Cliff and I did a good job of making the first weekend of summer count.
On Friday work had an event to kick off the start of summer, Summer Solstice Dash & Bash. It is a two part event: 5K to benefit Umpqua Bank's Snack Pack Program and a free concert with food and beer vendors and community booths. To help drum up excitement, I did two live promo spots on our local news stations. I got to be on at 6:45am on KEZI and just a few short hours later I was on KVAL. I kinda really like doing these types of things. It scratches a performing itch that hasn't been tended to in a long while. The event turned out really well. More attendees than our first time around last summer. The weather was beautiful. Our sponsors were happy. What more could we ask for? 
Yesterday, we got up bright and early as I went with a friend/co-worker, Jana, down to Roseburg to pick up her new dog from their humane society! I really enjoy driving south as the landscape changes and you feel like you are going out on an adventure. And we were. She has been looking for a dog for quite a while and this week found a blood-hound that was a winner. We picked up Sheldon (Chip's new name) and drove back. It was really a different experience from picking Rudy up from the shelter a few years ago. Sheldon didn't eat his own poop, he didn't take 30 minutes to get into the car, and he didn't seem terrified of the new people who were driving away with him. Also Sheldon's teeth are in so much better condition that Rudy's were when we adopted him (both dogs adopted around 7 months). All of this is really making me realize that Rudy didn't have it so great before we found him. Perhaps his first few months set us up for some challenges that we are still dealing with to this day. Hum. Oh well. Rudy is fantastic and we wouldn't have it any other way (although better leash skills by now would be pretty great). No matter. Sheldon and Rudy got to play in the yard. Rudy is far, far faster that the 65 lb. pup but it didn't matter as Sheldon seemed to be having fun running behind and using his chasing bark. It was great. Rudy has a new friend. In fact, he seems to get a long better with Sheldon than any other dog. It must be a hound thing. 
After the puppy excitement, we packed up the car to go camping with another friend/co-worker and her family*. Kerry's family got a pop-up camper and wanted to do a test run. Cliff and I have recently completed our backpacking supplies so we wanted to do a dry run too. Well, in the end we decided to use our car camping supplies instead of the backpacking stuff as we wanted Rudy to come with us. He has been doing really well recently about chilling out with us (not on leash) and being less crazy around kids. So camping was the next challenge to tackle (we aren't going to count the cross-country move camping). So we all drove up the McKenzie River to Delta Campground. On the way up, we realized that Rudy gets car sick. He whines, barks, and pants a whole lot in the car. To be honest it can be really unpleasant, loud, and stressful. Well this trip we finally put it together that he freaks out when there are windy roads, speed bumps, and sharp turns (that is why he starts to get upset as soon as he hears the turn signal go on). I feel bad saying this but we always thought he was just being a jerk and getting overly excited about everything. Nope. He wasn't feeling well. Thankfully, it was a pretty smooth trip as we could just cruse once we got out of town.
We mocked Kerry and Todd before we left when they mentioned bug spray. Cliff and I insisted that we have never been bothered by bugs here as we were use to Virginia mosquitos and in comparison Oregon has nothing to complain about. Well, that is apparently a lie. Our campground was on an arm of the McKenzie and there were so many mosquitoes We started a fire at 5:00pm in the hopes of smoking them out. I almost immediatly changed out of my tank top and shorts and into long pants and multiple layers of long sleved tops in order to keep them from attacking me. But it was too late. They got me. They got us all. Todd later told us that the highlands are bad for mosquitos due to all of the snow melt. Apparently things are better in southern Oregon. Note to self for the next camping expedition.
Last night was a whole lot of fun. We hung out. We ate a really great meal of salmon, salad, and potatoes. We made smores and sipped Fireball by the fire. What to know the best part? Our dog was AMAZING! Honestly, we lived our dog owner dream last night. He happily played at the site with the girls (he didn't bowl anyone over or get someone right in the face). We didn't freak out and bark at every kid, bird, bug, motorcycle he heard. He was so good that we trusted him off leash. He stayed right by us and enjoyed hanging out under the picnic table. Plus since he is an avid fire-loving dog, we didn't have to worry about him being stupid around the campfire. It was great. Once it got dark he got a bit stressed out as he is kind of a weanie and doesn't like the dark. Also, he has a pretty strict internal clock that makes him want to sleep at 9:00pm. He was already on the downslide when our camping neighbors rolled up around 10:00pm to set up camp. As long as he sat with his back turned towards them, between Cliff and I he was ok. As soon as he turned around to see them he would howl. To keep it together he sat touching both of us with one of us always petting him. Todd and Kerry commented that it was like we were dealing with a toddler past its bed time. On top of this, around 11:00pm it started to sprinkle. Rudy hates being wet. He beelined towards the tent so we called it a night. When we let him in he was incredibly happy to lay on his bed at the foot of our super luxe Coleman air mattress. We knew with the rain that he was going to break the seal so we broke one of our rules: we let Rudy sleep on the bed between us. Rudy was shocked. That dog didn't move all night as he was warm, safe, comfortable, and cuddling with us. He was awesome.
After eating breakfast in the new pop-up (which was super sweet), we loaded up the car and headed home. I stopped at the general store to get jojo's (or taters for all of us east coasters) with ranch as they are a must when we travel up river. We spend the rest of the day napping, unpacking, and doing laundry. We even made it to Olive Garden.
*Side note: Kerry was my original office soul mate. A few months ago Kerry got a new job in one of our different departments and that is when Jana moved in. So far, I've really lucked out with co-workers.
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