Katie and I went to her favorite park on Saturday, but the grass was burned brown from days of heat,  the air hung heavy with humidity, and the sun beat relentlessly on our heads so we didn’t stay long.  I promised her a better adventure the next day.  One with shade.

Sunday we went down to Ann Arbor and walked in the Arboretum, a place I had enjoyed while I was in school, a place I still visit from time to time, a place where her grandparents, the ones she never met, have a stone marker.  It sits along the Huron River where my Dad used to play when he was a kid. There are lots of trees and walking paths.  It’s a perfect place to explore if you’re a sheltie-girl.

It’s about an hour away from home, and she hasn’t been on any long car rides in awhile.  But she did very well…only crying after about 45 minutes; so we stopped at a rest stop so she could do her…well…resting.  So to speak.

Once we got to the Arboretum parking lot about 15 minutes later she was all excited.  She actually hopped up and down, and most of the time we were there she was prancing.  I don’t know if dogs know when they’re at a totally new place, but she sure had a good time exploring.

We watched families as they went down the river.  You could tell some knew what they were doing.

And some did not.

I took her down near the water, where other dogs had played.  I was curious if she’d be interested in getting her feet wet.  I’ve seen Diana’s dogs crossing rivers and playing in the ocean.  And they’re shelties.

Katie is obviously a “non-water type of sheltie.  She was not going to get her feet wet.  At all.  So I guess my dreams of walking with my dog on the shore of a Great Lake or the ocean and having her frolic in the waves is sort of blown.  Doesn’t mean I can’t frolic I guess.  It would just be more fun with my dog.  Oh well.

We also wandered back into the woods along some paths.

The mosquitoes were a bit much back there though.  So even though she wanted to go up this path, and it does go into a really pretty glen deep in a valley, I said ‘not this time baby-girl,’ and we headed back to the car.

She didn’t make a single noise all the way back home.  Even when I took a back road in order to get some farm pictures and added more time to our trip.   She didn’t exactly fall asleep on the ride home…but her head was sure nodding a lot.

Silly sleepy little girl