Hello I-5, my old friend. Together again.
This is ugliest stretch of road I know. And I am from New Mexico. I
know from ugly roads.
Let me put it into perspective:
I'd rather drive that stick straight desolate highway between Vaughan/
Encino and Roswell a thousand times than I-5 just once.
Ah well…
Mother New Mexico, I'm coming home.
Woo hoo!
After months of obsessively turning over every quarter I get in change to see if I have a New Mexico quarter, I’m pleased to note that FINALLY one has made it’s way into my hot little hands.
The Good Man actually received it and held it aside for me.
This just in time for me to visit Oh Fair New Mexico in the next couple days where I’ll probably get them by the yard.
Oh well. It’s still a happy thing!
Gotta find the bright shiny happy things in life, right?
Had a mindblower of a weekend.
In celebration of the birth of The Good Man, we had a (much necessary) weekend away.
Somewhere where cell phones don’t work and television, p-feh…who needs ’em anyway?
We got a little wild. :)
We went to a place called Safari West. It’s located north of the Bay Area, just outside of Santa Rosa.
It’s an over 400-acre ranch that houses exotic animals of all kinds.
The owners have been working this place since the late 1980’s and it’s amazing.
I’m still processing it all…and the over 700 photos I took. (Yes, I said 700).
Highlights of the trip:
On the first night we were there, a baby Giraffe was born. It was a bit of a surprise to the Safari West folks. They knew mama Marla was pregnant, just didn’t know she was ready to go.
Here’s a photo of our as yet unnamed hero. This is about seven hours after his birth. Sssh, he’s sleepin’.
Is a hard thing getting born. Especially for a baby giraffe who plummets some six feet to the ground with a whump then is up on his wobbly pins about an hour later.
Here he is a bit knock kneed but doin’ it.
But that was not the only fascinating new thing…
That same night, Safari West took delivery of 38 flamingos and installed them in their new enclosure. I have always been a HUGE fan of flamingos. The Rio Grande Zoo used to have quite a few. Don’t know if they still do. But as a kid, they made a big impact on me.
These are “greater” Flamingos (their “lesser” and more colorful cousins will be arriving soon).
From there, it’s hard to pin down all the amazing things!
Lemurs.
Cape Buffalo (that’s some scary sh– right there….)
Cheetah
And on and on and on. That’s not even scratching the surface.
OH! And Zebra. I adore Zebra.
And Watusi cattle!
And! And! And!
It was amazing. A photographer’s dream (though tough too. Animals don’t, you know, pose).
We also slept in genuine tent cabins constructed by South African craftsmen and modeled on safari tents, including wood floors and open space. They were actually really nice and quite comfortable, though a bit cold at night.
In the dark we could hear all the animals of the safari calling and howling and, you know, doing what wild animals do.
I can’t even begin to write out how utterly geeked out I still am from the weekend…
We’ll be talking about this for weeks.
Aw, who is that cute girl caught in the headlights?
That would be, you know, me.
Under 60 days out from “the big event” and my cool, calm demeanor has cracked.
Silly me to think that people to whom you pay an exorbitant amount of money would, you know, just DO their jobs.
I thought it was ridiculous when The Good Man told me early on we needed to manage these people. Nah, silly me thought. People will behave like professionals until they prove themselves otherwise.
Ah the proofs. So painfully coming in otherwise.
I think I understand how some people become Bridezillas.
I don’t want to be a Bridezilla. I want to be a Bridecoolgirl. Or Brideprettyprincess.
My work life is pretty negotiation intensive. I spend 40+ hours a week telling suppliers how much they’ve screwed up and to get their collective sh– together.
I try, oh do I try, not to do this in my personal life. Separation of church and state and all that.
Ooooh but no, they are making me get out my Incredible Procurement Hulk ninja skills.
Believe me…you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.
This is supposed to be a party. When does it get fun?
And if I hear ONE more person tell me, “Oh don’t worry! That day will be all about YOU!”…..
