Nebraska Trip

As I mentioned before, the trip to Nebraska was a lot of fun. Nebraska, or the Omaha area at least, was a lot nicer than I expected. No mountains in sight, though, so that was kind of strange.
Steph's house is super cute. Warning to those who visit, though: no shoes allowed! Be prepared to walk around barefoot. Kinda felt like I was in Grannie's house.... hee hee

Rusty did so well on the flight there. We had a problem when we went to check in at the ticket counter, though. The pet carrier we had reserved for him was WAY too small, so at 5:50 am Jason left the airport and went to Walmart to get him one that would work. I finished checking us in, and Rusty and I waited by the entrance doors for him to come back. At 6:17, he was back! I couldn't believe how fast he was. I don't even want to think about fast he was driving!

So we made it to Omaha, and Steph picked us up at the airport. Rusty was more awake by then, since he tranquilizer pill had mostly worn off. Steph put her hand up to his carrier and he didn't realize it was a stranger at first; he let out a huge bark, scaring all of us! Typical Rusty.

We walked out of the airport, and it was drizzling, but I didn't realize it was going to be SO humid! Ick. I hate humidity, and coming from a dry climate, it felt like a sauna.

We went to Steph's house first, dropped our stuff off, let the dogs mingle a bit, then went to lunch. She took us to Paradise Bakery & Cafe - it was fabulous! (That, and I was starving!)

Everything they serve is super fresh - sandwiches, salads, soups, fresh baked goods, cookies, etc. It was SO good. I really wish we had one here. I fell in love with their pesto sauce, and their oatmeal cookies (one thing I can actually taste right now). Steph and I actually went there again a second time for lunch on Saturday (but shhh, Jason & Jeremy don't know!)

Thursday was an eventful day, but not really in a good way. For lunch, Steph took us to the brewery where she works.

It was a really nice place, I thought, and I really enjoyed their food. So did Jason! He put away the beer that afternoon!

Then Steph took us to the Nebraska Furniture Mart, and yes, you can spend hours looking around in there!

Jason found a push-button recliner that he absolutely loved! I didn't think we were going to get him out of it! They have some really great deals there. Now I know why Steph & Jeremy like it so much.
That evening, Steph & Jeremy had a dinner to go to, and she had made us enchiladas. (We didn't end up eating them until the next night, though, cause we were so full from lunch) I decided I was going to work out, so we put all of the dogs in the basement. Up until that point, we had always put Magnum in his carrier and let Rusty and Riley run around. Steph thought it would be better that way since Magnum can sometimes be poopy to other animals. Well, kicking ourselves now, we didn't do that, but just let them all loose together. I went upstairs to change, and no more than 3 minutes later, we hear a lot of barking, some squeals of pain, and run downstairs. Rusty is waiting at the top of the basement stairs, so Jason grabs him and brings him up to the main floor. He looks to be okay, but then I notice that his ear is bleeding. Magnum had chomped his ear! He didn't pierce it all the way through, but just got each side. I'm frantic, and tell Jason we should take him to the vet. We try to call Steph on her cell phone, but heard it ringing in the house - not helpful! I finally find Jeremy's new cell phone number, and Steph answered. I asked her where the truck keys were, but come to find out, they had them with them, and there were no spare sets in the house. Frustrated already, she tells me not to worry too much cause this happens to Riley all the time. She can tell I'm upset, so she asks to talk to Jason, and by the time the conversation is done, we're not taking Rusty to the vet. We bandage up Rusty's ear and call it good (even though I'm still panicky and annoyed!)

Friday was better. We decided to go to the zoo since it was such a nice day. We put Rusty in Riley's carrier this time, so his ear was protected.

We met Jeremy for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, and then headed to the zoo. As promised, it was a really GOOD zoo! They had LOTS of animals to see. Here are some highlights:

Saturday all of us slept in a little, since we had been up playing cards and watching movies late the night before. When I woke up, I noticed a little bit of blood on my pillow, but didn't see that I had been bleeding anywhere, so thought nothing of it. Later on, I discovered that Rusty's ear was oozing and was infected. (made sense then, since he had been on my pillow earlier that morning) Steph got out her peroxide and neosporin, and we bandaged it up again. It was doing really well the day before, but he must have scratched it open or something.

Poor little guy. You could totally tell that he didn't feel well at all. He was shaking, and just had the most pitiful look on his face. Steph and I went out and did some shopping, telling the guys to keep an eye on him.

The highlight of our shopping trip was most definitely our trip to the Coach store. Much to my surprise, I did it!

Thanks to my family for the birthday money they gave me, I was able to get my first ever Coach purse! I actually had to have it shipped to my house, since they didn't have the black one in the store. Isn't it cute? Steph actually found it for me, on our second trip around the store.

When we got back to the house, the guys were still playing cards, and Rusty had been sleeping. Steph started making dinner.

She had invited her neighbors and Jeremy's co-worker and wife over for dinner. She made some really yummy pastas and garlic bread.

Later on, Jason took me aside and said we needed to take Rusty to the vet. His ear was getting worse, and we needed to get some antibiotics for it. I looked up an Emergency Clinic close to Steph's house, and we took him in. They ended up putting him under, cleaning out the infection, and starting him on antibiotics. We picked him up a few hours later, around 11:00pm that night, and the poor little guy was all doped up, but SO happy to see us. When we got back to Steph's house, everyone was making fun of his cone. I was just happy that he was feeling better, and was kicking myself for not just taking him in that first night. Steph felt really bad about the whole incident, but it was our own fault for letting them loose together, plus Rusty just doesn't understand how to play with big dogs. He got bit, but 5 minutes later was up in Magnum's face again!

He's doing much better now. He wasn't able to wear his cone on the flights home, but when we got back, we put it on again. He's still wearing it, but not pouting at all.

I will take him in this coming Thursday to get his stitches out, and I'm sure he'll be happy to get it off for good!

Sunday was good. We were all really tired, and hung around the house most of the day. Steph and Jeremy took us by a few model homes that were open, and then drove us around their favorite community.

We went downtown to have dinner. Steph picked a place out on the river, which ended up being totally gross, horrible service, and way over-priced. It was not a good experience, but now they will know not to go back! Afterwards, Steph, Jason and Jeremy got homemade ice cream at a different place, and we walked around a bit before going back to their house.

Monday morning it was time to leave, and I couldn't believe the trip was already over! I was glad to get Rusty home, so he could heal, and Magnum and Riley could go back to their normal routine, but I would have liked to visit my sis for longer. It was a good trip, though, and I'm so thankful that my in-laws got us a flight - I was not up for driving that much right after our trip to California! Now it's Steph and Jeremy's turn to come out for a visit to Boise. :)