Friends And Founders 2022

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One day while sitting in the office at the estate, I was going through my emails and noticed one from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. I get a lot of emails from them, but this one was different and it stood out from the others! I opened it and it was an invitation to the Friends and Founders Event for 2022! We had been talking about going back to the sanctuary for awhile and decided this would be a great thing to attend and also volunteer if possible. We chose the April 28-29th session and started prepping for the trip! We had tried to remember when was the last time we had gone down there, but knew it had been awhile. While packing, I decided to pack a couple of shirts I had bought on the last trip and there it was……the date…..2015!!! Wow, seven years ago, too long!!! The excitement began for our spiritual reset which is one of the things that happen to you when you make the visit. There’s nothing like the feeling you get when you drive into Kanab!! Kanab has grown quite a bit since we last visited. It once was a pretty quiet and sleepy town, but things have changed. There are a bunch of new restaurants and hotels that have sprung up since. One of the new hotels, and the one we stayed at, was the Roadhouse and Mercantile. It is owned and operated by the sanctuary so your room fees are helping support it! Not only is it pet friendly, but bringing dogs and cats from the sanctuary for sleepovers are highly encouraged. There is also a store there where you can purchase shirts, pants, pet accessories, and other items with the Best Friends logo. It was a pleasant hotel, and btw, you can do your laundry for free! When not at the sanctuary we drove around town looking at houses, RV parks, and enjoying the sites of the surrounding area. We ate at some new restaurants and also visited some of our old haunts that still remain! These are all great eateries:

• • • • Escobars

      • Rocking V

      • Houstons Trail’s End

      • Wild Thyme

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Our first day there was a free day, the only one we would have. We decided to drive up to Zion National Park. It was a return trip for us, but it had been many years. We got on the park shuttle and headed into the park and picked one of the trails to hike. We hiked all the emerald pools, there are three. It was a gorgeous day and the temp was just right. We got back down and Debbie wanted to hike the angel’s landing trail until we got tired and then we would turn back. Of course that didn’t happen until we got to the top where the chain begins. I was gassed and had a painful blister on my toe. Luckily she had a band aid in the pack and I made a quick repair so I could make it back down. I wasn’t thrilled and you can see all the pictures in the photo album! Not a young buck anymore!!! The rest of the week was all involved with dog outings, an afternoon in Cat World, and attending the Friends and Founders events. We took two dogs on outings, Riff Raff and Satchel. Debbie loved Satchel and had I been ready for another dog, we would have taken him back with us like we did with Cordell. I’m just not ready for a pet just yet. One day we spent at cat World just hanging with some shy kitties and taking a couple on a stroll.

Riff Raff

Satchel

Playing With Cats

Kitty Stroll

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Our last two days were involved in the events. We hiked up to the Labyrinth and Gratitude Gardens, enjoyed a brunch with many of the founders of Best Friends, listened to their Roadmap to No Kill 2025, visited our pig and goat friends, went to the Blessing of the Animals in Angel’s Rest(Kleenex needed), toured Dogtown, watched a training session of a wild horse at Horse Haven, did a tour of the new Horse Haven and their clinic, toured the Best Friends Clinic, and went to the farewell reception. It was so fascinating and fun. We still learned a whole lot more about the sanctuary even though we have been there many times over the years. There was a lot of upgraded areas and to see the clinics and the new horse haven made it all the more special. We feel so confident when making our donations that our money is being used so wisely in the care of the animals. You can do a tour of the sanctuary right from your device by clicking here. Better yet, plan a vacation and visit for yourself and especially your kids. It is a magical place!!! We will be back real soon!

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Go here to visit the full photo album of our trip!!!

Goodbye Little Man

07/22/19

Our hearts are heavy and filled with sadness as we had to send our little sweet boy over the Rainbow Bridge this morning. His mind and body had finally had enough and what was once our Cordell was nothing but a shell of a dog. We had almost 10 years of joy from this lima bean and are so grateful he chose us as his people that day at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary! We wished that he could have lived forever, but knew that wasn’t a possibility. It was just by chance that he was able to spend one of his last days with all of his family and see his best friend Wemberley just on Saturday. He got dirty exploring and got lots of lovies from his aunts and uncles! The hole in our hearts that his passing has left will never be completely filled and we will miss him sooooo much! Have fun chasing rainbows and running in the fields until we see you again. We will always love you and will never forget you! Hugs and kisses from Mom and Dad.

New Year Catch Up

I guess I better write an update with the goings on in the Givens’ household. I am so used to posting on Facebook and Twitter, that I sometimes forget about the blog here. If you aren’t on Facebook or Twitter and are not following us there, you are missing quite a bit. It is 2016, get with the program! I am also assuming that you even care, how narcissistic of me!

Let’s see, where to begin, one of the things I forget to mention in earlier posts was my bout with shingles back in the summer! Wow that was painful and in encompassed the whole right side of my scalp and in the heat of the summer too! It sidelined me for three weeks and I hid in the house from the sun and heat as best I could. My hiatal hernia surgery in 2014 didn’t hurt as bad!!! A miserable ordeal it was, and I still have phantom itching on my scalp at times. I will definitely be getting a shingles shot when my doctor says it is okay!

My Aching Neck!

The rest of the summer saw us taking a few camping trips locally in our trailer so we could scout out real estate and possible retirement locations that we could settle our work weary asses down. This brings up the next item of interest, we have put up our San Juan Island house aka Givens Grove up for sale. We have shifted gears on living there full-time and are going to decide on other places. Getting to and from an island is too much of a headache and the politics there suck! We still have a couple of years before Debbie can retire and as for me at that point, we will have to see where we stand financially! The one decision we have made is to get out of King County and the Seattle area. It has become too crowded and too expensive to enjoy life here in retirement…….period!

In October we went down to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary once again to volunteer with the animals. We fed pigs, groomed horses, and walked dogs. One dog really tugged at my heart and almost brought her home but resisted the temptation, barely! We just aren’t ready for two dogs in the house. Debbie wants another one badly so Cordell can teach it how to behave……ummm…….yeah! It is always such a spiritual reconnection when we visit there!

Joe’s New Friend

Debbie and her Piggy Friends

After our stint there, we drove down to the Phoenix area to visit our friends the McEvoy’s who were joined by our other friends the Kelly’s! These are our trailer buddies if you didn’t already know! We visited Superstition Mountain and went over to Tortilla Flats for lunch. Another day we took in the sights of Sedona. Deb loved it there……. a possible retirement spot?!?! I love Arizona too, but don’t want to be in the heat, maybe Flagstaff is more to my liking, we are going back in March to have a look around!

The Six Finger Drunkards

The six of us were then to head to Las Vegas where we had a timeshare booked, but poor Patty Belle was sick which turned out to be pneumonia so it was just us and the Kelly’s. She is fine now! We drove up, stopping by the Hoover Dam to take a walk and have a look and be tourists! The water was very low and if it gets any lower, it won’t be enough to turn the turbines for the electricity Las Vegas needs to stay lit up! We had a great time with Rich and Pam and did lots of walking on the Strip! We saw Cirque du Soleil O and what a show, unbelievable!! We spent Halloween night walking Fremont Street and that was a show in itself……wild!!! It was a great time like always with old friends like these!

Debbie Photobombing!

Debbie and Pam Hitting The Slots!

Speaking of old friends, in early December, we hooked up with a very old friend of mine I used to work with in my restaurant sales life, Jeff Simon and wife Jamie! We met in Oakland for the Packer/Raider game. Since we were staying in Oakland near the airport and stadium, we took the BART into San Francisco on the Saturday and spent the afternoon walking around, hitting local watering holes and having dinner at John’s Grill. For the most part, Jeff and I spent a lot of time catching up since we hadn’t seen each other in years! Debbie and Jamie also get along just great too! The game was awesome and the Packers got a win and the Raider Fans were pretty cool too! It was a fun trip and look forward to hanging with them again!

Joe and Jeff surrounded by Raider Gear!

The Boys Doing Shots!

Dinner At John’s Grill

And there you have it, a catch up with the Givens’! A new year has begun and new adventures to have and let’s hope that we all stay happy and healthy and have a wonderful 2016!! Let the show begin!!!

Road Trip 2011

Well it was time for our annual visit to Best Friends Animal Society and this year we decided to try something different and drive down there. After all, we have a great truck, a very nice trailer and plenty of time. Since we planned on taking Cordell, we figured he would be much more comfortable in his little travel bed in the back seat. So we loaded up and headed down the highway for the start of a great trip. We left Patience the cat at home but in good hand of our pet sitter Jenny. Some people ask, why don’t you take the cat with you? Uh yeah, have you ever known a cat that could car travel well? I haven’t seen that many. She is perfectly fine at home, but I am sure she gets a bit lonely since she is a very social little feline. Jenny gives her a lot of attention when she comes for a visit!

Our first stop was Boise, Idaho. We stayed at a the Boise – Meridian KOA. It was ok for just a one night stay. We planned on stopping in Boise so we could visit our niece Jennifer and her fiance Austin. Austin got a great job offer down in Dallas and they would soon be moving, so it was great to get a chance to see them before they left. Talk about good timing! Next we headed down into Utah and the Salt Lake City area. We both have been in Salt Lake before, but never actually looked around much. We stayed in Draper which is south of Salt Lake City so we wouldn’t have to deal with morning rush hour traffic on the day we left. We stayed at the Mountain Shadows RV Resort. A very nice place but very close to the interstate. We drove out to the Great Salt Lake and let Cordell romp around. The thing is huge. You forget that is a lake after looking at it awhile. We also drove to downtown and visited Temple Square, world headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Mormons. We learned quite a bit of the history of the Mormons of which I was always very confused about. Now I have a clearer understanding of the religion, if that’s what it is, but don’t plan on converting any time soon.

The next leg of the journey took us to Kanab, home of Best Friends and had our only glitch of the trip. While stopping at a very large Flying J Truck Stop, one of the guys working there passed by and noticed one of our trailer tires looking very worn and unsafe and offered to put the spare on just in case. After talking with the guys in the tire shop, we ended up buying four new tires, much better ones that were on it. I don’t feel we got railroaded into anything because the tires that came on the trailer were just cheap pieces of crap. It was much better to be cautious and get some good rubber for the rest of the road. It was very nice to be back in Kanab again. The place is beautiful and seems to be timeless. It was our first time needing a place to put the trailer and options were limited. Luckily we got a spot at the Hitch N Post and it suited our needs just fine. Back at Best Friends, the return was bittersweet. We first worked with Pigs in Piggy Paradise and just a week before, our best friend there Brandi Bandi passed away. It just wasn’t the same and even the pigs seem to feel the loss. She was a very special person who loved her piggies and gave so much to them. She was taken way too soon and will be missed very much. We also worked in dogs and took Cordell with us to his old run. You can read all about that in the previous post! While we were there we got to go to the September Blessing at Angel’s rest. It was very heart warming and emotional. See video of part of the blessing here!

We then departed on the longest leg of the journey of the trip. We drove 12 hours to South Lake Tahoe. This took us through a big part of Nevada which we had never seen before. We drove on the Extraterrestrial Highway for a long time and no, didn’t see any UFO’s. It is a pretty bleak state until you get in the northern part. It was also quite an event filled leg of the trip, experiencing wind, thunder and lightning, and a fire near the road which luckily we got through. But we made it. By coincidence, a couple that Debbie has known for many years was also on a road trip of their own and met us in Tahoe. They stayed at the same campground we did just a few spots away. They were good people. I also got a chance to see my half brothers and sister which I hadn’t seen in almost twenty years. They brought their wives and kids and we had an impromptu family reunion and had a great visit and rekindled family ties. There was a Oktoberfest celebration that was going on and we checked it out too.

We left after two days there and started on the final leg home which brought us back through Oregon and then into Washington and they grey skies and rain that were mostly absent the whole trip. It was good to be home and in our own bed once again. Cordell was great the whole trip and had a great time himself. He loves to travel and travels very well. Patience was very vocal on our arrival and was obviously glad to see us. I have uploaded photos in our Flikr photo page so go check them out when you get a chance. Now it is time to get back to the reality of life, work, bills,etc! until next time!!

ROAD TRIP STATS
ELEVEN DAYS
SEVEN STATES
2911 MILES

Cordell Returns To Best Friends

We are very proud of our boy! Let’s start out with this, we are in the middle of a road trip and Cordell is with us and we made a stop in Kanab, UT at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. I’ll write on the details of our trip in the next post! Today we took Cordell back to the run where we found him on our last visit back in April 2010 and he stole our hearts. The same caregiver was there and was very generous by letting us bring him and was very happy to see him again! Her dog Ping, was Cordell’s buddy while at Best Friends and was brought in with Cordell, was there and they instantly recognized each other and got very excited. We all went on a walk on the trail that they went down many a time. We could see that Cordell did remember this trail and we got to a point where the trail used to join the road and they blocked it off to continue a different way, Cordell stopped and thought he should go the way the trail used to go. It was amazing! Whoever believes animals have very short memories, need to rethink their attitudes. We put Cordell into one of the side runs while walked other dogs and went to lunch and he was the star of the day as two separate tour groups came through and mentioned how cute he was. One lady even inquired if he was adoptable!!! She was told he was visiting as a graduate of Best Friends!! I am sure he was a bit nervous being back and was wondering if he would be going home again. We learned what a kind little guy he really is when he came out of the run. There is a dog that is unable to walk that lies in the middle of the open area of the run. We were told that all of the dogs there shy away from him because they are scared of the way he tries and scoots around. Cordell went right up to him and gave him a greeting and a lick on his nose!

 

We also learned more of his past history. He came from a hoarding situation owned and run by Kimi Peck, the daughter in law of actor Gregory Peck. She thinks she is running rescue centers for Chihuahuas, but in reality it is nothing but a hoarding situation. She has had many run ins with animal rights groups and the law. You can read about some of what she has been involved with here! We also think we have found a picture of Cordell with her and a bunch of other dogs in an article about her in People Magazine written in March of 2005. Click here and see what you think! He was brought in by a third party in a U-Haul with 39 other animals. Thank goodness it was not in the middle of summer or they all would have perished. After you see the horrific conditions he went through and then the journey he had to take, it is amazing the little guy is still alive. Well we sure are glad he is and we will give him a great life with us. Now, back to vacation!

It Was Bound To Happen

We are back at Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah for our annual volunteer week with the animals. As usual, we are having a wonderful time. It is so wonderful and satisfying working with all these wonderful creatures! It is a lot of hard work, but you know it is much appreciated by staff and the animals themselves! This trip we did things differently. Instead of flying to Las Vegas and driving from there, we flew to Salt Lake City, then to St George where we rented the car and drove. It was much better doing it that way! I must admit, getting on a small propeller plane to go to St George was a little scary and then landing on a freaking plateau in St George wasn’t pleasant either!!! But the short drive to Kanab made up for the harrowing experience! Before we started our stint we had a day to go visit Zion National Monument and took a long hike which was very challenging and somewhat scary at times. It was the Angels Landing hike and took us up on some very high and narrow spots! Debbie did pretty good even though she is scared of heights. We decided that trying to reach Scouts Lookout was too much and continued on the West Rim Trail! It was a beautiful hike and we were both wiped at the end! Now on to the sanctuary!

This was our third trip to the sanctuary and as usual we always work with dogs, cats, pigs, and horses. This time we also worked in the Parrot Garden with all the birds. It was loud as expected, but we learned just how intelligent they are. The average cockatoo has the intelligence of a 3 -4 human child. It is also very sad to see them in cages as that is where they should not be! Please never buy a bird from a pet store because you are just exasperating the problem of bird mills, yes they exist. If you must have a bird as a pet, get them from a rescue and realize they can live for decades!! We also learned that one of my favorite piggies, Raisin, who fell in love with me on the last trip, is getting adopted and will be leaving the sanctuary for her forever home! We are happy for her, but at the same time sad we will not see her when we return. Here is another adoption story, ours. We have always come here with the idea that taking home any animal is not in the cards. A year and a half has past since Simon, our last kitty passed over the Rainbow Bridge and we have been pet less ever since. I kept that idea in mind, yet Debbie fell in love with a little cutey named Cordell. He is a Chihuahua mix and is the sweetest little dog we have ever met! Also, while we were working with cats, a little gray princess named Patience fell in love with me. She more or less decided we were going to give her a home, so did Cordell! So as of today we have adopted both of them and they will be joining us in our home in Snoqualmie. Cordell will be flying home with us Sunday and Patience will fly in later the next week. We will soon be pet parents once again. Oh God what have we done!!! We have one more day of volunteering, then doing the logistics of adoption paperwork and transport details. There are pictures up here of the trip and videos are up at our YouTube Page. In the mean time meet the newest members of our family:

Meet Cordell

Meet Patience

Home Made Kitten Formula

I know, it is a weird topic, but while reading my latest issue of Best friends Magazine, I came across this recipe for home made kitten formula! It’s not often you’ll ever come across a stray newborn kitten, but a long time ago I did. It was while I was on my Uncle’s ranch digging Indian ruins with my Dad. We stopped by an old shack that was on the property to have a look around and heard this little feeble meowing sound coming from beneath an old bed. We looked under it and saw a little wild kitten peering back at us. When it tried to walk, it just stumbled weakly. We didn’t really know what to do with this poor little fellow and thought that the mommy cat may be around, so we left it there. The day after we went back and checked on it, and it had died. Apparently the mother cat had abandoned the kitten. I felt horrible. Had we known just what to feed the little thing, we might have taken it and saved it. I will now know what to feed a little stray kitten or litter of kittens if I should ever come upon one, and you will too. The recipe is for a litter of kittens, but you can reduce it is you just have one or two:

3 egg yolks
3 ounces of water
3 ounces of goat’s milk (available at most stores)
4 ounces of plain, full fat yogurt (not the low fat stuff)

Mix well and keep refrigerated until ready to use.
Because of the raw egg yolks, use the formula within two days.
Warm the formula by placing a bottle of the
mixture in a bowl of hot water, and be sure to check the
temperature of the formula by placing a bit on your
wrist as you would with a baby. Check with a vet for a
feeding schedule which should be every two to
three hours and should eat 7 to 15 CC’s per feeding.

There you have it and so will I by posting this. Thanks to Best Friends Animal Society for including this helpful information.

Dogtown – A Best Friends Final Thought

Sitting in front of the TV watching the National Geographic Channel’s Dogtown is enlightening experience in itself. But when you have been there, twice, you view it with a much different perspective. The partnership between National Geographic and Best Friends Animal Society seems to be a good one and it gets Best Friends tons of exposure. It is also neat to run into some of the people you see on Dogtown at the sanctuary. We watched Dr. Mike work on Riley the horse changing and cleaning his prosthetic. We also had Dogtown Manager, Michelle Besmehn join our table for lunch one day. It’s very interesting watching Dogtown and seeing things you recognize and places you have walked by. But also, there’s nothing quite like a visit to Dogtown and the sanctuary itself to really feel the magic that exists there.

We discovered Best Friends during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. During the disaster, we decided that we had to make some sort of monetary donation to help in the disaster relief. We decided to split our donation between the Red Cross and some sort of animal rescue group helping the lost and abandoned animals left behind. Being the natural skeptic that I am, it was difficult to find the right group to donate to. I wanted as much of our donation as possible to go to the animals. One evening while watching some news footage of the carnage, we saw people helping some dogs with Best Friends t-shirts on. They were interviewed and we were impressed with their determination and sympathy for the dogs they were trying to help. I went to work on doing some due diligence and decided they were worthy of our funds. Once our donation was received, we started getting the magazine and newsletters, and the more I read, the more impressed with Best Friends I became. I discovered their massive networking capabilities and then the volunteering opportunities and began telling Debbie that we had to go there and do some volunteering. Back in October we went for our first time and then again just now. Like I said before, the place is magical. The setting is magical, the people are magical, and visiting Angel’s Rest and seeing the hundreds of little graves of those who have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge, you can’t help but shed a tear.

I must admit that I am always cynical and cannot always agree with myself that what I see is true. I am always looking for that rip in reality, that black mark on the pure white, that chink in the armor and I have tried to find it here at a place where it is totally run and funded by donations, but I can’t. The people are totally dedicated to the animals in their care. The vision of the founding members is still clear and focused with those who have come in behind them. Most of the caregivers that were there in October are still there now and are even more determined than ever to find every animal a forever home. What is most awe inspiring is that these people will stop at nothing to give these poor little souls the absolute best life they can possibly have for as long as they remain there. They are truly there for the animals and the animals always come first. They were cast offs , abandoned, abused, lost, forgotten, but no longer. They are totally loved maybe for the first time in their lives and you can see the appreciation and thank fullness in their eyes. We are so glad that Best Friends exists for these babies and if you ever get a chance, pay them a visit and see for yourself what goes on in the country’s largest no kill animal sanctuary. Send in a donation and get the magazine and tell a friend. You’ll be amazed and never forget your experience there. By the way, I am in no way involved with Best Friends except as a member and volunteer and am paid not one penny to share my feelings. See ya in southern Utah someday!!! Oh and one more thing….. DO NOT BUY PUPPIES FROM PUPPY MILLS!!!!!!

Many New Pictures Posted

Wedding

San Antonio 2009

At Best Friends

Have a look at our photos from our recent vacation. Click each image to go to the album or just go here for our complete Flickr Photo Page!

Seppi

Seppi is Best Friends ambassador to the world, and is very cute!