Dog Tales: First Week of Wintering South

(Note from Ros: I hesitated to allow Jasper (my Chocolate Lab) to write this as he does tend to get a little ‘yappy’. But he insisted, so here goes….)

Well, someone could have told me we were heading south for the winter! I wouldn’t have left that great M&M bone from Auntie Sue in the middle of the backyard!

Other than that oversight on Mom and Daddy’s part, this trip has been awesome!

The first night we stayed at Confluence State Park in Wenatchee which was covered in snow. Mom and Dad were surprised no one else was there… duh. But we had fun, chasing tennis balls and geese. I managed to lose 2 tennis balls in the snow in under an hour.

The next day Mom decided to take a shortcut and go over the pass on Highway 97 to Maryhill from Yakima. I could tell that Dad wasn’t too enthused, but as usual, he kept his mouth shut. I could sense that Mom got a little tense (lots of butt clenching) as she drove all 51 feet of the truck and our RV through slush and snow on the pass – but she managed to keep it together and we got to Maryhill State Park in one piece, where once again we chased tennis balls and geese. Because there was no snow, I found all the balls this time.

On Day 3, Mom checked with some people at the gas station to see what the conditions of the Highway 6 pass to Tillamook were like. No one really knew, but she decided to chance it anyway, and we lucked out again… avoiding a stop at Fort Stevens (which was supposedly cold and rainy) and got to Cape Lookout State Park a day early, where it was actually warm and sunny.

After setting up the RV, (Mom and Dad seemed really happy to have access to water and sewer for the first time in 3 days), we headed straight to the beach where I got to chase balls for a couple of hours.

That was essentially what we did for 3 days there. Back and forth to the beach, walking along, me chasing balls and running into the water.

It was a lot of fun… except for the times where I heard them laugh about being glad that I wasn’t a ‘real kid’ and being able to keep me locked up in my crate in the truck while they go out to restaurants where they ate good food like crab and clams.

Then to make matters worse they show me pictures of the fun that they had eating all those things — yet, they refused to let me pick at the dead crabs, jellyfish, seals and birds that I find on the beach.

I love them (Mom and Dad) but sometimes they suck!

Anyway, now we’re in Newport, Oregon. The campsite isn’t so great. It’s basically a big parking lot where I can’t run free, but the folks were all happy to have WiFi and Cable TV, so I suppose it’s an OK place. Besides, they took me to South Beach State Park this morning where once again we were the only ones on the beach and I got to chase balls for more than an hour… despite the fact that it was peeing down rain in sheets and Dad wasn’t too happy about having to walk with his knees hurting and all.

Then again, what I’ve really noticed is that the more Dad walks, the less his knees hurt. And as for Mom, the more seafood she eats and throws that ball for me on the beach, the happier she seems to be.

I think this trip is going to be really good for them!! (And me too). 🙂