DEAR SOPHIE

LETTERS TO MY SERVICE DOG ... The link to my personal blog, WENDY-LAND, is listed at right.

05 February 2011

Eight Hours In Vegas

Dear Sophie,
We had one incredible adventure last Saturday, didn't we? We only had five more flights to go to get you to the 50 mark so we flew up to Vegas to go see the big kitty cats at Mirage. You love love love big kitty cats! Of course we started off at Paris and, because Google Maps said the Mirage was only 0.6 miles from Paris, I decided we'd hoof it ... nice and slow and easy and we could do it with no problem. Well, it might be half a mile as the crow flies, but you have to zig-zag through a maze of street crossings, lifts, and bridges! By the time we actually got there, we were both ready to collapse.
Then we found out the tigers aren't in their free enclosure anymore ... they were moved to a huge area in back of the hotel with the dolphins, and you have to pay to get in! entrance to secret garden So after we found a little alcove where we could rest, get you a drink, and cool off, we set out looking for that. With their assurance that it was safe to take you in, and because we had all that walking invested already, we forked over the $15 and went in to the little miniature zoo.

dolphinsWell, Sophie, you seemed totally unimpressed by the dolphins, even at the underwater walls, so we went across another bridge to the kitty zoo and had a ball!! I was surprised to see llamas and alpacas in there, but they were very cute. And they were entranced at this new and different visitor, like they had never seen a dog before. curious alpacas and llamas A leopard was guarding his territory; he never did hiss or spit but he definitely had a cattitude about him. The white tigers never gave you a second look, but the orange tiger sure did! pacing tiger
territorial leopard I wasn't really sure whether he was being friendly with all that pacing, or if he was looking for lunch, so we moved on so as not to antagonize him. Then it all turned magical when we came across three full-grown male African lions who made the whole trip worth it! lion in love starry-eyedOne of the lions just couldn't take his eyes off of you! He was absolutely in love,
like you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life! You stood eye-to-eye for several minutes and, each time I'd try to take you away, he looked like he was going to cry. We must've stayed with him for half an hour, and we only left because we had a shuttle to catch back to the airport. So, alas, you said goodbye to this exquisite lion with my Biblically-based promise that someday he'd see you again, if not on this side of eternity, then on the other.
I thought getting to the Mirage was exhausting enough, but getting back to Paris about killed me! Frequent drinks seemed to be all you needed but I was definitely not doing well at all! Still, somehow we got where we were going and, Sophie, I'll tell ya, I could never have made it without you. We got back just in time to get picked up and shuttled back to the airport for your 47th flight. Though we had only been gone twelve or so hours, your joy to be home matched any you've felt when we were gone for a week.
So now, three more flights and you'll get your 50 and can stop the obsession! Where will we go next?