We've been hiking!!!

Mom is really starting to slack again. But I have decided that I can’t really fire her without having a replacement lined up, and frankly, it’s pretty hard to find someone who will work for dog cookies and kisses who isn’t already working for someone else. So… I’m stuck with Mom’s slacking. It’s just so hard to get good help these days.

*ahem*

We’ve been on two more hikes since the last post. See, Abby suffers from CPS (Crazy Puppy Syndrome), and as such if she is inside the House With Wheels for too long, she starts to bounce off the walls and chew on my tail. I’m not too worried about the walls, but I prefer the plumage of my tail to stay where it is. So, I have implored Mom and Dad to take us hiking Every Day so that the symptoms of CPS don’t become overwhelming and I have to go in hiding behind the chairs.

And in all fairness, Mom and Dad have been really good about upholding their end of the bargain. That said, I have to warn you, because of Mom’s slacking this post is pretty picture intensive, as I’ve got pictures from both hikes…

Yesterday we hiked the ‘Guacamole Trail’ up Dalton Wash. Don’t ask me why it is called ‘Guacamole – I saw no signs of chips or salsa anywhere, and I was looking everywhere! I hiked part of this last fall with Mom and Dad; it is ‘slickrock’ (i.e. sandstone) for a good part of the trail, so it is kind of rough on my feet, and so Mom and Dad didn’t want to go the full 7 miles of the trail. The felt the same way yesterday when we hiked it. For all of her boisterous obnoxiousness energy and enthusiasm, Abby is still a young pup – not quite 18 weeks old, and while she can go 5+ miles with no problems, Mom and Dad wanted to make sure that her tender puppy feet didn’t get too roughed up on the trail.

But first we had to get up there; the trail is on top of a mesa, and the road up gets pretty steep at points (unfortunately the camera doesn’t really give you a sense of how steep it is, and Mom was too busy holding on to the door handle with white knuckles while Dad was driving over some washed out sections that had been ‘shored up’ to get pictures…). Here’s a view from the top of the mesa down, and if you look carefully, you can see the road winding its way down; it goes all the way down to the valley floor, BTW.

Anyhoo, Dad’s driving skills and the fact that we have a Jeep ensured that we got up there with no problems. And then it was time to go.

Which way, Dad?
Oh. You think the arrow is pointing the way? How clever! Heehee!

The air was cool for, oh, like, the first 15 minutes so Mom started off in a long-sleeve shirt. And you have to admit, the scenery is pretty stunning! (Even if Abby looks like a doofus!) Typically, Dad walks me, and Mom walks Abby, but for some ‘photo ops’ Mom or Dad will take both of us so we can pose. Or not….


See, we can pose!
Enough with the photo ops, let’s GO!

Oooh. Cool. You can look all the way over the edge!
The part of the trail that goes along the edge of the mesa
More photo ops!
Back to the slickrock!

Heehee! Hi Dad!

Enough scenery, Mom, let’s GO!!!

Abby was learning how to follow the trail…

Hey, um, Dad. I think the trail markers point for us to go this way…
Heehee. Double scratchy break!

And 5 miles later we were back at the car! Mom thinks this picture should be part of a Jeep ad…

So that was yesterday. Today we were back up and at ‘em. Mom and Dad were considering taking a day off, but by 10:30am Abby was starting to show signs of CPS, so Mom got us all ready to go out the door. We went back to the JEM trail, but we parked at trailhead a little further in than we usually do, so that we could make it to the Virgin River Dam; Mom and Dad had seen the signs for it, but had never made it all the way there before, so the plan was to go find the dam.

The trail is kind of dry and dusty, because we are quite a ways above the river (on yet another mesa…) but Abby took time to stop and smell the flowers!
And Dad is very generous with the water! (Mom carries extra so none of us go thirsty…)

After a couple of miles we saw the river, again!

And then we saw the dam.

Dad had to climb out on a ledge to get these pictures. Kidding! Although he did go off the trail so he could get the pictures – we couldn’t actually see the dam from the trail.

Today was a pretty hot day, so after looking around a bit,
we headed back.

(I don’t know why Mom says we are doofuses…)

And then it was back to the car, and another one of Mom’s “Jeep Ad” shots.
And then nap time!!!

Alas, these hikes only temporarily wear Abby out. By 7pm or so, she’s wreaking havoc again. I think Mom should take her on two 5 mile hikes a day. I’m just sayin’….

*kissey face*
-Fiona

PeeEss: I know that this really should have been two separate posts, but I've got to get Mom when she is in a posting mood; if I waited too long, I'd have, like, pictures from 5 hikes backed up...

Mom's a Slacker, but I'm Trying to Catch Up Anyway

Mom has been too busy to update for me, so blame her, not me! However, I'm not too upset with her, because when it comes to priorities, she has decided that playing ball with me (even if she throws like a girl - which means that Dad feels guilty and comes out and plays with me, too) is more important than updating the bloggy. And I wholeheartedly agree with her.

So, I have been getting in lots of chasing after things, and hiking,

and napping, and well, general hanging out.

Mom and Dad have been taking advantage of the nice weather (in the 50s) and have been bye-sickle-ing a bunch.

They are trying to squeeze in as much of this bye-sickle-ing as possible, because we are going to be going back to the House Without Wheels in about a week, and then they won't be able to bye-sickle until all the snow melts. Which sort of doesn't make sense; get in lots of bye-sickle-ing in preparation for not bye-sickle-ing. Okay. Whatever makes them happy!

Since we are going to store the House With Wheels down south here, Mom has started the process of cleaning out the fridge, doing laundry, stowing stuff, figuring what goes to the House Without Wheels, and how it is going to get there, as we will be traveling home in the Box On Wheels, and with me sitting in a back seat, and TaiChi and Bufus both in separate crates, there isn't going to be a ton of extra space. Especially since I'd like to be able to stretch out on the drive home. Luckily it's only 4 hours or so.

So, Mom has been busy with that, cutting down on her bloggy-following time. She has also been frantically trying to finish the annual calendar, in the hopes that it will arrive to all the interested parties somewhere before the New Year. She has been all anxious about boiling down all of last year's pictures into 49 pictures. I can see how this would be tough, as there are So Many fantabulous pictures of me, and Mom has to include pictures of TaiChi and Bufus, as well.

I mean, really, when you've got hundreds, if not thousands of pictures of ME, I can see how it would be stressful to pick a representative few. Especially since Mom feels obligated to include a few pictures of the car racing stuff each year. But, I'll have you all know that this year the calendar is very heavily loaded toward us, and not so much on Mom and Dad! (As it should be, I might add.)

Mom also had to hurry up and finish a special present for Grannie, so she could mail it in the hopes that it would get the North Carolina in time for Santy Claws to put it under the tree.

So she has been busy, and apologizes for not being able to help me keep up on bloggies. But she's doing her best.

In the meantime, Happy Solstice! May your fire burn bright!
*kissey face*
-Fiona, the doggie with the slacker Mom

PeeEss: OOOOHHH!!!! I forgot the Most Important News!!!! #$%@#$^ Secretary. She should keep notes, so I remember everything! My little sister was born about 2 weeks ago. When we get back to the House Without Wheels, Mom and Dad are going to go see her (well, technically go pick her out, but whatever). And in less than two months, I'm going to be a Big Sister. This actually makes me sort of nervous. But I'm still excited to be a Role Model. And it sounds like Abby (that's her name) is going to have her work cut out for her. Mom is already investigating puppy classes and obedience training, and all those things that I managed to skip. Heehee! Of course, Mom keeps saying that Abby is going to be a "Good Dog", but since I have no idea what that phrase means, I'm just ignoring her!

Enough of this car stuff, let's get back to me

So yesterday Mom FINALLY took me on the hike promised as we were driving back through the oh-so-exciting states of Nebraska and Wyoming. I will say this just one more time – until next year, that is – OMD; could those states be any more boring? And I can’t even IMAGINE what it’s got to be like there in winter. Although the big barriers they’ve got to help create snowdrifts and stop (some) snow from blowing across the highway gives a pretty good indication of how miserable it must be. All I can say is that I’m one lucky doggie to live someplace that actually has, erm, something other than cornfields and cows.

We started off on a trail that we hike a lot, and then took a new turn, and ended up hiking over 4 miles. Which was most fun. I just wanna know when we are going to start going on LONG hikes! Heehee! Mom, however, didn’t bring the real camera, and had to take pictures with her phone. Which was a real shame, because the trees are starting to change colors, and there are some really bright reds out right now. So…. Mom is going to have to take me on another (possibly longer? C’mon Mom… There are MILES of trails out there for us to explore!) hike where she’ll have the camera and we can get some good scenery pictures. Because it is really pretty right now.

And perfect for hiking! Did I ever mention that I’m subtle? No? There’s probably a reason for that…

Anyhoo, last night I got in some quality snoozling with my little big sister.


Because Mom promised me another hike today, we went hiking, despite the weather forecast that there could be thunderstorms in the afternoon. Mom looked out the window (her own personal weather forecasting) and deemed it fine. And a chance to get some pictures of the “fall colors”.

So off we went.
Um. Mom? So far this looks like the regular trail. Where are the colors?

Oh. Okay. Got it. Biggify to actually see the colors...

We did the same hike as yesterday - which is our usual hike but with an extra mile loop in there. And lots of hills. And trees and stuff.

This is steeper than it looks. Trust me. In person it goes straight up!


And if you notice, for a while it looked pretty darn sunny.

Are we there yet? You mean we keep going UP? Wow.

We finally made it to the top of the climb, and from there, you could see all the way to the Olympic Park where they held the ski jumping and luge and bobsled events during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

And the hillside to the right was starting to turn all sorts of colors. In another week the colors will really be out.


And if you must know, yes, I am a Happy Dog! I love hiking!


But as we stopped for water, something on the horizon caught my attention:

Uh, Mom. Would you look over there. Please?!?

I think we'd better GO. Because we're only halfway through the hike!

So we dashed off, Mom taking only one more picture before we were all the way home.


By the time we got home the skies were totally black, and literally 5 minutes after we walked in the door it started raining. About 5 minutes later we lost power for about 30 minutes! I'm glad I hustled Mom along when we saw that first dark cloud! But we didn't get wet, and it was a great hike.

So, Mom, whaddya think about tomorrow, huh? Huh? Pretty please?!?

Heehee.

And on other stuff. Thanks to Dennis the Vizsla Dog who gave me this award:

Even if it is a little mis-spelled, I’m a class act! Woo-hoo!!! Heehee. Proof that I can fake people out when I really try!

The award is, of course, made by the The Purple Hatter, and the requirements is that I pass this along to six class act doggies. I know so many. But I’ll pick six class acts.

Martha and Bailey, who are legal masterminds and who get to go on walkies in some of the prettiest places ever.

Clive. Because he actually works for a living. And Mom thinks that he looks like a big Irish sweater! And, of course, because he is a goldendoodle (and rather handsome, if I say so myself).

Doby and Lola. Because they are seriously classy.

Lorenza. Because she is just the classiest dresser I know. Not to mention a sweetheart.

The 4 Bs. Because poodles and a schnoodle? How can they be anything BUT classy?

Sierra Rose. Because she’s classy in the making!

And this isn’t to say that all of my other friends aren’t classy, but I was forced to pick six…

And now, I must nap if I am to be ready for tomorrow hike. And for the record? The little thingy that Mom wears on her wrist to give distance and heart rate and stuff says that we climbed over 1300 feet today. In 4 miles. Not shabby!

*kissey face*
-Fiona, The Intrepid Hiker

Some pictures from the hike yesterday

I'm too tired to type. (Actually, I'm Far Too Busy harassing my little-big sister and Mom and Dad, but that's neither here nor there!). But I would like to thank everyone for all the kind notes about the Wordless Wednesday pictures - I like flying! And I'm loving the ears. I really feel sorry for all of you who can't experience Ear Flappage. There's nothing like it! So here's some pictures from yesterday's hike.


By this point, Mom has stopped to take So Many pictures that I had to start looking around to see if she was still there. I think she was just using the camera as an excuse to not be able to keep up with me! Heehee!

*kissey face*
-Fiona