Staycation Days 5, 6, & 7

On Wednesday I did some work in the garden. I've been wanting to plant cherry trees, specifically Bing cherries for the last couple years and missed the boat on bare root. I was stoked that our local nursery had both Bing and Tartan cherries - two more trees for Blankenheim Orchards! I also did some planting around the rocks that Mike used to build our waterfall. I didn't take pictures because it's really very much a work in progress - I'm testing to see if these couple types of ground cover are actually "deer resistant".

On Thursday, we headed over to Fitzpatrick Winery & Lodge for an evening's stay. Some of you may recall that we attended a crab feed a few weeks ago and entered a raffle - this was the prize that we won.

Our stay was absolutely fantastic - it was so nice to get away for a night and to completely chill out. We arrived around 7pm and were told there was only one other couple staying and that they were out to dinner, so we had the lodge to ourselves. Diana, one of the owners, checked us in and offered us wine for tasting - saying there were 4 bottles open that should couldn't pour the next day, so help ourselves to our "one" complementary glass. We hung out by the fire drinking wine for most of the evening.

Mike In The Great Room

Yay For Wine!

We really enjoyed their 30th Anniversary Zinfandel (we bought a case!) and their Merlot was very mellow.

We stayed in the "Irish Room", which was super cute. They had a great window seat that had a beautiful view of the valley and some of their grapes:

View Of The Valley

The bed and easy chair - we loved the color of the walls too - we're thinking of re-doing our bedroom at home!

Clearly I Need A New Camera...



The View From Our Private Deck

We're thinking of going back in the summer - they have a massive wood burning pizza oven and they do Friday pizza nights! This morning we woke up and were served breakfast - I had a potato and onion frittata and Mike had an omelet. It was absolutely fantastic - we definitely recommend this place to anyone coming up to our area!

Today I had the chance to do a ride along with my awesome brother in law, Tim. It was a really cool experience (my prior EMT training had been in the ER so that I got to see a wider variety of stuff). It was my first time doing a code 3 (lights and sirens) in an ambulance! I actually learned a lot - lately I've realized that it's really good to step back and watch other people work - there are lots of little tips and tricks to pick up on!

I've got a bit of a headache now, so we're catching up on "Idol" and then I'm headed to bed. Tomorrow I've got EMT class and then Sunday is the half marathon - I'm so excited to run with Kati for her first half!

Disco Saves Lives

Seriously hilarious (and true!):

Stayin' alive, people, stayin' alive.

Motorcycle vs. Dog

This morning I got up early to get a little run in before work. I was almost finished with my first loop and turning down the main street in my neighborhood when I saw a bunch of people standing around and cars pulled over. I slowed down to see what happened and saw a man lying in the middle of the road with a motorcycle laying nearby. I stopped, introduced myself and asked if I could help (obviously, the answer was yes). I started talking to the patient and noticed two little black legs on the other side of the motorcycle... two little legs that looked a lot like Shadow's. I couldn't help but glance over every now and then and wonder. I knew he was crated, I knew he was in the house, but by God, it looked like my dog.

I continued to work on the patient who said that he never even saw the dog... it was all black and was still darkish out. He felt so bad... he said he's never hit anything before and that he's never fallen off his bike. He had some pain in the rib area and on his shoulder, but was otherwise stable and coherent. I kept him down and continued talking to him (and monitoring him) until the firefighters got there.

Some fantastic neighbors had stopped to help, including one that was standing near the dog. It was clearly dead (insides don't belong on the outside) and as I walked around the bike, I just got this terrible feeling in my stomach. Seriously, I know my dog and his body. This looked like him. Honestly, it could have been his twin. It had the same fur, same build, even the same head (lab shaped, but a little smaller). I lifted his front paws up so that I could see his chest (Shadow has a little white spot on his), but couldn't really tell. I then thought to look at his paws - most vets take off a dog's dew claws (they're where the dogs thumbs would be), but Shadow still has his. This dog did not. The neighbor that was standing nearby said he thought the dog belonged to the people just down the street and that their fence had blown over in the storm. It wasn't wearing tags otherwise I would have walked over to the people's house.

Needless to say, I don't think I've ever run faster to get home. And I hugged my dog like he's never been hugged before. I can't imagine how those people must be feeling (or if they even know... and honestly, I don't know which is worse). I'm glad I could be there to help the patient, but I wish there was something more we could have done for the dog.