A Walk in the Woods

Mom got home Wednesday and I was ready for a bunch of mom-time. She didn’t disappoint me–off we went for a trip to the river. Ball-playing. Swimming. Digging. Then some agility the next day. What more could a dog have? (psst: whisper mud)

Somehow, I was feeling a little unfulfilled, but that didn’t last–you know Mom comes through in the end. And she did! Today, I met my friends Caly and Tucker for a walk in the woods.I hadn’t seen them in ages, so it was like old home week. Caly was so happy, she thought a little kissy face would be good. Me? Not so sure, but I let her have her fun. After all, it was Caly.

There’s nothing better than a good run in the woods. It felt sooooooo good.

Trees were changing; leaves were falling and there was a crispness in the air. What a perfect day! And what made it so perfect, you say?

 I found mud!I’m one happy dog!

Pee Ess: Mom was in shock awe when I emerged from that storm drain and, you guessed it. I had a bath. 😦

WW: Tunnel? Or Not?

                                                         Hmmm. What’s in there?

                                      Can you find me?

 

Friday This ‘n’ That and Here ‘n’ There

First of all, your kindness and thoughtfulness made my Dad really happy. We can’t thank you enough! And now I’m going to spend all my waking time trying to catch up with everyone. Well, after a little cat nap in my condo.

Mom knows I have to get out and run several days a week (that’s over and above the daily walks and my agility lesson and shoppin’ and stuff).  She says I’m high-maintenance, but I know she loves it. 🙂

We managed a few of my favorite places and one I haven’t been to recently.

The other day, as I sat at the base of a tree high above the Columbia River, I contemplated my next move. Do I race down the cliff and run around on the riverbank, or race down the cliff and hop in the river? I have such hard life-decisions to make sometimes.

Yesterday, Mom and I went on a hike up Powell Butte. We love it there…lots of big trees, and ferns and sometimes a black-tailed deer. I  run and run, never getting far away. There are lots of things to explore…like this pipe.

It’s like a tunnel, Mom!

Please note the water coming out. I just don’t understand why Mom says I could find a mud-hole in the Sahara Desert. You know I have to find one somewhere. I just pretended to look in the pipe.

Fooled you, Mom!!

I liked this fallen tree. It had an opening I could look through and it framed the forest behind, even though it’s a bit blurry.

 

And this spot in the forest is actually quite beautiful…except I was more interested in the squirrel I thought was there. Not. 

.

.

.

.

.

I leave you with one of my favorite things to do. This was at 1000 Acres. 

Mom! Not the hose? Really??????

Ferns & Moss

We’re back in the forest and you can see I’m a bit wet. That’s because it’s been raining and I found a mud-puddle and Mom didn’t take a picture. But that was yesterday’s news. Today, we’re going to look at what’s growing.There’s a lot of stuff growing on trees besides leaves here in Portland. Moss is EVERYWHERE–in the grass, on the roof and on the trees. And you thought ferns grew just on the ground. Not here! They also grow on the trees!

Ivy climbs up them too–it’s considered invasive here in the Northwest.

And do you see those leaves? Those were some of the biggest maple leaves I’ve ever seen!
On our way back to the car, we went past a whole bunch of ferns–did you know those ferns are taller than me? I guess that bath I had to have was worth it. Mom says I have to stay clean for a while. She’s no fun…..

On the Trail

Today we went to Powell Butte. We’ve been there before–remember? But there’s always something new to see. Leaves have fallen and it was C O L D. Personally, I love the cold–it cools me down when I run up and down those hills! And, yes, I found a mud-puddle, but Mom wasn’t quick enough with the snappy thing.My buddy, Caly, and I decided to check out those deer trails off to the side.And I played “king-of-the-mountain” on some of the fallen trees. That’s a really fun game–at least I think so.It started hailing about here, but the trees kept us kinda dry. Mom said it was good it stopped really quickly.

We found a place where there were a lot of ferns–there are a lot of those around Portland. That’s because it rains a lot here in the winter.

I have more ferns to show you, so check back. Fern–this will be for you!

Oh, I do have to tell you that I found some really stinky skat on one of those deer trails. Usually I get hosed off when we get home, but this time I GOT A BATH. Interestingly enough, I just stepped into the tub and said “I’m ready”. Can you believe it?

I’ll be visiting you at the Saturday Blog Hop! Hope to see you there.

Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

Muddy Monday

Not quite the traditional mud-dippin’ body-coatin’ Monday I usually deliver, but I didn’t want to disappoint any of my Muddy Monday fans! We went back to the woods yesterday.

The ferns were everywhere! This whole hill was covered with them!And I bet you can’t guess what we found? Noooooo, not my traditional mud puddle. A creek!With a big pool waiting just for us! We looked like whirling dervishes!! But if you really want to see us in action and get full effects of muddy water play–watch our movie!

We Hike For Awards!

Ha, I bet you wonder what that’s all about? To start, I’ve been honored, and I mean honored, to be the recipient of several awards in the past week. Eddie and Cassie over at What Dogs Do awarded us with an Inspiration Award! Thank you, guys, for thinking I’m an inspiration! I wonder if they have mud in the UK? I’m on it, guys! I’m suppose to pass this on to other bloggers and let me tell you, you ALL inspire me! But my biggest inspiration is my Toby, Sir Pantsalot of the Round Bowl. He’s been practicing a lot with his sword this week. The special vet went to a conference this week to pick up the magic powder he’s going to sprinkle on Toby’s sword. He said the fight will begin next week and wants to be nearby in case Sir Pantsalot needs some help. I told him I’d help sharpen his sword or carry his armor or do anything to help him, ’cause he’s my inspiration. I know he’s going to win, I just know it. And, all of you bloggers out there, please know that you inspire me a lot too. That’s what keeps us going!

Miss Stella over at Just Ramblin’ awarded me with a Genuine Blogger Award. And there are no rules or blogs to forward this to or anything! I was so happy that if there was a mud puddle nearby, I’d dive in–except they’re all drying up…… So, I’ll just say thanks to Miss Stella for thinking of me. THANKS MISS STELLA!!Then, would you believe it, Oscar  sent me the Versatile Blogger Award. I try to be versatile, but there’s only so many mud-puddles. Trust me, if there’s one around, I’ll find it–just ask Mom.  Oscar, you are the BEST!

 

After all that heady stuff, Mom and I went for a long hike at Powell Butte with my friends Caly and Tucker. Toby didn’t go–Mom said it was getting a bit warm and we were going to be gone for a while. He needs to conserve his energy for the big battle.

Remember, we’ve been to Powell Butte before, but Caly’s Mom knew all the best trails. We stayed mainly in the forest–I love running up and down all those hills. Of course, I had to be on-leash part of the time (you know, rules…..).But I had time to show you some of the neat scenics (as my friend Shawnee would say). Here’s a hollowed out tree stump. Pretty big, huh? I was doing my best sit/stay. Mom says I have to focus. Focus pocus, that’s what I say.I practiced my agility and jumped up on this big moss-covered rock. Don’t you think I look like an explorer–looking for the next trail? Check out my feet–see the mud? I found some even here!
Caly and I waited on this fallen tree trunk for water. We were pretty parched! Mom, you need to bring LOTS of water. Don’t you know anything?How do you like this boulder? I don’t think I’d like it rolling down on me! I just decided to look pretty here (and practice focus stuff. (Gee, Mom. You’re no fun.))At the very end of our hike, we met a man who was taking pictures of this butterfly. He said it was rare and only lives on thistle. If I had to live on thistle, I’d be rare too! OUCH. And, guess what, we saw several of them, so we stopped and watch them flit around. One even landed on Mom’s head! He told us what it was called (sounded like satyrangua), but Mom couldn’t find it on the Internet. She found a Comma Butterfly that’s rare and looks like this one, but we aren’t butterfly experts. So, here it is to enjoy, whatever it’s called…..

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

The Sun was OUT!

And so was I!! I promised you we were going on a hike yesterday, and so we did. Remember when we went to Powell Butte? That’s where we went! And guess what we saw as we were driving into the park? 3 deer! Yes! Deer. But, Mom didn’t take a picture–she was driving. She could have stopped, but…..

We decided to go to the woods this time. There’s some pretty nice trails back in there and everything was so green! Not that we’ve had a lot of water this year or anything. I found some really good sniffs–probably this was a mouse-hole. Mom said I was lucky it didn’t jump out at me.

You notice the trail is pretty dry. Don’t worry, there was still some mud, but I behaved myself. Can you believe it?There was a big tree trunk in the middle of the trail. I’ve been practicing my jumps in agility, so this was a piece of cake. Toby hopped right over too. Even at his age, he can show us some moves!

The meadow was full of wild lupines. They were all over the place! Mom thought they were pretty. She told me she tried to grow them when they lived in Colorado, but they were puny compared to these. We hope everyone had a good Memorial Day! We sure did.

Powell Butte

Powell Butte is an extinct volcanic cinder cone here in Portland. Hey, Mom! What’s that mean?

Mom: It’s a Plio-Pleistocene cinder cone of the Boring Lavas. Like one of your favorite out-door dog parks-Mount Tabor. There’s 4 of these cinder cones in Portland. 

Me: What’s Plio-Pleistocene? (That’s one of those big words I don’t understand.)

Mom: That means it was blowing up 5 million years ago. 

Me: Oh. I guess we aren’t going to be blown to cinders?

Mom: Right–we are just going to take a hike up it. It’s not very far.

When we got to the top of this little hill, we found a walnut orchard. Those were some pretty old trees–planted in the late 1800’s. They haven’t started leafing out yet–I wonder if there are squirrels that live there? They sure like walnuts!Wow! When we were up on the top, you can see all these big mountains! This is Mount Hood to the east. Isn’t it pretty? All that snow! Did you know you can ski up there in the summer sometimes? And to the northwest, we could see Mount St. Helen’s! It blew up in 1980, but it didn’t blow its top like some volcanoes you see on teevee. It blew sideways–and killed a bunch of people. Someday we’ll go there and I can tell you more about it! Mom says it’s really amazing. I think it might be scary, but she said it’s gone to sleep.

There is this place on the top of our hill where we could see 4 of the big volcanic mountains in the Cascade Range as well as a whole bunch of smaller mountains. We took a little rest here while Mom was taking pictures. There was a woman sitting on a bench and wondered if Toby was part wolf. That’s because his face is white. Mom said he was just old and his muzzle had just turned white–like Mom!

We could just see Mount Jefferson, way to the south, but it was a little hazy and Mom couldn’t take a photo. But we could see just the tippy top of Mount Adams. It’s that white place above the snow-capped range to the right of the tree. Looks like a cloud, doesn’t it? There are clouds up there, but that’s it! Another big one!! But it hasn’t blown up in a long, long time. Over 100,000 years ago. That’s even older than Mom!

That was a pretty nice walk! There were lots of people and little people (I’m not too sure about them) and horses! This is really how far away Mount St. Helen’s and Adams are. Mom said we aren’t going to climb them. Pshew……Pee Ess: Mom said I should tell you about the Kurgo contraption she bought for the car. She moved the zip-line down to the connectors on the shoulder harnesses and it worked pretty good! I couldn’t be a bobble-head dog though……