Wordless Wednesday

A Day Gone To The Dogs

It was supposed to be a dog day.  A day for the dogs.  "Let's take the dogs to camp!" She said.  "It will be their day!"  She said.  "It'll be fun!" She said.

So we all loaded into the car, well... 2 cars actually.  I tried to wipe the smile off my face as I breathed in the fresh country smells and as the wind whipped the fur back from my face...  but it was a no-go.  The smile stayed.  I was a happy camper.  Camper.  get it?  BOL!  I was a camper!

When we got to camp it was business as usual.  (And yes, we both had business to do in the piles of brown leaves where mom scolded saying it was hard to find and why'd we have to evacuate the moment we got there??)  ....   Until a couple of pit bulls tried to bully Ellie May and me from two campers down.  We were having no parts of it though.  You should have seen my lil' niece Ellie!  That girl ran full speed as far as that rope would take that long and lean black body of hers and she came face to face with those ol' pit bulls and gave them the what for!!!  I'm pretty sure she scared the barks out of them cause they were quiet after that.

We walked, and walked and walked.  The cookie carriers suddenly became cookie carrier carriers as we savored the smells along the way.  Ellie girl was like - let's go-go-go while I was all about -  let's stop and smell the roses dog pee.

Ellie May and me got along just fine.  I felt obligated to share my water bowl and treats with her (especially after she was successful in intimidating the neighborhood bullies which gave us so much more peace about being there).

We sat and rested and occasionally got tangled together and needed our peeps to free us...  but it was fun.

 That camp air was awesome.

The smells...  ahhhhhhh the smells...

And the cookie carriers trying to steal our thunder and be cuter than us...

But really, we didn't care much.  We were in it for the smells.  and the food.

And speaking of food, we had steak for supper!  Seriously!!  Ellie May said she'd never eaten steak before nor had she ever gone for a walk!!!!  Wow.  Poor girl.  I was glad to share my day at camp with her.

We were both dog-tired when we got home.  I could not move. No, really.  I could not move.

Hanging in the Hammock 101

First, you must attach the straps to the trees.  

Up... up... up you go as high as you can get those straps...

Not quite high enough.  Try again.

Now that's much better!

Ahhhh the joys of hammock camping.  Watching the trees.  Feeling the warm breeze brush over your legs.   Savoring nature at it's finest.

Is there enough room on there for the dog?  If not, it's gotta go. 

Summer is in full swing.  And now, so is our hammock...

My Twenty Insights To Overnight Camping

1.  Prepare to build a fire.  Camping is nothing without a fire.

2. Laugh a lot.

3.  Have plenty of places to rest.  R & R is what camping is all about.

4. Invite a friend.

5. Be still.

6. Savor the campfire smell.

7.  Thank God for beautifully orchestrating the bird/wildlife concert of chirps and tweets and other unusual but sweet sounds for your entertainment.

8.  Notice the tall trees.

 9.  Cook dinner above the campfire.

10.  Choose a heavy and bold patriotic table cloth and feel happy.

11.  Roast your hotdog, don't toast your hotdog!

12.  Enjoy it all.

13.  Savor, savor, savor!

14.  Hold marshmallow's close enough to the fire for a gentle melt with just a touch of outer crisp.

15.  Or, If you prefer burned and black, set that baby on fire!

16.  As night closes in, refrain from telling spooky stories and try to forget about the black of night that encompasses your lone camper out there in those secluded, bear infested, silent woods.

17.  Once locked inside the safety of your camper, ignore all outside sounds even if they resemble that of a hatchet murderer.  Just repeat over and over again,  Freddie Krueger... go away.

18.  Take lots and lots of pictures!  So that when your husband points out the hatchet hanging from the tree beside your snuffed out campfire the following morning,  you can go back and examine those photo's...  one by one...  blowing them up...  and finding that though the scene of the terrifying hatched-in-the-tree eluded you, it was indeed there the night before.

19.  On your way home, be sure and freeze the beauty of it all.  In your mind and on your camera disc if possible.

20.  And think of what comes next.  Amazon.  Research for a softer and more comfortable bed so that your next overnight camping experience will be with actual sleep.

Glad you didn't take the dog on that one.  Just sayin'  ...   no sleep for you means no sleep for me.  Not cool.

Life Changing Stuff here....

Desiring some peace and quiet these days....  

Me too.  Could you give me some space please....

  And soooooo....   

We've made a major 'life changing' decision to buy a used camper from my X-husband.  It's in really good condition and he's even going to move it for us.

I hope there's room in there for the dog!

Where to put it.... where to put it...    That was the question.

How 'bout parking it up there by the dog park.  Easy access to good times that's what I'm talkin' about!

And so, we began our mission to find just the right spot.

And....  We found it!

It's not quite an hour away from our home so driving there won't be a big deal.  We are excited!!  Gracie doesn't know it, but soon she too, will be embarking on an adventure that she will love, I just know it.

Barking maybe.  Yea.  Barking for sure.  I'm not sure about the embark thing.  Sounds like work.

Umm...  are there bears in them there woods?

Now Gracie, come on into this new tent we got for the kiddies to have a sleepover/night swim/camping experience and let's get camp-ready!

Yea, well... okay...   as long as this is not a trick.  It's not, right?