Snow Day

So after weeks of freedom even when I had to leave the office, the x-pen came back out. And why? Because my 6 month old puppy is back on the chewing. Supposedly his skull is growing too fast and it makes his teeth hurt.

Nim's brain to body to leg ratio is apparently all wrong right now and he alternates between falling, crashing into things, and aggressively chewing.

He actually got stuck while we were trying to turn a corner during lead walking in class on Sunday - he kept rapidly picking up different feet while standing still. Then he started just jumping straight up in the air until his body was more or less around the corner and we kept walking.

What is left of my checkbook:

Nim laying on his pillow and avoiding eye contact after I threw adult temper tantrum over my checkbook:

Nim is firmly in suspicion of his environment stage which is a perfect time for the first snow. It is hard to get any photos of him looking straight on because he is so busy tuning in on every noise.

He had a hard time with the peeing on the snow for some amazing reason and would dart around looking for dirt.

He was prancing his feet quite a bit.
This is what he looks like when he stalks me:
And Rusty? Well, I can't say he likes the snow much, but at least he probably has seen it. The sad thing is the trouble he has staying on his feet in it. A lot of falling.

I am teaching him to let me cover him in the kennel which he is moderately tolerating. I put a jacket on him yesterday for our walk and he dragged behind me. It will take a few more tries to figure out if that was the jacket or if he was having a bad walking day.
And lastly, enjoy this blog: Hyperbole and a half. The current post is about "Dogs don't understand basic concepts like moving". It really is wonderful. It is worth the drawings of the simple dog's thought process versus the "helper dog."

We have all known or owned pets like these.

And finally...Mount Kilimanjaro

You will notice in the summit photo that she is smiling. And she makes it look realistically like a happy moment, when in reality it sounds like summit day was incredibly hard. In that photo she is actually not feeling well at all.

Seeing the photos makes it look like an amazing climb that I would love to do. However, hearing the summit account (which by the way, look up several blogs with brutal first hand accounts and you will see the illness is far from an unusual reaction) gives me pause.

Then there is the problem that I am a complete baby about being cold.
I absolutely love glacier photos.
This tent camp photo is so beautiful:

Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Crater is one of those geological wonder locations. It is known as the world's largest intact caldera. The crater is the center point of a large conservation area. This conservation area is actively working to balance wildlife and human interaction including tribal rights to resources.

PBS has a nice write-up on the conservation area and the geological history of the crater.
I rarely think of baboons as cute, but when a baby rides one...how can that not be?
It is hard to imagine just driving somewhere and seeing any of these animals completely in their own habitat.

Lake Manyara National Park

Prepare of an avalanche of images while I feature a place I have never been. The photos are so fun. It is nice looking at photos like this and realizing someone you know was actually there.

Lake Manyara National Park was a destination along the safari my sister took prior to her climb. Because it is centered so much on tourism, it was hard to find more of a general information site on the location. It was established as a habitat to protect elephant herds and hosts a large amount of animal and plant diversity. Approximately 77 square miles of the park is lake when the water is high.

For more information:
Lake Manyara National Park Web site.




Why have a sign, when you can just paint the rocks you will hit if you take the sharp corner too fast:

Welcome home and all is right in Merlin's world

Africa traveling sister made it in on time yesterday. It sounds like she had a great time and most importantly, her group that did the climb together was a good group and they all did well together. :)

Merlin was so excited to see her that he ran over to his favorite rug and made a few cute noises. He was happy and healthy thanks to his caregiver - hopefully she will be willing to come back, even if he is bossy and ate her homework.

One sister incoming

Good morning travel blog readers. The above hot chocolate is what the Traveling Love Ghost had while waiting to get into the Vatican on Monday.

Right now it is about 4:15pm, Wednesday October 27 in Rome. Tomorrow they leave Rome and head to Munich, Germany. Hopefully by now they have seen the Colosseum (rain got in the way of their first efforts) . They went on a small road trip to Pompeii on Tuesday which must have been amazing!

Meanwhile, Africa traveling sister is in her last leg home. She is on Delta flight 233 and you can track her online. She should be in around 11:40am today. Right now she over the Atlantic...more or less.

Where are my sisters?

Good Monday morning...I know you are all eagerly awaiting the latest traveling sisters installment...only I don't have any new photos!

The Traveling Love Ghost should be in Rome by now. Right now, it is about 4:40pm, Monday, October 25 in Rome. I am hoping maybe later tonight to get some photos and word from her.

And Africa traveling sister? Well it is about 5:40pm, also Monday, October 25 in Tanzania and she is wishing she could check-in for her return trip home!

So yes, she summited! Summit day was technically Sunday morning; they started 11:30pm on Saturday night. She said it was incredibly hard, but she is glad she did it. It sounds like she had a great group and a wonderful crew, but it really was a tremendous push.

My nurse practitioner sister that we moved to Virginia will be interested to know that the altitude drugs served her well until summit day. She got hit pretty hard on the summit leg - but she made it and her entire group made it.

She says she is exhausted and took the hottest shower ever. I think she starts her travel home around 9:30pm on Tuesday (Tanzania time).

And in Merlin news? He ate the center out of the caregiver's math homework. We forgot to warn her about his paper fetish.