Puppy Shenanigans

 

Killer and Lily roughhousing.

 

They are ready to go.  Killer got herself all wiggled down behind the luggage so she could sit up straight.  They were not happy when we only went about 5 miles and dropped them off at the Vet.  Lily got spayed while we were gone.  Clay had his conference in Hiawassee and the cabin wasn't pet friendly. 

 

Lily has decided she loves the bathtub.  She gets in now whenever we go in the bathroom and looks all expectant...like "hey! where is the water?"  Luckily she hasn't figured out how to turn on the water but I am sure that is coming.

 

She loves to keep her toenails clean.

 

After it rained last week, Lily dug a hole in the clay in the yard then hopped into bed and on me in the bed.  These are the days that Lily gets called "red devil" instead of Lily.  

 

If my frisbee throwing skills would improve, I think that she could catch it already.  She does still fetch it though.

 

She is growing so fast, she is a little over 30lbs now.  Also, she is getting too big for the dog door so we are going to have to put in a larger one.

 

It was so cold one day recently and Lily was shivering a little so I put on one of Chico's old sweatshirts. She was not sure about it.

 

Sometimes, Lily has run around enough and decides to lay down and sleep right next to you on your pillow, sometimes she wants to dog-hug you while doing this.

 

Other times she chills out with Clay and watches television.

Last of St. Augustine

Clay and I chilled out sitting on the wall beside the Castillo and I breathed some ocean air, and got a nice hair frizz.  Love this pic of us though!

  

We were all super hungry after the Alligator Farm so we headed right up the road to a place I had bookmarked on Yelp, called Gas.  We love using Yelp to find new tasty places to eat and Gas did not disappoint.  Clay got the fried jalapeno popper burger which was HUGE but did not compromise on flavor or quality.  I loved my choice which was the black bean burger with cinnamon chipotle mayo on the side.  The black bean burger had the best grilled taste to it!  The frozen key lime mousse with coconut brittle (yum!) was quickly dominated by the 3 of us.  Super friendly staff rounded out our great experience here, and the vibe was very laid back and comfortable!

 

Later that night we satisfied our sweet teeth without going crazy overboard on calories at The Hyppo a local popsicle shop.  Another Yelp winner!  Clay smugly checked reviews for which pops we should give a try and we eventually settled on several = )  You can do that when they are less than 150 calories each.  I LOVED the coconut pistachio and could eat the strawberry basil every day in summer!  I also loved the way this place looked so much that I may take some interior design cues from them.

We also had a fantastic (as always) meal at Casa Maya while we were there and hit up the Tini Martini bar at the Casablanca Bed and Breakfast.  Our absolute favorite place to go though is Caps on the Water.  We had a fabulous meal and beautiful scenery.  We just adore this spot!  Not sure why I forgot to get a pic of me and Clay there, I guess we were too busy stuffing our faces.  

 

More from Alligator Farm

I had trouble uploading my photos the other day and then this weekend was hectic and I wasn't at home so belatedly here are some more pics from the trip to the Alligator Farm.

 2 Toothy Grins

 

Crocodile Kisses

Clay with crocs (and I am not talking about his beloved brown shoes).  I really liked this exhibit that was set up much like an aquarium so that you could get all up close and personal with the big animals.  They were all very unentertaining though barely moving at all.

 

My favorite part of the Alligator farm was the bird/gator exhibit.  It was a huge area that you walked through on a raised wooden catwalk.  There were birds EVERYWHERE and they were making all these strange noises talking to each other.  We watched herons building their nests and some already had beautiful blue eggs in their nests.  There were some pink hornbilled variety of bird that was beautiful.  I hate that I was employing my camera phone but my camera batteries died right when we got there.  Bummer!   Below the birds in the water were probably at least a hundred alligators swimming or sunbathing up on the land.

 

The Clay and myself enjoying the bird and gator habitat.

 This little guy was not part of the exhibits but was hovering around the table at the snack area and enjoyed a few of Clay's potato chips.  He came right up and took it from my hand.  Needless to say, that made my day!

 

Chomp!

Mom was reading to this lazy gator.

 

Luckily she was with us to subdue this big one, little did she know that creepy white one was coming up behind her.  Mom, you are not a codfish!

Alligator Farm

Our first stop, after making it in to the hotel on Friday night and getting some sleep, was to the Alligator Farm.  Clay has always wanted to go and if I had known that it was more like a zoo, I would have been on board sooner.  This place was really cool.  The exhibits were well maintained and you got to see the gators and crocs up close and personal.  

 

The giant pool in the middle was swimming with lethargic gators.  Every once and a while one would lumber out of the water onto the shore, it looked like it took all of their energy to pull themselves out of the water.

 

 

We were all fascinated by the big reptiles.  There were other animals to be seen too: birds, lemurs, turtles.  It was the perfect size.  Big enough to have lots to see but small enough that you didn't feel worn out after walking around.  The only down side was the stink from the sulfur water that would spin around you when the wind blew.  Pew! 

Saint Augustine Here We Come

I cannot believe that it has been 5 years since we have been to Saint Augustine!  I am so excited to go back to relive some of the same things (like the chocolates above) and try some new things (like the alligator farm).  I looked back through the pictures from last time we went, things sure do change in 5 years.  

 We had such a great time on the schooner Freedom!  We also had a BLAST renting the scooter below and tooling around town in it.  It was a stretch getting that thing up and over the Lion's bridge though.  

 No trip to Florida is complete without a stop at Cap's on the water, what an amazing gem of a restaurant.  Beautiful setting and fantastic food!  I can't go on a trip and not enjoy the food, here is hoping the hotel has a gym so I can even out the calorie intake = )  I am afraid it is going to be raining off an on during the whole trip which doesn't make me think I will get to run outside and enjoy it, otherwise that would be my vote.

Day 6 - Provo River Parkway hotel to Lake Utah

I headed out to the right from the hotel on the Provo River Parkway. The trail wound in and out of residential and commercial areas for about 1.5 miles then I ran into a detour.

This detour took me along a busy road in a bike path even under the busy interstate 15. It was an interesting experience but since I am not used to it I was a little apprehensive and I was very glad to get back into some residential communities. There were markings every 1/2 mile or so along the way to let you know that you were still on track.

I was hiking toward the lake and away from downtown Provo so I didn't notice the nasty rain clouds coming in from the mountains until I stopped to take the picture of some goats on the side of the road. At this point I figured I would keep going since I would definitely get soaked if I headed back the way I came.

It was the first day that I listened to my headphones while out and it sure made the time fly by. If you notice I do have the earbud out of the ear facing traffic, and my volume was very low.

This is where the detour ended and I was actually back on the Parkway.

It kept looking more and more ominous back toward the hotel. I just knew that I was going to end up soaked to the bone. It was about 5.5 miles out to the Lake which is the end, or beginning, of the trail depending on how you start. I was worried that at least 3 miles of the return trip would be in torrential rain.

Apparently it took me long enough to get to the lake and head back that they rains moved off in the distance. I caught maybe 50 rain drops on the way back but got to see 2 beautiful rainbows the whole return trip.

Then I went with Clay and stuffed myself silly on Mexican food and then frozen yogurt.

Antelope Island 3