San Diego- post 1

Most of you know that I love to travel..so much so that I 'travel myself out' after a while. this year was the year of the long flights.  Of course, nothing will outdo the 13 hour return trip from Italy..at least I hope not!!
This is just post 1..the zoo and safari park will get their own post.  Too many great photos!
Before I left, you'll remember the toilet was in Jason's office.  After a leak was found, the hardwood had to be removed. we had the leak fixed and new flooring installed.  So when I returned from San Diego..the toilet was out of the office and in its proper location!

 Also, before I left..I broke down and bought yet another lens (thank you, Gyeong for this new obsession).  The 50mm 1.4 (also known as the Nifty Fifty) takes great head shots.
And Henry didn't mind being a model..(he says thank you to all his friends for the well wishes after his latest bad diagnosis)

 And I got a little creative..well as much as my science brain will allow!

We watched Expo for a few days.  He is handsome

But not the brightest..he was determined to fit in to Dante's poof bed!

 And well..it isn't a blog without Cali...

 

 So after packing my lenses and official clothes (this WAS a work trip..so I DID have to actually work for some of it..boooooo!), I headed to San Diego, CA which has now become my new favorite city!
My mom flew out to meet me on Tuesday, but I arrived on Sunday.  I 'conferenced' all day Monday and Tuesday.  I did take some time on Monday to meander around the area.  The bay is very beautiful.  My hotel is the blue shiny one in the middle (both blue shiny ones actually). 

Once Mom arrived, we attended a reception from one of my vendors.  Got to love free alcohol!  But then we went to Nobu, which is really quite a food 'mecca'. 

Best sushi ever!  The food overall in San Diego was top notch!

We also decided to visit the USS Midway, which is a large naval ship that is now a museum.  I highly recommend.  it was amazing!
We got to tour the entire ship..I would not be suited for ship living..i need my space!

I did believe this guy would use 'deadly force'!

 They did everything on this ship!

 We even visited the brig

 Then we went 'top side' and viewed the flight deck.  This was my favorite!

 A view of where the planes took off and landed..

From the flight deck, you had another great view of the bay.

I do love helicopters....

Then we went to the 'island' which is where they 'steer' the ship and where the 'air traffic' control is housed.
you see this part in movies a lot!

another view of the flight deck and surrounding city

After that we headed back to rest up for the next day's zoo adventure! But we decided to take an unconventional form of transportation..which did allow me to get an overview shot of the USS Midway

 Mom shows us her new friend! What you can't 'see' is that we rode the few miles back with Frank Sinatra blaring and the driver singing at the top of his lungs..it was awesome.

 And I was able to let my Mom experience her first rickshaw ride!
next post..The San Diego Zoo and The San Diego Safari Park..

Beach Bound Hounds 2011

Kristen and I loaded up the car and headed to Beach Bound Hounds again this year.  We both love this event!  We took Stanley, Jaime, Dana and Cali. We spent a lot of time walking on the beach

 And running in the waves..

And of course lounging by the ocean..

We love this event b/c a lot of our friends join us on the beach..

Mitch and Michelle bask beside of us with Pippi, Maggie, Booyah and Cueball.

Dolly shows us how pretty she can be..

Dana catches some rays.

 the weather was pretty good most of the time.  The dogs could be with us on the beach in the morning but it would get hot by mid-day.  Of course, every day around 3PM..it would storm.  And not just a little..This one rolled through quite dramatically!

It slowly covered the beach/ocean..

 

 Until the inevitable occurred..

 But luckily, it only happened for a few hours and then the sun would come back out for our evening activities!  And sometimes with a rainbow!

 Of course, all this activities..wiped the dogs out!!!!  We were dragging them by the last day!

Cali and Stanley snuggle while watching the waves off the balcony

 Even Dana became a 'bed dog' here.  Her old bones were definitely tired!

 There is always a group 'roo' on Sunday morning.  I took this after we had come upstairs so it wasn't the full group.  We were told about 470 dogs were in attendance and 250 people.  If you have never attended this event..we highly recommend!

 And not to be still for too long...I leave for San Diego on Sunday.  Zoo tickets in hand!
And hopefully.....the work on my downstairs bathroom will be complete..b/c this OCD person cannot handle the mess.
Can you see what does NOT belong in this photo?

More updates

After all the natural disasters, we needed a little fun.  Jason's sister got married in Cherry Grove Beach a few weekends ago.  We weren't there long (I am heading back there today actually!) but we were able to play with our niece and nephew in the ocean for a bit.

Jason's dad shows Madison how to body surf

 And William tries as well

but after all the fun games, we had to get dressed up and attend the nuptials.  Madison and William as the flower girl and ring bearer

We clean up ok sometimes too...

 The Stumpf boys- three generations

 and finally the happy couple

 After that event, we had a few greyhound fun events.  We had a bunch of dogs arrive from florida and then our fall picnic.
Cali pretty much rests where ever she sees fit..Rusty obliges as usual.

Matrix meets her new family

 Now this seems like an odd photo..but Pawnee (the white/brindle) was busy sniffing the ground and didn't notice she had meandered under her 'sister' Amirah.  She lifted her head and they stood like this.until the owners had to literally walk them in separate ways.  Greyhounds really do tolerate alot!

And finally..an update on the old man.  Henry's biopsy came back malignant for hemangiosarcoma.  it is a good thing we did the surgery as it would have spread rapidly for sure if we hadn't removed it.  Has it already spread? We don't know. And for full disclosure..we aren't going to find out.  We could do an ultrasound/Xray to determine if it has metastasized but we would be able to do very little.  And if the ultrasound comes back negative..it doesn't mean it will be negative the next month. So for now, we love him, treat him the best we can and hope he is here for a lot longer.  he did get to go to the picnic with me and the wonderful Elaine and Jim gladly sat with him so he could enjoy the picnic while resting comfortably

Kristen and I are leaving today with Cali, Dana, Stanley and Jaime for Beach Bound Hounds.  You know a lot of photos will be coming!!!!

All natural

Ok, there is a new blog format, so give me some time..let's see how this goes.

Nature has been odd lately.  But before the mayhem, we were doing normal things.

We visited with a local Girl Scout troop for an event, my three pretty much slept the whole time.  Occasionally Cali would get up for some loving.

But they slept more than most..

 Henry was running around playing with his many girlfriends..this particular time it was Macy

 This photo made me laugh..Petey was obviously enjoying the sunshine..

 and I finally got a new lens that allowed me to capture some hummingbirds!  I am very excited.  It took me a while, but I got a few good ones!  Amazing what a lens will do!

 The male likes to chirp at me..I guess he thinks I am some weird human with a black projection sticking out of their head at all times.

 then it was Jason's birthday so we decided to plan a day at the wineries with friends.  That week we had the infamous 5.8 earthquake where the epicenter was about 30 miles from my house.  it actually was right where we spend a lot of time cooper Vineyard.
We figured that was the end of the natural disasters and continued to plan our weekend.  Needless to say, Hurricane Irene had different ideas.  We decided to continue our trip west hoping we would get home after the main event or before it. 
we hit Delfosse Vineyard

 Lovingston and Flying Fox.  I actually liked all three quite well. The weather wasn't too bad in charlottesville.  We then hit dinner at Ten sushi (with Bob, Rob, Megan, Kristen and Gyeong).  Great food!!!
Monkfish liver. ;-)

While eating, our neighbor, Scott, called ot let us know our power had gone out and he was unable to get in to the house (we use the garage as the main entrance) to feed/let the dogs out.  We had been gone the majority of the day, so we knew it would be a mess when we got home.  We didnt' factor in the lack of electricity.  
We get home after driving through the hurricane to find quite a bit of destruction.  it could have been worse, for sure.  The dogs were OK, just hungry and had to pee. But it was pitch dark, windy and rainy!  The next morning, we surveyed the damage.
the large tree in the back yard, that you see quite often in the background of the running photos had been split in the middle.  Hopefully, it will survive after a little surgery.

 But the worst was our main tree in the front yard.  This didn't hit the house luckily but it was still sad that we lost this tree. 

 Of course, no one in the neighborhood had power..so a nice neighbor walked over to dismantle the trees.

 We just cut the middle trunk so hopefully the rest will fill in.

After all the cutting, we had quite the mess to contend with in the front and back yard

 But again, no one had power so suddenly many men appeared with gloves to help.  I have a feeling the wives were starting the honey do list, so they escaped to 'be neighborly'. 

 Jason and Scott took off walking around the neighborhood to see if anyone else needed help.  Without computers, neither of them knew what to do.  I took the time to photo my hummingbirds who were happy to have their feeder back after the hurricane!

 After the earthquake, hurricane, 48 hours without power..we were done with natural disasters.  but of course, henry had other ideas.  He has had surgery before to remove hemangiomas..basically blood tumors.  He always wakes up poorly from anesthesia so we try hard not to put him through it.  A few days after the hurricane, one of his hemangiomas started bleeding profusely and after 24 hours straight of soaking through everything I put on it, i went to the vet.  They immediately put him in to surgery to prevent anemia.  They went ahead and removed another one on his butt that was about to pop too.  He woke up OK, but then went in to shock with a temperature of 106.  We assume it was malignant hyperthermia, which is genetic and most likely has been what has happened to him every other time.  the vet called us to come immediately. When we arrived, he was hooked up to an iced IV, and packed completely in ice. he was in complete shock. it was not a pretty sight.  But after about 20 minutes, his temp came down.  He still wasn't 'with it' but we were able to get him home.  After about 24 hours, he had recovered completely. It was touch and go, but he seems to be better now.  He is now left with a few more incisions.  So far they are healing well.

 But a good natural thing...we are a member of a local produce delivery program that brings local/organic produce to use every week.  After a few weeks of getting a bunch of cucumbers..Jason decided to make pickles.  They are great!!!!

So nature has definitely been crazy lately. i would like the earth to stop moving (multiple aftershocks have rocked us since the original one).