I’ve often mocked Zoe for reading the blurbs and not the stories (when sniffing) or for not focusing on trying to get to the bottom of some of the tougher questions that we encounter during our voyage through this life. However, I have to give the girl credit for her ingenuity when she puts her mind to it.
For example, her patented parental distraction technique for stealing food off the counter* which I mentioned not too long ago.
Then there was this display of brilliance that it took me a few days to appreciate.
There we were tooling around the backyard when Zoe bee-lined (although my parents still miss Coach Beilein as the Michigan basketball coach they are so happy that Juwan is now the coach…and not just because he was playing at Michigan when they were in Grad School there, but that he seems to genuinely be an awesome person) and I digress… Zoe zoomed toward the blueberry bush on the backside of our garage. Upon arrival she immediately started digging.
Once I saw this behavior, I immediately sprinted over as fast as I could to help her in pursuit of the varmint she had caught a whiff of…
But when I got there, nothing! No voles, no moles, no chipmunks, no weasels. “What is she up to”, I thought to myself. And I got nowhere with this thought process. Then a few days passed by and I went to see what was up with her newest hole; lo-and-behold…it had filled up with BLUEBERRIES! What brilliance she possesses when it comes to collecting food (especially after being diagnosed with EPI) and since she was constantly being yelled at for eating the blueberries, raspberries, tomatoes, etc. off the vine, the girl created her own offering basket!
I bow to your excellence my lovely sister!
Tempi
*Granted, distracting our parents is not a high mountain to climb, but the girl excels at it! 😉
After going to NH this past weekend, our parents decided that we should get our own life vests actually designed for our bodies. Not that the ones we were loaned during our trip around Lake WinniePoohSkis weren’t comfy, but they stayed with the boat and if we were going to practice for next year we would need our own. Now we just have to find a place to practice (my parents are discussing canoe rentals; not sure what a canoe is).
Today, our friends at Ruffwear who provided Sammy with his protective footwear back in the day, delivered our new swim costumes. Given we are roughly the same size, either of us could wear either flotation device. So, the big question is whose is whose? We both think we each look the most smashing in either outfit (tho I am, of course, correct). So how do we decide whose is whose?
After a long debate, we agreed that it should be the readers of this blog who should decide who wears what color!
Me (Tempi) in Yellow vs. Her (Zoe) in Blue:
????
Or me in blue and my sister in yellow:
So, with these photos as evidence, what do you think about which outfit should we do our training in?
WARNING: This is an atypically long post about an atypically long day. I hope you enjoy the recounting of our adventures as much as we enjoyed experiencing them!
I do realize that I still have many more stories to relate from our long trip out west this summer but The Scribe got caught up in the Summer Olympics and my voice was apparently placed on mute. With that said, I have to jump ahead to another road trip we took just this past weekend which may have been my favorite 12 hours ever (give or take an hour or two on account I still haven’t gotten my Apple Watch back coupled with the fact that time isn’t our strong suit).
What made those hours so special you ask?
A car ride longer than 5 minutes (again with the time caveat) in which we were never once stuck in Dog Mode.
Ice Cream! – need I say more?
Young humans – among my favorites of your kind.
A BOAT!?! Which, despite seeing such crafts with our own eyes on Lake Michigan and the Concord River (once or twice we actually saw other dogs on board), we had never quite understood how they worked having never been on one.
1. What was the occasion that got us back to New Hampshire for the first time since we went to see the fall foliage along the Kanc Hwy might be what you are pondering now. Well, it turns out, one of our mothers’ favorite people in the world spends a few weeks at Lake WillyWonka (or something like that; my Mom developed some strange midwestern accent and cannot pronounce a single NH word) every summer and now that we are in Massachusetts it is but a 90 minute drive. These realities, combined with the fact that they had not seen each other in nearly (or over?) 25 years* (a time span that I can’t even fathom – might as well be talking about eons or geological time if you ask me) made the trip a top priority in our household. Plus, my parents were muy curioso about how we would respond to being on a boat skimming over the watery waves. Upon arriving in Gilford, NH, we met mothers’ friend Ms. M and got to walk around the backyard of her parents’ house where she and her family were staying. The point of the walk was to do any bathroom business we may need to act on after 1.5 hours in a car, but the sight of two little garter snakes distracted us. So, we all went and hung out on the deck overlooking the lake as the two ladies caught each other up on what they have been up to for the past quarter century as Dad, Zoe, and I listened and took in the view. That is until I decided to open the screen door and make my way into the house to inspect the kitchen. This led to another romp around the yard and expedited the move on to the next phase of our day: The Lake!
4. The drive down to the lake included many turns but it only took us a few minutes to get there. We had to wait a few moments while Mom’s friend swam out to the boat and steered it over to the dock close to where we were lingering out on the coastline and testing the waters. The next thing I knew we were in the boat which was rocking back and forth on the small waves that continually lapped at the shore.
On the boat!
The first stop was The Yacht Club (WYC) to which Ms. M’s parents belong. My first thought about hearing this destination is that it sounded fancy and Dad was once again probably not wearing appropriate clothing. During the trip, Zoe and I sat up front with Dad, while Mom and her friend talked about what had become of some of the people they knew back at The Jameson Ranch Camp in California where the two of them had met all those years ago.
Ms. M also did some communication with other people from her pack trying to coordinate meeting time and destination. The others had apparently taken a flyover of the lake (and the house) in the morning while we were on our drive north.
3. Upon arriving at the WYC, my fears were allayed and at least on this Saturday afternoon in August the dress code was casual. Phew. Another socially embarrassing Dad-moment was avoided!
A pic of WYC from their website since Dad missed his chance to get one on the day we were there – not the only time he missed a photo-op.
Shortly after getting rid of our sea legs, two younger kids approached us and starting giving us pets! Boy do I love people this age (and younger). Older people are also okay in my book but they definitely rank below my two best friends! Apparently, these were the children of Ms. M and her husband, Mr. M (but a different M name than Ms. M) who moments later joined the kids giving us a decent rub behind the ears as he was being introduced to our parents.
Zoe and the younger of the two did some swimming in what we later learned is “the human zone” (oops) while lunch was being unpacked (Zoe knowing that she had to get her swim in before eating…a lesson Mom has drilled into us despite the fact we’ve never been swimming anytime close to meal time).
Back at the picnic table, the sandwiches were passed out, along with chips, cherries, potato salad, etc. Zoe kept trying her patented distract-everyone-so-she-can-steal-some-food-while-they’re-not-looking trick by pretending to lose it every time this other dog walked by our table…which seemed to be about a dozen times a minute.
After lunch we re-boarded the boat and took a short ride over to a small bay (?) of the lake that wasn’t as choppy for some swimming and other water sports. This took the requisite 30+ minutes from the time we ate so we were safe to enter the water. The kids were first in and this got Zoe and I very excited. During this segment of the trip (and actually the rest of the day) Zoe and I spent most of our time with the young people. Good times!
Before we were allowed in, Mom had to get in the water so in case we panicked she could help us back up. Zoe jumped in first and immediately wanted out again as there was no sign of the sandy bottom as far as her legs could reach. Back on board, the kids helped find a life preserver that would fit us to see if the extra buoyancy would help calm us. Amazingly, they had one just our size (if we put them on backwards). The kids carefully helped Zoe into it making sure her fur didn’t get caught in the zipper and talking to her in soft reassuring voices – have I mentioned how much we love those two?
The life vest did help both of us a bit but given it was our first time wearing one and it was the deepest water we had ever been in, the swimming time was cut short upon our request. So, what was that about other water sports?
First, young Miss K jumped out into the water with her very own life vest and swam a good 25-30′ passed the back of the boat (remember accurate determinations of your measures of distance are also not one of our strong suits). She grabbed onto a rope with a handle on it (like a leash) and then…And then the boat just TOOK off dragging her behind. This freaked Zoe and I out a bit especially when she crashed or let go of her leash. We swung our heads around to the left and right to keep her in view as the boat turned about and returned to her side. This happened many times and she seemed to be having a great time but I was a nervous wreck.
Finally she was back in the boat and I thought I could finally relax and maybe even take a nap…it being after 3 PM and I had been awake since we arrived at the lake.
SPLASH!
No way! Now young Mr. L was in the water on ski’s of all things! I better get in there and help him…but it is deep and I’m being restrained by a leash (as my trip in the water was luckily not caught on camera. Mom was glad I had the life jacket on as I was trying to stand on her head I was so nervous). I guess this is just another one of those white knuckle moments. Maybe I should chew my nails – they are getting a bit long – to calm my nerves.
After L got back in the boat Mom’s friend was in the water. Whatever. I was tired of worrying. But her standing circle board circles were impressive. If I had hands I would have clapped but alas she would just have to be delighted by my giving her two paws up when she got back on board moments later. When she got out she was like “doesn’t anyone care about me?”
Now, I had been hearing much about the great ice cream stores around the lake and was thinking it was about time we got around to visiting one or more of them when I saw something I couldn’t comprehend. Dad was lassoing himself into one of those life preserver things and was headed toward the back of the boat. Sure enough, in he went, and with that Zoe’s brain snapped. Mom was holding on to her and had to completely bear hug Zoe as she squirmed and threw a living fit while Dad was being pulled by the boat…not a bad reaction given how uncoordinated he is and the stories he had told us about his attempts (major failures) at water skiing back in the day. I was afraid we would never get Zoe back/Mom would lose her until someone open the can of Pringles and Dad – still behind the boat – was forgotten.
Dad in the water (?)
Zoe losing it
2. After some impressive wake-boarding by Mr. M (that dude has skills) we were finally off to ice cream land! Zoe and I chilled with the kids on the trip and I even tried to take a quick nap so I’d be alert at the ice cream stand. Have I mentioned how much I love ICE CREAM!
Of course, Dad being so absorbed with his mission of sucking down his bowl full of mint chocolate chip he totally forgot to take any pictures of this part of our day. In fact, as we neared our docking spot he must have been contemplating what flavor he was going to order and on the way out must have been in a sugar coma because he didn’t get any pictures of the bridge that we barely got under and all the pieces of gum that were stuck to the cement above us. I guess I’ll give him a break here as he hadn’t had a nap all day either.
The last leg of our journey on the lake was a return to the dock and our car. The guys stayed behind (except Dad who was holding on to us) to start cleaning up the boat as it was there last day in NH and after Zoe and I had been in there it was a disaster. Mom wanted to stay and help clean but we were encouraged to hit the road as we still had the 90 minute drive back home.
Miss K, Ms. M, and our pack all piled into our car and Mom answered all of K’s questions about electric cars – of which she had many. She seemed very excited by the technology and that was before Mom engaged “Fart Mode.” After this was enabled, every time she signaled for a turn (which I mentioned there were quite a few), the speakers in the car would make different fart-like noises. This got both my new friend and Mom’s old friend doubled up in laughter.
It was hard to say goodbye but we were exhausted and looked forward to a good long rest on the drive home.
Luckily, I am accustomed to her snoring and was able to sleep myself
Exhaustion
Hopefully, we’ll be able to visit them next summer. In the meantime, after our naps, we are going to start practicing swimming with life vests so maybe we can surf on the circle board!
The Tempest
Whoa! Look at all that water!
I don’t usually need comfort – but although I was having a blast, Mom’s support (lap) helped me a lot!
* the best take home line of the day was when mothers friend Ms M said: “after not seeing you for 25 years, I think the only thing I’ll remember is that your car farts!”
Acknowledgements: The pictures of us swimming, getting life perseveres put on, and Dad being dragged by the boat are contributions from the renowned photographer, boat driver, and circle board pro, Ms. M.
PS – I thought I was dreaming when I looked up and saw this purple thing as we were leaving a Supercharger on the ride home:
My parents for some reason decided to go “electric” with their cars several years ago. One of my favorite features of the Teslas is Dog Mode – which keeps us at a comfy temperature if we are left in the car while one or both of our parents go shopping. This means that we get to go on these excursions more often then before which means less time locked up in our crates in the cool basement of our house…which I think I’ve previously mentioned, isn’t the worst thing in the world especially now that Dad is around pretty much all of the time.
One of Dad’s favorite features of the Teslas is that he can drive it without knowing where his key is – on the off chance he “misplaces” it like he did the other day (and maybe other days… his secret is safe with me). All he has to do is open the App on his phone, type in his password (or activate it with the face recognition on his iPhone), and the car is ready to drive! The wonders of modern technology and the power of the internet…which as I understand it is where my stories go after the completion of the transcription by the Scribe. And this is something my Grandfather should NOT read, as he would hate all of these features.
One of Zoe’s favorites features of the Teslas is actually a feature all cars that I’ve been in have – sticking her head out the window. The head out the sunroof is also not exclusive…and in fact the “non-dog” car version we have (the Model 3) doesn’t have one. We found this out when Zoe spent the trip from Illinois to Massachusetts in that car with Mom, while Dad and I drove here in the Model S. Apparently, there was some concern we’d get in a fight on the drive and with only one human around (who presumably was driving) this interaction was deemed unsafe.
Head out the window.
I suspect that Mom’s favorite feature is that there is plenty of room for Zoe to sit on her lap…or under her feet – when she isn’t driving.
Zoe in the passenger’s side foot well…luckily, Mom is flexible.
So, now that all those preferences have been cataloged, I should probably get on to the actual story of this particular blog entry.
The Day was Wednesday, August 4th and although he hung around the house and yard all day, Dad’s key fob was MIA. He figured he had laid it down someplace unusual instead of hanging on the key holder by the front door (which is what he is supposed to do but often forgets). So he wasn’t too concerned that sooner or later he’d find it and remember that that was the place he had left it. Quick aside, I don’t think that is really remembering when the evidence presents itself to him. Thankfully, given he had some errands to run, this was not a problem thanks to the keyless feature in the Tesla App.
The first stop was a hardware store to get some stain for the deck and some other small items. On this excursion, he decided to leave us in our crates (with a treat filled Kong) just in case there was an issue with the keyless driving. Shortly after he left, he was back at home, we were let out of our crates, and it was time for our pre-lunch walk. In other words, everything worked perfectly for errand #1.
For the next errand – shopping for fresh thyme and parsley for the stripped bass they were planning on having for dinner, Zoe and I got to go along on the drive…Zoe in the shotgun seat, me in the back (or on the arm rest leading to the front seats). Windows went down a bit, and the sunroof opened halfway so that our heads could peek out in order for our sniffers to get all the scents streaming by the car.
First stop: a local farm market in Carlisle. No luck on finding the items on his shopping list but he did get some more plums that Mom really liked. Stop 2: a farm shop in neighboring Concord…again no luck, but he got a melon and some fresh corn there (both items Mom really likes). Stop 3: The Concord Market – which is actually a little grocery store with some great produce, meats, etc. BINGO! Both thyme and parsley were available, along with some tomatoes and corn chips and salsa that I am certain we were going to share on the ride home.
Except, as Dad was munching on some chips, he discovered that he couldn’t unlock the car…much to our dismay. After a few minutes in which Zoe barked a few times (basically asking WTF dad?), we settled down and took an extended nap in our well air-conditioned seats.
The rest of this story we heard upon our release from the car so its authenticity I can’t attest to…for all I know it is Dad’s revisionist history of the events.
Delete and attempt to reload the Tesla App. Delete worked, reload not so much.
Move away from car so we could relax while he worked on the problem.
Google the problem. No wi-fi access. In downtown Concord?
Identify local business wi-fi to download app. Thankfully he was next to a bank that had free wi-fi!
Success. App redownloaded!
Now he could see Mom’s car but not the one we were napping in, again, in Dog Mode luxury.
Panic.
Text Mom to see if she could unlock the car from work…no luck
Contact Tesla service through the button on the App under Mom’s car.
Again, a victory…except the service rep was unlocking Mom’s car in the garage where she was parked at work, not ours (zzzzzz)
Mom left the middle of a meeting and work in a panic with her key fob to try and save us.
Meanwhile, Dad was transferred to a central rep to try and unlock our car remotely. A very helpful and compassionate guy tried to help but for some reason could only lock but not unlock the car (?).
Dad sits on the curb and watches Mom speed towards us on the Tesla App that is working for her car but not ours. He decides being critical of her driving and speed is not prudent.
Mom arrives, we are released and give her hugs and butt rubs in thanks for her saving us!
Dad decides to take us for a walk to give us a chance to pee after an hour or two…who knows since we were asleep..while Mom jumps on her final Zoom meeting of the day in her car for the rest of her drive home.
Mom realizes, THANKFULLY, she still has the key fob and tosses it to Dad before driving off.
We all arrive at home in time for dinner (thankfully)!
The Tempest
Follow up:
A. The current hypothesis is the bank had some wi-fi blocker that cut our car off from seeing the internet. Why Tesla was able to “lock” our door is still a mystery.
B. Turns out a neighbor found Dad’s key fob yesterday (Thank you!). Dad claims in his “history” of the event that he identified a hole in the pocket of his shorts created by one of his daughters trying to get to a treat – highly unlikely. Face palm Dad…
Montana Moments 