Wazzu !!!

(Billings, MT) Montana sure is big! But it’s also very beautiful. Good thing as it takes so long to drive across it. Fortunately the roads are somewhat nice and there is some nice scenery to watch along the way…..if you like a lot of fields of nothing. So this is perfect for me as I love rolling hills of fields. Although I must say, I think the fields around the Pullman, WA area are so much prettier when the wheat is blowing in the wind.

We’ve just done a couple days of driving and once again Boogie is being the perfect little traveler. How lucky are we!

The first night we stopped at one of our very most favorite campgrounds in the U.S. We haven’t been here since 2004 when we had our previous RV – the Alpine which we really liked a lot - other than the fact it was always breaking! Anyway, the KOA in Billings, MT is perfect for us. It is kept up very well and they also have Deluxe Patio sites.




Mike really enjoyed sitting out on our beautiful patio reading a book.




It’s very peaceful here. In fact, Mike could read for a bit then glance up and watch the many deer that were grazing nearby. As you might guess, when the dogs were out on the patio the deer seemed to disappear!



Funny enough, when we arrived at the campground, one of our friends that is going to the Championships had just arrived as well. After we got all set up, I took Boogie down to the mighty Yellowstone River. It really has quite a strong current. Keeping Boogie on leash, I tried to get him to chase a stick in the water but as usual, nothing doing. But when he saw a water bottle floating down the river he actually swam to get the bottle. (Shame on people for littering!)



The scenery here isn't all that spectacular but still pretty in its own way. This is the view to the left as we fact the river.



We always walk the opposite direction as it is easier walking.



On the way back to the RV we met Linda with Robby and Fia. We let the dogs off leash so they play. Boogie and Fia went every which way and did very large laps around us. It was a great release for both of them after a long day of driving. Big thanks to Fia for playing with our little guy.

Before heading off for another long day of driving, we took all the dogs down to play at the river. It’s a very safe place so we let everyone off leash. They had a great time chasing each other...



eating sticks.....



swimming (way out in the current)....



and digging.




It was so peaceful. I spotted a deer coming down to the river to get a drink but waited until he was headed back up to take a picture so as not to alert the dogs.



And some birds flew just over our head.



While none of them wanted to leave (we didn’t really want to leave either) we had to get going. Slugger especially loves it here – in fact as soon as we pulled in and got out of the RV he started dragging us down to the river. We know he remembered it as you have to go a ways to get to the river. There is a really strong current in the river and he really enjoys it. He totally understands how the stick will flow in the current – it’s great physical and mental exercise for him. I’m sure the Championships will be a lot of fun but there really isn’t a fun and safe place like this for the dogs to play there so it’s going to be a boring week for Slugger.

We wanted to get to Gillette a day early so that we could get a close spot so I wouldn't have to walk so far all week. But this year they assigned spots. They assigned us the farthest away spot! And from what I was told when we made our reservation, we were the first to make a reservation for this year. Oh well, what's a person to do.

This evening, we got great news from our vet in Olympia. Wazzu's Valley Fever titer has gone down to 1:2 !!!! This is fantastic news and is quite a drop from a year ago. Wazzu is putting up a really good fight against this deadly disease. Way to go my sweet Wazzu - thanks for putting up such a good fight. Keep it up sweetie!

Debbie
9/16-17/07

Rattlesnake

(Missoula, MT) Fortunately we didn't see any rattlesnakes on our hike at Rattlesnake Mountain in Missoula today. This is a great place to hike with dogs. Our first time here was back in 1999, only two months after getting Wazzu.

At that time we were able to do one of the many mountain hikes. I won't go in to the details but we had a fabulous time then and have many great memories from that trip. Since then, we've been back here many times. These days we do the creek trail. It's not nearly as scenic but it is relatively flat and of course the dogs can get a drink fairly often. The first time the dogs saw the creek they were in it in a flash.



One of the reasons we like this place is that once you reach mile marker 1.7 dogs are allowed off leash. That didn't use to seem very far but today it seemed like about 17 miles. Walking the three big dogs on Flexi leashes is so easy. But add Boogie into the mix and we just spend our entire time being all tangled up. If I try to walk ahead with Boogie then he just stops to wait for everyone to catch up. If I try to walk behind then he pulls trying to catch up. We were never so glad to see the 1.7 mile marker!

We only let the girls off leash at that point. It's just not safe for Slugger to be off as the woods are fairly thick and he could get lost too easily. Boogie has a great recall but there could potentially be critters that might think he'd be a tasty snack. The two boys walked very nicely on leash most of the time.

There are so many trails here. You can literally hike for days and there are campsites along the way with lakes for fishing. Even though it was a very nice weekend day and we saw plenty of people the first mile or so, after that we only saw a couple people the entire time. This is a popular place for mountain bikers, horses, dogs, and hikers. The mountain bikers must stay on the main trail so they are no trouble to the rest of us.

As you can see, the mountain bikers would have a hard time on the side trails.


Here is a view off to the left as we head out the main trail.



Wazzu especially likes the forest part of the hike (which is most of it) as that's where the squirrels hang out. You'd think she'd get a sore neck as much time as she spends looking up in the trees.



Wazzu stands so still when she watches them that they get very curious. This one ran up and down the tree and kept coming closer and closer to Wazzu getting within six inches of Wazzu's nose.



I really think in another few seconds they would have touched noses like she's done many times before. But it was about that time that Sparkie realized what was going on. She's not quite that statue that Wazzu is.



After hiking a couple hours we came to Poe's Meadow.



I love meadows and evidently the dogs do too. Here we can see quite a distance so we felt it was safe to let Boogie have a little off leash time. He was perfect! He has the best recall of all four dogs. And he loves staying close to Wazzu so he had a good babysitter.



Whatever Wazzu did, Boogie did too.



Shortly after the meadow we come to a great area in the forest that is right next to the creek. There is a really nice fire pit area as well as a great place to hang your food so the bears don't get it.



The water in this river was so clear! You can see the rocks so clearly here and the water is probably four to six feet deep in this spot.



At one point we took a trail that might lead us back. Instead it turned out to be a vista trail. This shows you how far we walked. We were at the creek level earlier and we didn't walk up any steep hills at all. It was very gradual but for a long way.



Slowly but surely we made our way back down and came across another meadow. The girls totally loved racing through the meadow.



Here's another view from the meadow.



We came to many more spots to play in the creek as well. Here it looks as though Slugger is almost walking but in fact he is swimming and the water is a good 10 - 12 feet deep.



Boogie stayed near the edge but the rocks were slippery and at one point he fell in. This is exactly why we took the time to teach him about swimming in the pool. When he fell in today he didn't panic a bit, he just calmly swam to shore.



At one point the trail was well above the creek but the dogs were thirsty. So they went down this cliff. It wasn't exactly straight up and down but extremely close to it. The big dogs ran down while Boogie slid down - he's not afraid of anything. If the other dogs can do it he figures he can too. However, we didn't think there was any way he could make it back up. But he had no trouble! Mike couldn't make it and had to walk a bit to find an easier trail back up.



I'm not sure yet about this new lens. I really like the range it has but I'm not sure I get as good quality as with my other lens. Anyway, here are a few scenic shots.





















As you can see a fun day was had by all.




Mike was enjoying watching the kids frolic near the water's edge.



The three boys of the family taking a brief rest on the way back. Boogie didn't see the need for any rest but Slugger was tuckered.



There were many times that we weren't near the creek for the dogs to get a drink. Mike's so great, he carries a first aid kit and a few quarts of water so that we can all drink whenever we are thirsty.



As we were close to getting back we saw our first (and only) horses of the day. What a beautiful place for a ride.



Point six miles before getting back to the trailhead there is one last creek access. When we headed down to the water we notice hundreds of butterflies flying around. They were so thick! They would land for a second or two and then fly around again. Boogie had a blast chasing all the butterflies - the other dogs totally ignored them.



Phew, after five hours we finally made it back to the car. We didn't actually go all that far compared to what they do in that amount of time when I'm not along but I tend to slow them down quite a bit . Actually, Sparkie and Wazzu probably covered about 20 times more miles than the rest of us did.

When we first got Boogie, Mike was worried that he'd have to take Boogie on separate hikes thinking that he wouldn't be able to go very long. Well we hike for five hours and Boogie showed no signs of slowing down. He is one rugged dog. There is no leaving him out of any activity for sure.

Here are a couple final shots of Boogie enjoying his day.








Here's to thinking that we will all sleep well tonight!

Debbie
9/15/07

Heading East

(Missoula, MT) Two full days of driving and we're now in Missoula, MT.

We sure got lucky. Boogie is the perfect little traveler - good thing since he came to live with a family that travels full time!

Our first night was spent in the Tri-Cities. The RV park there was gigantic....and very nice. But the question is why? I mean this is out in the middle of nowhere. It's really hot here in the summer and really cold here in the winter so why would anyone build such a nice RV park here? I have no idea - but it was really nice for our overnight stop.

There was a really pretty sunset. Well actually the sunset wasn't all that pretty but the sun was really bright and pink.






Today's drive was uneventful for us but someone else wasn't so lucky. A semi was on the upper roadway (although the road was flat) and from what we could see the guy either fell asleep or was distracted on his phone maybe. Anyway, he went through the guardrail and right down to the lanes going in the opposite direction.

It looked like it happened about 15 minutes before we got there. And it didn't seem as though anyone was hurt at all with the exception of possibly the truck driver. I sure hope he's okay.

Here are a couple pictures of the scene.





When we see things like this we are so thankful we made it to our destination safely.

Debbie
9/13-14/07