Stylin' summer cruising

Here's the latest thing we've been doing lately. I told you about my

new harness; now I've got a new set of "doggles" to wear when we are

out cruising in the roadster.

I will admit that I didn't like wearing them at first, but when we get into the car, I kinda forget about them. Also, it seems to cut down on the brightness when I've got them on - it seems that we only go out in this car when it is bright and sunny out. I like our new summer-time activity!

Mischa

More road trip

After Seattle, we continued driving for a little while, and ended up at a place called Leavenworth. It seemed strangely familiar to me, as the place had a Swiss mountain feel to it. Apparently it was "Bavarian", but we dogs have no sense of borders, and it seems that they have similar style to my Swiss homeland.

Anyhow, it was blisteringly hot there... we had lunch at a cafe on the street, then went back to our hotel for some cool air-conditioning! I can't tell temperature, but they said it was 104° F there (or 40° C for us Canadian doggies)... too hot for me. We went back to town later that evening for dinner, and they had sausages and beer (ok, Richie did), and I got a little bit of some German pretzel. We went down to the river too, and I got to cool my paws in the water there, but didn't go for a full swim.

The next day, we got back in the Rover and went searching for an off-leash dog park on a lake. We went to someplace called Lake Chelan, then another one called Manson, and neither of them had anyplace for me to swim! So we said, "screw this country, let's go back to Canada", and we drove to Osoyoos.

Now this is more like it... my own little private beach, and it was much cooler there - only 34° C and some shade by the lake. We had camped here before, so Richie knew it would be off-leash. We hung out there for a couple of hours and then continued on to Penticton. It was also nice there, and after hanging out in the cool air-conditioned room for a while, we went for a swim in Okanagan Lake.

This was a great place to swim - the sand was really nice, and there were tons of dogs (yet another example of why Canada rocks) to get introduced to. 

After a refreshing dip, we went over to the shady area of the grass to relax, and I got some tummy rubs. What more can a dog ask for? 

Anyhow, after we woke up, we got back in the Rover and ended up in Kamloops. We weren't there very long, when Lupin and Humphrey showed up (with their humans)! We did the traditional walk down to Peterson Creek Park, where we all can get our paws wet, as well as quench our thirst.

It was still pretty hot there, so we stayed in the shade most of the time, and slept pretty much all day. I like visiting Kamloops, but could do without the heat. After a few sleeps, we came back home, and concluded our road trip.

Mischa

Our trip to Seattle

For some reason, we did not end up going camping this year - something to do with all of the rain we had this spring, and our favourite beach being underwater. Anyhow, we went to a place called Seattle instead. I have been to Washington State before, but I've never visited this place.

We started out by going shopping at the Seattle Premium Outlets... while I did not do much shopping myself, I got a lot of attention from all of the people that were there! Everybody asks where I am from, and what my name is. Some even had their pictures taken with me. After a few hours there, we continued onto a place with four doggies and three humans! I had met Carl and Laura before, as they had come up to our place for a stay, but this was my first time at their house.

From left to right, that's Jake, Zeus, Titus, me and Zoe. Jake is the oldest one, and Zoe is a police dog. Little Zeus is the newest member of the family, and Titus is just visiting for a while. It was great having more four-legged friends around. That is until Zoe attacked me for being interested in my own food! Dog, that's the second time that a chocolate lab has gotten upset with me about my kibble. 

The next day, we went down to the beach - this was a special, "dog beach" that was all set up for us - there were poo bags, water dishes, and a doggy shower (yuck) area. I swam a little, but that Zoe, she went chasing after the tennis ball so many times, I got tired just watching her! After we spent our time at the beach, we went back to the house, and the humans went off to something called the Chihuly exhibit - something that does not go well with dogs apparently. They came back after a while (we slept), and then they had a big Thai food feast... I really wanted to give it a try, but it was apparently too spicy for me.

Oh well, you can't blame a dog for trying! Thanks Carl and Laura (and Megan) for having us at your place in Seattle!

Mischa

What the heck was that?

Tonight, I was sitting on the deck having a scotch (ok, I was keeping Richie's toes warm while he had a scotch). This is my typical lookout perch while I keep an eye on the backyard and see what Dexter is up to.

Anyhow, while I was watching over things and getting pets from Richie, I heard something in the flowery plant below. I ran down to check it out, and stuck my nose deep in there to see what was happening.

While I was deep inside the garden, something ran out, skittered along the fence, and ran into the other part of the garden! I ran after it, but quickly lost track of it. It looked like a squirrel, but it didn't have a bushy tail. Hmmm. I wonder what that was?

Mischa