Only Pack the Essentials

Emotional Support Animals are something that have gotten more common in the last decade. My dog Cali happens to be registered as an emotional support dog, and got to fly with me this week on my trip home. She is with me 95% of the time with everything I do, even down to sitting in my pickup while I am in workout class, so the process of bringing her on an airplane for the first time was nearly effortless. There were only two things she was displeased about; one was when her ears popped as we gained altitude, and the other was the less than impressive “indoor pet relief area” at the layover airport which was just a rectangle of turf on the tile that smelled exactly as bad as you would expect. Otherwise contrary to what the featured photo suggests, I did not put her in my carry on, she instead rode at my feet during the duration of the flight.

I was concerned on the first plane that I would get the unlucky draw of sitting next to a passenger with a severe dog allergy or dislike for dogs (….if that’s even a thing?). Luckily I did not and instead I got a wonderful woman who has a Siamese cat named Sushi, and on flight two an elderly lady named Annie who sent probably 11 photos of Cali dog to her husband and family members along with blurbs like, “look at this cute pup” and “best seat mate ever!!!”. I could not make it five steps or seconds for that matter without hearing cooing about how cute, pretty, and well behaved she was, and got stopped by so many folks wanting to know her story. Seriously guys, what if we treated each other this way?

I told myself that for my week home I challenged myself to find at least one person everyday to genuinely compliment. I’ve found that it has helped me look for the positive in other people instead of looking for nothing or even worse, focusing on their weaknesses. I dare you to try it for a week, you might just make a friend!

As a side note, the day after I flew in we had a family dinner at Jackelope Grill which was agreed upon as the best restaurant our family has ever eaten at in Bend, Oregon. My mom and I had bacon wrapped quail served alongside sweet potato gnocchi and brussel sprouts, while my brother had a schnitzel and my dad had a pasta dish. None of us had any complaints and would highly recommend it to anyone in the area looking for a new place to try.

Hope everyone has a beautiful week, stay tuned for my next post on weaning foals!