Total Eclipse of the Dawgs

Last Monday's solar eclipse was pretty amazing.  Mommy  and Daddy both remembered seeing one way back when they were in elementary school.   We weren't in the path of totality on Monday, but we still saw somewhere between 70-80% of the moon eclipsing the sun.

To make sure we were ready, Mommy and Daddy took a trip to Krispy Kreme on Sunday evening when the HOT NOW sign was on to sample their eclipse doughnuts.  Mommy actually called ahead to find out what time the doughnuts would be HOT!  That's doughnut love right there!  For the first time Krispy Kreme replaced their original glaze with a chocolate glaze.  Combining Mommy's favorite doughnut with her favorite topping . . . what could be better???  The doughnuts they brought home had just come off the conveyor and our parents were told to expect the doughnuts to be sticky.  The chocolate version of the glazed doughnut was quite messy!  (Mommy thinks they tasted better the second day.)  And the worst part . . . they weren't dawg friendly!  Hmpf!

Our parents also made sure we were ready to view this solar (lunar?) phenomenon . . .

Jenna

Dixie

Ruger

Mommy and Daddy

Mommy read somewhere that most welding masks aren't rated high enough for proper viewing, but she figured some protection was better than none.  She says this wasn't the first time she's looked directly at the sun!  (insert eye roll)  They also created a viewing box from a cereal box and tinfoil, but that view was so tiny that she wasn't thrilled with it.  She finally just threw up her cell phone and snapped away!

Mommy came home at lunch and watched Oregon be the first state to experience total darkness.  She even took pictures of it since this was as close as she was going to get to the total eclipse.

The sky where we live was very cloudy with the sun  (and moon) only peeping out occasionally.  This is what it looked like most of the day:

As the clouds gradually moved in and out of our viewing experience, Mommy's pictures varied greatly.  Sometimes the camera captured a reflection of the sun.  Can you see it in green?

Other times, the camera captured a direct image of the eclipse . . .

The best view for Mommy and Daddy was not with the eclipse glasses but through the welding masks.  The mask was able to pick up the image of the sun even through the clouds.  The glasses only allowed for viewing when the clouds drifted away.  Although the welding masks let our parents see the eclipse the best, it was tough to get the camera focused through the mask!

This last image was taken two hours north of where we live by the father of one of Mommy's co-workers.  It's amazing how different the eclipse is just a couple hours north, isn't it?  (and we're not referring to the picture quality, although that's pretty amazing too!)

Until the next eclipse . . . 

The Dawgs

Jeep Hair of the Dawg

While our parents were in New Orleans, we went to stay with a nice family about an hour and a half from our house.  Mommy says we won't normally travel this far for boarding, but I hadn't had all of my shots at that point and we had to be careful who I stayed with.  So I went back to the place where it all started for me.  I went to stay with my canine parents' human parents.  Did you follow all that?  Dixie and Jenna got to go too.  That meant a ride in the Jeep!

On the ride to the kennel, I was a bit restless because this was my first long ride since coming home to live with my parents.  I wanted to see everything!

Yes, we know this isn't the safest form of transportation, but Mommy says she's not fighting seat belts for all three of us.  Dixie once rode with Mommy on a ten hour trip in a seat belt and was miserable the whole time.

The trip back home was EVEN BETTER!  Not only were we excited to see our parents, but Daddy took the tops off the Jeep (he has the hard top on right now) and we could feel the wind whipping through our hair.  Does that comment remind anyone anyone else of those old York Peppermint Patty commercials??  I certainly don't remember them, but Mommy told me to add that in there!

Mommy definitely has the windblown look when she's in the Jeep.  That saying "Jeep hair, don't care" . . . well, I think she really does care, but she sucks it up and soldiers on anyway because she loves Daddy.  This was early on in the trip.  It gets MUCH worse as the trip goes on . . .

I was even more restless on the trip back home.  I couldn't get comfortable until the last thirty minutes.

Dixie likes to sit up almost the entirety of any trip so she can see what's going on outside.  She especially likes to sit right behind Mommy's seat so she can be close to her.

Jenna was fairly restless on this trip too.  She's normally more settled, but I think her recovering leg was bothering her a bit.  Jenna usually likes to sleep the entire trip.

Eventually I settled down with my big sister Jenna . . . I'm not sure if she liked that or not and I'm not asking!

I can't wait until my next road trip!  Hopefully it will be in the Jeep!
Ruger

The Big Easy

Recently our parents went on vacation . . . WITHOUT US!!  Why do they do that???  Don't we make their life worth living?  Don't we deserve to have a vacation from the every day humdrum too?  The big, easy answer to those questions is a resounding YES, but our parents still aren't budging on this.  Hmpf!

This year they (meaning Mommy) chose for them to go to New Orleans, Louisiana.  They (meaning Mommy) have wanted to go for a while.  They ate their way through the city enjoying all the Southern comfort foods they could get their mouths on.  Most of these foods they've eaten before since they both grew up in the South, but they (meaning Mommy) hadn't eaten them in NOLA!

Eating beignets at Cafe du Monde . . . Mommy was a bit disappointed.  She said they tasted like funnel cakes from a fair.  She was expecting something MORE!

Shrimp Po Boy . . . one of two eaten that week!  Yummy!

A man from England was on one of their tours and asked the tour guide if he could suggest any place to eat that didn't serve fried food . . . Mommy told the man he'd come to the wrong place! 

  A half eaten praline . . . some of these made it home, but do you think we got to try any???  NO!

Turtle soup!  You can't tell it from this picture, but Mommy said it was great and ate her entire bowl!

Fried gator . . . tastes like chicken, but they already knew that!

Chargrilled oysters . . . the only way to eat them in Daddy's opinion!  And a hurricane for Mommy!

Fried green tomato BLT sandwich!  Mommy LOVES fried green tomatoes!!!

Pirogue sandwhich full of breakfast sausage for Daddy . . .

he said this pirogue boat was big enough to row away in!

And a combo platter of red beans and rice, etouffee, and jambalaya to make sure all major food groups of rice, rice, and rice were covered!  Mommy also had gumbo one day.

Much to Daddy's disappointment, they did NOT get to eat here!

While in New Orleans, Mommy and Daddy took a tour of the beautiful homes in the Garden District.  Daddy graciously agreed to accompany Mommy on this walking tour.  When it was over two hours later, he said he thought they'd walked enough for the day.  Mommy glanced at her fitbit and told him they hadn't even walked as much as she normally does with us on a daily basis!  Here are a few of Mommy's favorites.

The Garden District tour also included a tour of the oldest cemetery in New Orleans, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1.  It's quite fascinating to learn all about how the residents must be buried in crypts since most of the city is below sea level.  Nothing would ruin a good Southern tea party more than to have a few dead bodies come floating by in the rain!

Another Mommy approved idea was a tour of two plantations and a swamp tour to see alligators.  They visited Oak Alley Plantation and Laura Plantation.  The Oak Alley Plantation included another southern special, mint juleps!

The swamp tour wasn't that exciting for Daddy since he'd seen gators in the wild, but Mommy hadn't.  She enjoyed seeing the swamp with all of its Spanish moss hanging from the trees and the alligators swimming by.

One of the highlights of the tour was holding Bruce, the nearly two year old alligator.  Before you object to Bruce's captivity,  the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries approves of this tour company raising a few baby alligators because the alligators have about an 80 percent greater chance of survival than if they started life in the wild.  When the alligators reach the age of two, they are slowly re-introduced back into the wild.

Because Daddy was so accommodating to Mommy's wishes for the week, she gladly spent a day fishing with him.  Well, they attempted to fish.  They have now learned that salt water fly fishing is MUCH more difficult than fresh water fly fishing!  It was still a good day and Mommy enjoyed seeing the wildlife (including the dolphin below!), but you can rest assured no fish were harmed that day because no fish were caught!

We hope you enjoyed seeing a few highlights of our parents' trip to The Big Easy . . . personally, we didn't!  Why?  Because we wanted to go with them!

Maybe next time,
Dixie, Jenna, & Ruger