Precious Puppy Pictures

So Kerby (not Kirby, turns out we've been misspelling her name all this time) has been with us for one week.  She is growing and chewing everything in sight.  She is making it through the night without having to go out but still hasn't figured out that bodily functions are to be done outdoors and not on the carpet.  Good thing we were planning on having the carpets cleaned soon anyway.   Kerby has taken to Roscoe and pounces on him until he chases her around.  Molly wants nothing to do with Kerby.  They'll have to work it out I guess. 

Her are some puppy photos:

Kerby soon after arriving at Grouch estates

Young Son with Kerby

Kerby taking a rest with Roscoe.  Does he look long-suffering or what?

Kerby this Thursday, almost a week from moving in with us.  She's already growing enough to see the difference from a week ago!

Today's grouch

How do you spell annoyance?  How about:

 w  o  m  a  n    i  n   t  h  e   e  x  p  r  e  s  s    c  h  e  c  k    o  u  t    w  i  t  h    a   f  u  l  l    g  r  o  c  e  r  y    c  a  r  t     w  i  t  h      a     h  a  n  d  f  u  l     o  f   c  o  u  p  o  n  s     p  a  y  i  n  g     w  i   t  h     a   c  h  e  c  k    a  n  d    n  o    b  a  g  g  e  r  ?

Can you tell what that spells?   Good thing I wasn't channeling William Foster but instead was my most calm Citizen Grouch persona.

Puppy update

So the Missus decided that the puppy didn't look like 'Bean' fit her for a name; from henceforth the puppy is known as 'Kirby' after the stuffed bears that three of the Grouch kids had.  Bean that is Kirby is nonplussed at the frequent name changes but feels as long as she has three hots and a cot she will be ok.

Stay tuned....

A new family member at the Grouch clan

Our two family dogs Roscoe (11 year old Australian Shepherd dog) and Molly (9 year old Border Collie/Australian Shepherd or maybe Sheltie) are game for anything but are showing a bit of reluctance to make the 5 to 10 mile walks that the Missus does every weekend.  I guess age catches up with everyone sooner or later.  We got an email from Young Daughter earlier this week that she heard through the dog rescue network that a pair of Australian Shepherd dogs and 9 puppies were turned in to the Australian Shepherd rescue group for placement in good homes.   We raised our hand and volunteered to take one of the female pups with the idea that not only will we give a good home to a homeless puppy but at the right age our new family member will be the long distance companion for the Missus on her walk while the senior dogs will enjoy a life of short walks and laying about in the sun.

So, here are some pictures of Bean (aka Roxie, Rango, Moxie, Mitzi, Kitzie, and numerous other trial names) after 24 hours at Grouch Estates.  Pictures courtesy of Young Daughter

Bean enjoying the run of the back yard

Bean and Molly.  A family resemblance?  Are they long-lost 2nd cousins?

Molly, Bean, and Roscoe checking out something very interesting

The dog cousins: Dottie, Fancy, Bean, Pie, Molly Roscoe

Death Valley 2012 part 3

Day three had us on another tight schedule:  We had Mosaic canyon to visit, then the long drive back home in enough time to get ready for work the next day.  No time to waste!  

our humble home for our stay in Death Valley.  Reminiscent of the motels my family stayed in traveling by station wagon to Florida each summer.  The gas fired space heater came on with a loud bang at night each time it got cold enough in the room.

Mosaic canyon is an amazing geological slice in the rocks that show the violent upheaval and folding of the rocks over millions of years.  A college geology class was in the canyon at the same time as us and we learned some things by listening in to the Prof as he taught his field class.   This is Young Son examining an interesting sight.



We could've hiked all day here!

Young Daughter and Son

An example of the amazing folding to the rock layers in the canyon

The Grouch doing what he likes - out for a hike

All too soon we had to head for home, but one last interesting sight before we left the park - this looks like the way to do adventure traveling!

Happy 34th!

The Missus and I have been married for 34 years as of today.  Yay!  34 years on the 3/4 weekend.  We went to see 'The Vow" which was very good even if I did miss out on seeing "Act of Valor"  in its place.  Then, out to dinner at Friday's where young daughter, young son, and our friends Janell and Ted joined us.  It was a great dinner except for the group several tables away that had a young girl who shrieked in an ear piercing scream and a baby that also shrieked and at one point flung a plate to the floor where it smashed.  The manager spoke to the group several times but apparent the parents could have cared less.  We reminisced how we could give 'the look' to any of our misbehaving children who would be instantly quiet and well behaved.  Times have changed.  When the shriekers left the manager came to our table and apologized and gave deserts for all hands which we gratefully accepted!  Young daughter gave us a hand drawn and written little anniversary book that was delight to read.  She certainly has talent! 

A fantastic 'best anniversary ever'.  Thanks my love for 34 wonderful years.

Death Valley 2012 Part 2

Day two was a very busy one for our group.  Our tour guides wanted us up and moving no later than 0700 in order to see everything there was to see.  We asked for 0900; we settled on 0800.   The morning was very windy and cool.  The sand was blowing from the nearby dunes and everything was in a hazy sand fog.  The campground across the street was being pummelled by the wind and the tents were in danger of blowing away.  We were glad to have the motel to stay in!   After driving only a few miles we left the wind area and the blowing sand and headed to out to our busy day.

Our first stop was an extinct volcano that  rivaled the meteor crater in Arizona for awesomeness.

Better than the Arizona meteor crater because you can walk down into this one.  The volcanic ash/pumice was deep and loose.  I knew that going down was going to be easier than going back up. 

The view from the bottom.  That tiny ant on the side of the crater is a person!

A path completely circles the crater rim.  Brave folks were walking it but we didn't have the time.

The Missus and the Grouch at the very bottom of the crater.

Next we stopped at the site of the original 20 Mule Team Borax processing plant from the 1880s. Like the Pony Express that only lasted a year or two, the 20 mule team imortalized by the TV show and the household cleanser of the same name was also comparatively short-lived, only being in operation for less than 10 years before relocating away from Death Valley.

One of the original mule team wagon train.  20 mules doesn't seem enough to move this when it was fully loaded!

On to our next stop, Scotty's castle.  It is truly an oasis in the desert with a running stream that produces 300 gallons per minute.  If you have water, then you have everything.

http://www.nps.gov/deva/historyculture/scottys-castle.htm

The official name for the place is Death Valley Ranch but it is better known for Scotty, even though he contributed nothing but his name.

Some very nice and very expensive firearms, all working guns back in the days when the ranch was a vacation get away.

The main room with young son on the right and one of our tour guides on the left.

Our house tourguide

The dining room with place settings from Spain as was much of the interior fittings.  The Spanish civil war put an end to the decorating of the place as the war cut off exports.

A chest from Spain made in about 1500, in the bedroom of Albert Johnson, the owner of the ranch.

The courtyard.  After a very quick lunch from the tailgate of the Jeep we headed off to Rhyolite in Nevada.  We left the park, drove into Nevada and bought gas for $3.70 a gallon compared to $5.70 a gallon in DVNP.  At the town of Beatty in Nevada there was a derilict Beech D18 that looked like it had slid off of the runway at the town airport, just sitting there lookingforlorn.  An interesting sight but I didn't take any pictures of it.  The ice cream at the gas station was good!

The bottle house made from (wait for it....bottles!) at Rhyolite

http://www.rhyolitesite.com/

One of two banks at the town.  This one was large enough to have a basement and a second floor.  How did it end up looking like this?

Now for the off roading:  Titus canyon; 27 miles of washboard road, spectacular vistas, and narrow canyons.  The Missus said the rocks looked like every other rock she has seen on previous off road trips.  Sheesh!

Some of the abandonded building from Leadfield, a boom and bust mining town that lasted all of 6 months.  Some of the buildings remain as well as the mines that produced nothing but hard work and monetary losses for all involved.

The trail entered a very narrow canyon that was twisty and fun to drive.  At one point we came to native American petroglyphs.  From here we went to Artist's Palate, an area of very colorful rocks and then back to our motel.  A very full day!