Astrid is home!

Today was the day that we picked up Astrid up at CCI headquarters.  We met with 4 people who briefed us on how to take care of her and gave us a bunch of stuff for her including her vests, toothbrush and gentle leader.

Once we had her, we went across the street to meet the gals that I have worked with on the grants.  Only one was there but we visited with a bunch of folks who wanted to come and pet Astrid.

Then we loaded up in the car for the two plus hour drive home.  Astrid did a little bit of howling at first but then staled down and slept.  In the pic below, she is sound asleep.

Once we got home, she went "hurry" and came in to run around in her pen area.  Hops was so anxious to meet her and barged right in!  They were fast friends.  Ahi?  Not so much.   And Oak?  Nope!  So we were good with one out of three dogs for now.

Yay David Yay

Our favorite show right now is Schitt's Creek, a show about a really rich family who lost all their money and moved to a small town called Schitt's Creek.   The characters are hilarious and the story line is so goofy.  The sayings above are all from the show.   My other favorite saying from the show is "David, don't be a disgruntled pelican".

One of the main characters is David, which is the sticker above.  He is totally eccentric and always says, "OMG".  In this season, him and his boyfriend are getting married so we are going to have a party for the wedding!

Super Bowl 2020

Super Bowl 2020 was the 49ers v the Kansas City Chiefs.  Of course we were rooting for the 49ers but my aunt Linda was rooting for the Chiefs - thus the shoes above!

Grace was a big winner in the betting and won at least 4 times that I knew of.  A good time was had even though the 9ers didn't win.  It most have been Linda's lucky shoes!

Puppy in Program

Today our world will be rocked!  Today is the day we go get Astrid from headquarters and bring her home for the next 18 months!   Standby for stories of joy, tears and chaos.

Bad Ass Ladies Tour 2020

This is how it went down...

I went on a hike last weekend and met a gal on the trail who was training for a backpacking trip on the Trans Catalina Trail.  I had never heard of the trail which cuts across the Catalina Island, which is off the coast of Southern California.   I did some quick research and sent the idea to my bad ass lady friends.  Within 24 hours they were committed and we had reservations for campgrounds.  Within 6 days we had a complete plan and our flights booked.

It sounds like a great trip.   We have to take a ferry over to the island, will hike by an airport on one of the days and be able to stop for lunch, and will camp by a town one nite!

Cousins

My cousin Jen from the east coast visited this week.  She was here for an alumni event that she organized at the Computer Science Museum.  I took a morning off and we went for a hike together - that is we look sweaty in this pic!  It was so wonderful to catch up with each other and hear all about her family.

Astrid - 6.5 weeks old

We continue to visit with Astrid and G continues to help with the litter.   The litter gets turned in next Weds and then we pick her up on Friday.  Grace will help Margaret, the Breeder Caretaker, transport them all to headquarters - which is a 2.5 hour drive.   They will be checked in, examined by vets, DNA tested and tattooed.  After that, she will stay in the puppy kennel for a couple days until we can get up to pick her up.

Last weekend, we helped with a litter photo shoot.  It was total chaos!  We tried to line up 9 puppies on the couch and have them look in the same direction at the same time.   After 45 minutes we didn't even have one shot that worked!   So we let them rest and tried again.   I can't wait to see what we end up with!   The pic above is the individual shots.   Astrid was the last one because she is the feistiest of all.   She did not disappoint - she wouldn't hold still long enough for a good pic!   Living up to her nickname of "Assturd".

Just a goofy pup!

Astrid

Grace has been helping regularly with the "A" litter and I have visited (and helped a little) a couple times a week.   Last week I worked from home one day and ran over at lunch for a quick visit.    She is about 6 weeks old in this pic.

The litter is being turned in on Feb 5 and we will go back up and get Astrid on Feb 7.

This video shows Astrid's feisty personality.  She is the pup in the litter that causes the most ruckus.  She takes on the biggest puppies when she is one of the smallest.  She is awake when everyone else is sleeping.   And she thinks she can win tug o war with a puppy way bigger than her!

Happy 3rd Birthday Oakley

I love my Grand Dog, Oakley!

Oakley was at our house on her birthday and when Drew came to pick her up, he brought her a hamburger and a stick toy.  And Grace gave her a bag full of tennis balls.  A good time was had by all.

Sharing the burger

Lands End

Sutro Baths

For our First Sunday Hiking Club hike of 2020, we went to Lands End in SF.   This is an iconic SF hike that I had never been on.   The reviews did not disappoint.  It was a cool hike and an outstanding day.  It was not hard and more like a Sunday stroll but the beauty and good company made us forget that we were not really working out!

We picked up Staci on our way by her house and Lisa B met us there.  We got to see amazing views of the coast line and the bridge and looked at new flora using our Seek app.   Two thumbs up and fun to do something totally different.  Staci and I committed to at least 6 NEW hikes this year.   That may mean we need to travel farther afoot because we have done A LOT of them in the South Bay.

Two boys and their dogs.

Foresta Falls

I stumbled upon a website about waterfalls and found information about the Foresta Falls within Yosemite but totally off the beaten path.  We decided to go check it out and it was well worth the effort.

We went through the town of Foresta and parked at the top of a dirt road and wandered around for a couple hours.  This area has been devastated by fire 3 times in the last 3 years.   So much of the terrain is still in recovery.

After the hike, we drove into the Valley and stopped at the chapel which I have always loved.  This time we checked to see if it was open and it was!  So we got a look inside.

Whitney and Pups - New Years Eve

Whitney and her pups partied it up for New Years!   Being only about 3 weeks old, they didn't stay up too late.

New Year's Eve 2019 - Badger

We spent New Years Eve day at Badger Pass soaking up the sun.   Bug learned to ski with the best instructors ever:  Mr C, G and Jim!   She killed it!

While they skied, Marty, Cindy and I went on a ranger led snow shoe hike where we learned about ermine and saw where a bear freshly scratched a quaking aspen tree.  We also played cards while watching all the activity.

We went home and scarfed down spaghetti before going to bed at about 10:30 and missing all the mid nite festivities.  Oh well!