Best Friends Days 1 & 2

A long 48 hours. I am falling asleep as I write this. My sister is promising ice cream from Three Bears Creamery later so I am trying to stay up.
The flights from Omaha to Vegas were uneventful. Flying on the weekend has always been a breeze for me. I almost had a first class upgrade but they had an issue at the last minute and couldn't give it to me.
Arrived in Vegas to a tipsy sister and a busy airport. My suitcase was the LAST off the plane so we loaded the car and left Vegas. The four hour drive turned into five because we dawdled and stopped a lot. We finally arrived but not before stopping as we drove through a canyon to snap a few photos.



We arrived in Kanab and unpacked and relaxed.
This morning we were up bright and early. We got my Diet Coke that I cannot live without in the morning. We were there early and had an amazing time meeting people from all over the United States. We met people who are just getting into animal welfare work and others who have been involved for a while. Spent most of the day with Faith who is one of the founders of Best Friends. Her stories from the early days of Best Friends are amazing.
We spent the afternoon at Dogtown with dog trainer John Garcia.

What a humble, sweet guy. He started working at Best Friends when he was just out of high school and is now one of their managers. His "celebrity" status is completely lost on him and he is very bashful about it.

Heard some great Katrina and Vick dog stories. The dog in the picture with John is Stella who is a resident at Old Friends. We also spent time in the hydro therapy room learning about the applications for this amazing therapy tool. Found a few new clients up here as well so I will have to add them into my mix while I continue to work for the Girl Scouts.
When I stand here at the biggest Animal Sanctuary in the world I am in awe. The passion is in the air...even after 25 years. They are just as upset about Michael Vick as most of us in Animal Welfare are. We were told a story that before Michael Vick was release that they were contacted and asked if Michael could work with them to help "rehab his image". It was phrased just like that. Nothing about repaying the animals for what he had done..."rehab him image". Needless to say no one was sporting Eagles jerseys today. (Click HERE for Best Friends official statement.)