Lake Eklutna

First off, I'm so glad I've helped to inspire Jess to pick up music again. My mom played the clarinet while she was pregnant with me, it's kind of a tradition I wanted to carry on.

Today we went to Lake Eklutna. There's a lot of stuff around here with names like that.
The best I can figure, the name is pronounced Eck-Loot-nuh.

Brian's shop opted to go on a hike instead of an hour and a half of PT at the gym. So, they got out of work early and spouses were encouraged to come along.

Zoe wasn't invited, but I think she was well received.

You might ask why I'm not by a lake in this picture. Well, there's a simple reason for that...with a long story attached to it.

Lake Eklutna is about forty minutes from our house. The last nine miles of the trip are very curvy, very narrow mountain roads. Zoe was doing great (She loves car rides!) until about mile five.

With four miles left to go, she started gagging. I'm guessing the curves were getting to be too much for her tiny dog tummy. I tried to grab her water dish to catch the bulk of it, but I couldn't get to it in time. As I was in the passenger seat, I had full Zoe responsibility.

She puked...All over me.

I tried to catch some in my hand when it was apparent I wasn't going to be able to get to the bowl in time. That was stupid. I ended up throwing about two tablespoons of dog puke out the window, consequently all down the side of our car.

I sat for the next four rolling mountain road miles with drying dog puke on my hand, my shirt, my jeans, my arm, my face...with nothing to clean up with...with a puke-covered dog trying to seek comfort by snuggling my neck...with morning sickness.

Needless to say, when we pulled into the parking lot for the hiking trail, a camera was the LAST thing on my mind. This picture was taken several hours after the incident.

Since I remain Laura-The Prepared, I had wet wipes in the first aid kit in our trunk. I wasn't able to get the puke off my jeans, but I DID get it off my hands and my mood improved vastly once we started walking.

Whew! I'm prepping for motherhood with a dog. I kept repeating,

"At least when dogs puke, it only smells like dog food.
Imagine what a kid's puke smells like."

Brian laughed at me the whole time I was covered in puke. I might have to see how he does with this new arrival. Maybe I'll fill him up, bounce him around a bit, and then pass him off to Daddy.

Who's laughing now?

(I'm kidding. I'd never do that.)