Monday, October 26, 2009

Best Birthday Ever

Normally I have an every-other-year-birthday thing going, meaning that one year I'll have an awesome day, everything will go right, I'll make a party and all of my friends will come, and then the next year everything goes wrong and I end up crying. It's been consistent since I turned 20 so I don't mess with it, just accept it and plan accordingly. This year was an off year, so I opted to skip town.

After a full day of research, we decided our destination would be Aaron's parents' house in Enumclaw, Washington. The whole reason we got Xochitl was so that she could be "the travel dog" (ie, small enough to ride in the cabin on a plane) and the dream was to take her up to the farm at some point and let her run free in the fields but she had yet to experience a flight (minus her homecoming trip).

In retrospect a million things could have gone wrong, but the entire travel experience just went perfectly. Nobody gave Xdog a second glance even though she was technically over the wight limit and the carrier didn't meet specs, no flights were delayed even though weather on both ends was sketchy, and we even landed early coming back.

Living in the Bay Area I tend to forget we have seasons, other than that people generally change the color of the clothes they wear, but up north it's most definitely fall. The trees were striking shades of gold, green, and red, and the air was crisp and moist (and occasionally rainy... but remarkably only so when we already wanted to stay in).

We made a trip into Seattle, saw old friends and met new ones, explored places neither of us had been, as well as Aaron taking me places from his youth. We got enough rest and plenty of exercise. Basically, it was pretty much the most perfect vacation ever.

Without further ado, the pictures...

My birthday present from Aaron's parents, a pink bb gun and targets to go along with it.
birthday bb gun

Shavi!
Shavi!

The view from Shavi's window
view from Sahvi's window

Xdog experiences her first fall
xdog in Seattle

We took the ferry to Whidby Island, had the most amazing day with new friends, their dogs, the beach, and golf course beers and somehow this is the only picture I have to prove we were ever there. Documentation fail.
Whidby Island

My birthday hike
queen of the mountain

And finally, the crocheted tequila bottle cover. Amazing.

um...

4 comments:

lucky kachina dancer said...

I'm glad you had such a great time! Xdog looks great, and it sounds like a lot of fun.

Oh Washington, how I do not miss you and your cold, cold days. I used to love the trees though, and the colors in the fall.

Home2K9 Pack Leader said...

We felt so lucky to be part of your trip! Glad your birthday was so lovely, you deserve it!

Anonymous said...

Happy B-Day - mine was a week ago and I happen to live just east of Seattle. If I recall, you aren't really looking for that second dog right now - but what a cutie (Annie) at the Sula Foundation. Fight bust dog, female, big beautiful eyes and a fabulous underbite. Maybe a trip to New Orleans?

Danielle said...

HBD!!!! Xdog is adorable, LOVE the crocheted tequila bottle "cozy", the pink BB gun, and exploring washington state. glad you had a great b-day :)