Mike and Jenny

Nora had an earlier spring break than the other kids, so she and I went on a two person trip to Best Friends. Now that she is over 18 she can volunteer at all the animal areas.

We drove down to Kanab on Sunday, March 8

Pit stop in Beaver

Day 1

The next morning, Nora volunteered at Wild Friends. She learned that they only have one volunteer slot a day, so that's why we were never able to find a time on the schedule where we could volunteer there together. They don't have volunteers interact with any of the wildlife being rehabilitated, but they do help with some of the long-stay residents, especially those that are pretty tame.

These were some unusual little guys that were there - Patagonian maras

She got to also help clean/feed the pigeons and ducks they have there

In the afternoon, Nora and I volunteered at the Adoption Hub. They have friendly, highly adoptable dogs and cats there.

We were able to take several dogs out for walks

This is Chailey

This is Lupita

Aww, I love how she is posing for the picture

This is Scotch

We got to play with a Heeler puppy named Sequin in a fenced play area while her room was getting cleaned. She had SOOO much energy!

After our volunteer shift, we visited the welcome center. I thought this Stick Library was cute

We had dinner at Wild Thyme Cafe

Nora is working on increasing her spice tolerance, so she ordered some trout that was a bit spicy

Day 2

For our morning shift, we took a dog from Dog Town on a car outing. The dog that was assigned to us is named Harkness. He was a really cute lil buddy.

We decided to take him to the sand dunes since Dorie had loved it so much when we took her there

He was very excited about being in such a big wide-open area and wanted to run all over, but we had to keep him on leash the whole time. We definitely got our exercise that morning.

He really wore himself out and slept most of the drive back to Best Friends

We had just a little time left, so we took him on a small walk on the Angel's Outlook trail

He was very interested in the plaques, lol

Some of the cute little dog statues outside of Dog Town HQ

In the afternoon we volunteered at Horse Haven. This cute little kitty was in their HQ building

We spent most of our shift mucking out paddocks. We also got to pet quite a few horses

It is spring shedding season for the horses, so Nora was helping this horse get some of the loose fur out

Brushing some of the other horses

Nora posing by the boot planter lol

We had dinner at a place we had never tried before - Brown Box Cafe. They have specialty grilled cheese sandwiches, soup, salads, and cookies.

Day 3

We didn't have a morning volunteer shift this day, so we visited the Moqui Cave since it is tradition!

My cat constellation hoodie has a glow in the dark design that really stood out under the black light

Our purchases from the gift shop - a magnet for the fridge, and some huckleberry licorice. I thought the licorice was kind of gross, but luckily Nora liked it

In the afternoon we volunteered at Bunny House

For the first half of our shift we cleaned out some of the outdoor bunny runs - each pair of bunnies has an indoor run and an outdoor run. That tube/tunnel is how they go between them.

The bathroom at Bunny House has some pretty funny signs hanging up

Drawings kids have made

Next, we got to supervise some bunnies in the outdoor area. It has a high fence (and the fence also goes deep in the ground so they can't dig out) but having people there discourages hawks/coyotes from trying to get to the bunnies. This is a bonded sibling trio named after some of the Schitt's Creek characters - Twyla, Moira, and Rollie (Roland)

They get transported in a pet stroller

At the end of the shift we got to give the bunnies their lettuce. They are very excited when they see the lettuce is coming!

We had dinner at the Rocking V Cafe. We got the mac n cheese appetizer, which was super yummy

Nora lifting up the privacy shade so we could see the view better out of our hotel room

Day 4

In the morning we did a volunteer shift at Marshall's Piggy Paradise. This was our first time volunteering here since they have pretty limited volunteer spots. We were greeted in the HQ building by their resident cat - Big Sir

They also had this fun piggy trivia display up

We got to go out and help feed the pigs and muck out their enclosures. For their breakfast the pigs get a vegetable mixture, some specialized pellets, and fresh lettuce leaves. For the pigs that need to take medications they put the pills in Fig Newtons

Most of the pigs they have there are potbelly pigs, or potbelly mixes. They also had a few kunekune pigs

Some of the pigs have skin that needs sun protection. The caregivers showed us how they have clicker trained the pigs to come and stand in place while they get their sunscreen put on

Back at the HQ building - Nora washed out the buckets we used during piggy breakfast. The water used to clean out the buckets cannot be put down the drain because the coconut oil is bad for their septic system, so there is a special way of doing it.

I got to get their vegetables for tomorrow ready in the crockpots. They get big bulk boxes of frozen peas and carrots, and green beans to fill up the crock pots with. In addition to the veggies, they put a sprinkle of cinnamon and a scoop of coconut oil in there. During the times of year that the mornings are cold, they get heated up veggies for breakfast. When it gets hot, they get frozen ones to help cool them down.

At the end of the shift we got to socialize with some pigs. Some of them really love it when you use a back scratcher on them. This one's name is Gopher, and she LOVES it.

The piggy sculptures are so cute

In the afternoon, we volunteered at Dog Town. We were assigned to help out at the Admissions building

We cleaned out the indoor enclosures for some of the dogs

After cleaning, we got to take this cute boy out to their agility run building for some fun and exercise. His name is Frankie and he is fully deaf and has some sight impairment, and he is very outgoing and friendly.

We also got to take this sweet dog on a walk. Her name is Tweetie. The other dog she came in with that was her friend got adopted, so she is adjusting to that and can get lonely.

For dinner we decided to try another place we had never been to - Peekaboo Canyon Wood Fired Kitchen

We both ended up getting the same sandwich because it sounded so good - a panini with goat cheese, brie, pear slices, and berry compote. It did not disappoint!

We have struggled this trip to find something good on TV to watch in the evenings. We were excited when we found a channel playing The Office

Day 5

Nora volunteered at Parrot Garden in the morning (and I slept in lol). One thing they had her do that they'd never had us do before was read to the birds for a while. The birds like it when people talk to them, and they like music (but they can learn words, so swear words are not allowed haha).

In the afternoon, we volunteered at Cat World. We were assigned to Morgaine's Place, which is where cats with "light" medical needs live.

They had us do socialization activities with the cats. There was a pretty wide range of outgoing/shy cats. Anthony was quite friendly and we had fun with him

Feeding turkey baby food as a special treat

Some of the shy cats still like to get a little baby food

This was our little buddy, Fremont. She is a tad shy, but as long as she could be in her little area she LOVED pets and scritches

A prom pic with Anthony's face put on the guy (not sure who the girl cat is)

Making one last stop at the Welcome Center after our shift

For our last night, we had dinner at an old favorite - the Thunderbird

We had a delicious dinner, and for dessert we split an order of scones with honey butter, and a slice of apple pie. We also bought a whole pie to take home.