Thursday - finally Best Friends

The four of us had a nice quiet morning.  This will be a good place for us til next Thursday.

second cup view from our new site 

On the way to Best Friends, we drove through more beautiful southern Utah scenery.

We arrived at BF Welcome center about 20 minutes before our 1:00 tour.  We walked around the grounds, watched the birds, visited the gift shop and just soaked up our surroundings.  What a lovely, serene setting.

We watched a short film (that misted us both up) about the founding and mission of Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.  We were very moved.   We wondered if this was a good place for us to visit, feeling the way we did.  We cannot take any more animals with us on our adventure, we cannot take any more animals with us, we cannot take any more animals with us....

After the film, we boarded the little bus and started up the dirt road to see more of the Sanctuary's more than 3700 acres.  We passed  Horse Haven (where we'll both work tomorrow).

Past the emotional Angel's Rest cemetery.  We didn't stop here, so we'll go back on our own later.  There are thousands of wind chimes hung amidst the graves, a haunting sound echoing off the red cliffs.

gates to the animal cemetery.

On up the hill to drive through the buildings and enclosures of Dogtown.  We stopped at one octagonal structure and went in to see a typical housing situation.  It was bright, airy and very clean.  The dogs are paired in groups of at least two, depending on size, temperament and personality.  They have a large inside area with 24 hour access to an large outside yard.  Each dog is given much individual attention for its emotional and behavioral needs.  There was little barking and much tail wagging.

at every turn, our eyes filled uncontrollably.
Who could ever mistreat or abuse this sweet sweet girl?

this is Leila, one of the VICtory dogs taken in from Michael Vick's string of horribly abused fighting dogs.
She has just completed her CGC (Canine Good Citizen) test and is proudly ready for a forever home.

this laser-focused ball dog is named River.

Last, our bus stopped at Cat World.  Multiple buildings made up of multiple rooms with multiple cats.  In each large room, the free roaming cats have access to a very large, screened in porch and every imaginable perch, ledge, scratching post/perch, rocking chairs, cat beds, cubby holes and ramps to the finished ceiling rafters.  They can be gregarious with visitors and volunteers, or can stay by themselves, each as they please. We saw all personalities in the couple rooms we visited.

this crabby lady kept her back to us

I wonder who this little sweetie was waiting for....

devil boy raced around playing with imaginary things on the floor.
until....someone sat on the floor, then he became a lap cat par excellance

totally relaxed

After our tour was over, Dave and I had a volunteer orientation and were given our badges and schedules. First day we'll help with the horses, next cats, and finally dogs.  We are so stoked!   We can't wait to get started.   I wish we had a month here.   Please visit their website to learn more about the wonderful job they are doing at this campus and through their outreach services country wide.  bestfriends.org

We got back to Beluga around 4:45 and had our cocktails outside in the sun.  We talked about how we felt during our time at Best Friends.  It was a memorable afternoon.


On a lighter note.....I think I've managed to outsmart the wind during our "happy hour".  As you've probably figured out by now, we like to start the day outside and end the day the same way, but sometimes that d amn wind gives us trouble.     I finally figured out how to keep our smoked salmon and scallions on the chips!   I cemented them on with sour cream!  Now they don't blow off!  (they do, however, slide off the plate if the server doesn't hold it level when he serves..... ahem.    I'll have to speak to the trainers at Best Friends to see if they have any tips I could use to help him focus on the task at hand.

smoked salmon, sour cream and scallions on potato chips
don't knock it if you haven't tried it!