It was breezy during our walk but got significantly more windy throughout the day. The wind was blowing so hard that it really was hard to keep the car on the road. And an announcement was made to try to keep all pets indoors as the wind was blowing the dirt all around the city so the danger of picking up Valley Fever was really high.
Mike then did a few maintenance type things to the RV while we waited for the guy to come fix the ding in the window. While driving to Tucson there was a repaving project taking place on the freeway and a rock got thrown into our window. The guy tried to fix it but you can still see it as it was fairly large. Fortunately it's not in Mike's line of sight when he's driving so it won't be any trouble in that respect.
After lunch we headed over to Scottsdale. There is a little place there that we visit every time we come to the Phoenix area. It is called "In The Raw" and is a natural juice bar and doggy bar. They have great sandwiches and bakery items as well as fresh juice and smoothies. But we really go there for the doggy bar part of it.
They sell all sorts of natural dog food and fun doggy items. But the best part is the little doggy bakery and doggy smoothies. We got each dog their own smoothie. Sparkie and Slugger each had a Peanut Butter Banana smoothie and Wazzu had a Peanut Butter Carob smoothie as she hates banana. They serve them in very cute doggy bowls - this one has been thoroughly cleaned by Slugger!
Outside they have a nice fire hydrant fountain and so that's where we give the dogs their smoothies.
We sit on the very nice patio next to the fountain area and enjoy our smoothies while the dogs have fun with their drinks. Wazzu is always so danty with hers and is the last to finish.
As you can see they all are enjoying their smoothies.
And even though we only come here a couple times a year the dogs totally remember this place. Not only is it a fun place but the scenery here is beautiful too. It is right next to a lake and there is a nice sidewalk along one side so we always take a nice walk after our drinks. However, today wasn't very pleansant at all so our walk was very short.
The wind was so strong that it was not only hard to walk but it was COLD. It sure felt good to get back in the car!
From there we drove to Mesa to have dinner with some family members that we haven't seen in MANY years. I'm not sure why but to me there is nothing more important than family. I would do anything I could for any family member no matter how close or how distant. I am very loyal to family. So when I found out that a number of my family members had moved to Mesa I just couldn't pass through the area without seeing them.
I called Patti last night and she was so nice to set up a family gathering for this evening. We had a great time. It was so nice to see everyone again and they were just so kind to us. Patti had said it was fine to bring the dogs along too. I wasn't worried at all since our dogs are very well behaved around people and just lie down after the initial excitement of hellos. Oops - not quite.
I hadn't realized there would be other dogs there too. Our dogs like other dogs and get along well with them - but they like to play! So lying down quietly wasn't quite in the cards.
As always, we decided to go in first to get our “greeting” taken care of before introducing dogs to the mix. As it turns out there was another dog already there – big ferocious Trinity. Well actually Trinity is a little Papillion. But she thinks she is big and tough. At least that’s what she told Wazzu when we brought her in. Of course Wazzu is very respectful of other dogs space so she just let Trinity think she was the big boss.
After a few minutes we brought Sparkie in. Once again Trinity spoke up loud and clear. And as always, Sparkie wants “no trouble from no one.” So she too gave Trinity all the distance she wanted. We then decided to bring in Slugger. First of al he was so excited as there were so many new people and he wanted to meet and greet them all – exuberantly of course! Then he saw and heard Trinity. He didn’t see a big mean tough dog – he just saw a noisy little dog that looked that it would be great fun to play with. Slugger was gentle but of course very wiggly. About that time Trinity thought that maybe with three big dogs around she wasn’t the big mean tough dog she had originally thought she was. So she spent the rest of the night very silently hiding behind her daddy’s feet. She was such a sweet little cutie. Good thing she has a very loving home as we may have been tempted to take her with us.
This is Trinity.
Slugger was just a little too overwhelmed by the excitement of all the people and Trinity so after a little bit we put Slugger and Sparkie back out in the car. As it turned out it was good timing as then another dog arrived. This dog is probably one of the most beautiful dogs we’ve ever seen. Kona is an English Springer Spaniel and is still very young – translate that as playful and wiggly – but at the same time, well behaved.
Wazzu absolutely loved her! They were in the house doing big play bows, boxing, and flirting. They were really having a great time. After letting them play a while we brought Sparkie in. She and Kona hit it off too. Kona must be one happy go lucky puppy as even Sparkie wasn’t scared of her. So now it was Sparkie and Kona’s turn to do some playing. It’s fun to see Sparkie engage in play with another dog as she is usually much too frightened to do so.
I wouldn’t exactly say that things had calmed down a whole lot but at least everyone was familiar with each other and their surroundings. So we decided to bring Slugger back in. As it turned out this was just sensory overload for Slugger. He loved Kona and Kona loved him back. However, we were indoors and it was getting a little crowded. Kona and Slugger wanted to play but we had Slugger on leash so Slugger was just getting more and more excited. He was pulling so hard on his leash that he was making his eyes get really red – as were his ears and mouth. He started doing his little “talking” that Wazzu taught him to do during play. While Mike and I knew it was just his “play talking” it could easily sound different to people that aren’t familiar with doggy talk. So we tried to separate Slugger from Kona but being the friendly happy dog that he is, Kona just kept coming right back to Slugger to try to play.
I was so worried. Here I had told Patti that our dogs would be excited to meet everyone but then they would just lie down and go to sleep. Well, with another fun dog to play with, sleeping wasn’t exactly what they had in mind. I didn’t really notice anyone being worried about all the ruckus but I certainly was. These were not the well behaved dogs I was used to! Wazzu was good and after her initial playtime with Kona she settled right down next to me. Sparkie, however, really thought she needed to help with the kitchen duties. The garbage can was sitting out in the kitchen so Sparkie thought they must have needed her help with that. She brought a butter wrapper out into the living room and handed it to us. I guess she wanted us to hold it for her so she could clean it off real well. A while later she then brought us the butter box that she had also retrieved from the garbage can. The night was getting longer for me. No matter what we did Sparkie refused to lie down. It was a hardwood floor and just too hard for skinny little Sparkie – she didn’t even want to sit on it. I hadn’t thought of that in advance. We could have brought her little pillow for her but just didn’t think about it.
During dinner Mike and I decided it would be a good idea to put the two youngsters back out in the car. The problem was it was SUPER windy still and Slugger was very scared in the car. That’s why we put Sparkie in the car with him so that hopefully he wouldn’t be as scared. We had a very nice dinner that Patti had prepared. We enjoyed not only the food but the company as well.
I was just so happy to get to see these relatives that I used to see so frequently but hadn’t seen in such a long time. Aunt Mae and Uncle Ed were there.
I was so happy they came – it really was special to get to see them again. I was amazed to hear they are celebrating their 63rd wedding anniversary this year! Aunt Mae reminded me so much of Grandma Jones. I just can’t explain how happy I was to see her.
Also there was my cousin Tim and his wife, Tammy.
My cousin Rob and his wife, Jen along with their extremely beautiful and talented dog Kona were there also. (Big apologies to Kona for the camera flash monster eyes!) This is one dog that anyone would be lucky to have. I could have easily taken that dog without a second thought had I been given the opportunity.
And of course, my cousin Patti and her fabulous husband, Rod.
We are so very thankful that we got to see each of them again. It was a great evening and I really look forward to seeing them all again on our next trip down this way……whenever that may be….. Thank you so much Patti for putting this little gathering together with such little notice. It really meant a lot to me to be able to see you all again.
Debbie
3/27/07
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