Wednesday

Today, it's cold and rainy in Wisconsin. It's my kind of day, it doesn't rain enough in Colorado. Everyone in Doug's family is at work so Doug and I are tooling about the house, getting ready to leave. Both of us are finding that we need a lot of naps. Doug's on his first and I'm probably going to go for a second here in a few minutes. It seems like the end of the semester took an extra toll this year. There was a lot going on, trying to get ready for the trip and all, maybe that's why we're so pooped now. Doug set up the tent in the garage earlier, which was neat. We set up our cots and pretended to be camping. I think that will all work out well. Since we didn't get to go camping at all last summer (getting ready for the wedding sucked up all our time) we wanted to make sure that the tent was OK. It is, so we're pretty much good to go. We have one more "personal stop" this weekend. We're headed to see our friends Jeff and Kristie and Alyssa and Shawn.

At any rate, I didn't think anyone really wanted to see pictures of the rainy day, the laundry or the tent set up in the garage. Certainly, nobody wants to see any pictures of me. My left eye is almost swollen shut. It turns out I'm a little allergic to Fleet Farm... Though that was a really fun trip, I'd never been there. They have everything! But I digress; below are pictures of the ferrets. They had a little trip outside in the yard yesterday. Lego was too wild and fast for us to get any pictures of him. He kept hopping around and racing under things, towards the water, under the house, generally all the places a ferret parent doesn't want their fuzzy friend going. The other two were a bit more cooperative, though Thor gives the camera dirty looks whenever he sees it.

Here's a snippet of Thor and Oscar's trip:

Thor, giving the camera "weasel face," he would rather play than be a model.

Thor, sniffing the water. He wasn't allowed to go for a swim. We're so controlling.
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Unlike Thor, Oscar is really good at posing for pictures, he's actually a little bit of a ham.

Here he is posing majestically in the grass.

Memorial Day Weekend

We're in Wisconsin now, with Doug's family. After we got here we spent a day or so resting, then we headed up North to Lake St. Germain for Memorial Day weekend. Doug's family has a great place up there, right on the lake. We spent a fun weekend eating, sleeping, fishing and napping. It was a great time. We'll be off on the next leg of our trip, to Minnesota on Thursday.

Memorial Day Shenaningans

Chad, with attitude at the camper.

Allison, also with attitude, at the camper.

Down to the dock.

Chad, in the lake, late at night. Now, how did that happen?

You get a line, I'll get a pole...

Chad is an expert fisherman and he took us out on the lake for a couple of days, fishing. Other than my "off the dock" experiences, this was my first-ever fishing experience. I got my first fishing license and everything! I remarked to Doug later that it's the first "official" document that I've signed my name, "Allison Waechter." It really does feel like our honeymoon all of a sudden. I found out that as much as I love animals, I'm a bit mercenary when it comes to fishing. I actually liked sticking my hook through the minnow's head to bait my hook. Shocking. Perhaps if I'd had a more wholesome attitude I would have caught more than one fish the whole weekend.

Here's my darling, periwinkle rod that Chad bought me...

...And the fish I caught with it!

Chad and Doug during a cocktail cruise. There's a lot of love there.

The Boys in Plaid.

Doug waving "bye-bye" to St. Germain.

Nebraska and Iowa

Anyone who has made the drive through Nebraska will recognize the Arch. Doug and I have seen it several times now. We never get out to go inside, though we've heard that you can. As it is, I always take a picture of it from the car, just to prove that we were, again, there. What I often forget about Nebraska and Iowa is that there are a lot of wind turbines. Honestly, there are no pictures that can express how incredibly huge and strange they are. In certain areas, where the land is hillier you can see them rising from behind the hill and it's a little like something out of a science fiction movie. They are difficult not to stare at, as you pass them for miles and miles. It can make you feel a little sick, especially when the wind is strong enough that they're all spinning at a fairly quick clip. Doug has a vehement dislike for them, so I didn't ask him to stop so I could take a picture. These are just the best ones I could take from the car. I won't lie to you, I find them spooky.

Sunrise on Day One

We left Boulder around 4 AM, after a trip to Safeway to stock up on stuff for sandwiches. You really need sandwiches on a road trip. Really, you do. Don't try to do one without them. By the time we got to Nebraska the sun was coming up. The first stop of our trip is to Wisconsin to drop our ferrets with their "grandparents" and to visit Doug's family. Since we had the fuzzy little ones with us we couldn't stop at a hotel, so we made the whole 18 hour trip in one day.

Left Behind

We hit the road yesterday morning at 4 AM, but we're leaving these little cuties behind. The ferrets (Lego, Oscar and Thor) are being hosted by Doug's parents. Doug's brother, Chad, built them a fantastic enclosure that is being called "The Thunderdome." They seem to love it already. I'll have to post pictures before we leave. Don't let the photo through the bars fool you. Those ferrets love their house.









Arwen and Isis, our cats, went to stay at my mom's house. They love her (maybe more than us) so they're already in the swing of things there, from what we've heard. My mom's garden is home to birds and squirrels, whereas at our house there are only pesky squirrels. All the sunshine and open windows are a huge draw at my mom's. Plus, she's a great snuggler. :)