So I am finally rested up enough to write about my camping adventure. You see last week Melanie and I hit the road for New Mexico...my first time out of the state! I was worried I didn't have the proper documentation, but we managed to get past border security just fine (I think my sleeping on the car floorboard helped). Isn't this scenery beautiful!
Shortly after passing the border it was time for lunch. We managed to catch up with the rest of the gang (ie Melanie's aunts/uncles/cousins/grandparents) making caravaning much easier! I also managed to coerce a french fry or two during this stop.
Finally after many many hours in the car and countless naps, we arrived in Red River. See me posing so nicely here.
Shortly after arriving, Melanie, Julie and I set up the tent. Dogs weren't allowed in the cabins (Arrrrggg the persecution!) so Melanie and I were "roughing" it. The campground people warned us that there were bears in the area and to be careful. I don't know what a bear is, but I did see a deer, chipmunks/squirrels, fish and a beaver while we were there. The deer are kind of skittish and never really came close, but I did keep my eyes on them. The ground squirrels were quite friendly and visited our porch many time and didn't seem to mind the humans much. I tried to make friends, but sadly it was too scared of me and hid itself. The fish are by far the scariest things I encountered. The flop around and make a big fuss about swinging on a piece of rope. Eventually they settle down but if you get close to them to smell they tend to flop around some more so you have to keep your distance. Also, the humans don't like you to bark while "playing" with the fish.
There wasn't much happening the rest of the evening as the humans just sat around this thing and talked. I was bored to be honest with everydoggie. I just don't see the fascination with it, but I will admit that it was warm and toasty. Plus Melanie snuck me a taste of toasted marshmallow from her Smore and it was DELICIOUS!
Day 2-The First HikeThis morning we all headed off on a hike. It was supposed to be a slow easy one...a warm up so to speak. We started in a pack with about 17 people and one dog (me). I tried to lead the group like the trail blazer I am but Melanie kept falling behind. This resulted in my having to hike three times the distance as I kept going back to check on her and then racing back to the front of the group. Occasionally I left my own version of a trail of crumbs by peeing on various objects. This elicited laughter from several people, but I really had their best interest in mind. After all this trail could lead us off the mountain should we get lost!
Eventually the little mini-groups developed like the "gung-ho, we're getting to the top" group and the "let's ease into this group" and the "scenery is great" group. I was forced to abandon the lead group in favor of Melanie's group which didn't make it quite as far as the others. Anyway, my group had a good time regardless and I even convinced Faith to partake in a little fresh water refreshment with me.
Overall this was a great day, but I was frankly exhausted by the end. I only managed to squeeze in a 3 minute nap all day. As we all know, dogs require a minimum of 16 hour of sleep per day and I was way behind on my quota. Melanie made me wear my t-shirt to bed as it was supposed to be quite cold at night. I also got my own sleeping bag, but more on that later.
Day 3-Shopping and a FightThis day we decided to take it a bit easier and headed to town to do a little shopping. This included one of my first ever rides on a bus! It is kind of like riding in a car, but way less secure and much more roomier. Overall I recommend to all my doggie friends to try it out. While we were waiting for the bus to pick us up I chose to sit with my new friend Leo.
After grabing a quick bite (this time I didn't get any) we hit the street to do some sightseeing. The first thing I glimpse is my old friend Bosley the Boston Terrier. I always knew Bos was famous but I never realized he was CowDog Famous. I mean look at this GIANT picture of him right in the town. He's my hero!
Anyway, towards the end of the afternoon we sat down on a nice porch and seemed to watch the people walk by. But in reality we were waiting for a gun fight show to start. Now, if I had known what this involved I would have NEVER stayed there for it, but as it was I was young and naive about these things. It started off fine, but suddenly there was a loud BANG BANG BANG! And people were running towards us and I immediately tried to escape Melanie's lap and run away! This, sadly, left Melanie scarred for life as she was wearing shorts and I have sharp nails. Luckily Grandma saw what was happening and took me down the street while everyone finished watching the show. For her I am thankful!
Day 4-Dangling for my life and then AbandonedLast night was FREEZING in the tent and I insisted on moving on in to Melanie's sleeping bag, a warm flannel lined den of coziness. Here you can see her pj's (orange) and me snuggled in at the bottom of the bag. As you can also tell, I wasn't too keen on getting up this morning and would have preferred a snooze in. But Melanie has learned that even though they claim breakfast starts at X:XX time the family inevitably starts 15-30 minutes early and when 30+ people are eating you better get there at the start or you'll miss out, so up we got.
After breakfast a few of us headed to town (on the bus again!) for some more sightseeing. This time the humans wanted to take the chair lift up to the top of the mountain for a scenic view. Again this is where my naivety comes in. If I had known this meant riding a precarious bench 50 feet in the air with no seat belt for 30 minutes each way I would have gladly volunteered to stay behind. Melanie held on to me pretty tight and even wrapped my leash (attached to my harness) around the center pole for security. People on the lift going the opposite way kept commenting that their dogs would never and how was I liking it. I responded in the affirmative but suggested that they consider the size of their dog before proceeding as everydoggie would prefer to sit in their humans lap during such an experiment.
After safely kissing the ground upon my arrival back to the bottom, we had lunch on the patio of a lovely italian place. I spent the time lounging under the table watching the people go by and trying to catch a little sleep. Then we headed back to camp and I was introduced to my doggie sitter for the afternoon as Melanie was going ATVing.
I protested loudly that I am too old to have a sitter and that I should be allowed to either go with Melanie or roam free while she was gone. This didn't work and I spent the afternoon howling and crying while Melanie's gracious and loving aunts, uncles and cousins kept passing me off to another person every few minutes. Finally after several hours I managed to settle down for a small nap on Faith's lap while she played a board game, but I kept one ear open for the sounds of Melanie's return. She eventually came back but didn't seem at all remorseful that she had abandoned me for a souped up golf cart!
Day 5-Goose huntingToday we woke up early and ate a quick breakfast before heading off for a long hike to Goose lake. Several people were going to stay up there and fish all day (see photo above) while the rest of us were just in it for the fun. I was the sole male representative in my little sub-group. The hike itself was pretty exhausting but really exciting as I got to smell I mean see a lot of nature. I spent a lot of time making sure everyone kept together and that no one got lost. What would these humans do without me! The hardest part was supervising them walking across some logs to avoid getting their feet wet at the stream crossing. The water was REALLY cold and by the time everyone got across I was numb from the toes up!
At the top after 2.5 hours, we finally saw the lake...but no geese like I was expecting. We managed to walk partways around the lake and meet up with the rest of the group. I was pretty tired and grump but Melanie made me pose for a picture. As Melanie fished a little, I promptly took a little nap on grandma's lap, the softest spot on earth!
On the way back down it started to rain a little. We were under fairly heavy tree cover, but I still got a little wet. Melanie forgot her jacket too so we both got cold. When we got back to camp, everyone took a nap but Melanie and I put on sweatshirts and sat on the porch watching the nightly fire being built. After 10 minutes I was still shivering so Melanie took off her sweatshirt and wrapped me up in it. She borrowed a jacket for her self. It took another hour but I finally got warm. I spent the rest of the evening prancing around in my camo trying to blend in with nature and catch that tricky squirrel!
Overall I would say my first camping trip was exceptional. I had a really fun time and don't regret going at all. The tent was a bit weird with strange sounds all night long. And the bear was a little scary. But all the other animals and nature were fantastic! I highly recommend to all my doggie friends that they give it a try. You won't regret it! And I would like to say a big howdy to the family on the trip...hope you'll let me go next year!
