Sunday, August 21, 2011

The Newo Pups Adventurer


I am eternally grateful for my darling dog, Newo. I adopted her right before I left on my magnificent trip. This first photo, above, was taken on our first night camping together, in Mount Shasta, in Northern California. We played, hiked, built fires, and took the best cat naps ever.


Above, our time in Silver Falls State Park, in Oregon. So rainy, so beautiful. One of the nights I opened a bottle of rose wine to sip on after my small dinner, and read my book. Of course, I forgot a cup on my trip, so I was just drinking out of the bottle. About 45 minutes later, I look down to see I'm on my last chapter of my book, and I have an empty bottle. Needless to say, I was totally drunk. I happened to be reading Where The Red Fern Grows, all about the love between a dog and its master. For those of you who haven't read it, the last chapter is probably the most depressing end to a novel EVER. I spent the evening SOBBING alone in my tent with Newo.


This classy photo was taken in Seattle, Washington. I spent a little over a week with my wonderful sister Moorea. We had a great 4th of July, I helped model for her jewelry store, and Newo made TONS of friends. We were very sad to leave Moorea and Max, Newo's two biggest fans. She lovesss Auntie Moorea.


To be completely honest, this was the most pointless and frustrating part of our trip. I KNEW that the forest spirits or karma or omens or whatever did NOT want me at Heyburn State Park, in Northern Idaho, but I did not listen. After three days, hundreds of mosquito bites, locking my keys in my car, going hungry for 12 hours, Newo and I got out of there as soon as we possibly could. This photo captured the only smile of the trip.



Montana was amazing. Undoubtedly the best part of my entire summer adventure. Here we are, looking wonderful as always, in Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park, in South Western Montana. Newo had gotten that ball from my package of Dog Chow and it drove me absolutely nuts, but she loved it. Every day for the 5 days we were in Montana, there was an afternoon thunderstorm either overhead, or off in the distance. The time this photo was taken, it was sunny overhead, and maybe a couple of football fields away, there were huge storm clouds and lightning and thunder. We read outside in the warm sunshine as the thunder groaned. It was lovely.


We went to see some of my favorite friends in Rexburg, Eastern Idaho. Newo loved it here, because she had so many friends who wanted to play! We stayed with my favorite little married couple, who are expecting, and they were such lovely hosts. This is us at Rigby Lake, enjoying the sunshine and being annoying to Newo as always. She puts up with so much.


A truly horrendous night occurred 12 hours before this photo was taken. We went to see my friends in South Lake Tahoe, which turned out to be one night of awesome and one night of not so awesome. They knighted me with the name "Zandgrr", a personality of mine that has only been shown twice to them. Newo loved them, too. At least I had a nice lemon drop that night.


I just got back from a trip to San Diego and Long Beach, and unfortunately did not take any photos of Newo on those trips. San Diego was great, though, and we had a lovely time with some old friends that I missed very much. My trip to Long Beach was very important, as it was for the funeral and burial of my sweet sweet grandmother, whom I call Gaga. We stayed at my cousin's house, and he has a dog as well. Lhamo and Newo got along SO well, and I feel as though she finally made a real dog friend. Her very first one! I am so proud. This photo, above, was taken at the Yuba River in Nevada City. Bella and I camped at the river for the night. About an hour after this photo was taken, my grandmother departed this world. I miss her very much.

This concludes story time with Newo and Alexandra. But in fact, it's really just beginning!

I love my girl so much. Through our travels, we have grown very close, and I am so grateful she and I have ended up together. The Newo Pups has traveled 6 states with me this summer, and we intend to keep traveling around the US in the future. Since being home, we do a lot of river trips and visits to friends nearby. I can't wait to see where the road takes us next.

Question of the blog:
Where did you last travel to?
& What is your favorite form of transportation?

1 comment:

adamken47 said...

What an awesome time! I am genuinely happy that you and Newo had such a tremendous journey together. That's a powerful bond that will never be broken and a wonderful experience that will never be forgotten. It's was a great pleasure for me in meeting the two of you and it is a great pleasure in knowing you.

In response to the blog questions: A) The last place I traveled to (out of the norm) was Orcas Island, last year. I'm in dire need of a Vacay(?). It was beautiful and lots of fun to be there with my family - swimming, hiking, playing cards, and talking. B) I've only traveled via plane or car. I enjoy the car much more, because half the fun is in the traveling (although it can get monotonous at times). I think it would be very fun to travel by train. It's something I've always wanted to do.