Pilots N Paws

I friend from Chessie Rescue passed along an article and info on an organization called, Pilots N Paws. Pilots who own their own planes are getting involved in pet transport with animal rescue groups all over the country. As a volunteer for chessie rescue the hardest task is to set up transportation for a dog. Miraculously, I was part of a 3-leg transport for a dog traveling from SC to Maine. This rarely happens. Now, what can sometimes turn into a 24+ hour transport for a dog can be just a couple of hours. This results in less stress for the animal. If any one out there is a pilot or knows pilots with their own planes, please encourage them to get involved.

http://pilotsnpaws.org/

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-11-25-pilots

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

I just got back from a quick trip to Baltimore. I met up with my long time friends, Leslie, Alan, Amelia, and Nathan Wyatt (from Chapel Hill) and saw Nathan sing the lead role (on opening night) in an opera performed by Peabody students. As an undergraduate student Nathan out performed upper classmen and graduate students to get the part. Peabody is one of the top music schools in the country and is part of John Hopkins University. While in Baltimore I met up with my graduate school roommate, Jen Allen, and her husband Terry. We ate dinner at a place called Rocket to Venus. If you like brussel sprouts and are ever in the Baltimore/Towson area go to Rocket to Venus. This place is known for their brussel sprouts.... I have to agree, that place truly has the best brussel sprouts on earth. The pictures are of Nathan and me outside the Towson mall and me with Jen and Terry Allen. FYI- Jen's maiden name is Allen. She coincidently married her husband who is Terry Allen, so she became Jen Allen Allen 5 years ago :)

Two New Favorite Restaurants

I highly recommend eating at Chicora Alley, in Greenville, SC and at 12 Bones, in Asheville, NC. My mouth literally waters every time I think of 12 Bones. Their pulled chicken sandwich is awesome. Chicora Alley has great sweet potato french fries (a tie with pizza for my favorite food) and fish tacos.

Our camping trip... didn't happen

My group of friends and I never made it camping this weekend. One person canceled because of illness and another canceled because she believed the weatherman and didn't want to risk getting wet from rain....The other woman had packed and unpacked her car twice and wasn't willing to pack it up again once the rain subsided (by 9:30am)... so I packed up all my stuff with every intention to spend the night in Davidson Campground (for safety: a supervised, gated campground with facilities) and day hike in Pisgah National Forest. An hour into my drive up north I encountered a roadblock. A telephone poll had fallen in the road and the power company was working to fix it... I was obviously not meant to be in Pisgah National Forest this weekend. I turned around and headed over to Jones Gap State Park, 15 minutes away. Upon arriving at Jones Gap I had to wait to get into the park. The parking lot was full and the only way to get in was to wait until another car left. Fortunately I was only 2nd in line and got in within 10 minutes of waiting. After a frustrating morning, Bailey, Ella, and I managed to get a few miles of hiking in.

Upcoming Camping Trip

I am heading back into the woods this weekend with three friends, all female. Initially, we planned to hike a 14 mile section of the A.T. (Carvers Gap to 19E), over two days & one night. Over the last few months our plans have altered a bit. We are now "car camping" in Pisgah National Forest (NC) and one of the girls is bringing an inflatable mattress. This is simply hilarious to me. When one goes into the woods the comforts of home should stay at home. Perhaps we may never step foot on any trail because we'll spend all day unpacking each other's crap. I, however, will be true to my ways and will pack sensibly.

My wish for the spring is to have an all-women's backpacking trip (one or two nights), so if any of you are interested, let me know. We will be staying in the woods and will be eating dehydrated food and will be carrying all of our supplies.... Car Camping is NOT allowed. Friendly dogs are welcome.

Bailey's Boyfriends

It seems as though Bailey has had a lot on her mind these days. She dreams of winning an obedience competition and getting her CD, and also dreams about two fellow classmates, Gris-Sel and Kizer, two long-haired german shepherds. Bailey will get to hike with her boyfriends in a few weeks. Stay tuned for more details.

Halloween, Voting, and Joseph's Training Program

We had many trick-or-treaters knock on our door this Halloween! The dogs made it through the night without scaring any little kids. Jedi stayed locked in the bedroom and barked every time the doorbell rang. Gracie stayed in her crate and barked along with Jedi while Bailey and Ella took turns greeting the children at the door. One brave 1-year-old even entered the house to poke her finger in Ella's eye.

Joseph and I voted today. The line was quite lengthy, an hour and a half. Some poor couple in front of us waited all that time in line only to realize they were at the wrong location to vote. An older woman in line collapsed once she realized her vote was not going to count because Obama was going to win. EMT arrived shortly after the collapse and encouraged her to vote anyway.

Now that the Fall temperatures are here Joseph has begun his training program with Gracie and Jedi. They will continue to refine their frisbee catching skills over the next several months. Does anyone make head lamps for dogs? If so, Joseph will be outside for hours working them.