We went to Indiana last month for Jason's grandma's memorial service. Though it was a sad occasion, it was also full of laughter. And we got to meet Darwin's new aunty (Jason's parent's new dog)! Meet Olive!
Of course we came bearing gifts for the new bundle of fur.
Like bully sticks:
And Darwin's favorite food toy a Jolly Pets Monster Mouth Dog Toy
They rescued her from a shelter in Indiana and they were told she's a Dane mix.
I don't know about that, she's so TINY and she has small paws too. She almost looked like a Jack Russel Terrier mix or a boxer mix.
She also has a TON of energy and is a lot more graceful than Darwin was at that age. Jason and I were hanging out watching tv downstairs and she'd run downstairs then take a flying leap from the bottom of the stairs, over the arm of the couch and onto us. Funny, but sore! ahahha
Unlike Darwin she doesn't seem to be scared of much and was fine hanging out in the back of the lawn mower even though the bed rocked back and forth.
She loved to sit on the front porch and watch the cats across the street.
After the memorial service we hung out around the fire pit and Olive chose to cuddle in my lap versus anywhere else.
But her favorite place of all is on Jason's dad's lap while on the recliner.
She's a smart dog and I taught her to lay down and started teaching her "leave it" in the few days we were there!
Last month we had plans to check out Whidbey Island up north. We didn't plan very well and didn't get there. We did make it to Deception Pass and thought we'd hike through a couple trails. The weather was supposed to be cold and rainy, but it was surprisingly clear blue skies and a little warm. We took a trail that leads to Rosario Beach. I ran ahead of Darwin and Jason and was hiding off the trail waiting for Darwin to find me, when she ran pass me and scared the bejeezus out of this couple walking down the trail. Oops. They laughed about it though. Whew.
It was a short "hike" to the beach.
And it was super windy.
After the beach loop we followed the trail back the way we came planning to go down another trail heading the opposite way.
In the short time it took us to get to the start of the trail and head towards the other one, dark clouds rolled in.
By the time we got to the start of the next trail it was raining cats and dogs. Such a heavy heavy downpour, and Miss Darwin hates the rain so we decided to skip the second trail and do it another time. Instead we headed down into Oak Harbor and tried out some beers at Flyers. :)
*** On a completely unrelated note, HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY to my nephew Caden!!
While Jason was off at the climbing gym, Darwin and I killed time walking around the Locks. From the US Army Corps of Engineers page: "The complex of locks sit in the middle of Salmon Bay and are part of Seattle's Lake Washington Ship Canal. They are known locally as theBallard Locks after the neighborhood to their north. (Magnolia lies to the south.) The locks and associated facilities serve three purposes:
To move boats from the water level of the lakes to the water level of Puget Sound, and vice versa."
I was trying to get a pretty picture of Darwin on the nice lawn, but she decided she'd rather eat it.
We took in the view of the locks and ship canal.
Then we noticed the flock of geese hanging out.
I was worried for a second that Darwin would want to chase them (she loves chasing birds), but thankfully a quick "leave it" and she turned away ready to do something else.
We headed down to the locks to watch a couple boats loading up getting ready to be moved up to the higher lake level.
Our walk through the Locks ended with a stroll through the flower garden. So pretty!
***Here's a good post explaining the locks and the fish ladder.
Day two of our weekend out east was white water rafting day through River Recreations! We weren't about to leave Darwin in the tent or in the car so I drove her back to Yakima to the day care and then headed back to the camp site to load up the car and get Jason. We weren't sure how safe it was to leave all our camp stuff out so we packed it all back up. After a bit of trouble finding the rafting group (we didn't get updated direction to their meet up spot and were waiting at the wrong area for a while) we finally found them and had a blast. I've never gone rafting before and the Tieton River outing was marked as a 3-5 level. I was a bit nervous, but it turned out that the dam that was supposed to be opened that week to let a ton of water down the river (making it super fast) didn't get opened, so the river was shallow making it more technical to get through. We had fun with our guide and managed to get down without getting stuck. The same can't be said for other groups and because our guide was the lead for the day he had to hang out at the back of the pack to make sure everyone got down. The whole thing took a lot longer than we planned and by the end we had to forgo lunch and jump in the car to rush over to pick up Darwin. (no pictures of river rafting... Jason though I would fall out of the raft and lose my camera. I didn't fall out btw.) Once we had Darwin we picked up food and managed to snag the same camping spot (while the road traffic noise wasn't ideal, being right on the river was nice cause it was so hot that weekend).
On Jason's last trip for work he went to Vietnam and during some down time managed to shop and bought me a hammock (I've always wanted a hammock)! It was still early afternoon when we re-setup camp so we hung up the hammock as well. {these Govino Wine Glassesbtw are great for camping. I love them!}
Darwin was more relaxed this second day of camping by the river/highway. She explored more and didn't spend as much time barking at the car noises.
For dinner we made pizza hobopies! (I don't know what the real name for them are... Jason's mom introduced them to me a couple years ago and they are so fun! Basically sandwiches you toast in cast iron pan things.) We even made Darwin one. She loved it.
Sunday we had no big plans so we laid around and relaxed in the morning. Darwin spent the time in the river and hiding out in the shade.
As freaked out as Darwin was by the road noise, when it was time to go she wanted to stay (as usual). While we sat in the car watching her, she walked around keeping a good 30 foot between us. If one of us made a move to catch her, she'd dart off. Eventually I got her and we loaded her into the car and headed home.
{you can't catch me!!!}
We took the scenic route home over the Chinook Pass and were able to see some great views.
Overall it was a fun weekend and I'd totally want to go back to Eastern Washington soon! Maybe one day I'll win the lottery and can stay in a teepee at Cherry Wood and do horseback wine tasting! And I'd definitely would want to try rafting down Tieton River when the water level's higher.
Groupon and those other discount sites are a great way to get out to see and do things you may not have originally thought of doing. One item we recently bought was a white water rafting adventure. It took us to Eastern Washington, where I've never been, so we made a weekend out of it.
A month or so before our weekend get away I saw a post on a Washington tourism blog I follow about Cherry Wood Bed Breakfast & Barn in Zillah. They not only are a B&B but also rescue horses and lead winery tours by horseback. How cool is that?! So of course I show it to Jason and we decide to do it!
So early early one Friday morning we head out east. We booked a Friday horseback and winery tour so we needed to get there by 11. They offered to keep Darwin in a kennel, but we were worried about the heat (it was a 90+F weekend) so we decided to take her to a doggy day care instead. We picked Pomona Pet Services in Yakima and they were great, so friendly and totally in love with Darwin. They were a small facility with an indoor area and an outdoor enclosed yard with a little plastic kiddie pool (which Darwin loves to stand in). We only didn't take into consideration how out of the way it is from all the activities we had planned (45 min drive from horseback riding and water rafting spot), but other than that it was a great place.
So we hurried over east and dropped off Darwin then headed to Cherry Wood.
{hello mini horse!}
Besides the horses they had a few dogs on the property. This one followed me around a bit as we waited.
These were Jason and my horses, Nevada and Latago.
We had a few late comers (I hate tardy people!... maybe not hate, but am bugged by them) so we got a later start than planned, but then we were off.
We stopped at three wineries (had lunch at the second) and at the last stop I made friends with this guy. They rescued him as a stray and he's a total lover.
Since we started later than planned we were running behind and had to rush back to the B&B so we could head out to pick up Darwin from daycare. See the teepees... you can stay in them at the B&B!
We collected the wines we bought (if you buy wines along the tasting the wineries deliver them back to Cherry Wood so you don't have to carry them around) and hurried back to Yakima to pick up Darwin. We then stopped quickly at a market to get dinner supplies (steak and mashed potatoes of course) and then headed out towards RimRock lake near Tieton where we planned to camp (also near the rafting area). We found a free spot next to the river.
It was a great spot for the most part, right on the river, no one near us, but the highway was right across the river. Boo. It wasn't too bad, cars couldn't really see us, but the traffic noise freaked Darwin out. She kept thinking a car was pulling up to our site and barking. She had a pretty sleepless night (she was "on guard" all night watching the car lights pass and trying to hear for strange noises)... poor girl.
btw are great for camping. I love them!}
