Remembering Dad

A year ago today, I lost my father. It still feels surreal. There are times I'll be doing something, and a memory will pop in my head of my dad. Usually this happens when I'm driving.

I don't think you can ever truly get used to a loss like this. I still miss you, Dad.

Addendum to Idaho part III

In my rush to post the pretty pictures taken along the drive, I neglected to mention the worst part of the trek.

Our rental car reeked of gas.

Can you imagine spending 3 hours trapped in the small confines of a little Kia Sorrento choking on fumes of gasoline? Rolling down the windows did not help much and only led to complaints from the back passengers. We hoped the smell would disappate by the time we reached our destination, but it remained strong and whole for the entire duration of the trip. I felt nauseated.

The driver of the Explorer had arranged the rental from Budget. He called a branch located in Twin Falls (we planned to visit Shoshone Falls before heading to the hotel). The people at that branch were very nice and willing to help out in any way they could. I hopped into the Explorer and he drove the Sorrento over to the branch while the rest of us headed to Shoshone.

Long story short, he was unable to trade the vehicle for a new one because the people who owned the branch in SLC were uncooperative. The rest of the trip I did not ride in that car.

Stay tuned for lovely pics of Shoshone Falls.

Trip to Idaho for work, part III

See here for part I and here for part II.

Warning: this whole post will basically be pictures. Not much to discuss about the drive itself. We got into the two cars. We drove for a few hours. We got out of the cars. Exciting story, right? So enjoy these pictures of Utah & Idaho countryside.

I do have to note that this was my favorite picture. You can see how small and insignificant the horses look against the rising expanse of the mountain behind.

So that was the drive. A very alien landscape to someone who grew up in the Midwest, but beautiful in its own right. I hope my pictures conveyed some of the variety of landscape.

To be continued...

Trip to Idaho for work, part II

See here for part I.

The Texans arrived in due time. We waited some more for our second rental car, which was supposed to be another nice Explorer.

Of course it wasn't.

It was a dark green Kia Sorento with a grey cloth interior still a bit dirty from previous use. Upon opening the driver's side door, strong gas fumes wafted out, making us nearly gag. My coworkers figured that whoever brought the car back must have stepped in some spilled fuel before parking the car. We had already waited in line quite awhile to get this vehicle, and we needed to head out for Idaho, since the drive to our meeting location took three hours.

Driving into Salt Lake City, we passed a bomb squad and many police cars surrounding an apartment building.

We continued driving through downtown SLC towards Temple Square.

Despite all the construction going on, we did manage to find some on street parking, and we walked through Temple Square to meet up with the first group by the Mormon Temple.

After our quick walk through tour of Temple Square, we loaded back into our cars and headed out towards Idaho. On the way out of SLC, I noted some large homes built on the tops of the surrounding foothills. It reminded me a little of the houses in the Loess Hills of Iowa perched precariously on the rims of steep hills formed by debris deposited long ago winds.

To be continued...

Trip to Idaho for work, part I

A few weeks ago, my company had a few of us from each location meet at our facility in Idaho. We were told we could either fly into Boise or Salt Lake City, then rent vehicles to drive the rest of the way. I decided that the Indiana people (3 of us) would fly to SLC, since I have a cousin who lives there, and I would be able to visit her before or after the meeting. Turns out SLC was the logical choice anyways, because there weren't many options available for Boise.

Our flight out of Indiana departed at the ungodly hour of 6:00 in the morning. To make the flight, I met my fellow employees at an even more unholy time, 4:30. This was after a night with only a couple hours of rest because I had to finish preparing the materials we were supposed to bring with us. I tried to relax for the very short flight to Cincinnati, seated by the window next to a stranger.

I deliberately chose seats away from my co-workers on the plane. They aren't horrible people, but I am not the most comfortable with them. I still feel a lot like an outsider at my new place of employment.

After the short hop to Cinci, the next leg of our journey loomed before us abruptly. Our layover didn't last long, and we boarded the large jet. A packed flight and yet another pair of strangers next to me on that shiny metal tube.

Bear Lake, near SLC in Utah

It was fun to take pictures and see just how close I could get with the zoom on my new camera. These pictures weren't full zoom but still turned out neat.

The descent into SLC allowed a full view of the Great Salt Lake looming below, a brilliant shade of azure blue against the whites, browns, and reds of surrounding salt mining fields.

Ours was the first flight to arrive in SLC of the four comprising the SLC group. Three locations were flying into SLC and the others would travel through Boise. We ate lunch then pulled our suitcases from the luggage carousel. I checked the arrival boards and found that the Pennsylvania group had already landed, much earlier than their scheduled time! I called my counterpart with the group, and he said they were at the car rental place working on obtaining our vehicles. We had reserved two SUVs for a total of eight people.

After a bit of a wait, we had our first vehicle, a black Ford Explorer with nice tan, leather seats. We were still waiting on two flights from Texas (the two people chose to take different routes). Some of the PA guys commented that they had yet to eat, so two of us stayed behind while the rest climbed into the Explorer and headed into the wilds of SLC to sight see and dine.

Ok, I've run out of steam for now. To be continued (I know you wait with baited breath)...

My first dogs, part II

Tasha (left) and Hannah (right) not long after I got them, 2005

Do these look like the faces of trouble makers?

Yeah. Looks are deceiving. Those little devils quickly scratched and chewed up what wood they could in my back entry way (where they are photographed here). They were not yet kennel trained when I got them, so I had to teach them to sleep in the kennels quietly.

I put the crates in the garage, then I put blankets in them. I read a book to the pups while they were in the crates to calm them. Then I left them in there alone for longer and longer stretches of time. Meanwhile, I let them run free in the garage until they were comfortable with being kenneled for long stretches.

What a mistake.

The garage was insulated and had an exposed 3 foot wide section of insulation on the far wall where there used to be an outside door. The dogs decided this served as excellent entertainment, and before long they buried the cement floor in layers of torn fluff (mixed with their urine and excrement, of course).

The puppies gauged strips into the walls along the only window trying to look outside. They tried to scratch their way out by the door, resulting in a big hole. To their delight, they pulled even more insulation from this newly formed hole to spread around.

I left the crate doors open so they could walk in and out while familiarizing themselves with their new "area." Of course, I left the blankets in there so that they wouldn't have to lay on the hard bottom of the crates. Those blankets didn't last very long, suffering the same fate as the insulation had before them.

I accidentally forgot the book I had been reading to them on one of the crates, and it was demolished the next time I saw the girls.

I learned (the hard way) that I couldn't turn both dogs loose to exercise at the same time. One always had to be on a lead or tied up, or they would take off down the road, ignoring my frantic calls for them to come back.

One day (fortunately on a weekend) not long after I brought my little demons home, they discovered that the door into the garage no longer latched completely. Oh joy!! Off they went, darting down the rocky road while I remained ignorantly blissful inside the house.

The wild ones had not been gone long when I discovered their absence. Heart in my throat, I jogged down the road toward the corner carrying their leashes with me. Then I spotted them rounding the corner from the other direction, merrily trotting along while the man who lives in the house down there followed them in his truck. Oh dear, what kind of trouble had they caused, and could I deny that those hellions were mine?

The puppies led the man in the truck straight back to me, wagging their tails and displaying great delight in their latest antics. He gave me a long look and wordlessly drove off as soon as they were back at my house. I've never talked to that guy since, and I don't even know if he still lives in that house anymore. I figured out how to work the latch on the garage door so that it would remain in place in spite of the dogs's best efforts.

Tasha and Hannah were eventually comfortable in the crates so I could keep them there when needed. They never settled down enough to ever be allowed free at the same time in an unfenced area, though. Hannah could scale fences, although Tasha never learned this wonderful talent! Fortunately, neither went very far without the other.

More on those two crazies later.

A visual break from winter

I'm beyond tired of winter. I'm seriously searching for a job in the South now, preferably closer to my family. I need a break from endless vistas of dull brown, grey, and white.

So here are some pictures from my trip to Florida in October 2008. One of my brothers lives not far from Clearwater, and he (finally) tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend. I think they had been dating at least 10 years by that point. My parents, sisters (I have 3), and one other brother attended, as well as an Aunt and Uncle who live down the road from my married sister and another Aunt from eastern Indiana (got that?). Of course my sister had her husband and adorable daughter with her.

Tom and his fiancee Tami were in the process of moving from one house to another around the corner in the same neighborhood. I came for the whole week, since I had never been to Florida before (not even when I lived just a few hours away in Alabama). The plan was for my sister Janice and I to rent a car and explore the area. Janice flew in the day after I did. Janice had previously visited Tom and Tami, so we had to find new places she hadn't yet toured. We would stay with our other relatives as they arrived in the "old" house, which had a small, inviting pool for our use.

The move didn't take place until the middle of the week; in the meantime Tom and Tami were still living in the "old" house with their two beagles. Janice and I shared the king size bed in the spare bedroom.

Day one, Janice and I strolled around St. Petersburg. We enjoyed this boat (read the name):

In case you can't read that, it says "Five O'Clock Somewhere."

We walked out on the top of the Pier and viewed the city skyline.

We also enjoyed a visit to the St. Petersburg beach, a less popular destination than the Clearwater beach just north of it.

Day two Janice and I visited the Clearwater Aquarium and took their aquatic tour. Before our tour we watched our intended captain be packed up and carted away by emergency services. He had some chest pains, although he turned out to be alright. I was amused to note that Mr. Incredible (the Disney character, in case you live in even more of a vacuum than I do) was strapped to the front of one of the fire engines. The boat tour was delayed while a different captain was summoned to man the vessel.

One stop we made on the journey was to a small island composed primarily of sharp shells.

Ignore my hideously white legs. This time we visited the Clearwater beach before heading back.

The next morning, Janice and I explored the aquarium and sponge docks at Tarpan Springs. We enjoyed a Greek lunch (I love Mediterranean food) before returning to the house to swim in the pool for awhile.

Sarah, Levi, Sammie, Aunt Ann, Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Joe arrived that evening. We enjoyed hanging out by the water, drinking and searching for interesting sealife. Sammie spotted a seastar, and Joe (a bit tipsy) slid down the cement embankment to pick it up for her. He also displayed a conch someone else spied.

This was a great location to watch some spectacular sunsets over the water. I already have shared my favorite (on the very first blog post), but here it is again:

My sister Grace arrived with my parents the next day (the day before the wedding). My brother Jim flew in by himself, since his boys had too many activities going on to come with him. His wife remained in Indiana to take care of the boys. We returned to Tarpan Springs to taste some of the interesting wines at two shops there. Joe and Ann wanted to find a good market to purchase some fish for dinner. The afternoon was spent back at Clearwater beach. It was crawling with people. Sammie loved running into the water and being buried in the sparkling white sand.

Tami didn't want a bachelorette party, but my sisters insisted. We ate dinner at a nice restaurant and then hit the bars (the guys were having there own bachelor party). Sarah had each of the women present come up with something for Tami to do, which she wrote on a napkin. Tami very reluctantly participated in the game.

The wedding and reception were held at the house of a friend, across the street from the "old" house. The friend, Donna, was an ordained minister (of what church, I'm not sure), and she performed the lightening fast ceremony. Certainly, that was the quickest wedding I have ever attended. We didn't even realize that it had started until someone pointed out that the participants were already lined up along the deck. The best man and matron of honor said some words, Tom and Tami exchanged vows, they kissed, and that was it.

Back to socializing, drinking, and through the buffet line for dinner. I loved the cake (and certainly ate way too much of it).

Attending family members (a colorful bunch)

There were a few other trips around the area in there, but this post is plenty long enough as it is. I just needed some pictures of warm, sunny days to brighten my mood. Oh, and a dose of cute little Sammie :-)