some time at the coastal refuge....

$11.00-$5.80 doesn't come out to $4.20 in change...but today at mcdonalds it did. okay, i will admit that on a rare occasion i will visit a mcdonalds drive thru for some of those fries, a plain burger, some water and today a cone. it was so warm. i gave the kid $11 not $10 because i wanted a five back instead of ones. he gave me $4.20. i explained to him that he had given me incorrect change, but he insisted he hadn't. the dollar wasn't worth the argument so i just told him when he did the math and figured it out to just donate the buck to the ronald mcdonald house.
couldn't get too angry as i was never good at math either and i remember feeling stressed at the taco joint i worked at when people did this to me. still it sucks to have a dollar leave your wallet like that. i had just checked in the boys and spent more money at petsmart. too bad linda and i haven't coordinated this better as i saw she posted a picture on facebook of cooper so she must have stopped by after i did. the boys are doing well. of course, what dog wouldn't rather be home, but i have been impressed with pet smarts care so far. everyone has always been super nice to me and the dogs whenever we've gone in. austin is crazy about the lazer light they use to entertain. i guess cooper could care less about it, but austin stares at the toy cupboard waiting for it to come out. the weather here gets so lovely during the days and the melt is happening already and pretty fast really. i mean the snow levels don't look much lower but the streets have ponds in them so it must be coming from somewhere. my front deck is noticably less coated with snow, though once the sun sets the water melt becomes ice. it's a dangerous time of the year. met my friend amy for dinner after i went for a swim, on the drive home, i was diverted due to what looked like a pretty big accident. we went to outback steakhouse. she'd never been. i think she'd go again. our dogs were probably thrilled as we each came home with a nice doggy bag. i'd bought my dogs big bones at petsmart so they were doubly thrilled. rio munched on hers, blossom appears to have buried hers in the snow in the backyard. sadly for blossom, she is not very adept at really hiding a bone in the yard. it's usually just small hole and then she brushes a few scoops with her nose to cover the site. rio, though blind, will locate that bone at some point and be thrilled. so really i bought rio two bones today i guess.
anyway, dinner was quite pleasant! thanks for joining me amy!! the swim was pleasant as well. sadly, my peaceful post kiddie play time swim wasn't quite as peaceful. they were having a private party in 4 of the lanes so there were just 2 lanes. unfortunately, the usual people who show up on the weekends and use the lanes as free swim lanes were still there and so the two lanes were a bit of a cluster. i guess a dude and his kid that i assumed were with the party actually weren't and were using the whole pool as thier own free swim despite the lane markers and party. really it's thier fault for not policing the area after free swims. these folks have just gotten used to it and this is the end result, idiots who don't respect the lap swim rules. so annoying. got my laps in anyway.we did a loop out at north bivouac, the girls and i. i always say "we". my mom would get all excited thinking i'd found some man and i'd always have to remind her that "we" was really just still me and my dogs. not many out there that i saw. a few fathers and thier kids were out at the coastal refuge the day i was there, they went out to play around on the ice chunks.stopped by walmart post dinner to look and see if i could find some material. in the newly remodeled walmart their fabric section is much smaller, but i found some cool material for a baby quilt i need to get made. i also found some cool fleece for a new coat for rio catalina. now i'll have to try and get the sewing machine out tomorrow and see what i can do! quilts and dog coats tend to take me about 1.5-2 hours to make. i have a few repairs to make on a few of rio's other quilts. not sure why i make all these coats for rio,but she sure looks cute in them.the fleece i found is all funky and spring colours. would be cute to have her wear it for the monday walk! it is funny...rio is 120# and this big dark dog makes people nervous, unless she is wearing one of her coats. it's like the mentality is a dog with a cute coat would never bite you. rio is loved though. she gets so many pets and so much attention where ever i take her. blossom is adorable, but really, she is totally overlooked with rio around. blossom has learned to just nose her way in there and get the attention she so desires. drove around today looking for owls by the airports. think i did see one northern hawk owl, but it was way high in the trees. saw #77 and his eagle buddy and what looked like another juvenile baldy. of course a moose or two. above is potters marsh. often people skate the marshes, this year, people ski out there.turnigan and then back to the coastal refuge. i drove around a bit that day too.blossom...my cute pup!not sure what sort of birds these are but they were going wild in the bog one day. sleepy lady or mt susitna. back to potters. didn't see much for birds out there that day. in the summers it's a huge bird place. spring and fall as well. lots of birds stop through here on their ways north and south. great place to see swans at certain times of the year.back to coastal. great sledding hill. was getting utilized the day i was there. a popular sledding spot.the struggle to find decent swimwear continues. guys have it easy with thier beach shorts. hard to find one that fits decently and is supportive. may have to hit a few stores in town as it is swimsuit season in the shops like penneys. i have my rei refund too so i could try there. i had a good tankini top i bought over and over through victoria's secret but they took it off thier catalog list. now they are all not practical enough.when i find something that works i buy several of them. swimming in the pool does do a number on the material. i do like what it does to my hair. that is my inspiration to get back to my swimming routine. it's good for my hair. was telling amy about this girl at church decades ago when i lived in california. she pulled me aside wanting to know what hair colour i used and refused to accept the truth, which was i had never dyed my hair. i was just out in the sun alot and that was why my hair looked like it did. she was getting quite aggravated at me for not revealing my secret hair colour product. she would not accept or believe that this was just my natural colour at the time. she kept promising she wouldn't tell. she went off in a huff finally without finding out the product....which there wasn't one. so strange. people can be so odd. someone built this cool fort out there. blossom had to check it out.i need to get my hair done now....or get in that pool way more often and see what happens. i have had people ask about my hair when i've been swimming. apparently, it gets very shiney. i still debate the hair thing. cut it all off or just leave it. either way i really should get a trim soon. we got a little bonus at work this week. so i have $140 mad cash to spend. yes, i know it's not like the bonuses the bankers get. hard to see in the picture below, but there is an adorable little goldendoodle puppy we met out on the trail the other day. so cute! i think the owner was happy to see how bouncy and happy blossom was despite being a more mature doodle of 6 years old. eek! don't want my dogs to age. i just love em too much! dogs lives are just too dang short. will have to discuss this with those in heaven one day. so not fair. couldn't remember if i'd posted these already. it gets confusing. tomorrow perhaps i'll post pictures of yesterdays moose at the dog park.love the aspens or whatever these are. my tree identification is weak. soon the bears will be out...haven't heard of any sightings yet, but it's been so warm they are bound to wake up.blossom and ms breezy chatterbug enjoy a nap together.these are from todays ramble in the woods. didn't take many pictures today. always love the lichens on the trees though. very cool! blossom and rio left a note in the snow at the house...yes, they can do more than make yellow snow....! they are very advanced for thier species!!