had to go further up.

This is from the stairway that we took to get above the inner dome. It runs in a huge spiral around the edge of the domes.

This was the last stairway that led to the top. Yes, it was high! I'm not terribly afraid of heights, but my grip on the handrails was pretty tight as we walked up. The stairway felt sturdy, but it still seemed to just be kind of floating in the air. It really wasn't connected to much!

And at last we reached the top. Well, this isn't us on the top, but it's where we were, all 296 steps up.

As much as I'm not a fan of Topeka, there are some cool things to see there. We have a few more field trips in the works, so hopefully I'll have more to post about soon!

(*Sweet Husband needed the camera that day to take pictures of his work, so these pictures are courtesy of Nice Carpool Gal.)

My Heart Wants To Be In Italy

My very good friend C.C. (now commonly known by her grown-up name--Christina) just sent me a link to pictures from her Spring Break trip to Italy.

Oh to have been a little mouse in her pocket!

A Bit of Irish Earth

We spent Spring Break in Ireland! It was so beautiful, and we took so many pictures, that I put them on another blog. If you want to take a look it's called "Driving In Ireland".

Trip to Napa

Went to see Dad for New Year's and we took a day trip to Napa Valley--even without the sun it was incredible....

Napa Valley from the overlook at Sterling Vineyard