Girl is having a perfectly enviable evening with her dog, until this happened.

Insert here: cliches about how I'm sorry I am that I've neglected my blog. I could say I've been writing about tinder and Star Wars or writing a questionable Buzzfeed community post, but just two posts wouldn't be much of an excuse for a three-month hiatus. 

But after this evening, it seemed rather selfish not to share this adventure beyond the small circle of my faithful Snapchat followers. 

I'll preface this by saying I'm not a huge Snapper. I use Snapchat to keep in touch with my sister (because how else do you keep in touch with generation Zers?), to swap faces with my dog, and to show people that I'm seeing live music and having a better time than them (like twice a year and if my phone is not dead).  

But this evening, I was on a run (never happens) by the river with Merlin and he was off leash because we've been working on that. And it was amazing. He stayed with me the entire time, the weather was gorgeous, the sun was setting over the water. It was the best end to a Monday ... It was perfect. 

So, as I cooled down after my run, walking back toward the Boulevard Bridge on the Buttermilk trail, I began to document Merlin's cool down. 

And I think I jinxed myself right there.

It was pretty, okay? I got a little cocky.

We were having fun .... 

And as the sun disappeared, flecks of orange reflecting on the water, we hiked up the hill and hopped back into the car. I had JUST recently taken the hammock/sling/cover off of the backseat to wash, but having a wet dog roll around in the car seemed like a small price to pay for such a rejuvenating evening. Plus, it was kind of funny ... 

And then this ... (Aren't you glad you don't have to keep pressing NEXT through a slideshow, pressing tiny Xs to skip ads to get to the end of this dramatic story? You're welcome.) 

And that was that. I couldn't have posted a funnier Snap Story if I'd planned it. And I should probably just quit nowwhile I'm ahead. I'll spare you any foul puke photos. But I will say, it's hard to keep a dog from going back for seconds on his own mess when you're driving. Luckily, I'm less than a mile away from the trailhead where I parked and I had extra carpet cleaner leftover from Merlin's house training days.

Just when I was thinking how nice it is to have a grown-up, well-trained dog. It's not your fault, bud. I'd do it again. And that's true friendship.