Thunderbird Trail

I watched Billie for a few days while Mom was in Utah.  It went pretty good.  I decided on Friday to take Billie on a field trip.  We wanted to see the progress on the Phoenix Temple.  The Thunderbird Trail is very close to the new temple.  So we thought we'd also take a walk/hike on the trail for a little exercise and fresh air. 

We loaded in the car.  I took the leash, some water, and the camera.  Then we were off.  We got out of the car when we got to the temple and discovered that the viewing area is only opened at noon - it was only 9ish.  So that was suddenly off the list of things to do.  All we could see was this huge crane through the opened gate.
 

We drove the quarter mile or so to the parking lot for Thunderbird Trail.  We got out of the car and were off.  I had been there once before and thought I remembered it being pretty level and not too rocky.  I thought Billie could handle that.  And sure enough she did great.  There were a couple spots that had big step-ups.  But Billie was a trooper and did great.  She did so much sniffing that she was in smell heaven! 

And everyone, did I say everyone?  Everyone loved seeing Billie.  They did baby talk to her and said how cute she was.  She was a hit - for sure.  We didn't go too far - then we turned around and went back.  It was a great outing - for both of us.

The only negative that I can think of is that Billie got very very dirty.  The Thunderbird Trail was indeed a dirt trail so there was dust flying with every footstep/pawstep.  Billie's belly is a low-rider so she came home a couple shades darker than she left.  But she was very cooperative and let me put her in my tub and spray her off. 

That is my story about our hike on the Thunderbird Trail.

Orange

I volunteered at the "Kiss Me I'm Irish" fun run event near the Jobbing.com Arena on Saturday.  I was stationed at the T-shirt tables.  We would issue the registered runners their t-shirts.  It got really wild and crazy for a while.  The t-shirts were of course - green.  But even as the participants and their cheering squads arrived they were already dresssed head to toe in green "costumes".  I never saw so much green apparel before in my life!  Green shorts, green shirts, green leggings, green shoes, green shoelaces, green foofy skirts, green hats, green hair ties, green neckties, green scarfs, green socks, green decals on the face, well just about anything you could imagine was there and in a shade of green.  Even the dogs that came were all decked out in green.  Whatever.  Now you might ask why the title of my post is orange.

Here is why.

When the event was over I stayed to help clean up.  We packed up all the t-shirts.  We packed up all the registration materials.  We took down the banners and signs.  We took down the tables and chairs.  We took down shade canopys.  You name it we took it down.  Then we started loading it all into a trailer.  Then came the drinks and food/snacks provided for the runners.  Lots of extra cliff bars, cheese and peanut butter sandwich snacks, nuts, chips, crackers, licorice, animal cookies, pop, gatorade, water, even doggie snacks.  That all went fairly smoothly.  But then came the fruit that they had cut up.  There was lots left over.  Apples, bananas, and - you guessed it - oranges.  None of us could stand the thought of them trashing all that stuff.  So the lady in charge asked if I could use the oranges.  I promised her I would juice them all and not waste them.  So she sent me home with a 40 pound box of cut up oranges.  I promise it was huge. 

Anyway, after I finally got home I sat down to rest my feet and legs for a few short minutes.  Then I got up and spent the next hour and a half juicing those oranges.  I got some really good use out of my ebay buy - a Juice-o-mat.  Great juicing gizmo.  I ended up with 2 trash bags full of orange rinds plus my large stainless steel popcorn bowl was full of orange rinds too. 

Any guesses on how much juice I ended up getting out of those oranges?  First you'll have to look at a few pictures.

Now I can tell you.  I ended up with just under 3 gallons of orange juice.  And that was after I gave a gallon ziploc baggie filled with the orange wedges to the missionaries!  Doug wasted no time and has already polished off the first pint of orange juice.  The rest is frozen. 

P.S.  Added bonus.  When I left the event to come home the guy in charge asked if I wanted a Gatorade.  I said sure.  He sent me home with a dozen of the larger bottles of Gatorade.  Guess what color I got?  ORANGE!  Yippee!

Crack of Dawn

Well this morning I got up at the crack of dawn (actually before that).  Billie is staying here with us for a few days.  She slept really well last night on her blankets on the floor of our room.  She didn't even attempt to get on the bed - yay!  Anyway at about 3:30 am she started moving around and licking herself and her collar was jingling all the way.  At that point I got up and let her out.  Then when she came in I just stayed in the family room on the couch.  I didn't want Doug to  get annoyed.  But really - he had to be in to work by 5:30 am.  So even with Billie and me on the couch giving him quiet in the bedroom - he had to get up at the crack of dawn anyway. 

Here's hoping that Billie and I can get a little nap in later.  Oh, excuse me.  I guess I woke Billie up from a nap just now.  That's why she doesn't care that she wakes up at the crack of dawn.  She is a napping machine and can nap anytime anywhere - except at 3:30 am.