329 - Zeroing in

After our honeymoon in Dubai, which I have dubbed 'northern hell', Mike and I flew to Tennessee to visit a few properties. We found an area that we like, about an hour and a half northeast of Nashville near a town called Red Boiling Springs. The people there were awesome, the land was breathtaking - and if you're ever in the area, you HAVE TO stay at this B&B... it reminded me of B&B's I have stayed at in Scotland, and the women who run the place are just the nicest people... but I also have to mention the food... OMG, they can cook!!! I never ate so well. And in the evening we did a steam bath, mineral bath, massage combo that was very relaxing.

After the trip to Tennessee, we drove down to Mississippi so Mike could meet my mom's side of the family. They loved him, especially my cousin Jeremy who told me that I got a good one. It's been a long, long time since I've been to MS without my parents. It was nice to go there and feel like an adult, and I got to see most of my family, my cousin Becky even drove in from Alabama.

So now that we've been to TN we're more determined than ever to find a home there. We have all kinds of ideas for the future, but the one we seem to be primarily focused on is opening a sanctuary for wolf hybrids. After our visit to St. Francis earlier this year, we have been especially drawn to the idea, although we've both loved wolves for a long time. Since I have limited experience with wolves I have decided to volunteer at St. Francis to learn as much as I can. Thankfully, after I sent an application and a letter explaining our intentions, they responded by telling me when to show up to get the best overview of what goes on, and even when they walk the wolves. I can't wait to see Remus again... he is such a sweet, beautiful boy.

All of the wolves were gorgeous, and the five that we interacted with were all like big, friendly dogs (which I know is not always going to be the case), but Remus was my favorite. So even though it's a looooooooooong drive, I'm looking forward to getting back out there.

I figure we would would start small, a couple of hybrids (was reading that unless you have a lot of time to spend with them, since they are pack animals, you should really pair them up so that they don't get depressed or isolate themselves). Then as we gain experience we can take on more, and perhaps even an occasional full-blood wolf that may have been injured or displaced. We'll see. I don't want to bite off more than we can chew.

So now I need to start working on a transition plan to get to TN. It will be a while before we find the land we want, but it will be easier to look around if I'm closer to it, then I can get a real feel for the area and really start to narrow things down. So I may start my job hunt in the near future, rent a house in an area near where we're looking, and then when Mike comes back we'll be ahead of the game. For sure we want to go back in December when he takes the rest of his leave and spend a few days looking around.

Anyway, that's the update for now. Dubai was nice, but I didn't love it. I loved spending time with my husband, and our hotel room was cool, and the food was good... but... I like pretty scenery and it was just a bunch of skyscrapers. It was hotter and more humid than it is in Houston - first time EVER that I've stepped off the plane coming back from vacation and found the weather to be a welcome change. Met some nice people there, met some real sleazy people there (at the souks they'd sell their mother for a durham if you'd buy her). The culture was just too far different from mine for me to really enjoy it. I'm more of a European tourist I think - which is good, because we're also going to Scotland! Woot! I didn't think I was going back for a long, long time, but Mike decided that Mikey needed to see some history and he knows how much I love it there so I'm sure that played a part in it, not to mention he's been wanting to go to Scotland and/or Ireland himself. In any case, I'm happy, and I probably made Craig's jaw drop when I told him that he can plan this tour, the only request I had was to go to Birnam for a little while, because that's my favorite spot. And... if we can ride the Hogwart's Express... that would be cool too. :)