Sunday, September 27, 2009

YD goes to Chattaboogie


The Food Guy and I had an especially good weekend this weekend. Two of Food Guy's best friends got married in Chattanooga on Saturday, so we loaded up the mobile doghouse and hit the road on friday morning. Man, what a weekend we had!



We rolled into town Friday afternoon to help set things up for the rehearsal and then the Food Guy took me to the house where we were all staying. It was really hot outside, and Food Guy made me stay outside. Now, y'all know I like to do my lounging in comfortable places, so I was a little confused when I had to stay outside. But Food Guy said no dogs were supposed to be in the house. Lucky for me everyone else staying in the house said I just HAD to come inside. So, Food Guy agreed to let me go inside, and boy, it was great! There were like 10 people staying in the house and some of my new friends had little kids. You know I like playing with kids. Mostly because they are always so happy to see me, but also 'cause they tend to drop people food on the ground. And, Food Guy NEVER lets me eat any people food. It was awesome! Plus, there was someone to pet me ALL the time, which is good. I mean, what else are people for?

The weekend got even better saturday morning. We went over to Sunset to go for a trail run. It was raining like you wouldn't believe, but that just made it more fun. After the run, Food Guy and the Sams ran around putting up balloons so people could find their way to the wedding (I took a nap). Then, the real fun began. Well, at least that's what I heard. I slept at the house while all the people went to the wedding. From the photos, it looks like they had a really good time. Check out Sam with the Bridesmaids:





Things couldn't have worked out better for the wedding. The rain went away and the sunset was amazing.










Food Guy says the wedding was perfect and everyone had lots of fun. After the reception, Sam S. took Sam and Rebecca away in this super-sweet bike taxi:




Then, Food Guy and everyone went back to the house to continue the party. Matt and Greg played music while people took turns giving me lots and lots of attention. The Food Guy says I'm one spoiled dog, but really I just think that's how it should be. Don't ya think?











We finished up the weekend with a fun climbing adventure at Leda. I love going on climbing trips. I get to go for walk in the woods and hang out with all the people. The whole gang was there. Rebecca's parents even came, and her pops is no slouch on the sharp end of a climbing rope. Her mom even scales the rock like spiderwoman. Cool stuff! I mostly just hung out and watched Sam, Sam, Rebecca, and Steph climb way up wall like it was nothing. I don't know how they do it. I like to just stay on the ground and watch. Food Guy struggled up one of the climbs and seemed pretty pleased that he made it.




All in all, it was one of the best weekends we've had in a while, which is saying something because Food Guy and I lead a pretty charmed life. Good friends, good adventures are all a Yellow Dog and his Food Guy can ask for. Everything else is just gravy (or the stuff that goes on top of my food to keep me from shedding too much). Food Guy's friend Steven says that our life is one big scam because we're always going off on adventures. Food Guy and I have to agree. But, hey, why not? Life's too short not to go everywhere you can.



Well, y'all have a good week. Food Guy's gonna be working non-stop this week writing that silly dissertation of his. So, you know there's no chance I'll get my paws on the keyboard for a while. But, stay tuned- you can always bet that they'll be a new adventure coming up for us soon.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Another Adventure

Hey everybody. The Food Guy just picked me up from another great stay with my ATL peeps, Jen, Zozo, & Sug. He decided he needed a break from all his work, so he took a trip out to Utah to do a little climbing and hiking. I was a little bummed when he told me he was flying out there, which meant I couldn't go. But, when he told me I was going to stay with my ATL crew, I was pretty psyched.

Anyway, we just got home and Food Guy's cleaning all his gear, so I figured I give y'all a little update before he gets back to work. He's been grading papers all day on the plane, so I don't think he'll mind me getting my paws on the keyboard for a few minutes.

The trip sounds like it was pretty sweet. After a short hike up to a place called Ruth Lake, Food Guy and his friend found a sweet spot to camp. There was some stuff on the ground that you might call snow, but out West they say it's just some sleet. I don't know it looked pretty cold. Food Guy had to dust off his survival skills and get a little fire started using some Bear Gryls skills.



Then, he pieced together a little groundcloth out of the plastic bags he brought with them. Notice the whole in one of them?

That's 'cause he had to wear a trash bag for a rain coat. He figured he didn't need one since he was going Utah, so he left it in the truck. Not smart. It rained, then there was sleet, then some hail. Pretty crazy. But all in all, the weather was nice. Mostly sunny, cool, and not humid at all. Sounds like paradise to me. After a fun night in the Uintas, there was long trek back to the trailhead. Not really a direct route. I heard there was a little getting lost and some hitchhiking involved, but hey, not all who wander are lost, right? Food Guy got to go climbing in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Sunday. Sounds pretty sweet to me. I hear they don't allow dogs in that canyon because it's the watershed for Salt Lake City, but I'm sure if I was there we would have gone somewhere else.






















Check out the view from the campsite. Not too shabby, eh? I think I would have really liked it out there. Hopefully, I'll get to go out there this summer. With a little luck Food Guy will land this job in Bozeman, Montana that he's applying for. Then, I'll get to go on all kinds of new adventures out West.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

A run in Graham county and a whole lotta work


Greetings, y'all. It's been a busy month since the Food Guy got back from his trip. He's been working more than a food guy should work. Really, he has. I know. I know. Can you really call reading books, drinking coffee, writing, and talking to people about their classrooms work? Maybe. Maybe not . Food Guy seems to enjoy it, so we're not complaining. We did sneak out of Athens last weekend to head up to NC for a fun weekend of running and paddling. We drove up there and met Reeve and Rin at Silvermine on Friday night. Reeve, Food Guy, and me took our buddy Brian for a run on the Flint Ridge trail Saturday morning. It was awesome. I love that trail. Brian hasn't done any running in a long time, but he did really well. We're hoping to suck him into the stupid activity that is trail running. He'd be a great addition to our group of people who like stupid hobbies. Then, Reeve and Food Guy went paddling while I took a nap. See, I really am a smart dog.

Then (insert scary music here) Sam and Sam arrived from Chattaboogie. If you don't know Sam Squared, well, you're really missing out. The Sams are two of the most ridiculous athletes around. They're straight sick in the head. I think that's why Food Guy and Reeve like hanging out with them so much. Sunday morning we loaded up in the truck and headed to Graham county for a run along Snowbird Creek. It was really nice out. Not too hot (I do wear a yellow fur coat, so that's important) and not too cold. Not too cold is good too since we had to cross the creek like 50 times. Ok, maybe not 50. But I'm not a swimmer. I like to DRINK water. Not swim in it. The run started off pretty mellow. Sam S. got a little car sick riding in the bed of the truck with me and Java, so he didn't push the pace until about 4 minutes in. Then, he took off like a shot. The rest of us just did our best to keep the Sams in our sights as we went up the trail. As always, the run was harder than advertised. It was a Reeve activity, so that's always how it goes.

We had a lot of fun on the run, and then we went back to Silvermine to have some good dinner. I slept while Food Guy, Reeve, and the Sams cooked up their next big (read: stupid) adventure. Those guys have issues. I heard them talking about things like riding bikes from Bryson City to Chattanooga and then running back or some stupid thing like that. You know we do have more civilized ways to travel. Java and I have that all figured out. See:









Overall it was good weekend. The only downside was that my Dawgs got their butts kicked by Oklahoma State. Lame!
This week, Food Guy and I have mostly been chillin here in Athens. He's been teaching, doing research, and getting job application stuff ready to send out. I really hope he gets a job somewhere cool. I want to go live somewhere fun, and I'll get more dog bones if he has a job. We've been doing some good runs everyday here in Athens, and I've been catching up on my sleep. We spent most of this weekend here in Athens. Food Guy had to catch up on some work, and he went to watch the Dawgs beat South Carolina yesterday. Not a bad weekend at all.

Well, that's about it for now. We should have some more big adventures soon.