First the 'Big A' now the 'Big D' *People Notes*

Our first stop in Texas landed us at Kim and Allan's house, and we couldn't get to the Tex-Mex frestaurants fast enough!! That is something that is hard to find in certain areas of the country and we gorged ourselves on guacamole and fantastic food! Yay!


Then we tried to beat the hurricane rains & winds and headed south to see the grandkids. They are so much fun to visit, and wow, do they ever grow fast! Cannot believe Michael and Kayla are almost a year older than our last trip through Texas. Kayla celebrated her 3rd birthday while we were in Dallas, and Michael got a visit from the tooth fairy! Brian & Jill have settled into a wonderful, fun life...including two very cool cats (even if Odie doesn't think so!).



We played with grandkids, had some good home cookin' (wait...I cooked!), hunkered down for a 'hurricane party' while Ike blew through, had a hilarious day of golf (more on that later), birthday parties for Kayla, Jeannie and Brian...and glorious Blue Bell Ice Cream!! That is the best ice cream in the world, and is not readily available in states outside of Texas. So, if you live in an area that has Blue Bell, consider yourself lucky because we have searched the freezer section in many states only to be disappointed.

Kayla entertained us in the evenings with her country charm and amazing vocals...I'm just saying that Hannah Montana had better be warned!

Thank you 'Big D'...happy trails!

First the 'Big A', now the 'Big D'

Our first stop in the 'Big D' was at my cousin's house. Ginny is one hot boxer! I especially love that mole on her cheek! Too bad she is my cousin or I would seriously consider marrying her. I tried to act all cool, growled a lot, showed my teeth, barked really loud, but my tail was definitely wagging the whole time! We played tug-o-war, chase, fetch...and she had a HUGE basket of toys - more than I ever dreamed of.





Our next stop in the 'Big D' looked promising at first...more little people to hang with! I love those little people. Kayla was fun, but she kept trying to make me play with dolls. Ughh!





This was going to be fun! Wait.....what?? Are you kidding?? Seriously?
OH MY GOD!!!!
In the same house? This is a joke, right? This is a bad dream, right?
This is going to be very, very bad. This is 'Odie and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day'.







Simba and Nala...great. I dare you stupid cat...come down from there. I don't care if you do have claws...you are still smaller than me.







"Knock Knock...."

"Who's there?"

"Cat-nip-gram..."



(They didn't fall for it no matter how many times I knocked!)



Then I got to meet another new cousin, Sir Walter Wallee. He's cute, but gets all the attention because he is still a baby. No worries, I simply stole his rawhide!!







I was having a lot of fun in the 'Big D', playing with the little people Michael & Kayla, and my cousins, and I was really enjoying tormenting the cats. Then there was another birthday party, then another and another. Seems that we have birthday parties everywhere we go and for everyone but me. Jeannie had something like 3 or 4 birthday parties. They better remember me next year. Damn.

Happy Trails Little Mountain People!

My people went to the 'Big Apple' and they didn't even bring me a lousy t-shirt. Sure, everybody else got a t-shirt, but not the dog. Hmmph.


I had a pretty good time staying here with Marcus and Miles, but we had a few issues. For example:

* I do like chewing on stuffed animals, but I am NOT a stuffed animal

* I do not like having my tail, ears or hair pulled

* I will escape through an open front door

* I do like sharing your people food, but I do NOT like when you try to eat my dog food

* I do like sleeping in your bed, but I do NOT like when you try to sleep in MY bed

* I do like chasing things, but I do not like being chased

* I am grumy when I don't get my full morning nap

* I will pick up a baby pacifier and run away with it every time it falls to the ground

(*People Note* Thanks a million Sam, Jess, Marcus & Miles...we appreciate you puttiing up with Odie while we were gone!)



It wasn't bad enough that my people went to NY and didn't take me, didn't call me once, didn't bring me back a single present...then they had the nerve to have a birthday party for Jeannie. Nobody remembered my birthday back in June, but both of my people had great birthday parties this summer. This one included homemade lasagne, homemade carrot cake (world's best) and ICE CREAM!!! I love ice cream. Thankfully the little people had to eat their ice cream outside on the porch right where I was waiting.....


Drop it....drop it....


Drop it....drop it....c'mon

Drop it....

Oh yea...he dropped it!!! That's all it took - one half eaten ice cream cone and all was forgiven!

The next morning we loaded up and headed eastsoutheast...somewhere in a general direction of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas... I sure am going to miss Colorado and all the little people and the mountains and the hiking and the backyard and the squirrels. Back in the car, endless hours listening to the Jeannie sing-a-long. Damn.

New York City?! *People Notes*

New York City is a 'wicked cool' place to visit (as they say in the northeast), so off we went for a big city adventure, oh yea, and to celebrate our 15th anniversary! Of course, it was an immense help to have Erik & Katy there to act as our tour guides and generally to keep us out of trouble. This worked for the most part, with a few minor exceptions when left to our own devices... especially when it came to subway navigation. We only ended up in Queens once and Harlem once...OK, twice - but miraculously we always found our way back! Finding our hotel was relatively easy, as it was across the street from the Empire State Building!

First, let me just say that the food choices in NY are overwhelming, unlike the culinary wasteland we have here in the mountains of Eastern Tennessee. Coal fired pizza, 'street meat', Chinatown Chinese, Koreatown Korean, Little Italy Italian, gourmet everything...restaurants dedicated to one specialty i.e., Rice to Riches (nothing but rice pudding!), Empanada Mama (yup, all empanadas) and cupcake stores galore! It was pure heaven. We ate our way from the financial district all the way to the Upper East Side - more than once. Burp. Top honors go to the K&E Steakhouse on 71st Street with their melt-in-your mouth filets followed by Brooklyn Blackout fudge cake...fantastic!


There is simply too much to do in New York - and we did a lot! I cannot possibly begin to tell you all of the ground that we covered, so here are a few of our favorites from this trip:


* Museum of Natural History - incredible exhibits, huge, overwhelming...we could have spent weeks here but had to settle for a few hours of appreciation. Then our brains were full. Paul finally found the elusive moose he had spent the summer searching for in Colorado.

* Central Park - picnics with a few hundred thousand close friends, NFL kickoff concert with Kieth Urban, Duke softball tournament, and K&E frisbee freestyle olympics!

* NY Public Library - this should be one of the seven wonders of the world! My favorite place in all of New York, hands down.

* Brooklyn Bridge - the South Street Seaport on one side, Bodies exhibit (gross), a brisk walk across the bridge, and Grimaldi's Pizza on the other side. How can life get any better?

* Staten Island Ferry - mesmerizing views which encompass the Manhattan skyline, Brooklyn, Ellis Island and the powerful Statue of Liberty. Pictures don't do it justice.

* Hudson Boat Basin & Riverside Park - a uniquely designed area where we spent many hours walking, and walking, and walking... we sure were thirsty when we got to the restaurant!

* Financial District, Wall Street, NY Stock Exchange - who knew that this would become the center for world news for the past couple of weeks?! "We were there!" is what we say everyday when the news begins.

* Washington Square Park & Greenwich Village - or, if you live here, it is just 'the Village'. Very eclectic, cool, unique, trendy...just like us! (stop laughing)

* Chinatown & Little Italy - unique, fun neighborhoods to wander the streets. And eat. And eat some more. Burp. And wander the streets. And eat.

* Times Square & ABC Studios - Good Morning America - this was probably worth dragging my lazy self out of bed before dawn to stand in line to get in the studio audience to watch the early morning news to get a photo op with famous people ...probably.

* World Trade Center / Ground Zero - we visited this exact location three months after 9/11. Although the construction has begun and the area is undergoing development and rebirth, the feelings of sadness, loss and heartache are as strong now as they were 7 years ago.



*Erik's office building!! Somewhere waaaay up there is where he works. We don't know what he does. We don't have a clue. He has patiently explained it to us a dozen different ways...we still don't know what he does. But he met us for lunch several times, introduced us to 'street meat', Bryant Park, Margon (Cuban lunch counter) and Juniors! I think that is his job - finding great places for lunch. And something to do with investors.


Thank you New York!! Happy Trails.

NEW YORK CITY?!

My people went to New York City and did not take me. Therefore, I am once again protesting this unfair action by launching yet another dog writers strike. So there.