Vacation, Salish lodge, etc.

I'm still in shock that June is almost over. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it has not felt like June at all.

Tomorrow, Ryan and I are leaving for Montana to see my mom for 5 days. Woo hoo! The town she lives in, Livingston (about 10 hours from here), has the Livingston Round Up every year for the 4th of July. They have a parade, rodeo, craft fair(yes!) and fireworks. It's a pretty big deal for out there. Hopefully we'll have time to go to Yellowstone National Park(always great) and check out other stuff while we're out there.
We're planning to leave Wednesday around noon, pretty much drive through the night and get there Thursday morning. We'll have most of Thursday, all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday to do stuff, then we head back Monday morning. I'd like to stay a little longer, but work has picked up for Ryan and his dad, so he needs to work as much as he can while he can. Such is the construction industry.
I'm so excited for this trip I can hardly stand it. I LOVE road trips. Some people think that driving 10 hours is painful, but to me, it's wonderful. I've always had a love for it. I think my mom instilled it in me as a child. For most of my younger years, we would always drive on our vacations. I didn't get on a plane till I was almost 16. I have so many fond memories of places and adventures when we traveled by car.
Luckily, I married someone who enjoys it as much as I do. We make a good team and we always have a great time. We've road tripped to: Montana 3 times, southern Utah, Lake Tahoe California, Washington Coast and our honeymoon was one BIG 2 week long road trip-4500 miles.
I haven't taken a day off, aside from being sick, since our honeymoon. 349 days. I think I'm due for a vacation, even though it's a small one.


Last Friday Ryan and I stayed at the Salish Lodge(http://www.salishlodge.com/) for our 1 year anniversary. Which is actually 2 weeks early, but I got a great deal on a package;1 night in renovated room, 2 25min massages and 75$ breakfast credit, and it needed to be booked and used by June 30th. I'm going to have a whole post talking about our stay/mini vacation. I'd say it was 97% great though.

The shop/garage is progressing nicely. It passed inspection and has a roof. Now we just need to get some money together for walls, more concrete, garage door etc. I will be doing a progress post soon, I've just been too busy to go through all the photos and put it together.

Which brings me to the last part.
Ryan and I had talked about getting a dog last year. September was the last time we really talked about it. Winter came and school for Ryan, so it was put on the back burner. Now with the shop being built, we have started to talk about it again.
*Before anyone thinks I am being hasty or thoughtless because my Bailey just passed, please understand that I have wanted a dog in our home for a long time. Bailey having passed away has strengthened my resolve. I feel an even stronger need for a dog in my life now that my previous dog friend is gone. This is not a move to replace Bailey, for he can never be replaced.*
We have made it a goal to have our home and yard ready for a doggy friend by August 7th. This involves fencing the area behind our house and planting grass, which would be a play area for Future Dog Friend. Our plan would then be to connect this by door/doggy door to the garage where there would be an area closed off specifically for FDF. Our garage will have in-floor heating and insulation, so this area will be a nice place to have FDF hangout in when we are gone. It will be safe for him and for our belongings and we hope this will prevent FDF from having to be crated when we are away.
On August 7th, there is going to be a large dog adoption event in Tacoma where we hope we will find our FDF. It's called Woofstock for anyone interested. We've talked over all the details of owning a FDF extensively. We are aware of the life long commitment we will be making and are ready for it.
All I know is I am so excited to give a FDF a home and to love it so much it will want to burst with happines. I also know that once we find "The One" Ryan will love it more than he can imagine.