Vacations, Dog Sitting and Sunny Walks

We've been busy enjoying the sunny weather and haven't posted in a while! Last weekend, Chris and I took a prolonged weekend trip to the Oregon coast. While the hotels we stayed in were pet-friendly, we opted not to bring Ellie because we knew that leaving her alone at the hotel while we go out would be no good. Because she is unfamiliar with new surroundings, I could foresee her crashing into everything and stressing herself out majorly.

So we headed over to Rover.com! I found a grad student dog sitter who was willing to stay at our apartment while we were away and it worked out well! Ellie didn't miss a beat and probably didn't really realize we ever left which was great!

Some pics from our trip:

The beach at Cape Kiwanda

MASSIVE mussels attached to a big rock when the tide was out

We drove 20 miles into town (Pacific City) to get salt water taffy and found this at one of the candy shops!

And one pic of Ellie from our most recent sunny day walk when she just had to crash out in the shade for a minute before we could continue. ;)

Finding Sun Puddles

Our new apartment doesn't get much sun since we're in the city and sandwiched between other tall buildings, but Ellie still manages to find sun puddles!

Wordless Wednesday: Sun spot

P.S. I'm going to BlogPaws this year!! Hope to see you there!

My Trip to Nevada (pic heavy)

I had a flight credit from Alaska just sitting in my e-mail inbox since I didn't end up going to NY this past March. Impulsively, I decided to visit my mom for Mother's Day in Nevada. Escape the Seattle rain for some hot Mojave Desert sun!

It was just four days but I experienced lots of adventures! The first day, I rescued their old senior pup who fell into the pool!! My mom said this was the first time this has ever happened. He is so old and oblivious that when he surfaced in the water, he idly started paddling until I jumped in and scooped him out, lol!

Tucker the clueless senior pup

The next day, my mom and I went hiking with her two Rat Terriers. They were pains in my bum, compared to what I'm used to with Ellie being such a great hiking dog. They barked and pulled and tangled their leashes. Oy.

On the way back down, I had Dexter who was sniffing along the side bushes when suddenly I heard a *HISS*. I yanked his leash back and we noticed a rattlesnake! No one was hurt, but upon returning home and doing some internet research, we discovered that it was one of two: either the most venomous rattlesnake, or the kind that has caused the most human bites and deaths in the US! (!!!!!)

Mom and the dogs

Me at the top!

The next day, we explored Zion National Park and went hiking, fortunately with no more surprises, although it certainly was an adventure!

View of Zion on the drive in

View from our hike up into Zion

Little critter I found :)

How I spent my last morning with Dexter

Unrelated to the Nevada trip, my sister and I just did (walked :P) a 5k yesterday so Ellie finally got to see her best friend Goldie again! It had been months since they'd seen each other so they were pretty excited. :)

Goldie and Ellie

Sunny Weekend Exploring

This weekend the sun was finally out so we got to have lots of fun! Chris works on Saturdays, so Ellie and I set out on our long walk without him that day.

I had yet to really explore my new neighborhood so we decided to hit the trails and take paths that we'd never been on without any real direction. Those are always the best kinds of walks. :) We ended up walking about 5.4 miles that day!

Sunday, the weather was even nicer, and Chris said that he wanted to show me this really neat park that is nearby. The North Creek Park is a huge expansive wetlands area that is just right down the street from where we live in suburbia and I never even knew about it!

The whole area is a wide open field of water that ranges from 2-5 feet deep, and you walk through it on floating wooden docks! So cool!

Our total walk was a little over 6 miles. We were so tired when we got back that all three of us took naps! Quite the long day!

Also, I managed to capture a video of Ellie after Chris picked a piece of grass and started whistling with it:

Weekend outdoor adventures

On Sunday I decided to get up and outside early before the day got too warm, so I took Ellie to Marymoor dog park bright and early in the morning.

When I first got Ellie, she loved to play with other dogs and go say hello to every dog and person she saw. These days, she seems more interested in claiming the entire 42 acre park by leaving her mark.
She marked...

Said hello...

And marked some more.

On the way back, we went to a blueberry farm where I picked around 2 pounds of blueberries to make some yummy treats! Ellie was very good and hung out in the grass while I picked.

Bridges and Leaves

Me and mom have been bad bloggers lately. Her, because she gets caught up in other stuff and doesn't write in our blog, and me because, well, because mom gets caught up in other stuff and doesn't let me on the computer!!

Anyway, last week we had a lot of sunny days, so mom and Goldie's mom (remember my friend Goldie?) decided to take us doggies on a looooong walk during the middle of work. We are so lucky because we got to do it 3 days in a row!! Mom said it was 4 miles long, I dunno what that means, but it was long!

It was fun spending time with my best friend Goldie and I go to sniff a lot and see a couple of squirrels (SQUIRREL!).

Mom is making me upload these pictures.