What a day, what a day! It was going to be hot in Portland, so we decided to pack up the pooches and head to the beach!
Brother and sister...not fighting in the car
We are fortunate that BnB are great travelers, so long as they haven't eaten a bunch of sticks prior to leaving. Last time, we had to make an emergency landing to clean up a little Baxter barf. This time, we were prepared and put a plastic table cloth in the car to protect from such disasters.
So, they did what they do best --- sleep! We know they are at their happiest when we are just doin' whatever together.
Bella sound asleep
Our destination was Rockaway. The route to Rockaway is really the most beautiful. The roads are windy, but the countryside is spectacular. There's nothing like blue sky, green trees, and Oregon wildflowers.
On the road!
Tillamook just wouldn't be Tillmook without seeing a cow. This one happened to be sitting right next to the road looking very comfy! I doubt very seriously whether he was completely responsible for the overwhelming cow pie smell that lingered in the hot sun air. GAH!
Tillamook Cow
We realized our trip hadn't been orchestrated very well. Margaret forgot her beach shoes, and I forgot my regular tennis shoes (I was wearing my Crocs for the beach). Worse yet, we forgot our jackets. The thought of a jacket hadn't really crossed our minds as the weather was so hot in Portland, we just assumed the same would be true at the beach. Not so! After stopping at Fred's in Tillmook to pick up some beach shoes, we continued on, headed for Garibaldi. Little did we know it was Garibaldi Days where we were slowed to a crawl behind the parade. Thank goodness Garibaldi is a small town!
Finally, we landed in Rockaway. We like this little town because it's not over commercialized, and not overwhelmed with people. Remember how I said Portland was hot and there was no need for a jacket? WRONG! The wind was a howlin' and we were freezing! It just seemed wrong to drive all the way to the beach and not even touch sand, so we picked up a couple hooded jackets and made our way down to the water.
Wind blowing their tail feathers
Running from the tide
She is part bunny!
Bella biting at the blowing sand
Sandy face after biting at blowing sand (click the pic to see the sand)
Quickly, quickly, move along folks
A day at the beach - windy is okay as long as we get to go
Clearly, the wind was at our backs...and their backsides!
Baxter loved the soft sand. He hopped and flopped all around. Bella was headed for water. She loves her some water! Unfortunately, the wind was blowing so hard, and the sand blowing everywhere, we only spent a little bit of time down there. The wind was at our backs but we knew we couldn't walk back into the wind so we spent a requisite 10 minutes on the beach and headed back to the town.
I love to stop at Dragon Fly Sisters Espresso & Internet Cafe to get an ice cream cone.
Wondering if I'm going to bring them an ice cream cone
While we were there, along comes Oscar! Oscar is an 11 year old corgi and a very sweet boy. He's not in to playing as much as Baxter though, so we had to keep them separated. I didn't want to give Oscar a heart attack!
Oscar (not the grouch)
Since it was so cold, we thought it might be nice to simply drive up the coast to Cannon Beach. It's amazing how the weather can be completely different just a mere 25 miles away! It was warm, sunny, and beautiful. Our destination in Cannon Beach is Puppy Love By The Sea where we were greated by Rose who helped us find some new clothes for BnB. This is a great store, worth the trip. We picked out 2 step-in harnesses with matching leashes. These are great for training and oh so cute!
They're ready to go!
The designs we chose
Amazingly enough, Baxter and Bella were ever so patient in the store. There are a few large stuffed dogs displaying some doggy accessories, and when we first went in, Baxter jumped all over one of the dogs, thinking it would play back! Uh...Baxter...that's just a stuffed dog. We all left very happy!
On the drive home, Baxter and Bella were pooped. They are so funny because they are dog tired, but don't want to miss anything. Here's a video of them just about to fall asleep...too cute.
Bella loves the ball, but Baxter loves the Frisbee.
After a round or two (or three, or ten...) of catch with the ball, it was Baxter's turn to shine with the Frisbee.
He hasn't quite learned to "catch" the Frisbee, he sorta just lets us throw it and then he runs to pick it up. He's quite proud of himself, but it's very likely he's just glad Bella didn't get it first. If he was smart, he'd know that she really doesn't care that much about the Frisbee; her thing is the ball.
When she does pay attention to it, he sometimes let's her help him carry it back to us. While it looks like they share nicely, they really don't -- again, I think Baxter picks his battles.
Anyway, when all is said and done, you can tell they've had a tongue-waggin' good time.
Bella and Baxter love to play ball....well, uh, more like Bella loves to play ball and Baxter wishes he could play ball. She's a ball hog!
Baxter finally gets the ball but the whole time she's chasing him down. For some reason, he doesn't stand up to her when it comes to playing catch - I guess he picks his battles.
Bella is getting quite good at catching mid-air. This is the first "documented" in-air catch. Wish I was on the other side of her for a better picture!
After awhile, they both get a little tired so they take a little break. It's too hot for dogs with furry coats.
When the ball gets put away, they decide to share a stick.
The rule around here is that no dogs are allowed on the furniture. Consequently, while in this training period, we have all sorts of crap piled up and around the couch and chairs so BnB won't get on them.
Well, I was working away in the office when it finally dawned on me that I hadn't heard the dogs in a while so I went to investigate. Here's what I found.
The days of colitis are all but a distant memory! Everyone's pooping normal again! One never realizes how important poop is until it just ain't right!
As it turns out, BnB are allergic to dog food so they're eating Science Diet Z/D Ultra prescription dog food. It's expensive but at least ED isn't visiting anymore. (ED = Explosive Diarrhea)
If you're familiar at all with the Northwest right now, you'd know that we've had unseasonable rain...Rain...RAIN! In fact, if you were to log on to Facebook and read any Oregonian's post, it would likely be a complaint about the weather. When Saturday showed up with glorious weather, I put on my work clothes and got busy.
I've been desperately wanting to build a square foot garden; in fact, I did build the beds, just hadn't filled them with dirt or plants. Saturday was the day my raised beds were going to say hello to Mr. Compost --- Mr. 5-way Compost which included cow manure, a favorite of the canine set.
Bella and Baxter did fairly well with staying out of said raised beds on Saturday, but just to be sure, I made an attempt at deterring them from this tasty treat by poking sticks around the edges of each bed. Lame, I know.
As if we'd been given too much of a good thing to have ONE day of freedom from the rain, Sunday turned into a torrential downpour. Still, BnB needed to spend a little time outside in between the rain, so I tossed them out and went to work on a small project inside.
About a half hour later, I glanced out the window to check on them and what do I see? I see Baxter standing on top of a raised bed, digging with both front feet hell bent for freedom clear down to his shoulder blades. I'd like to offer up a photo of that but he stopped the minute I hollered in a murderous rage.
Where was Bella? I hollered her name and out from the raised bed pops her head! She was IN the hole - the same hole in which Baxter was digging! Ahhhhhhhhh!!!
Sure I could refill the raised bed as they aren't that big anyway, but remember that little detail about the torrential downpour? The compost was MUD. BnB were filthy stinky monsters! They were in deep doo-doo (pardon the pun).
(Bella is looking very innocent here; Baxter - not so much)
I temporarily covered the beds then bought some fencing the next day. I'm hoping this will keep them out. I'm just glad I hadn't planted any plants yet.
Oh joy! Oh glee! We love these illustrations of Bella and Baxter! These photos were done by Kelly of CorgiButts.com. If you'd like your pet's illustrations created from a favorite photo (or even a not-so-favorite photo), Kelly is your gal! Go here: http://www.corgibutts.com/illustrations.html
