Away

August 2024 was one of the hardest months of my entire life.

The first part was okay. There was a lot of complicated life stuff happening, but mostly I was taking care of Olive, who was absolutely acing her post colic surgery recovery.

Then my mom fell, and all hell broke loose. I bought a one way ticket to California and stayed there for the rest of the month.

It was really hard.

This August has been better, but still, it's been a long, hot, hard month filled with a lot of complicated life stuff and so many car problems.

I was chatting with Anne Field one day, and she invited me to come spend some time with her in Massachusetts. For a hot minute, it seemed do-able, but ultimately, we weren't able to work out the logistics. I was really disappointed. Right up until that moment, I hadn't realized how much I needed to get away.

A few days later, I related this story to my friend, Carol. She said, "I'm going to be in Washington DC next week and New York City the week after. Why don't you fly out and join me at one of those places."

"Sounds good to me," I said, but once again the logistics weren't in my favor.

Before she went re-enlisted in the Air Force, Carol worked for Frontier. She has benefits with a couple different airlines and can sometimes find deals that I can not.

"Give me some time to work on this," she said. "You really need to get away. I'm going to make something happen."

Sure enough, a couple days later I got a call from Carol. "Check your email," she told me. "I've made you a reservation. You have two days to pay for it."

"Where am I going?" I asked.

"Well," she said. "You're flying into New Orleans."

I laughed. "I'm going to Mississippi, aren't I?"

And then we both laughed together.

Mocha horse

I work at a big retail chain tack shop. Of course, we carry Breyer horses.

We also have a large selection of plush horses, some by Breyer.

Some not.

These little Aurora ponies are quite popular. I was tagging some the other day.

Like this chestnut, most of the color names were obvious.

But what is mocha?

As it turns out, that is a patchy roan...

with a white belly.

Hmmmmm. I know a horse like that!

When people ask me what color my new horse is, I usually say chestnut roan or chestnut rabicano, depending on the audience. I think next time, however, I might take a cue from Aurora. Sage is a mocha horse!

Zoo dogs mish mosh

We took our dogs to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.. 

While we were there, I took a lot of pictures.

Videos, too.

Most of the best ones made it into the main post, but as always, there are a few that didn't make that cut but are still too good not to share.

Et voila! the mish mosh post.

One of my favorite non-animals parts of our visit was walking Piper across this net bridge.

Those holes were big enough to swallow her paws, but she had no problem walking daintily down the middle. Good job, Pipes!

She was also very brave on the giraffe feeding platform. Those grates aren't made for dogs!

Our ticket time was for 12:30 PM, which was late enough in the day that most of the giraffes had already eaten their fill of lettuce.

It took a lot longer than expected to rid ourselves of two little bundles of leaves.

Success!

Although the dogs weren't allowed in the petting areas, we still took a moment to admire the goats' very cool enclosure.

Also, check out their names! So cheesy! 

Here are Angelo and Tang getting up close and personal with a rhino.

This license plate was spotted in an employee parking lot.

No real reason for this one other than my dog is cute.

Angelo's dog is also cute, but he is not nearly as cooperative when it comes to posing.

This is when I discovered that I have something in common with Tang's favorite animals.

Here's another picture of Emmett the grizzly because as Angelo says, he is friend shaped and I love him.

Otters ottering.

Finally, I know this Zoo has zebras, but on this day we didn't find them. In fact, the carousel horses were the only equids we saw during our visit.

That's okay. I have reason to believe we'll be back, with our white dogs in tow.

Zoo dogs

I recently learned that the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs has occasional "Dog Days" during which zoo goers can bring their well-behaved dogs to experience the "sights, sounds and smells that make the Zoo so special."

Obviously, Piper and I were going to the Zoo, and just as obviously, Angelo and Tang were coming with us.

Friday was the day. 

The first animals we encountered were statuary.

Both dogs were more than happy to pose with the fake animals.

King of the world!

Then we went into the penguin enclosure and discovered that neither dog was interested in penguins.

Not even the tiniest bit.

The only animals they were actually interested in...

were the other dogs!

Still, we persisted.

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is most famous for its interactive giraffe exhibit.

Zoo goers can purchase lettuce bundles and feed them to the giraffes. 

There is a lot of human/animal contact, and I thought the dogs might finally be interested.

They weren't.

They did, however, enjoy meeting Luna, who was dressed as a giraffe.

We kept walking.

Despite their lack of animal enthusiasm, both dogs seemed to be enjoying themselves.

That's not surprising.

There are a lot of fun things to see...

and do at the Zoo.

Eventually, we made our way to the top of the mountain just in time for the grizzly bear show.

The bears were right up by the glass, and just for a moment, Piper showed some fear interest.

Finally, the picture I was hoping for!

In one of the other North America exhibits, Tang also found a favorite animal.

The beginnings of a beautiful - and potentially stinky - friendship!

As our outing was winding down, the skies opened up with a sudden and violent burst of rain. We retreated under a restaurant awning and tried to wait it.

There was no waiting it out. 

Eventually we had to make a run for it. We got so wet!

Everyone was tired, wet and happy when we made it to the car. Well, everyone except, perhaps, Piper!

This was such a fun day. Thank you so much for going with us, Angelo. I can't wait to do it again!