Our Dog gets Carsick

It's true. We discovered this yesterday when we spontaneously decided to spend Saturday night camping at a new campsite we heard about. (We were supposed to go with the 5th and 6th grade to this place, but that was canceled due to the swine flu).

(driving to the canyon before we knew the dog would get sick:(

The canyon we drove to is called "Namurachi". It is beautiful - with steep canyon walls that almost touch at the top.

We were the only ones staying there last night and we were about 6km from the nearest town, so the silence was deafening.
(our campsite)
(dinner - bean and cheese burritos)
(the view from the top of the mountain right by our campsite - you can see our van in this picture)
(the fire after dark)(Sunday morning worship:)

We went for a long hike this morning before we loaded the car back up with our motion-sick pup and drove home.
(some pics from the canyon)
Other then a slight odor in the carpeting of the van, we all returned unscathed from this unplanned adventure.
(Jay taking down the tent)

Sunday Hike

Yesterday, all of the churches were closed due to the swine flu scare, so Jay and I decided to take our pup on his first hike. We chose "Fish Hill" - a mountain that is not very tall and that has a giant, painted-on picture of a Christian fish on the side of it.

(Chango being good on the car ride there)

We invited the Meissners along, and before the sun was too high the four adults, two dogs and one baby were hiking.

(All of us at the summit)

(I call this one "man and dog")
There were lots of people on the hill while we were hiking up, and we made it back down without an incident. Chango was pooped by the end of it, but he was a persevering little pup and walked on his own the whole way.

(Chango finding a bit of shade at the top)

We're back to "work" today (sending out email assignments), and barring any sudden increase in swine flu cases, we should be back to real work on Wednesday.

Boredom and Surgical Masks

Right now those two words sum up the Swine Flu in Chihuahua.

We just completed our 4th day off of school. We send out a lot of emails and answer a lot of phone calls and pray that our students are doing their work.

We've done a couple of things to entertain ourselves. I have chosen to use my extra time to become a master guitarist. Jay has decided to become the leader of the pack by reading the Dog Whisperer book.

We've watched our pup tear apart a loofah. (I guess we aren't good pack leaders yet.)
We've taken the bus downtown (notice the lack of people in the square - a lot of the people who were out were wearing surgical masks to protect themselves from germs).
And we have spent time enjoying our new hammock. (The colors are weird because these were taken at night which is really the only enjoyable time to be outside right now - it is too stinkin hot!)