Back from Vacation

Mom, dad and I went on vacation for nine whole days to one of my favorite places. It is a special cabin at one of our parks that the public doesn't rent because there is no real road and mom says the cabin is too rustic for the public. So staff can rent it. It is right on the river. It is called the Brown Cabin (it's not named after someone named brown, it's just painted brown) and it's at Shenandoah River State Park. I know my pal @ShawneeShep and her mom know about the cabin because they found it when they were hiking in the park.

It is a really good vacation for mom because there is no cell service and no internet. Also no TV (they actually have a TV that we can rent Red Box videos and play them but only three channels). So mom read 9 books while we were there (actually they were on her Kindle). One was that new Chet book (I will blog about that another day).

We did get a lot of rain thanks to that Hurricane Lee coming up from the gulf. The Chief Ranger came and warned us about possible flash flood warnings but the Shenandoah River just got a little bit wider. The porch room that mom likes to spend her time in (she can see the river and the windows open really wide (we will not talk about the screens on the window that were perfect when we got there but somehow not so perfect when we left - can I help it that I have to jump up and bark when people go by hiking or biking?) has a tin roof so the rain was very relaxing. When you want to spend your vacation reading and relaxing the rain is not a bad thing.

It did not rain steady so there was lots of time for me to go swimming in the Shenandoah River. Since there is a current in the river (and none in my pond), it is different swimming. The river tended to steal some of my sticks too and there also seemed to be a stick shortage at the park compared to our yard.

Oh the big news was that we also took Alexis and she got herself a mouse! Mom said - another reason we don't rent that to the public (no pix). She had lots of fun stalking all kinds of bugs too.

If you like a good place for a vacation, I highly recommend Shenandoah River State Park. The park has "for the public" cabins that are only a year old and two great campgrounds.

Tragic Toy Loss

Dad went to the beach with a friend Sunday. I guess that red stuff on his back he got the other day was not enough to convince him it was a bad idea. Mom was very thoughtful not saying too many times "I told you to make sure you put sunscreen on" and she put rubbing alcohol and moisturizer on the red stuff. This time he wore a shirt.

I wanted to play so I pestered mom until she agreed to take me outside. I love mom but she is just not as good throwing sticks as dad. In fact, she had the idea that she could read her book and I would play by myself. Hah! Since I have destroyed most of the stick population in the back yard, we brought my Chewber outside. Mom tossed the Chewber but I ignored it and played with the sticks until they were just tiny pieces. Mom does not throw very well so she was lucky if she even got one in the water. Eventually I started playing with the Chewber. Trust me, mom cannot throw like the man in this video although she got the Chewber in the water better than the small sticks.

I love the Chewber since it is way easier to pick up than a frisbee, way more durable (I have had this a year and not a single hole and it tugs good) and it doubles as a water bowl. But after a number of tosses back and forth the Chewber got a little muddy and the last time it sunk. Mom is sure if she had thrown it better it would not have sunk. I looked for it in the water for a long time - 20 minutes according to mom. I even tried tapping my paw in the water to make it float up. Mom was amazed I tried to find it for so long since normally I give up when I can't find sticks. The water in our pond is pretty cloudy so trying to see it was pretty impossible.

Mom promised she would buy me a new one.

I Think It's Spring!

Today it went up to 59 degrees (15 degrees Celsius for my International readers). Hard to believe it just snowed Tuesday night (before the nor'easter washed it away). That meant, you guessed it, time for swimming! Dad thought it was too cold to go swimming but how could anyone resist this?

Hurry dad! Let's play!

Dad took me out in the backyard and there I was swimming with the geese!

I just went swimming right away - I didn't even wait for dad to throw a stick!

Then he threw sticks in the pond and I fetched them over and over again!

Maybe I have some retriever in me?

Since dad took the pictures, there were 40 different shots of me pooping. He seems to be fixated on that. Fortunately it's mom that helps me with my bloggie so we picked one that gave me some privacy.

Privacy Please!

Too soon the fun was over.

A good shake after a great swim - priceless

Dad never dries me off (much to mom's dismay), so I brought back lots of water to share with mom.