The End

After Ashton, we made it as far as Pocatello.  We spent the night in a hotel.  I was very concerned that TJ would mess in the room but thankfully that didn't happen.  We get up and head to Shoshone Falls.  TJ was ready to get out because right before we arrived at Shoshone, TJ went down to my feet and sat there.  WHILE WE WERE DRIVING!!  Silly dog.

Here is Shoshone Falls.  It is larger than Mesa Falls but we only had a $3 car fee here.

I originally had some more stops planed between Shoshone and home but I was tired and ready to be done with the car.  As we were driving through Bliss it was amazing how many wind turbines there are!!

Afte we were home for a few hours, it was off to a Memorial Day BBQ at Lexy's house.  It was a great weekend and never would have happened without the sacrifices of our military.  Because of many paid the ulitimate price, I live in a free country were I can travel without fear.  I can worship how I see fit. 

Words cannot express my feelings for our military so all I will say is

THANK YOU!!

The middle (part 2)

Sunday we left Gmas house.  It is always sad to leave but we needed to get down the road to finish my planned trip.  I love the top pic by the way.


Gma Dalley (who is 91) was so tired she couldn't stay awake after breakfast on Sunday.

Today we visited my Dad's Dad in Victor Cemetary.

We drove up to Grand Targhee in Wyoming and checked out the snow. What an abundance they had!

No only did it snow at Targhee on Sunday but also in the valley at Gma's house.

Dad didn't know I was taking his picture.  With him you have to be sneaky.  I time it just perfectly to get his smiling handsom face inbetween the gates.

After Targhee, we drove through Ashoton to Mesa Falls.  The lower falls is free to view but it is $5/car to view the upper falls!!  It was aggravating.

Driving through Ashton and eastern Idaho is beautiful.  Not like the western side of the state.  Over there, there are trees, green, and hills.  West side is nothing but sage brush.  I kinda wished I could move and live over there.  Maybe someday.

The middle

Saturday with Gma was spent visiting family in cemetaries.  My Aunt Karen directed us to the Dalley side of the family. Uncle Kent meet up with us in Ammon.  For the Dalley/Linsenmann family we went to Clausen, Ammon, and Roberts. It was nice.

We were able to visit the Summers (my mom's) family too.

I felt stupid because I should've called my cousins who are still in the area so we could have visited but I didn't and felt really small.  But next trip through I am setting up a meeting.

The beginning

This Memorial Day weekend, I took a road trip with Dad to go visit Gma Dalley.  Because I had a 5 day weekend, I decided to make pit stops along the way.  Dad originally was not going to come with me but that is how it worked out. He made the trip so much better. 

First start was Craters of the Moon.  It was WINDY!

Second stop was ERB-I in Arco, ID. 

3rd stop was Idaho Falls for dinner at Scottys and gas.

Final stop befor Gma's was a campground in Swan Valley.  It was still closed due to snow!!

2 years....and I forgot!!

April 9th, TJ and I have been a family for 2 years.  Thursday April 9th of 2007 I adopted TJ from the Canyon County Animal Shelter.

This is what he looked like then:

And here he is now:

Not much change....  :)

But here he is with his haircut (which happened on April 6th)



But in the two years:
-he has escaped numerous times
-hates taking a bath
-innumerable trips to the dog park
-hunderds of pictures
-3 trips to the vet
-millions of car rides
-1 birthday party
-2 houses
-2  collars
-1 leash
-4 camping trips
-a million cuddle hours

It's been awhile...

since there has been any pictures or mentions of TJ. So to make up for lost time..here are some random pictures. He got his hair cut on April 6th....just FYI.

freezing at doggie park

Last Saturday TJ and I braved the FREEZING FREEZING cold morning to go to the doggie park.  When I say cold..I mean COLD!! It felt like negative 10. I was upst because I had this awesome lumberjack coat for TJ but I can't find it.  I had to squeeze him into the small cover and it was pretty funny to see.  It reminded me of Chris Farley in Tommy Boy singing "fat guy in a little coat"...

Teegee Meegee and mee

It has been awhile since I had a picture of me and TJ.
Poor dog doesn't like his picture to be taken..
oh well.

weekend...

SUNDAY 10/10/10

Sunday was spent at parents house making bread and vegging out. 

Lexy, Marlee, Caitlyn, Emma, Jana, and Wyatt came over to visit as well.  Wyatt brought downall four stuffed bears and lined them up on the couch to watch TV.  He was sitting there next to them and then Emma joined the party.  What a bunch of hams!!

I made bread.  I am nearly done with a 101 goals (making bread 6x in a year). 
I have 3 down and just three more to go.

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SATURDAY 10/9/10

Saturday was an eventful day.  After only 4.5 hours of sleep, it was up and at 'em bright and early.  The RNC (Repblican National Committee) has a tour bus going around the nation drumming up support for local candidates.  The theme is Fire Pelosi!.  Saturday at 1030, it was schedule to stop at the Canyon County Repbulican Headquaters in Nampa.  Mom of course was going and I went along too. The rally was also in support of Republican candidate for Idaho's 1st Congressional District Raul Labrador.

I must say that if people want to get elected, they should hire the Linsenmann clan to be their campaign manager.  The rally was held 1 block away from one of the busiest road is Caldwell.  You  think they woudl have people on the corners waving signs trying to drum up more people and support.  But there werent.  Mom was able to get her Republican elephant flag back.  So she went and stood on the corner waving the flag in anticipation of the bus arrival.

My mom rocks!!  She was the first to greet the bus as it approached the rally.  WOOHOO for her!!

After the rally it was a rush to get things together to go tailgating at BSU Stadium.  My friend Kara invited me.  It was a blast!! I wish I didn't stay out so late on Friday night because I was just drained on Saturdya and couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. 

It was a weird feeling because there is a delay on the tv.  I could hear the crowd in the stadium cheering or booing and have no idea what they were celebrating.  It was driving me nuts!! 

I left at half time with every intention of picking up TJ from my parents, and going home to bed.  Well Dad and I started talking and I ended up staying for the 4th quater.  I was tired!! 

LOVELY: perfect fall weather
HORRIBLE: ready for a namp at 10am.

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FRIDAY 10/8/10

to be added later..

TJ is weird...

Sunday we celebrated Marlee's 2nd birthday.  Lexy has a Lazy Boy that has a rip in the side.  For some reason TJ thought there was a treasure inside the lazy boy.  I saw this out of the corner of my eye and for a moment just freaked.  Than I saw were he was and knew I didn't have a headless dog.

Don't know what he was looking for but he thought there was treasure inside the lazy boy.  Silly boy!!

Puppy love...

I love it when TJ nestles on my chest.

TJ does it because it is the easiest way to get his belly rubbed but I love how comforting it is.  

He is such a great dog.  He isn't completly obidient (sorry if incorrect spelling) but he is getting there. 

Tortured TJ

TJ just looking cute. He is getting groomed on Thursday so goodbye scruffy.

Yesterday TJ and I were playing around.  While playing, he would get the cloth tangled around his head.  Using that as inspiration, tried tying it around his head to see if we could pull of the Ewok halloween costum.  He kept it on for a long time.  Mom saw and said I was torturing him.  This just makes me chuckle. 

TJ looking straight to camera and best picture

           I didn't know  that TJ could     --         TJ looking like a yente..
           pick his nose with his tongue!!

Lets start at the begining...

FRIDAY
I got of work on Friday at 5pm, which was earlier than I expected. I make it home by 530 which is great. Now I have more time to do some last minutes packing. Mom was supposed to pick me up at 6pm, however she didn't shows til 620. After loading up, we still needed to stop for dinner.  After a quick trip to Carls Jr we were on the road at 7.

We figured it would be a 3 hrs drive to Huckleberry Heaven. Thankfully there wasn't that much traffic and we made it in only 2.5 hrs. The only sanfu happened about 30 mins from our destination. I had the light on because it was dusk and in the mountains, it is dark. So driving along and I look at the dashboard, and it is black. I panic internally so I continue to drive. I slow down some just to be cautious. We pass under lights from a lumber mill and I see that I have gauged my speed correctly and are goin the speed limit. That made me proud.  (Just FYI...I accidentally hit the dimmer dial on the singal lever.  I thought the dimmer was near the vent on the dashboard.  I was wrong.  Sunday we found the dimmer switch and fixed my mistake.) 

We finally make it to the top of the mountain and honk the horn. Becasue we are camping in a different spot, that horn is signal to Dad to come get us. Works pretty well. We arrive at 930 and chill around the camp fire for awhile.

TJ settling in for the night.  He wasn't upset and there were other pictures but this one makes me giggle.

SATURDAY
I woke up around 730. I thought I would sleep in longer but oh well. I get up and have breakfast out by the fire. Love it. So warm and nice. Dad and I joke back and forth for awhile.

View first thing Saturday morning.

Mom rolls out of bed around 9am. We get dressed and Dad and I head for a ride. TJ comes along and does really well. However, I only can drive with one hand because I want to make sure TJ doesn't fall off. I need to jerryrig sometype of harness or box for him to ride in. We return to camp and have lunch an rig up a harness. It work pretty aweome. I have some lanyards that are clipped to TJ body harness. He only has enough room to stand. I was pretty proud of hwo we rigged it. We go on another ride and TJ loves it. He does love to bark at the horses we see along the way.

TJ and I testing the harness.

Back we go for lunch. After lunch we head for another ride but TJ didn't want to go. He would refuse to leave RV area. That is ok. We look him in the RV with food and water and head off. Mom comes along and rides with Dad.

We found a new campsite we will try next year that is next to a spring. We eventually head back and havea great meal of hobo dinner (aka tinfoil dinners). Mom and I want a Smores so we break out the marshmellow, chocloate and .... Where are the graham crackers? Crap we left them at home. We decided to experiment. Mom tried frosted animal crackers, I try Ritz and vanilla cream cookies. I thought the most successful was the Ritz. It brought the salty into the mix. Next time I am brining Oreos to try.

With desert over, we decided to watch a movie. Dad brought otu the laptop and table. It is pretty awesome watching Tommy Boy by the fire. I don't know if it was because I was tired or I hadn't seen it in awhile, but Tommy Boy is really funny!

We have to watch the last half in the RV because battery was dying but it was still a fun time. We head to bed around 1030. I must have been really tired because as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out for the count. The next day Mom and Dad kept teasing me about how quickly I was out.  Oh well.

SUNDAY
I get up around 700 and head outside with TJ. We are snuggling by the fire and I am ready to fall asleep sitting up. Dad is a sweetheart and takes TJ for a walk. I take advantage of the oppurtunity and DIVE back into bed. I snooze til 900. Mom never got out of bed until 9 and that is when we decided it was time for breakfast.

Dad playing with TJ before the walk

Mom makes waffles, bacon, hashbrowns. It was YUMMY!! Mom had put some butter in a bowl on Saturday so it would be soft to spread on the waffles. As we are eating we are trying to figure out where it went. She placed the sliver of butter in a bowl and placed it on the table on Saturday afternoon.

All of a sudden, Mom knows what happened. TJ ATE IT!! We look underneath the table and sure enough, there is the bowl. He ate it while we went on a ride!! Crazy dog!!

TJ sitting at the table for breakfast.  No we didn't give him his own plate and
no he didn't actually sit there while we were having breakfast. 

Over breakfast we decided to head home that day. We go for another ride and then have lunch and break camp. We leave around 430 and I am home by 7pm. It was a fun time.

TJ sleeping right before we head home.  Of course he would choose to be in the drivers seat.

See new post for more random pictures of the camping weekend.