Snow!

Well, it's finally pretending to be winter in the mountains of WV and we have been getting snow for about two days now. Luckily, it's very thin snow, sticking to the ground very slowly and not sticking to the roads much at all. I decided that it would be beautiful to go for a short hike at Cooper's Rock. Unfortunately, the road leading to the lookout point was closed because of the weather--and it was a good thing, too! The one parking lot that was open had not been plowed and was actually quite snowy.

Dobby and I walked down a short path just past the gated-off road just to have a nice look at the snowy forest and to make the 20 minute drive worthwhile.

Dobby was in a sling I made out of an old T-shirt under my coat. He seemed cozy enough, and I think for a while he really liked the views.

It was pretty windy, though, so eventually Dob gave up his post as look-out:

...missed the beauty of the snow:

...and just curled up in my coat:


No Dobbys were harmed in the making of this blog post; I was bundled up and didn't get cold, myself, and he was right there nuzzled in the whole time. He was tired when we got back to the car--too much excitement!--but I think he had a good time :)

Family Camping Trip

Boy, I told you there were lots of fun things happening! Last weekend Dobby and I went camping with my family and Gracie. My sister was even back from her summer job in Maine, so we were all together and it was wonderful. Here is our little camp site, which actually did stay pretty dry despite the rain!

And here are some pictures of us hanging around:


But the highlight of Saturday was a canoe trip on the lake! Mom and dad took Gracie for a hike because we wouldn't all fit in our canoe, but Dobby got to ride along because he's nice and light weight :) He had a great time! We stopped at a little inlet and got out to swim for a while. I didn't get any pictures because I was busy making sure he was safe, but Dobby did swim for a while! It was so cute. His little tail spins around like a silly propeller. Here we are on the lake!




When he got tired of sitting on my lap, Dobby found the softest spot around (of course!) and curled up:


It was a fun ride!

Later, we went back to the camp site. Gracie was not a big fan of camping and was very happy when we just let her in the tent to have a nice nap (besides, it was raining then, and it kept her long hair relatively clean and dry).

Dobby napped for a while, too, but I think those pictures are on my sister's camera. The whole family was giggling and teasing him because where he was sleeping was deep in a pile of sleeping bags and you couldn't see him unless you called his name and his little head poked up, with his big ears. "Dobby!" we'd say, then his head would appear, then we'd giggle, then he'd realize we were just being silly and put his head back down. Then we'd do it again. After 5 or 6 times, he figured out the game and just went to sleep. Later, he (once again!) found the softest thing around and made a nice seat, although we teased him a little by taking pictures of it:

It was so much fun, and very beautiful :)


(We camped at Rocky Gap State Park in MD, which has several options for pet-friendly camping.)

Lost in the Woods!

I am extremely lucky in that, whenever needed, I am able to bring Dobby to work with me. It's a small office and everyone loves him (of course) so since the house is showing today, the little guy is here with me at the office.

I often drive past a little park on my way here, and today I decided to take Dobby there on my lunch hour for a walk. It was a little cloudy and calling for scattered thunder storms, so I took my umbrella and figured we wouldn't be out long, so it would all be alright.

I had been there once before with Dobby, sticking to the main roadway through the park. It looked like it was about 2 miles long, and I figured the park couldn't be much wider than just the area I could see. The trail there is called "The Big Loop", but I had no idea how 'big' the loop was. It seemed like just a small community park. Boy, was I wrong!

As it turns out (I've just looked it up) the park is 250 acres, and the Big Loop is over 4 miles long! Dobby and I started through the woods from a parking lot entry point, and quickly got "lost" (can you really get lost on a trail called a "Loop"?). After about 45 minutes of walking, we ran into another hiker and he let us know we were almost smack-dab in the middle of the loop- darn! We couldn't even get back faster by re-tracing our steps back the way we had come, so we kept moving forward. It was raining, but the trees kept us from getting wet. It wasn't too hot, but it was extremely humid! We were both damp and tired by the time I recognized the golf practice area of the park and cut through the woods to get back to the main roadway. It was another 500 yards or so to where we were parked.

Once we got out of the woods, I could see the dark clouds all around us- it was still only sprinkling rain, but the thunder was happening more and more often! We were both very happy to get to the car to cool off in the AC. I was happier than ever about my habit of carrying a water bottle in the car, too.

Now we're safe and sound, back at the office, Dobby asleep in my lap. What an adventure!!