BRUTUS.

A ONE picture adventure?! Yep! As most of you know, I believe adventure comes in many different forms. This particular adventure comes in the form of a very STINKY BULLDOG! I also believe adventure appears when you least expect it. This particular adventure appeared in the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD! Driving through Kuna one night with my cousin Kipper, we came upon this dog (who I started calling Brutus) standing absolutely right in the middle of the road. Cars were driving around the poor thing but NO ONE was doing a thing to try to get him to safety! Well you know I stopped! Kip and I jumped out and coaxed him to the side of the road. Then we looked for tags. NONE! Yikes! There was no way I was going to leave him there, in the dark, by the side of the road--especially when it became clear that Brutus was mostly deaf. We loaded the big lug into my backseat, still unsure what we were going to do with him. It IMMEDIATELY became obvious that Brutus could NOT spend much time in my backseat! He was clearly THE smelliest creature EVER! A decision was quickly made. The gagging began quickly thereafter! I drove him to the nearby FIRE STATION--gagging the entire way. My cousin was mostly horrified when, with Brutus trailing behind me, I knocked on the door to the living quarters of the station. The firemen were skeptical of a woman banging on their door late at night but answered nonetheless. Brutus, moving faster than I had seen him, darted in the door. The firemen instantly LOVED HIM! Who wouldn't love a FACE like that?! I explained our dilemma and they promised they would take care of him for us. I thanked them and scurried out the door . . . before THEY got a good whiff of him! You can count on me for random acts of kindness . . . but my kindness is limited when there is STINK involved!

TINY DANCER.

My Little Miss Claire is THREE!

thankfully i got this blog done before she turned four!

Just before her October birthday I went to Cascade to spend the day with her. I gave her her birthday gift early.

PRINCESS GEAR

she says!

This day . . . one of my all time favorites!

I LOVE YOU BABY GIRL!

I WANNA BE A COWGIRL . . .

I do! I really do! And by now I'm sure it is no secret! I wanna be a cowgirl! I love being outside. I love animals. It just makes sense for me to be a cowgirl! Right?! Okay, I don't love farm smells so very much. In fact, I don't do them very gracefully at all. (I know some of you are thinking that my reaction to farm smell is probably more disgusting than the smells themselves)! Can you be a cowgirl without having to deal with . . . the smell of poo? Yeah, probably not. Which is why, I have it pretty good! I have an amazing family that lets me PRETEND to be a cowgirl ANYTIME I want! Sometimes they even ASK me to play cowgirl with them! And they try not to tease me too much when an unexpected smell gets the best of me! On this beautiful fall day, Aunt Dee called not only to ask me to be a cowgirl, she also asked me to bring my CATTLE TRUCK! Since it is the closest thing I have to a horse, I was happy to put on my boots and scoot right out to the ranch to help!

Our mission for the afternoon:

Operation Bring Brahma Home.

When A. Dee learned this beautiful orphaned Brahma calf needed a new home, Uncle Jim had the ranch truck out in Landmark. That left the trunk of her car . . . or the NISSAN! Luckily for me, and the calf, she called in Cowgirl Tess and her trusty white steed!

They lifted her up, tied her up . . .

and shoved her in the truck!

Then Cowgirl Jessie sat on her!

And then I PROUDLY hauled her out to the ranch!

She wasn't nearly as impressed with my Cowgirl-ness as I was!

Then they untied her . . .

and unloaded her COWGIRL STYLE!

LOOK AT THOSE EYELASHES!

This is more of that COWGIRL FINESSE!

why is that this COWGIRL WANNABE only drove the truck and took PICTURES?

hmmm . . . guess i have some work to do if i am serious about being a cowgirl!

MERIDIAN SPEEDWAY.

I usually make a trip out to Meridian Speedway at least once or twice during the racing season but this particular trip was really fun for me for a couple of different reasons! Ms. Katie and I job share. That means one of us is manning the hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Which in turn means Katie and I NEVER see each other! She works when I don't and vice versa. I absolutely adore Katie and when she mentioned she would be heading out to the speedway, I quickly invited myself along! (One of us was on-call, though I don't quite recall which one of us it was! Thankfully the phone was quiet that night)! The reason Katie, her husband Nate, and son Brady were heading to the races that particular night was that Katie's dad was racing! I personally think it is ALWAYS more fun to go to the track when you have somebody to cheer for! It was a beautiful night -- perfect for watching some late season racing! I very much enjoyed my time with Katie and her dad, Papa Richard. In fact, the three of us have new adventure planned together . . .

WHITEWATER RAFTING!

of course!

ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF GOING TO THE TRACK IS ROPE LICORICE!

WHAT DO YOU KNOW, BRADY LOVES ROPE LICORICE TOO!

SO WE HAD A CONTEST TO SEE WHO COULD FINISH THEIR ROPE FIRST!

I AM VERY CAREFUL EATING LICORICE!

MY DENTIST SCARED THE DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME BY TELLING ME HOW COMMON IT IS FOR PEOPLE TO PULL THEIR VENEERS LOOSE EATING LICORICE! I ONLY CHOMP ON LICORICE WITH MY VERY BACK TEETH! TRUST ME, NOBODY WANTS TO SEE ME WITH A MISSING VENEER! BRADY WAS QUITE ENTERTAINED WITH MY METHOD!

EVEN THOUGH HE KEPT A VERY CLOSE EYE ON MY SILLY CONSUMPTION STRATEGY, HE STILL FINISHED FIRST! THIS KID IS SUCH A RIOT! AND I LOVE HIS BLUE BLUE EYES!

KATIE AND BRADY

PAPA RICHARD AND BRADY

all of the kids call katie's dad papa richard. and so, of course, do i!

AFTER THE RACES WE MET PAPA RICHARD IN THE PITS.

HE LET BRADY SIT IN THE CAR!

HE OFFERED TO LET ME SIT IN THE CAR TOO.

BUT I DON'T JUST WANT TO SIT . . .

:)

HOPEFULLY WE'LL GET TO SEE PAPA RICHARD RACE AGAIN NEXT SEASON!

AND PERHAPS SOMEDAY I'LL CONVINCE HIM TO LET ME DRIVE THAT CAR!

;O)

GOLD FORK LOOKOUT.

The same weekend we visited No Business, we also made the trek to Gold Fork Lookout. This particular lookout is truly unique from all the others in that it has been taken from its foundation atop the mountain, hauled down the hill and now sits on a small knoll just off Warm Lake highway. Although I have been to the foundation it used to sit on, I have never bothered to make the TINY hike to visit the lookout itself! Oddly enough, we chose to hike to Gold Fork Lookout on our way to Gold Fork Hot Springs. Aren't we clever?!

WE HIKED DURING MY FAVORITE TIME OF DAY--THE HOUR OR SO JUST BEFORE SUNSET!

SUCH PRETTY FALL LIGHT!

THE LOOKOUT HOWEVER, IS NOT SO PRETTY.

APPARENTLY A GROUP OF CONSERVATIONISTS HAD THE LOOKOUT MOVED WITH THE INTENTION OF MAKING IT INTO A MUSEUM. THEY, HOWEVER, HAVE CLEARLY DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WITH THE LOOKOUT SINCE THEY HAD IT MOVED. IT IS REALLY QUITE SAD! ESPECIALLY FOR US LOOKOUT AFICIONADOS!

MAYBE THEY'LL LET ME BE THE LOOKOUT HERE!

HECK, I COULD PROBABLY MOVE IN FOR THE SUMMER AND NO ONE WOULD EVEN KNOW!

LOOKS LIKE MY LIGHTNING STOOL NEEDS SOME TLC!

I HAPPEN TO KNOW DAD HAS A SECRET STASH OF INSULATORS THOUGH SO I SHOULD BE GOOD TO GO! ;O)

I SURE HOPE MY BOSS READS THIS BECAUSE LOOK . . .

HERE I AM WORKING THE ADMISSION LINE AGAIN!

MOM AND I CROSSING YET ANOTHER LOOKOUT OFF OUR LIST!

HIKING BACK TO THE HIGHWAY . . .

A BIT SADDENED BY THE NEGLECTED STATE OF THE LOOKOUT.

DON'T WORRY, A GOOD SOAK IN THE MAGICAL WATERS OF BEAUTIFUL GOLD FORK HOT SPRINGS WAS JUST THE ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT WE NEEDED! THE LOOKOUT MAY NOT BE WORTH THE EFFORT BUT THE HOT SPRINGS DEFINITELY ARE! THEY ARE SIMPLY HEAVENLY!