Best Jenny blog of the week

So first, here’s a picture from Saturday.  Paulette did most of this; I finished the last row and the border.

On Sunday, I made myself go to the Discover Dinosaurs show.  (Exhibit?)  I had to finagle my way in because though the website said they were open until 7 and urged people to come early or late to avoid the crowds, they failed to mention that they stop selling tickets at 6:30.  But finagle I did, and what a neat idea- all these huge, animatronic dinosaurs set up in the Reno Events Center, all in neat scenes with lights along a pathway with black fabric walls separating the exhibits.  Some moved constantly, some had buttons so you could move them, all were kind of scary… and I’m 34.  I don’t know if they were all life-size, but all were big enough that you would be uninterested in running into them in real life.  Several scenes had a T-Rex chasing after omnivores, which I felt was impolite, but I am clearly democratic in my views of the animal world.  I bought a fake dinosaur claw in the gift shop to make up for the fact that I did not pay to get in.  Had I been able to wander longer, I might have gotten a picture of myself riding a dinosaur.  Yes, they had some animatronic dinosaurs with saddles on them.  If only I had gotten there a little earlier.

Eeeee!  Baby Triceratops!

This is the Dilong, which I doubt.  I suspect it is more like a Dishortly.
 

This is the Ankylosaurs, which used to be my favorite dinosaur.

 

This is my new favorite dinosaur, the Irritator.

As you can see, I am not making this up.

On Monday, I went to work, even though I would have much rather stayed at home.  If that wasn’t impressive enough, I went on my first hike with the Meetup group that I joined.  I wanted to do this one because it was Easy/Moderate.  The description said that folks interested in the easy hike could go back at a certain point, and the moderate folks could charge on ahead.  I thought I should start with easy.

I found the parking lot, was one of the first four people there, was one of five people who brought dogs, and randomly chatted with strangers.  When the organizer showed up, we introduced ourselves and went over the plan.  She would lead at a speedy pace, a group officer would keep a medium pace in the middle, and a regular would bring up the rear.  If you needed to leave, you had to sign out with the lady at the rear.  If you needed to respond to a nature call, you had to leave your pack on the trail so she’d know to wait for you.  Yeah, right.  I’ve seen enough movies to know that’s how you get murdered or eaten by a bear.  Riley pooped right before the hike.  Since there were no trash cans, I put the poop bag by my car door.

I was prepared for an “easy” hike, which I take to mean flat.  Yes, I understand that I drove up the mountain to get to the trailhead, and there are no flat surfaces up there, but I am new to this, so cut me some slack.  We launched onto the trail.  I figured that we’d all kind of fall into staggered paces, but there wasn’t enough room on the trail for allowing someone to pass.  You had to find a place to pull over.  Some people knew this ahead of time and ran across the road to get to the head of the pack.  We climbed up the embankment to get to the trail, only the embankment did not level out.  It was ALL uphill except for a couple small dips.  I used those to try to slow my gasping.  At first I had Riley on the leash while people were launching past me.  She walked behind me, and I wondered if I was pushing her too far and I’d have an expired dog when we reached the top.  Once everyone found their places, I took off her leash and she ran ahead, eventually keeping on the heels of the hiker in front of me.  Periodically, she’d look back and wait for me to catch up.  Oh.  I guess she’s fine.

 



Uh, these pictures don't covey how steep it was.  I swear.

The dirt on the trail was soft and we all left little storms of brown clouds behind us.  Riley had some very brown legs.  At the top of the hill, I broke out the water and Riley was so grateful.  Cesar is right about being able to show affection through such a simple action.  I love it when I ask her if she wants water and she licks her lips.  Another dog owner brought some kibble with treats mixed in, and all the dogs surrounded her and enjoyed having their dinner hand-fed to them.

 

I was already sure I didn’t want to continue the hike because I was exhausted, but took a moment to test my blood.  49.  Jesus!  No wonder I’m so exhausted.  I gobbled some glucose tabs and a granola bar, then four of us headed back down the trail (once we had officially separated from the rest of the group).  Our mini team leader chatted with me about diabetes (which her husband has), the Air Force (which her son was in), and hiking (which she does all the time… alone.)  We were almost to the bottom of the trail when she screamed something that I could not understand. I whipped around and saw her frantically climbing the side of the hill and I started scanning for whatever rabid animal was attacking us.  “BIIIIIIIIIIKE!” she cried again.  “CLEAR THE TRAIL!”  Oh, bike?  This is not an appropriate level of panic for a bike, lady!  When I say that she screamed, I am not exaggerating.  She did not call out, which would have conveyed the information at the appropriate volume- she SCREAMED and started scrambling up the hill, grasping the ground for holds as if her life depended on it.  I may be unfamiliar with hiking etiquette, but I doubt bikes warrant screaming bloody murder.  She scared the hell out of me so much that I couldn’t even process her words!

 

Riley just after leaving the parking lot

Riley suddenly getting very tired.

We got back to the cars unscathed by the terrifying biker and checked our names off the list, checking out of the hike.  I picked up the poop bag and put it in my trunk, making a mental note to take it out.  Then I got in my car and- trying to keep my door from whacking into the Mustang next to me- found the door felt rough.  I investigated the door frame and found that Chris had done some good damage while prying open my car door Friday- against my wishes- to drop off money.  He would rather break into my car than meet me in person, especially since Trampolina will not leave his side.  (You are just as insecure as you should be.)  I watched him use his lockout kit I don’t know how many times over the years, and I have never seen him do such damage to a car.  Clearly, he did not give a shit.  I also NEVER saw him abuse that lockout kit- he only used it to help people.

So here I am, just did this brave, fun thing and had a good time, Riley enjoyed it, we both got some good exercise, and I should be ending my night on a high note.  Instead I find that he didn’t just break into my car and trample all over my simple and very reasonable boundaries (that part’s not new), but he was destructive about it and didn’t even give my car the same effort and care that he gave perfect strangers.  To say that put a damper on the evening is putting it lightly.  I will also say that I prefer the high road, and I have worked very hard to stay there, but it requires a resolve that becomes dangerously weak at times.  Remember Left Eye from TLC?  Remember when she burned her boyfriend’s mansion down?  She was only trying to set his shoes on fire, but I get it.  It’s too bad I do not have a retaliatory nature, but how far does he think a person can be pushed?  Is he trying to find out?  What comes next is not me setting your house on fire, but me calling the police and letting them handle it.  You made your bed.  I will lie in it no more.

So at home, after a beer and some dinner, called Dad and found out that he’s coming to visit this weekend!  What a neat surprise!  I started looking through the paper for fun things to go do and ended my night on a happy note after all.

Then this morning, I was busy getting ready and packing my lunch and suddenly realized- there is still a full poop bag in the trunk.