furtech | Dogs, dogs, snake, dogs

Rondo and I made the trek up to Kingman to visit

desertcoyote's home and mom. On the way, JC let me sidetrack us to the famous Meteor Crater in AZ. I'd always wanted to visit the site-- maybe rockhound for meteorite bits. As we got closer I was pretty excited: you can actually see the ridge of the crater in the distance.

The actual site was as spectacular as I'd hoped...but you can't hike down into the crater (bummer). And after the initial awe of the site, it still boils down to being a big hole. Still, I'm glad I finally saw it!

There was a cute cat outside the crater ~~ripoff~~ souviner shop: one of the employees referred to her as one of the "crater cats". Obligingly, the feline took a few moments out of her grooming to give her performance of, " cat impersonating a meteor ".

At Kingman it was dogs, dogs, dogs! JC has four great dogs: Jazz, Jake, Taiko and Chatta.

Jake is JC'S shepherd-Buick cross. He's a "sheriff" personality: he doesn't like trouble in his town and will break up fights and play that gets too rough.

Jazz is small and confused (no pics! Oops! Here-- have another pic of Jake! ).

Chatta has agression-toward-dog issues, but managed to accept Rondo. He's an adorable puff of a dog: probably a Retriever-Chow cross. Sweet dog if you're a people, but kind of scarey if you're a dog.

Taiko is a border collie out of the same mold as Tay and Rondo-- a lanky, semi-rough coated BC, but with a gorgeous brindle coat!
taiko

Jake and Taiko were partners in play (and crime), but Rondo and Taiko hit it off in the way only border collies can. They played non-stop for nearly the rest of the trip. To JC's amazement, Rondo not only tired out Jake , but managed to outlast Taiko. Taiko would finally find a place to lie down and crash , while Rondo energetically looked for more trouble to get into.

On our way to a hike/picnic , JC spotted a large gopher snake laying in the road. Amazingly, it was uninjured. This was easily the largest gopher snake I'd ever seen and also the most docile (even allowing for being slightl torpid). Very mellow fellow . JC has far better pics of his eventual release in the rocks up the hill.

Many, many thanks to JC and her mom! I really needed that trip-- there's no better therapy than hiking and dogs!