Weekend Update
The weekend started out with excitement and ended with exhaustion.
The last few weekends we've tried to get to Iowa to visit Morgaine723 have not worked out due to illness and puppy issues. So we tried again this weekend.
I got home Friday from work and ran around getting ready to leave for the weekend. Jon got home and right away we had an emergency.
You see, we have our family room gated-off so the puppy can run around in there. It's pretty much puppy-proofed so she can't get into too much trouble, and it's the only spot I can leave her for a couple of minutes that isn't her crate. The cat likes that room too, and, being a cat, she jumps in and out of the room via the back of the sofa. The dog, being in some ways smart and in some ways dumb, has watched her do this. And decided she could do it too. Puppies jumping off the back of the sofa don't land gracefully like cats do. When her right foot came down on the step and she crumpled into a heap yelping in pain and then wouldn't put weight on that leg we quickly headed to the emergency vet clinic. Jon was very impressed that 1) I knew there was an emergency vet clinic. 2) I knew where it was. 3) I knew where the business card was to confirm their hours. The scary thing is I don't know where the nearest hospital is. I guess that shows I worry more about the animal babies than the human adults.
She whimpered quietly almost all the way to the vet's, Jon holding her still. Of course, once we got there she walked on it just fine, and got a clean bill of health from the vet. And since then she's run and jumped and been her normal self. We just got to pay $100 for the piece of mind of knowing she didn't have a fracture. Our mantra is now "You are a clumsy dog, not a graceful cat." Of course, she's not convinced.
While we were there waiting a critical case came in - a dog had been hit by a car. He didn't make it, and the owner was very upset. I felt so badly for her. She stood there all alone, paying the bill and picking out an urn for her companion's ashes. She looked so miserable. I told her that I would give her a hug if she wanted one. She took me up on it, and cumpled onto my shoulder. I held her while she cried, and I cried with her. It was a sobering experience - and a reminder to never let your dog out without being on a leash or in a well-fenced yard.
So home we went, and picked up our stuff and Dora's crate, and we hit the road for Iowa only an hour or so behind schedule. The problem was the adrenalin rush from our experience only lasted so long, and then we both were so tired we couldn't keep driving. So we stopped in Waverly and got a hotel room for the night. Dora, who rarely barks and usually settles right down to sleep when the lights go out at night decided she didn't like the hotel and didn't want to go to sleep since she'd been sleeping in the car already. She barked and whined and fussed and I thought for sure we'd get kicked out of the hotel. It wasn't a restful night of sleep by any means.
Saturday morning we made it to North Liberty. It was raining. Did I mention the rain? Ugh. We headed for Mt. Vernon for antique goodness. I visited with my favorite store owner, I picked up another display shelf for Jon's antique toy cars, I found an old teddy bear, and an adorable print ($2!), and much fun was had by all. Then we went to Iowa City and hit the Haunted Book Shop for used book goodness. I found a set of Paddington books, and a Babar (I love kids books.) and Jon got a Niven he didn't have before. We stopped in at the New Pioneer Co-Op but somehow didn't buy anything. Our intention was to get Wig & Pen pizza for dinner, as I miss it a lot. But there was a basketball game, and we couldn't get anywhere near the place. We settled for the Brown Bottle, which isn't settling at all, and had a fantastic dinner. And then headed back to the house for a lovely evening of talking and playing with the puppy. Who, other than the barking at night, is a fabulous traveler.
Sunday we got up and were thwarted by several places not starting their brunch early enough. So we ended up at The Hamburg Inn, which is an institution that I hold fondly in my heart. Breakfast was great. And it's nice to see that the good old place hasn't changed too much.
Then we drove home. Around Mason City we decided that we were hungry, so went looking for a local spot to eat and were surprised to find that there really wasn't anything. We drove around for FAR TOO LONG looking, then ended up at a bar that served pizza. The pizza was good, but it took a really long time to come out, and it was a very long food stop.
The food stop, the puppy stops, a brief detour to a classic car lot, and the snow we hit in southern Minnesota meant we didn't get home until almost seven. Too late to get to the benefit since Jon was already late for pool league. And the puppy, having been cooped up in the car for the day, was going nuts. She ran around and around and around and we played hide and seek and threw the ball and there was jumping and frolicing and she totally wore me out.
My one regret was not making the benefit. I really wish we had just stopped at Wendy's for food. We probably could have made it for a short while then. But it looks like it was a wonderful event and accomplished the goal of being a celebration and an amazing show of support.
The last few weekends we've tried to get to Iowa to visit Morgaine723 have not worked out due to illness and puppy issues. So we tried again this weekend.
I got home Friday from work and ran around getting ready to leave for the weekend. Jon got home and right away we had an emergency.
You see, we have our family room gated-off so the puppy can run around in there. It's pretty much puppy-proofed so she can't get into too much trouble, and it's the only spot I can leave her for a couple of minutes that isn't her crate. The cat likes that room too, and, being a cat, she jumps in and out of the room via the back of the sofa. The dog, being in some ways smart and in some ways dumb, has watched her do this. And decided she could do it too. Puppies jumping off the back of the sofa don't land gracefully like cats do. When her right foot came down on the step and she crumpled into a heap yelping in pain and then wouldn't put weight on that leg we quickly headed to the emergency vet clinic. Jon was very impressed that 1) I knew there was an emergency vet clinic. 2) I knew where it was. 3) I knew where the business card was to confirm their hours. The scary thing is I don't know where the nearest hospital is. I guess that shows I worry more about the animal babies than the human adults.
She whimpered quietly almost all the way to the vet's, Jon holding her still. Of course, once we got there she walked on it just fine, and got a clean bill of health from the vet. And since then she's run and jumped and been her normal self. We just got to pay $100 for the piece of mind of knowing she didn't have a fracture. Our mantra is now "You are a clumsy dog, not a graceful cat." Of course, she's not convinced.
While we were there waiting a critical case came in - a dog had been hit by a car. He didn't make it, and the owner was very upset. I felt so badly for her. She stood there all alone, paying the bill and picking out an urn for her companion's ashes. She looked so miserable. I told her that I would give her a hug if she wanted one. She took me up on it, and cumpled onto my shoulder. I held her while she cried, and I cried with her. It was a sobering experience - and a reminder to never let your dog out without being on a leash or in a well-fenced yard.
So home we went, and picked up our stuff and Dora's crate, and we hit the road for Iowa only an hour or so behind schedule. The problem was the adrenalin rush from our experience only lasted so long, and then we both were so tired we couldn't keep driving. So we stopped in Waverly and got a hotel room for the night. Dora, who rarely barks and usually settles right down to sleep when the lights go out at night decided she didn't like the hotel and didn't want to go to sleep since she'd been sleeping in the car already. She barked and whined and fussed and I thought for sure we'd get kicked out of the hotel. It wasn't a restful night of sleep by any means.
Saturday morning we made it to North Liberty. It was raining. Did I mention the rain? Ugh. We headed for Mt. Vernon for antique goodness. I visited with my favorite store owner, I picked up another display shelf for Jon's antique toy cars, I found an old teddy bear, and an adorable print ($2!), and much fun was had by all. Then we went to Iowa City and hit the Haunted Book Shop for used book goodness. I found a set of Paddington books, and a Babar (I love kids books.) and Jon got a Niven he didn't have before. We stopped in at the New Pioneer Co-Op but somehow didn't buy anything. Our intention was to get Wig & Pen pizza for dinner, as I miss it a lot. But there was a basketball game, and we couldn't get anywhere near the place. We settled for the Brown Bottle, which isn't settling at all, and had a fantastic dinner. And then headed back to the house for a lovely evening of talking and playing with the puppy. Who, other than the barking at night, is a fabulous traveler.
Sunday we got up and were thwarted by several places not starting their brunch early enough. So we ended up at The Hamburg Inn, which is an institution that I hold fondly in my heart. Breakfast was great. And it's nice to see that the good old place hasn't changed too much.
Then we drove home. Around Mason City we decided that we were hungry, so went looking for a local spot to eat and were surprised to find that there really wasn't anything. We drove around for FAR TOO LONG looking, then ended up at a bar that served pizza. The pizza was good, but it took a really long time to come out, and it was a very long food stop.
The food stop, the puppy stops, a brief detour to a classic car lot, and the snow we hit in southern Minnesota meant we didn't get home until almost seven. Too late to get to the benefit since Jon was already late for pool league. And the puppy, having been cooped up in the car for the day, was going nuts. She ran around and around and around and we played hide and seek and threw the ball and there was jumping and frolicing and she totally wore me out.
My one regret was not making the benefit. I really wish we had just stopped at Wendy's for food. We probably could have made it for a short while then. But it looks like it was a wonderful event and accomplished the goal of being a celebration and an amazing show of support.