Highlights of September: Carl went fishing at Breach Inlet with our friend Jon one Friday in early September. Additionally, Iris had surgery to biopsy a growth in her bladder we’ve been monitoring as well as remove a lump from her belly and check her teeth. I re-discovered these little fluff toys that Shadow likes to play with only to find out Iris likes them and insists on keeping them away from the cats. NFL season started (no in-person Bears games this year thanks to COVID) and I made a quick trip to IL to check on my mom after she had back surgery and get to see all my siblings and both my parents at the same time which is rare these days.
August 2020
We recently started feeling like we needed a change of scenery since we’re so used to traveling, but haven’t really gotten to this year because of COVID so we booked a last minute trip to Greenville, SC for August 8th through 11th. We were originally supposed to be in Illinois and Wisconsin that weekend so I could compete in the USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals sprint race, but just like everything else, the race got cancelled so we were open. I announced the goal of the trip was the 3 B’s (books, brews, and bikes) as I really wanted down time to read, was looking forward to trying some new beers, and we were taking our bikes since the Swamp Rabbit Trail runs through Greenville. Overall, the trip was quite successful and I have very positive feelings towards Greenville. We did run into an issue when for the first time ever Iris (who we brought with) whined and barked every time we tried to leave her in our Airbnb. Since we had rented an apartment and didn’t want to disturb the other residents, we had to take her everywhere we went for the first two days. Luckily Greenville is very dog friendly and we were really only doing outdoor stuff. Since one of the points of the trip was to try a new bike trail, we had to find a boarding facility nearby for the last two days so we could be on our own without worrying about Iris. Thankfully it worked out and we had a great weekend of laying at the apartment complex pool, hitting up a couple beer spots, walking around downtown Greenville, eating delicious custard, hiking, enjoying the green space they have in the middle of the city, and getting in a nice 20 mile bike ride.
Rocking masks at the Greenville Zoo 
The view from the “Pretty Place”, a chapel in the mountains outside of Greenville 
There’s a waterfall in the middle of downtown Greenville! 
Hiking!