Guess What?

You can totally comment via Facebook now. If you are logged in to Facebook you should see yourself below the posts and should be able to comment, like, and recommend us to your friends.

Good News and Bad News

First off, Morgan revamped our page. We hope you enjoy our new look!

Secondly, a little bit of plan re-arranging has happened since the last time we checked in. We went from having what we thought was a sure plan to head to the west coast of Florida, but when those plans fell through last night we weren't really sure what we would end up doing. Lucky for us, Caye's stepfather has a timeshare in Weston, FL. So, we will all be staying there starting December 3rd until the 10th and then Morgan and I will head back north to Wisconsin and Minnesota for the holidays while Jax and Caye head to Miami and then Ecuador.

Before then, we need to do more re-modeling on the car. With a car which already attracts a large amount of stares we don't need to draw any more attention to ourselves with Caye, Jaxon, and Hank laying on the bed in the back of the P(RV)ius. We went on a test drive today while running errands and couldn't go anywhere without people staring, shaking their heads, or laughing at us.

So, we have our work cut out for us tomorrow!

Lastly(the bad news), we need to get Hank de-wormed tonight. Yep, he has hookworms(sad face). This might explain his super chill behavior for the last week. Anyways, we are looking forward to having a healthy pup soon and warmer weather once we get back to Florida.

Photo Drop

Yesterday we took a lot of photos while exploring the ship yard. Enjoy!

The Dog River Blues.

First things first. Today is the 29th which means it's my mother's birthday. So HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY MAMA, hope you swam. Now on to the boring stuff. No seriously, we've been hanging out in Surkha, playing on the internet, playing with Hank, making food, talking, hanging out, and watching movies with the Mangos waiting out the weather.

 Yesterday, Jena and I ventured into Mobile to run some errands and realized that the Prius was sitting at 299,999 miles and since I was talking to the previous owner of it at the time, my dad, we were excited to watch it change. BUT, we've now driven 20 more miles and it still says 299,999 so needless to say we are a little bummed by the anti-climactic-ness of reaching 300,000 miles but I started a new trip odometer and will just be adding them together.

Today we tore everything out of the Prius in order to re-pack its bowels so we can fit two Mangos, Hank, and ourselves on a drive to south Florida so we can bask in the suns and lounge on the beaches for a week. It will be a packed trip but it will be worth it for some warm weather. We took a break between packing to check out a bunch of ships in the shipyard and actually were able to climb up and into one of the wrecks here and check 'er out. It was very cool to see the inner workings of a 50 foot sail boat and get good views of the entire marina.

We are now hanging out some more, eating dinner (Domino's - yeah we packed up all the food already and didn't want to do dishes), and going to watch a movie in a bit.

 More updates as we actually get to doing exciting things.

Mango's in our Car.

We have reached Mobile, AL and our friends and fellow bloggers Jax and Caye from Mangolandia and their wonderful sailboat Surkha at the Dog River Marina on the Westside of the Mobile Bay. Since getting in late last night we have spent much of our time hanging out, chatting, internet-ing, cooking, and relaxing in the spacious galley of Surkha.

 Jena and I awoke this morning to rain and dreary skies. As we pulled ourselves from the comforts of the car to walk Hank we groaned and quickly were soaked through. After Hank's walk/potty break we took refuge in Surkha where we hung out and chatted away the morning before venturing out into the storm again to head down the road to the southern classic Waffle House restaurant where we took in generous helpings of hash browns, eggs, and of course, waffles.

Once our bellies were stuffed, we stuffed ourselves back into the Prius and headed back to Surkha to use the internet and wait out the weather. As the day progressed the rain subsided and our stomachs became open to hunger again so we set to making chili, cornbread, and choco-chip-oatmeal-walnut-rum cookies for dinner. As of now we are still relaxing in the sailboat waiting out more rain and wind but enjoying each other's company thoroughly.

An extra day of sunshine.

We were so happy to have decided to stay an extra night in Jacksonville and get the extra time hanging out with friends. We got a good night of sleep in the car with Hank awkwardly arched over the center console for half the night. Morgan was first out and took Hank on a beach walk while I got a little bit of extra snooze time. Once they returned we headed out again on the short two block walk to the sandy beach to watch the sun rays shoot between gray clouds and surfers riding the rolling waves. Along our walk we encountered many other dogs and dog lovers. It is amazing to see how much having a dog connects you with so many other people. We constantly have people coming up to chat dog business with us and so far have really enjoyed being part of the canine loving community.

After our beach stroll we went to run errands which included buying dog food, vaccines, and a dozen bagels. After errands and a blogging extravaganza we decided to return to the beach. But, before doing so, we needed to administer Hank's epidermal 7 in 1 vaccination. Having never done anything like this I was completely freaked out not only by the needle but also just for the safety of Hank. Luckily, Morgan offered to give the shot while I was responsible for making sure Hank couldn't move. So Morgan grabbed Hank by the scruff of his neck while I attempted to keep him still. Of course, he knew something was up. Even being the normally calm sleeping pup that he is, he was squirming around to get away from the silver needle. Anyways, we were able to give him the shot despite one minor mishap where I ended up getting squirted by some of the vaccine when Hank managed to pull away from my grasp.

After our stressful first shot experience with him we were ready for some relaxation and headed to the beach to meet up with Becky and Judd. There we did lots of people watching, some ocean swimming, and chatting. After getting our fill of sunshine for the day, we headed back to the car and said our goodbyes. We made it to Mobile, AL by 9pm and spent the rest of the night laughing and sharing stories in the sailboat with our Mangolandia friends.

We had a fantastic time in Jacksonville and are now super excited to hang out with Caye and Jaxon and hopefully get some sailing done. Now we just need the weather to shape up!

Jacksonville

Today we awoke to the sun rising over palm trees, warm ocean breezes and Hank squirming around inside the tent.

After making breakfast, coffee, and more smores over the campfire we cleaned up the tent site and headed into the city of Jacksonville to meet up with my old high school friend, Becky. She has lived here for over a year now as a nurse at the Mayo Clinic. We are jealous that she gets to enjoy fantastic weather year round and a beach about two blocks from, her boyfriend, Judd's town home. When we got into town we headed over to Becky's to check out her apartment and then we dropped off the Prius to get an oil change and get the brakes cleaned(we originally thought we would have to replace the brake pads so we were happy to hear they just needed a cleaning). The folks at the Toyota dealer informed us that the car is running great, especially for having nearly 300,000 miles on it. Next we dropped Hank off to enjoy Judd's backyard while we walked over to a delicious Mexican restaurant. There we enjoyed Ahi Tuna tacos, $2.50 margaritas, coronas, and great conversation. Then, being the worried parents we are, we headed back to check on the dog. Luckily he was just fine, even though he had tied himself up between the three trees in the backyard.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out on the beach, picking up the car from the mechanic, and hanging out at Becky's place. After trying to decide whether or not we had the energy to hit the road and head towards Alabama we decided we'd just stay another night.

Becky, Judd, and Judd's brother, Josh, took us out to a delicious pizza place called Mellow(if you live in Minnesota, think Pizza Luce pizza, but possibly even better). Morgan and I split a Hawaiian pizza done vegetarian style with BBQ tofu and jalapenos. After dinner we decided dessert was needed and walked on down to Yoga Berry Frozen Yogurt. Frozen yogurt is the new trend in the frozen treat world and is the healthier alternative to say... Coldstone Creamery. It has a very neat set up. You get to pour your own and then add all the toppings you'd like. After dinner and dessert we were ready for bed and also felt we needed to give our dog a little attention, so we climbed into the Pr(RV)ius with Hank for the night.