Serenity 10 Minutes Away

Last weekend I had learned there was a lake 20 minutes away from my house. I was astonished! How did I not know this? I thought this lake in particular was 2 hours from here but obviously I was wrong. Saturday afternoon came around and I was bored off my rocker. Jory was napping and I was going crazy with cabin fever so I decided to pack up the dogs and go for a drive.

I was shocked to be in the mountains within 7 minutes and 3 minutes later I arrived here (see picture above). I figured I had another 10 minutes to drive and I wanted to get some pictures in while the sunlight was still perfect. There was a parking lot with bathrooms and a picnic area so I pulled over. I took my first shot and my camera died! ARGH it eats through batteries like crazy! I walked the dogs around, taking in the view and decided to get on my way.

On the way back to the car I felt the leash get tight so I turned and realized Mazzy was pooping ;) OOPS sorry sweetie...so I waited. I don't normally find my dog pooping fascinating enough to write about but it's an important part of the rest of the story.

I continue up the canyon and in 5 minutes I see the turn off for the lake. I'm sure the time frame means nothing to you, but I grew up 5 minutes away from Logan Canyon (in the Rocky Mountains) and living in Salt Lake for 6 or 7 years really killed me because it was at least 30 minutes to enter any canyon and you can't just pull over where ever you want and get lost in the woods like I could in Logan. I need to be able to escape to nature and regenerate without packing a lunch and filling the tank with gas. Having this canyon so close energizes my spirit. I love Phoenix but my hippie heart needs the fresh mountain air once in a while to keep it pumping. For me, it's something to look forward to every weekend. I need that "something" to get me through the week.

So I arrive at the lake, pull in the parking lot and decide just to park here because the sun is going to set soon. No need to drive around looking for Jason Vorhees in the dark! I grab the dog's leashes as they both jump on my lap and there laughing in my face is a poo nugget smashed on the end of Mazzy's leash! WHY didn't I check her ass after she pooped at the last stop? WTF Self?

This is what we do at our house...we have to check their bums after they poop because it's possible they have a poo pellet stuck on their butt. Doesn't everyone have to do this? ;) I'm kidding...of course no one else has to do this. They have normal dogs that go poop and get all the poop out, but our dogs are special it's part of being a Johnson, having poop issues.

SO I know there is no way I can manage to walk around the lake and not accidentally slip and grab the pooped end of the leash. I was totally defeated. I turned the car back on and left.

The story is so not over...On our way back home, driving at dusk I'm squinting to see the curvy roller coaster road and I realize Jimi's standing up. I don't want her fall or get hurt so I kept telling her to sit and I'm all pushing on her butt SIT JIMI SIT! I turn back to the road for a second then realize she's puking all over the front seat! OHMYGOD Seriously! Poor girl, she's standing in her vomit, Mazzy's doing everything she can to avoid touching that nastiness. As I'm searching for a place to pull over, Mazzy is giving me this look of horror so I pick her up and drop her in the back seat. Jimi continues to throw up and she's got this phlegm boogery vomit stuck to her back legs that's making me dry heave! I finally pull over, grab Jory's spare shirt from the back seat and carefully lift Jimi up and place the shirt under her and over the vomit. I wiped away the phlegm thing and she jumped in my lap, getting oh so gross puke on me...BLAH!

I finally got her to lay down and we made it home safely. Of course the first thing I did when I got home was throw them both in the bathtub. Poop and vomit, what a day!