Blasphemy!

More than one person has written in insinuating that our absence from the blog was due to Max having gone Hollywood and thus forgetting all of the little people who made him who he is today.

To prove that this is in NO WAY true and the tabloids SHOULD NOT BE BELIEVED, Max has decided to chew up the symbol of all that is wrong in tinsel town. Good-bye, movie star white sunglasses!




Please rest assured that our absence was due in full to technical difficulties resulting from the spillage of a cocktail...umm...the spillage of a mineral water onto the owner's beloved MacBook...it took almost three days (it coincided with the launch of the much-coveted iPhone 3G S) to receive the diagnosis that the repairs would cost just 2-3 hundred bucks less than a brand new MacBook Pro with more power and a more durable (read here: can withstand a little sprinkle or two before morphing into a lava-lamp-like structure) body.

We have now upgraded and plan to continue to work hard to meet the demand of our ever-growing fan base.

Thanks to all of you, and as they say here in LA: Love you, mean it.

We got in!

Max and I made it inside the Grand Canyon National Park yesterday (Wed, June 10) and saw the canyon in all its glory. The news for the last 3 days has talked about the beginning of the monsoon which starts next week...apparently it can rain so hard that cars are swept away...they didn't say it outright, but I'm thinking the trails aren't too safe either!

So I'm happy that we came when we did.


Max stayed in the onsite kennel for the first part of the first day because dogs aren't allowed "under the rim"...so I braved it alone...


...though, I have to say that the Grand Canyon is NOT the best choice of vacation spots for someone with acrophobia (hey, I'm not afraid of heights, I'm afraid of falling from heights). I lasted approximately 5 minutes and 50 feet before my knees began to tremble and I had to go back up.

After taking a bus tour (dogs also not allowed on bus) to Hermit's Rest (did you know hermits were religious folks? Learned that from a young Spaniard who was visiting because the GC is in their history course because a Spaniard discovered it) and having lunch in the historic Bright Angel Lodge, I went to pick up Max for the rest of the day....and Max was a ROCK STAR with the little ladies.

On Grandview Trail, this little girl had to be pulled away by her parents! She told Max, "I can't stop petting you!"


This group of young girls was distracted from their parents photo shoot by Max's cuteness...their parents started in English, but quickly switched to Japanese (I think) to urge the girls stop petting and start posing on the edge of the Canyon...I have to say they were too close to the edge for me!


We eventually got away from the tot-erazzi and got on with the tour...Max soon spotted the Abert's squirrel and couldn't help but think this was the best place ever.



This morning, we are going to jump on the morning geology tour of the Grand Canyon before we hit the road for Thousand Oaks, which is our final destination...but it's 8 hours away, so we may stop somewhere in between...if we can find anything in between...looks like Needles, CA, may be an option.

Wish us luck!

Thanks to Our Friends on the Road

As Max and I meander along the highways (and even gravel roads!) on our cross-country roadtrip, we are having fun with family and friends, new and old. Here are a few of them:


Kendyl Nitschke of Raleigh, NC


Gwen & Larry Brody of Freck, AR


Roger & Kay Branson of Edmond, OK


Katie, Chris & Lydia Stavinhoa of Houston, TX

We're off to Austin, now!

Tourist Branson and Writer's Camp

OK, so I didn't make it to a show, but Max and I walked up and down the Branson strip for a day or two, and spent the last day in historic downtown Branson, MO, as a bonafide tourist:



After Branson, MO, we headed to the roaring metropolis of Freck, AR, where Cloud Creek Institute for the Arts is located, home to TV Writer Larry Brody and his famous TV writing class...The town is soooo small that there are more residents here than in town:



Max had a great time chasing bunny rabbits, sniffing chickens and cowering from the world's largest dogs--called "horses."



We spent a night out in the deep, dark woods of Arkansas where there are NO GHOSTS, despite what everyone said and despite the fact that Max kept growling at something I couldn't see and followed it around the cabin we stayed in...

Thanks to the Brody's for their hospitality and large movie collection...I finally saw Doubt and Revolutionary Road, saving me about $10 at the video store...and for all of the encouragement and advice...Larry was smart enough to marry a woman from the big city of Ada, OK, so he can't be all bad - despite his long tenure in LA.

After a relaxing couple of days, it was off to OKC down the winding road of US Highway 412...

Branson, MO

Two nights in my namesake town was quite enough...It was weird to see my name posted everywhere...even weirder to see people who look like my family everywhere...Max did a little exploring of his own--under the bed:


...and he is the one who noticed the arrow to the scenic view -- it overlooked an amusement park ride:

...and it is he who noticed the placard stating that we were at the outlet mall only a day or two before it's 15th anniversary:

...so of course we shopped...he found a nice new water bowl from Coleman and a cool bungee cord leash (not from the outlet mall but from Branson Paw Place):


...enough with the buffets and country cooking...my waistline can't take it.

Off we go today to check out a writer's colony just an hour south of here, across the Arkansas border...we took a GREAT TV writing online class (using video) from Larry Brody of TV Writer ...tell them Juli and Max sent you!

Asheville and Lebanon

Biltmore Estate was awesome! (http://www.biltmore.com/)

Dogs are welcome...except in the big house...so I breezed through it and picked up my compadre, Max, and went hiking...and hiking...and dang it, where did that main trail go?????

"oooo...is that water?" "Why, yes, yes, it is!"

Luckily they sell more than wine at their vineyard and I cooled off with a margarita while Max dried off after his romp in the stream (hey, who thought I needed a towel to go visit a fancy estate????)...he's gotta be part water hound of some sort.

On our way out of the estate, Max saw baby geese...and baby cows...all with noisy moms, saying "move along"...

At the end of the day, somebody needed a bath and somebody else needed a shower after giving the other somebody a bath! After getting a bath and tearing around the room to avoid getting dried off with the evil towel, Max indicated he'd had a full day.



The next day we got up and headed to Lebanon, TN...Max was NOT into the windy roads that led out of NC and into TN...so we pulled over in the first rest stop in TN...Thanks to TN State Trooper Olbert for holding onto Max while I used the state facilities...

Max and I will stay the night in Lebanon before heading out tomorrow...I had planned to go swimming here, but made the tactical error of coming before Memorial Day weekend! So, they DO technically have a pool, but it's empty :(

So, I guess we'll leave early tomorrow morning...cuz it's also rainy here....and the big thing to do here is shop their outlet mall -- a big no-no for an unemployed person! Even though I turned in a course proposal today and dropped a resume two other places for potential jobs...the job hunt never ends!

Technical Difficulties!

Technical difficulties abound all around...Our trip is getting off to a slow and rocky start....however, it has helped us take a breather and start to relax.

1) The closing on the sale of my DC-area condo that was supposed to happen May 1, then was delayed to May 8 is now "definitely" happening today (May 11)...though I remain skeptical. Therefore, the Maxinator and I are hanging out with family and friends in Raleigh, just in case we have to go back to DC for some reason.

2) I can log my computer into my mom's wifi, but it won't let me get online with my Mac! We can't figure out why it says the signal is strong, but I still have no access...that means -- no pics to post today :(

However, we did make it here to Raleigh on Thursday, just in time for the "Build A Bear" experience on my niece's 5th birthday...she chose a dog and named her Jessica...Max likes her too...as in "too much"...but my niece didn't notice the chew marks, so that's good.

We also went to my sister's house on Saturday to experience the ponyrides and a dozen VERY excited 4-7 year old horse lovers...Max was sent hom early because he didn't grasp the concept that Princess Jill, the family bunny rabbit, was a pet and not a treat.

And we also were around for Mother's Day which went very well until I was given a Mother's Day card from Max...I am doing my best to NOT be the weird dog lady at the end of the street that calls her dog by his full name when he's bad and dresses him up every day in matching Ts, etc...it's a slippery slope and doggy Mother's Day cards come dangerously close to the edge...However, I have to admit that this particular card DID coincidentally have a picture of a dog that looked like Max (and he's a mixed breed, so that's not easy) AND it had a very appropriate comment inside...should my photo capability return, I will post it....not to brag, but in defense of my sanity...it's still relatively in tact.

Due to the delay, we also will be able to see some old (as in "long-time") family friends this week before we pull out of Raleigh and head for Branson, MO, and Dallas, TX, and ultimately Los Angeles...with a few fun stops in between.

But for now, we wait....

Branson, MO

Ok, I have to stop in my family's namesake town of Branson, MO.

Any suggestions?

This is Max's suggestion...but I don't think he understands all that Branson has to offer...