Vacation Part Deux; Angry At The Clay, Hotel Dogs, And Hiking For Fun or Your Life?

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz

The activity portion for this lovely trip was varied. We’d all enjoyed the Mediterranean cooking class together. Later that afternoon Linds, Halie and myself had scheduled massages while Coach, Lolo and Nathan enjoyed a few hours of Trap shooting. Or Shooting Clays? Something like that. Although, I can’t figure out for the life of me why anyone would want to shoot clay. What did the clay do exactly to deserve this? I’ll have to further investigate with my PoPo offspring.

My delicate Butterfly Lolo. Remind me again why I practically had her wrapped in Bubble Wrap for her first 10 years? Wait. Doesn’t that Vest remind you of the employees of Superstore? Lawd, why can’t she work at a Superstore?

Moving on…

The Lodge is kind of fancy, but also kind of laid back. It’s an anomaly.

Two of their employees (who live on property) bring their dogs to work. I KNOW! The Lodge manager has her black lab/mix follow her all around the inside as she’s going from one area to another.

The activity director (Imagine Julie from The Love Boat, but as a tall and handsome Man) brings his two Bernese Mountain Dogs to work and they casually romp around the outside of the property, mostly around the front door and driveway area to greet everyone. Storm and Sage; very sweet and docile girls.

I COULD HAVE TAKEN THEM HOME but they probably would hate the Florida heat. Same girls, same.

That’s a fly fishing statue in the background, not a bonafide human.

HIKING AND NOT FALLING OFF THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN

The next day we had booked ourselves for several activities. Everyone in the group aside from me had a Nature Tour at six am. Why did Suzanne not go on the Nature Tour since she practically lives for Nature? Because it was SIX AM. I like my nature later in the day after I’ve had some coffee, some food and some time for my body to wake up before I hop in an ATV for two hours IN NATURE. Are you picking up what I’m putting down?

They had a great time and we enjoyed breakfast together at 8:30 when they all arrived back. Turns out, they had fun, but I didn’t miss that much so I’m still happy with my decision.

Next up we had a three hour hiking tour. Sadly, the Coach had to skip this because while he was on the Nature Tour he got news that some asshats broke onto our business property and stole the catalytic converters out of nine of our work trucks. Can we just send all the bad people to another planet? And by another planet, I mean hell.

Let it go, let it go…

By the way, when you sign up for any activity, the set you up with a very qualified guide (or guides) for that activity and they were all so awesome. Fun fact: If you spend any amount of time with our group, there will be a lot of laughter and razzing; don’t come to us with thin skin. We had one young man who ended up with Linds and Halie at least 4 times and they just about wore him out with silliness.

At one point during this hike we were going DOWN DOWN DOWN a deep slope with only a small area of walking space that was dirt and rocks, and then it was NOTHING below. Um, I was sliding down on my butt and thinking to myself: I’m the OLDEST PERSON HERE. IS THIS THE CORRECT HIKE FOR A MIDDLE AGED HUMAN? One of the young men saw I was in distress, came and shielded me like a human guard rail. Great, now I can slide down and take HIM WITH ME.

We stopped at a river area for a few moments after I almost died for a rest and to enjoy the views. In hindsight, the guides might have been contemplating leaving us there for the bears and mountain lions after Halie who is VERY intelligent and accomplished, but like me, she experiences a few blond moments asked: Do you guys plant all of these Christmas Trees here?

We all giggled and let her know that the Pine and Fir Trees grow naturally here. I wish I’d taken a photo, but if you’ve been in the wild and it wasn’t Florida, you would know what I mean.

Whoops. This is getting long.

Up next: They gave us ALL of the sharp objects and we came home with all of our phalanges.

In hindsight, have you been able to say you had a great time even if or a moment you thought it might be the end of your existence while doing something fun-ish?

XOXO

39 thoughts on “Vacation Part Deux; Angry At The Clay, Hotel Dogs, And Hiking For Fun or Your Life?”

  1. I’m with you. The only vacation activity I’m enjoying at 6:00am is rolling over and adjusting my pillow. But bring your dog to work day is da bomb. The resort looks lovely, clay pigeon assassinations aside.
    😉

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    2. Agreed! 6am is no time for civilized humans to be anything but “rolling over and adjusting pillows” 😀

      I remember the first time I saw a dog (a large one) strolling at an office building and I wasn’t sure if I was so tired I was dreaming this, or if it was real (it was real 🙂 ).

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  3. 9 . . . as in NINE catalytic converters? Stop the nonsense, world. Good grief.

    I do not enjoy doing things SO early on vacation, but it does make me flash back to Irish dancing competitions when I had to have a dancer at a wig appointment at 4:30 am sometimes. Not vacation though, so not sure that comparison counts. Glad we’ve moved on to basketball as a full time gig.

    This comparison counts . . . I’m shuttering as I read this, remembering that the way we ‘do’ Yellowstone is to rise before the sun in order to see wildlife. It is exciting stuff when you spot a bear, but nap time will be mandated. I’m like 13 years older than I was on our last visit, so this might be interesting.

    I love those dogs. Oh Halie, how will you live that one down? It all looks so beautiful, inside and out.

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    1. I do remember when we went to Yellowstone that we had a very early morning with a tour guide. Aside from getting up at the ass crack of dawn, it was an amazing day.

      Halie is a trip; that girl keeps us laughing ALL THE TIME.

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  5. I want to go there and live.
    I’m sorry about the burglary. What a way to bring you back to reality while you’re on vacation.
    I love this trip for all of you. When our girls are older, I want to do something like this with them. ❤️

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  6. M

    Oh, I laughed so hard but yes, me, too!! I need my coffee and treats before I venture out there! Your group sounds like such fun company!! I’m trying to remember if I ever had to get up and out the door by 6am on any of our vacations — and the only thing I can come up with (because it was very memorable) was the outing to watch the sun rise in Haleakala. I think we woke up at 2am! But definitely worth it! And a nap was in order shortly after we got back to the hotel.

    Sorry to hear about the theft — makes me sad (and mad) to really think what’s going on out there. Sigh…

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    1. I’ve never been to any of the Hawaiian islands, so I had to look that up. WOW. Amazing. I can see why you made the EARLY morning effort for that one.

      Bad stuff happens, we can’t let it snuff out our joy. Right?

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      1. M

        I had to convince my husband that it’s worth it so he’d be willing to do it! He’s more of an early-bird but even that was a bit of a push for him!

        It’s kinda fun to see/experience different things that seem ordinary but in a different perspective, like that sun rise. Another thing that I wanted to see was a beach sun rise — and I got to do that in FL. My son played baseball at an academy in Del Ray Beach for 9mos in 2016-2017 so he and my husband lived there for those many months. I visited often but never took the time to go see the sunrise on the beach (because EARLY!! and we still had to drive to see it) but eventually did the next year on a stay before a cruise. We were on Hollywood Beach; our room overlooked the beach — and it was so cool to watch a sunrise on the beach as opposed to our typical sunset on the beach here in CA.

        You have such a great attitute about the theft…but yes, what else can you do?

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        1. How sweet to see a sunrise on Delray beach and Hollywood; which is across the coast from us. Growing up on the East Coast I’ve seen a good share of sunrises, but I’m still not a morning person.
          Fun fact, where we are in Florida, we’re only 2 hours from each coast, so you can watch the sunrise on the east coast and drive across, spend the day and watch the sunset on our coast.

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        2. M

          Oh, Delray Beach is one word! I keep trying to spell it like Marina del Rey city in LA county! LOL Anyway, what a cool fun fact! Have you done it?? I want to!! Oh, the little things that make this little bit of a nerdy girl happy! LOL

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  7. Bijoux

    Ugh about those thieves! Don’t you hate how technology has ruined our vacations? I miss the days of being unavailable. Anyhoo, reading M’s comment and laughing because we skipped Haleakala due to the early awakening time and also, I was NOT bringing a coat and gloves to Maui. What we did do in Maui which was fun-ish, but never again, was kayak in the Pacific Ocean to Turtle Town to go snorkeling. I truly thought I was going to die (never go in the ocean in the afternoon).

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    1. M

      Oh, so funny, Bijoux! We went in October and it was definitely very cold up there! We had regular jackets (it gets cold on the flights!) with us but we borrowed all the hotel blankets to use — wrapped them around us; we probably looked like hobos up there! Because yeah, we were not going to pack jackets and gloves to go to Hawaii! LOL Did you do the Road to Hana? We skipped that one because we didn’t want to feel like we were taking a gamble with our lives on purpose while on vacation!

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      1. Bijoux

        Lol, I did see people online suggest taking the hotel blankets. I’m sure it was beautiful. We did a group rainforest tour where they took us on the first few stops on the Road to Hana. Walked all through a bamboo forest and saw the rainbow trees. Some people in the group jumped off a very short cliff into a waterfall. We did not! We don’t gamble with our lives, either!

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        2. D

          It looks like fun and adventuresome to jump off a cliff into the water/waterfalls. My friend’s sons do it all the time when they go to HI but my boys (husband and son) to do anything of the sort — they looked at me like I had 2 heads when I suggested they try it; I guess they are also a lot more careful and don’t want to gamble with their lives.

          Liked by 1 person

        3. M

          Ooops…that was me, M, below — accidentally typed D (because of my email address that starts with D, my dog’s name). It’s me, M, not my dog, D. 😉

          Liked by 1 person

    2. I have only kayaked in calm waters; generally in the bay area of the Gulf of Mexico. I can’t imagine doing it where there is any sort of strong wind or current. No thanks!

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  8. Such beautiful scenery and those dogs! Love them! Last week I saw a dog that was a cross between a Bernese Mountain Dog and a Standard Poodle. It had all the colorings of the Bernese with curly fur like the poodle. It was absolutely adorable!!

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  9. I can not believe about the catalytic converter thefts!!! We just had that happen to one of our cars and it was expensive to fix 😦 Your trip continues to sound lovely even though I’m not a fan of hiking no matter what time of day it is.

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  10. I keep waiting to wake up one morning to a catalytic converter theft on my vehicle. Apparently the Prius is a fave target because of easy access. Either that or a dead guy under my car. Apparently that happens too, if the car comes down on the thief and crushes them. That sucks, that your business was targeted like that. Other than that, your vacation trip continues to look fabulous to me! Glad you got to enjoy this with your family and come home with all your body parts! 😁

    Deb

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  11. nicoleboyhouse

    I want to go there! It looks beautiful and also, Bernese mountain dogs. This looks like so much fun, hiking in the mountains is my JAM. I have hiking poles for those super steep declines because these hips are not what they used to be, you know? Anyway, that looks gorgeous.
    Catalytic converter theft is very common here right now, what is even happening? I don’t know, is there an after market, is that why it’s so common? I just don’t know, it’s sad.

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  12. You are the Adventure Family. So. Much. Happening.

    Like you, I like to Ease Into My Nature. I feel like it will still be there after 9 AM, when I’m more ready to face it.

    Bernese Mountain Dogs have so much charm. I’d probably have spent a considerable amount of time hanging out with them.

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    1. It was an adventurous place, therefore it felt natural. (see what I did there?) YES to easing into your day; nature can wait.

      I could not get enough of the dogs! Lolo and Nathan had one of them coming to their patio door looking for a belly rub, but she was covered in mud so they had to make sure she stayed out of their room.

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  13. I love nature too, but like you, I prefer it a little later in the day. Which is why Tara drove solo through Custer State Park at the butt crack of dawn one day last year while I stayed in bed. Gotta admit it, though—she came hoe with pics of elk, I was jealous. Elk! I’ve never seen them around here before!

    In any case, I’m enjoying your trip recap and can’t wait to hear the rest of the story.

    P.S.: Hell is too good for catalytic converter thieves.

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    1. I was fortunate enough to see a herd of elk shortly after we arrived, around 3 in the afternoon on the first day. I felt like I’d seen it all already.
      You might have to join Tara next time; they’re magnificent!!

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