park | Change Is Hard

Come on mama, this looks like an AWESOME park!

Katie here. Mama asked me if I wanted to go to a park, and I said “OF COURSE MAMA! Are you crazy? I want to go to a park! Let’s go right now! RIGHT NOW MAMA!”

So we did.

We drove and drove and drove and I started to get vocal. Mama told me to settle down but I didn’t really. I was just expressing my opinion, and a princess is entitled. Right?

Isn’t this a pretty lake mama?

So anyway, mama was going to take me to visit Auburn University but she couldn’t find anywhere to park the car. We drove around and around and mama saw lots of stuff but I didn’t see anything cause I was in my crate in the back.

Not fair.

But when we finally stopped and mama got me out it was at a park! A beautiful park! Mama says she’s not sure where it was because she was lost by then. And she said she wasn’t going to take her camera, we’d just walk around a little bit.

Mama liked the row of trees. I liked the shade.

And then of course she found a gazillion pretty things that warranted a camera. So we walked around this beautiful little lake and then mama and I went back to the car, got a drink and her camera and walked around it again!

Isn’t it great? There was a blue heron the first time we walked, but he had moved on by the time we came back. We did get to watch these turtles though. Mama said they were all looking at me. Well of course they were, I’m the princess!

A little warm for my taste, but these guys liked the sun.

And there were these exercise things. Mama tried a couple of them, she said they were really fun. I was not interested, given that I already have a svelte sheltie figure.

These look fun mama! For you anyway.

Once we got around the lake the second time mama loaded me in the car and drove some more and when she parked again I couldn’t figure it out. It was a busy parking lot? What are we doing here mama? I dutifully followed along and suddenly we were inside a groomer’s place!!

Mama tricked me!

The lady put my on a table and there were all these little dogs, bichons and chihuahuas and other little fru fru dogs running around on the floor, and then a great dane walked into the room and stretched! Why he could reach as high as the table I was on! And the lady was clipping my toenails! And trimming my toe fur! I turned my head and looked at my mama and pleaded with her to get me out of there!

Mama says she wishes she had the camera, because the whole thing was ridiculously funny, dogs running all over and me looking pitiful up on the table. But she left her phone in the car, so no pictures.

I’m personally glad. It was humiliating.

When we left I was in such a hurry to get out of there that I ran up the 8 stairs outside. Up the stairs. Wait…I forgot I don’t do stairs. Mama called me a little stinker. I think that’s a compliment…right?

I’m ticked at my mama. Taking me to a wonderful park does not negate the secret groomer appointment. But I have to say my feet do look a whole lot better.

Don’t tell her I said that.

Pretty feet.

March 2, 2017
by dawnkinster 19 Comments

WordPress Photo Challenge: The Road Taken

Walking a forest fire access road around the mountain we were surprised to find a bit of the lake hiding in back.

Let’s go explore that shoreline mama!

We were glad we took this road a bit further than we ever had before.

Wonder what surprises other people have found on the roads they’ve taken? Check out the link above. Or here are a couple I especially liked.

Katie says she hopes everyone gets out today on a walk filled with wonderful surprises.

And that you all get to take a nap after.

Come along with me!

February 24, 2017
by dawnkinster 16 Comments

WordPress Photo Challenge: A Good Match

Mahogany sable sheltie in the Alabama red clay woods.

Come on mama! Let’s go see what’s over here!

A good match.

Want to see some other good matches? Check out the link above. Or if you’re short on time, a couple of my favorites so far are here and here. Go ahead and take a look. I think you’ll be surprised and then you’ll smile.

Katie says everyone needs at least one smile each day.

Smile everybody!

February 21, 2017
by dawnkinster 18 Comments

Ain’t no mountain tall enough

Katie here.

I have sufficiently rested up from my mountain adventure to tell you all about it. I know you’ve been wanting to know. (PS: Most of the photos here were taken by my aunt. That’s how mama got to be in so many of them! Thank you Aunt B!)

A little bit of a huge lake.

See, there’s this big mountain near my lake house and it has a restored fire tower on it. Almost every time mama comes down here she and her family and friends climb up the mountain and then up the fire tower.

But this year she had me and she wasn’t sure, at my advanced age of ten, that I’d want to climb a mountain. Plus it’s pretty warm here and she always worries about me overheating my pretty self. After all I do carry my fur coat everywhere I go. (I don’t trust it to the coat check guy. At all.)

Hurry up mama!

My aunt and uncle came over to the lake house this past weekend and they wanted to go up the mountain. They didn’t worry at all about how I would do, they knew I was a brave sheltie-girl and just assumed I’d want to go. Mama decided to pack a bag with all the essentials like water and poop bags and treats and see how far I’d go. She didn’t want to go so far up that she’d have to carry me down. No siree.

Good spot for a photo shoot…and a rest!

Well it turns out that I love being in the woods. I don’t know why mama was surprised. Once again she underestimated me. We took lots of breaks and most of the path up the mountain was in the shade. She gave me lots of water, in fact I drank almost a whole bottle of water myself on this adventure.

I sniffed lots of cool stuff and scrambled up and over lots of rocks, and pulled mama along cool paths covered in soft pine straw. It was fantastic.

Another pretty spot to rest!

Mama had to carry me the last bit…because stupid people had thrown bottles over the top of the rocks and there was broken glass…and then there were a bunch of steps up to very top and you all know about me and not doing steps. I did all the down steps just fine, but I was scared to do the up steps. Don’t ask. I can’t explain it.

At the top of the mountain I sat on a nice cool slab of concrete with my aunt while mama climbed the tower to get a few shots. She says she doesn’t know why she did that, the images she took look just like the images she took when she was there in November. But she loves being up at the top of that tower.

I’ll wait for you down here mama!

She says she could stay up there for hours, but she knew I was waiting for her down below so she hurried on down. I said no rush mama, cause I was meeting all sorts of nice people and some nice dogs too! It was a beautiful Sunday with blue skies and warm temperatures so there were lots of folks and a few of their dogs out. Everyone said I was really cute. Of course.

Mama and me on top of the world.

Then we walked back down the mountain which I found easier than the trip up. That’s a good thing because truthfully I was getting a little tired. I stopped half way down and looked at my mama. She said no way was she carrying me the rest of the way, so I took a long drink and trotted down on my own.

I’m a good girl.

Monday all we did was go to the little park which was OK.

I’ve named this Katie’s Park II!

And take some photos in town. Which was boring.

Mama says this is grandma and grandpa’s church.

And today…so far all we’ve done is this.

BORING!

Mama says she doesn’t know what she can do to top walking in the Smokey Mountains and on the Atlantic Ocean beach with my boyfriend Reilly, and taking a boat ride and seeing an eagle and climbing a mountain. She says she’s running out of exciting things to do. She better get thinking. I don’t know how long I can be patient.

Because as you all know, it’s not good to keep a princess waiting.

What’s next mama?

February 16, 2017
by dawnkinster 25 Comments

Exploring

Katie here. My mama has been very remiss in getting my posts online in a timely manner. OK, so she’s been driving and getting food for us and stuff. But still, I’m going to have to play catch up now and that is so frustrating. I hope mama gets her act together now that we’re in Alabama and apparently resting a lot.

So last time you heard from me I was in Florida with the love of my life Mr. Reilly. But you only got to see one of our beach excursions. We went out another day really early (I was good at the really early thing since I’ve been getting mama up at 4 a.m. for months and months!) to the beach so we could see the sun rise. We didn’t count on it being so foggy.

My handsome guy disrupts the shore birds.

Still…it was pretty on the beach in the fog. There was hardly anyone else out there. Just us and some birds and a couple other people and their dogs.

Mama and Reilly’s mom got some very nice photos of us. I tried to be good about it but I really just wanted to get up and explore. Mama takes way too many pictures if you ask me.

The three of us tolerated more photos.

Sadly we had to continue on with our adventure, mama and I, the next day. So we said goodbye to my favorite Florida family and headed across Georgia to visit my Aunt Beth. It was fun to stay at her house overnight. I hadn’t seen her in a lot of years!

My Aunt Beth’s front door!

The next morning mama took me over to the lake house. This is where my grandma and grandpa used to live. I never got to meet them, but I’m pretty sure I’d have liked them cause I like their lake house a lot. I can see out the big windows and watch the world go by. I get to choose between the comfy chair and the comfy sofa to snooze, and I’ve been snoozing a lot.

Our first sunset at the lake house.

Here at the lake I have my mama all to myself…and she has promised to take me to parks for long walks. Yesterday we got to go to Horseshoe Bend Military Park where we read all about the Battle at Horseshoe Bend between General Jackson’s army and the Lower Creek and Cherokee Indians in 1814.

The battle site is along the Tallapoosa River. The river was beautiful in the sun when we were there, but I was more interested in smelling around the trees, looking for pee-mail left by other dogs. I didn’t find much to speak of. I guess we were one of the first there after the early morning rains went through.

Pretty river mama, but boring if you’re me.

We climbed a big hill and I got to explore the cannon. And mama only took one picture, so that worked out. I guess even mama can learn if I give her time.

Way up on a peaceful hill is the remembrance of a bloody battle.

I enjoyed the park, but it wore us both out. We fell asleep at 7 last night! Now I’m ready to find out what mama has up her sleeve for today. I told her we need to explore somewhere new each day. She says she’ll try. I guess that’s all I can expect from mama.

After all, she’s on vacation too.

I’m getting soggy mama!

February 15, 2017
by dawnkinster 2 Comments

WordPress Photo Challenge: Shadow

All shadows point to me.

As befits the princess that I am.

Want to see some more cool shadow images? Check out this one and this one, or go to the link above and explore on your own!

February 9, 2017
by dawnkinster 14 Comments

The greening of Eastern Tennessee

Wednesday Katie and I went out exploring early in the day. We knew there was no sense sticking close to the hotel because the car wasn’t going to be ready. So we headed back toward Gatlinburg, hoping to find a trail that would keep Katie happy and some photogenic stuff for me.

This time I was more observant, and as I drove into Gatlinburg I noticed the blackened hills above the commercial strip, the hulks of huge burned out homes stark against the sky. The firefighters saved the blocks of restaurants and bars, pancake houses and fudge shops, wax museums and curio shops. But all around town, at the fringes of prosperity, was evidence of the fire that roared through last October.

It is heartbreaking. Especially when you realize that some of the fires were set by humans. And that so many people died. These were people’s homes, their possessions that lay among the blackened rubble.

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And yet. It’s trying to be spring in Tennessee. Up through the blackened brush, the toppled trees, the crumbled walls bits of green are pushing through. Spring doesn’t recognize the devastation of fall. It just does spring.

After I wandered among some of the wreckage a bit I took Katie to a cool green path along the Little Pigeon River. I let her walk as long as she wanted, sniffing the fresh green. She loved it. I did too.

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We’re ready to move on, that’s for certain. But I’m glad I had this day to see up close how nature heals. We have good news too. We got the car back from the dealership yesterday late afternoon. So today, as you’re reading this Katie and I are on the road again.

Soothing.

We’re excited.

February 6, 2017
by dawnkinster 20 Comments

Progress. Of sorts.

I’m giving Katie-girl a couple of days off from blogging. She’s exhausted from all that work and is taking a well deserved break. She requests not to be disturbed.

Quit bugging me mama!

Some of you are wondering what’s happening with our car which broke down in the mountains of East Tennessee and was towed to a dealership on Saturday afternoon. Katie handled the stress of all that pretty well, though she did throw up in the front passenger seat (which thankfully I had covered by a sheet prior to setting her up there.) while we were waiting on the side of the freeway. I felt like throwing up too, but I had to be the responsible adult.

The upshot is that parts have been ordered and they will begin working on the car tomorrow. They might get done tomorrow late, but most probably won’t be finished till sometime Wednesday.

I’m good with that.

Though it would be nice to be on the road tomorrow, I know we were really lucky that the car quit right next to an exit that has a dealership. And that we got a really nice tow truck operator that took me and the car to that dealership, then took me up the road to a hotel that allows dogs, and waited until he knew I had a room before he left. And I’m lucky that people at the dealership put us ahead of others and began working on it this morning, and then helped me get a rental car, and actually carried stuff from my car to the rental car so that I have enough dog food for Katie during this extended stay.

After we got all that squared away Katie and I took a little tourist trip into the Smokey Mountain National Park, and from there into Gatlinburg. The guy at the dealership recommended we explore Gatlinburg, saying there were lots of places for us to walk. Katie was getting stir crazy hanging out in the hotel room, and we’d already explored the hotel parking lot in minute detail, so I was game for heading out for a mini adventure.

I noted on my Garmin that the Smokey Visitor Center was up the road about 20 miles, so I put that into the system and headed north. After about 30 minutes we arrived at what I presumed would be a national park visitor center. But no. It was the visitor center for a baseball team named the Tennessee Smokies. Right.

Not the Smokey Mountains. Nope.

So I tried again, typing in Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge, figuring I’d get closer. That got me to the Pigeon Forge airport. No pictures as Katie was beginning to huff at me. And time was getting away from us.

I tried a third time, being more particular and typed in Gatlinburg town. That worked! And along the way we traveled into the Smokey Mountain National Park, which is more of what I was really looking for. The stress in my shoulders loosened up as we entered the woods, driving along a rock rubble filled stream.

Then a sign said we could go to the national park via a Gatlinburg bypass! I was on it! Up the mountain we drove, winding around and around. I was noticing the bright green grass, thinking that Tennessee is way ahead of Michigan in terms of spring. It was so pretty, all that bright green.

Spring time green!

And then I realized it was fresh growth because the forest was totally burned! The trees were black, standing in all that green. Just about when I was realizing that we came upon a scenic overlook. Of course we stopped.

And way down below was the village of Gatlinburg, surrounded by charred mountains that were rapidly renewing themselves. It was beautiful in a sad sort of way.

Beautiful and sad all at the same time.

We continued up the mountain, then down the other side to a visitor center inside the park. I ran inside to get a map and saw that Cades Cove was another 25 miles into the park. I would have loved to go there, but it was already 3, and the 25 miles was on a little squiggly road which I knew would take a very long time. I didn’t want to be out there in the dark. I hope to go back and visit sometime.

Can’t get enough of views like this.

I drove a bit more, looking for a trail where Katie and I could walk a little bit. There was one not too far away, with a place to pull over. I got her out of the car, she huffing at me because all this driving was no adventure in her eyes. We started down the trail and immediately came across this sign.

What do you mean I can’t go down this trail?

Notice one of the “NOT ALLOWED” things are pets. Sigh. We got back in the car. Katie gave me the stink eye. So I figured we’d go into Gatlinburg after all and walk around there.

What a zoo. The town is blocks of restaurants and curio shops. You know what I mean. The kind of place you might want to walk if you weren’t a dog. She stood up in the front seat and watched it all go by, fairly interested and if there had been a free place to park I might have walked a block or so, but I didn’t want to pay for parking when we’d only be there for a few minutes. There’s no way she’d have that much fun on concrete.

See the little house down there?

So we headed back to the hotel. She says this was an epic fail adventure. But I liked the view from the top of the mountain. And I really liked not being in the hotel room for a few hours. She’s zonked out now, so there must have been a bit of adventure in there somewhere for her too.

Hey mama! They made the bed while we were gone!

I hope our next post is all about us back on the road. I’m ready to move on. Katie is too.

Mama! Did the fire burn down the rest of this fence?

February 2, 2017
by dawnkinster 17 Comments

And then we got stuck

Katie here.

It’s been a mild winter here in Michigan. There’s been hardly any snow which I personally find very disappointing. I’m a sheltie and I love the snow, as long as it’s not higher than my tummy. And as long as my folks plow me a potty path. I am, after all, a princess.

Anyway, the last couple of nights it’s snowed here! Just the perfect amount too! And then the most amazing thing happened. The sun came out! We haven’t seen the sun in weeks and weeks, maybe even 10 dog years! Mama got all excited and told me that we could not waste a day like this.

I love snow!

So she grabbed her camera and me and we hustled it over to one of my favorite parks!

I got to walk on my trail through the woods. We were the first ones out there that morning and I trotted off, nose to ground so excited to be out in my woods. Mama kept saying ‘easy easy baby’ but I ignored her. Especially when we were going down hills.

She finally just dropped my leash so she could protect the camera as she inched her way down the bigger hills. I had to wait for her a whole bunch. Mama is sort of slow.

Come ON mama!

I got to do a lot of running too. Mama didn’t always get great pictures of me, what with all the shadows from the big tall trees, but I had a blast anyway.

Get those treats ready mama!

Oh – I have a new policy! I’ve let my mama know she’s only got one chance to get her shot. I’ll pose for her, cause I know she’s got treats. But once I hear that camera click I’m going to get right up and trot straight up to her and expect payment. One shot, one treat. That’s the way it’s going to be mama. Get used to it.

One treat, one shot mama!

Anyway, after we’d walked a long way back into the woods mama said her hands were cold and we needed to turn around. I said ‘no way mama!’ but she turned around and headed back. I hung around for a bit but then I remembered she had all the treats, so I ran after her. I’m a smart princess.

We got to this one place where the trail hangs on to the edge of a sandy hill that has a big gouge in it from when it rains. It’s sort of tricky to get over in the summer and now it was covered in snow. I jumped right over, but mama hesitated, and then her foot slipped and she flung her bad arm up in the air to catch her balance and that hurt a bunch and she yelled, and I jerked the leash in her other hand just at exactly the right moment and pulled her over to my side safe and sound. She said ‘good job baby!’ But I could tell her shoulder really really hurt. She said she needed to get home to get some aspirin.

But I don’t want to go back mama!

But that didn’t happen right away.

On the way out of the park there is a stop sign at an intersection at the bottom of a big hill. Mama slowed down to make the corner and then she couldn’t get the car to go up that big hill! So she figured she’d back up and get a better running start at it. And as she backed up she slid right off the road. So then we were truly stuck!

I suggested we just go for another nice walk until the snow melted. But she called my daddy instead and he came out with shovels and snow melt. It took a long time. I stayed very very quiet in my crate in the back of the car. I know when to keep my mouth shut, yes I do. Eventually daddy pushed and mama drove and we got going and crept up that stupid hill and made it home safe and sound.

Pretty day to be stuck in the woods.

It was a great adventure, even with the little misstep at the end. I’m glad we went. Mama is too, but we’re both pretty grateful to daddy for coming and saving us!

I know you are all enjoying any sun you get to see. We hope it sticks around here for awhile. Some people in other parts of the country have been hogging the sun and we’re glad they finally decided to share it with us!

I’m off to take a nap now, talk to you all later!

Your gal Katie.

Till next time.

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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I was tricked!