Back to the mountains!

We had yet another opportunity to go camping on Wednesday night and we had an even better time than last week - hard to believe. The weather was flawless and now Wesley is an experienced camper - he slept like a baby. What a great hiker! This is all three of them on Thursday morning, lying around and waiting for me to put my backpack on again for the hike out.

Wesley and Charles meet again!

Charles and Wesley got together again on Tuesday - and Ivory grabbed the ball! But not before Charles and Wesley had a great game of catch. And took a great walk! I think Ivory thought they were having too much fun and he was missing out on it.

May Appalachian Trail hike etc., day 2, finishing up

Picture 1: Hitting the water bowls like there's no tomorrow.

Picture 2: Ivory's unspoken answer to your unspoken question: "Yes, the guy we hike with is a nerd. Have you ever seen anything like this?"

Picture 3: We've been walking or lying on the ground for the past 24 hours. We could be lying in that car. Is there a reason why we are not?

May Appalachian Trail hike etc., day 2, starting out

Top picture: We're awake (sort of), we've eaten (definitely), and we're ready to hike (that remains to be seen).

Second picture: You don't see blue eyes like these every day!

Third picture: Wesley and Ivory, still exploring. Nicky is off on his own, no doubt.

May Appalachian Trail hike and campout, day 1

I wanted to keep it to three pictures per post, but since I make the rules, I can break them. And what better reason to break a rule than a bright orange salamander on a cold gray day.

The second picture is Wesley getting ready for his first (or his first with us, anyway) hike and campout on the Appalachian Trail. Just out of the car, sitting in a rain-wet parking lot, getting ready to go. When we left our driveway the temperature was 87º. The temperature dropped a little when we got on I-64W, and a little east of Charlottesville I could see a rain squall ahead. I watched the clock and I watched my car thermometer and it went from 85º to 67º - a drop of 18º - in twelve minutes. When we parked in the mountains - 90 miles from our house and an hour and a half later, it was 62º. Fortunately it stopped raining.

The third picture is Wesley and Ivory and Nicky on the trail (notice who's moving and who's standing still).

And the final picture from the first day of our hike is Ivory and Wesley encountering some new sights and smells.

More to come from tomorrow.

Wesley's first day as a therapy dog...

...and if Charles had more fun or Wesley did, I am unable to determine.

Charles has a great yard, and he loves to throw tennis balls and Wesley loves to chase them - a perfect match.

Sometimes I'm part Huskie...

But other times I'm all retriever, as you can see by the way I sleep with my tennis ball...

Relaxing at the cemetery with pals

This wasn't the first "PM cemetery walk" with all three, but it was the first one in daylight (semi-daylight) when I had my camera with me. Next time I'll use a better camera. They all behaved like perfect gentlemen. You're looking at three of the most easy-going dogs you'll ever see in one place at one time - they're amazing.

Wesley's first trip to the river

The bottom picture is is actually from Wesley's second trip to the river - his first was the evening of the day he got here (Wednesday, May 9) and by the time we got down there it was too dark to get a decent shot. He wasn't "smiling" in this picture as much as he did later - for one thing he hadn't gotten to go swimming yet and for another I don't think he wanted to stop walking!

You can click on the pictures and they get real big.

I'm including a picture (on top) from his first trip - this time after he'd been hiking and swimming and after he got back in the car. He's probably looking at some other dogs in the parking lot.