WEEKENDS WITH WOLVES

This last weekend, TNT & I drove to Indiana to visit Blake of The Laughing Wolf, who graciously gave us a special, in-depth, behind the scenes tour of Wolf Park.

For a 4-hour drive, it wasn't too bad. Despite Chicago's best efforts to get us lost with construction, confusing signage, and poorly-marked exits, we made our way around the Windy City and into the Snowy State, i.e. Indiana.

That's right. Freakin' snow. In April. Not enough to accumulate or mess up the roads, but just enough to remind you why some people don't ever want to live this far north.

However, the joke was on Mother Nature, since even though the crappy weather was probably meant to punish me for my evil ways, it turned out to be a disguised blessing. See, the wolves are still wearing their winter coats, and if it would've been hot, they would've been boring, furry lawn ornaments (as Blake described their behavior during last week's summery weather). As it was, they were bursting with energy - frisking, frolicking, racing, chasing, playing, and generally being as entertaining as you could possibly hope for. Despite the 40 degree weather and bitter 20+ mph winds, we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Aside from the furry things, the best part of Wolf Park was Gale. She was sweet, intelligent, charming, vivacious, friendly & informative, and even favored us with one of her cheers from her days as a cheerleader in Ancient Egypt ("Isis! Isis! Ra! Ra! Ra!"). Yeah, she's as bad with the puns as Blake. Outside of that, though, I don't know what else she could've done to make us feel more welcome, as she gave us the extra-thorough tour of the grounds and made sure we were introduced to every 4-legged resident.

Well, except for the bison, but they were kinda snooty, so no great loss.

In addition to getting us the Full Monty tour of Wolf Park, Blake also gave us a well-narrated tour of Lafayette. I have to say, he's a top-rank tour guide, full of informational tidbits about every place we visited. If you ever get a chance to have him show you around, take him up on it, because he knows the area and can tell you everything you want to know.

Although he didn't know why there was a plethora of weirdos wandering around the Purdue campus, but I'm sure he'll let us know when he finds out.

The evening ended at the Lafayette Brewing Company where I found some fantastic reddish brew (I think it was Eastside Bitter, but I'm not positive) and was introduced to deep-fried crack, aka Cheesy Potato Munchers which are basically tater-tots laced with cheddar cheese and jalapeno peppers. I could eat those things all night long.

Blake, being the sweetie that he is, gave us a very thoughtful anniversary present. I'm going to consult with TNT over who'll be posting pictures of it. Let's just say that it's destined to be a family heirloom - assuming it doesn't get worn down to a nub from regular use.

So here's the short version - if Blake asks you to come to Lafayette to hang with him, say yes and get there ASAP.

For the slightly longer short version, see The Laughing Wolf.