August 30, 2010

Froggin’

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Jake developed a new hobby while we were on vacation. We dubbed it froggin’.

While we were in Vermont, we stayed at this wonderful resort on the outskirts of Stowe called The Commodores Inn. First of all, let me say, there are lots of hotels and motels that call themselves dog-friendly — most are more like dog-tolerant and some just barely that — but The Commodores Inn really means it.

I don’t think a single staff member walked by us in the five days we were there without speaking to Jake or giving him a little pat on the head. There were several that called him by name when I’m not even sure they knew our names and I’m okay with that. He was free to go about pretty much where we pleased, with the obvious exception of the dining room and pool areas, but he was welcome to join us if we wanted to eat or sit and have a drink on the deck off the restaurant. Some nights I’m pretty certain there must have been close to a dozen dogs staying at the resort and everybody got along without problems. It was absolutely wonderful and so much more relaxing than constantly feeling like staff are watching you to make sure your dog doesn’t step out of line. So a big thank you to the staff at The Commodores Inn. We loved it there and we’ll be back.

Now, back to my tale about Jake’s hobby. The inn has a large pond complete with kayaks, a canoe, a rowboat and a paddle boat. The owner also races remote-controlled sailboats there a few times a week and apparently fellow enthusiasts travel from all over the U.S. and Canada to participate. Jake had other ideas for the pond.

As RoadDog fans know, Jake likes to wade in the water. As long as his paws touch bottom, our boy is pretty much a water dog, so this pond, which was shallow all around the edge, was a big hit. And then Jake discovered frogs, lots of frogs.

I’m pretty sure it was his first trip around the edge of the pond when startled frogs started plopping into the water as Jake approached. He was fascinated. He’d whip his head around to see where they landed, then stick his nose around the grassy edge of the pond to see where they came from. We ended up froggin’, which involved a 20-minute trip around the edge of the pond, at least three times a day. (I should say, he didn’t try to hurt the frogs, he was just curious.)

I missed the really exciting moment though. Steve had Jake out on one of his froggin’ trips when a large frog miscalculated his jump and bumped Jake’s back just above his tail. I hear our boy whipped around and was anything but impressed, while Steve stood on the bank and laughed and laughed which, of course, only made Jake more indignant. I’m sorry I missed that.

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August 23, 2010

There’s bears in those woods

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So last week I wrote that we didn’t see any moose while we were in New England, but what I didn’t say is that we did see a bear. Yes, a bear.

It wasn’t full grown and all of us seemed to have a different opinion about how big the bear was, but our friends Dennis and Heather, who had the closest view, thought it was about the size of a big dog, like a Newfoundland dog or a Burnese Mountain dog.

I should first explain that Dennis and Heather are friends of ours from Ontario. We arranged to meet them in New Hampshire for a few days of travelling and sightseeing since we all enjoy that area and it seemed to be about halfway for all of us.

You can’t visit the White Mountains on a motorcycle without riding the Kanc, the local nickname for the Kancamagus Highway which runs between Conway and Lincoln. It’s a wonderful road along a river with beautiful scenery and some really great twists and turns. So on one of our first days of sightseeing we found ourselves riding down the Kanc. Dennis and Heather were in front, I was behind them, and Steve and Jake were behind me.

I was riding along enjoying the sunny afternoon and the fantastic views (we hadn’t come to the really great twists yet) when I saw this big, black animal run across the road, right to left, in front of Dennis and Heather, and I mean right in front of them. My first thought was that it was a dog, but by the time it was running across the other lane I realized it didn’t move like a dog — it sort of loped — and I realized it was a bear cub.

Okay, so I’ve never seen a bear, except maybe at a zoo. A lot of things were happening at once. Dennis and Heather had stopped, I was stopping, Steve and Jake were stopping behind me. There’s that rule of one plus one, right, that says where there’s one animal crossing the road there will often be another. But as I was pulling to a stop, it occurred to me that this was a bear cub. If there was another one, it was most likely momma bear and do you really want to be sitting in the middle of the road in a group of motorcycles when a full-sized mother bear comes looking for her cub? It didn’t take me long to take a quick scan around and suggest we should probably get moving.

It wasn’t until we were sitting on some rocks along the river after we’d stopped a few miles down the road that things sort of fell into place in my head — bears, woods, river, us — hmmm, was this really a good idea? But it was incredibly beautiful and relaxing there. We were all enjoying paddling about with our feet in the water, except Steve who was jumping from rock to rock with his boots on, and Jake was happily getting soaked scrambling over the rocks and wading in the river. We stayed for maybe 45 minutes or so, but I confess I kind of kept an eye out for bears.

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August 16, 2010

Moose tracks

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We’re back, we’re happy and we’re a little exhausted.

The past two weeks have been the road trip to end all road trips as we travelled about 3,500 kilometres through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Our RoadDog had a fantastic time, happily meeting people and dogs around New England, paddling about in ponds and lakes, visiting all sorts of exciting places and viewing scenery that was simply too beautiful to adequately describe.

Okay, it is possible that Steve and I enjoyed the vistas more than Jake did, but he really had fun romping in the grass, following paths and generally being on vacation.

Then there was the ice cream. I admit I was unaware that Vermont is some sort of creamery capital of the universe and when I say creamery you can read ice cream. There are all kinds of shops that make their own homemade ice cream. There was a place in Stowe, Vermont, that had, what might have been, the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted. We had it two days in a row. Yummy!

And, at some point down the road, I’ll be writing all about the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory, which is really more of a tourism destination than I could have imagined. Someone behind that operation is a genius. It could just be a place where people report for work and happen to make ice cream. Instead, they’ve made it a destination with hundreds and hundreds of people touring about, buying Ben & Jerry’s souvenirs of all varieties and all of them eating Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. How could you not? I mean really.

Aside from the fun and ice cream, the New England states really do offer some really fantastic scenery, so I’ll share some of those photos in the weeks to come too.

Our RoadDog also enjoyed lots of nature and an occasional wildlife sighting, although we never did see a moose. In the past two weeks, I’ve seen hundreds of moose signs, ranging from New Brunswick’s rather understated “Moose – Attention” type, to Maine and Vermont’s “Moose crossing next x-number of miles,” to the huge highway signs in New Hampshire’s White Mountains that read “Brake for moose. It could save your life. Hundreds of collisions.” Those definitely get your attention.

Whether the moose were being elusive or I was just too busy watching along the roadsides to see them further off, I don’t know. The only moose I saw were on signs for stores and pubs —including my favourite The Muddy Moose, which is a pub just outside North Conway — and a giant moose sculpture in Stowe. Then again, if that sculpture is life-sized or even close to it, and I think it is, I’m just as happy I didn’t get a closer look.

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July 30, 2010

Heading down the highway

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How strange is this? — It’s not Monday, but I’m posting the latest RoadDog news.

There’s a reason for that — we’re about to head out on V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N tomorrow morning, so I won’t be able to post on Monday and probably not the Monday after that either. Sorry faithful fans of our motorcycle-riding four-legged friend, but the next blog likely won’t go up until August 16.

We have some exciting plans for the next two weeks — lots of riding, visiting new places, meeting up with friends and family, and having new adventures.

Jake’s bag is packed — well, most of it anyway — and, yes, he really does have his own bag for when we travel. It’s filled with his favourite treats (all but the Timbits, we’ll get those along the way), his food (because you don’t want to change a dog’s diet when he’s riding around on a motorcycle), a tennis ball for romping, a towel for wiping wet paws and sometimes an entire wet dog if he decides to take a swim, a couple of bandanas and his sunglasses (you never know when he might want to impress the lady dogs, or the lady people for that matter) and his comb to try to keep all that hair under control. There are a few other things, such as first aid supplies, and we’ll pack lots of bottled water and buy lots more as we travel (the comment about food also applies to giving him strange water).

Yep, it seems RoadDog is ready to hit the road. We’re off to have new adventures to write about in the weeks to come.
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July 26, 2010

Just about perfect

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It just might have been Jake’s perfect day — a ride, a path, a swim, a roll in the grass to dry off and then it all ended with a Timbit.

After that, I guess it goes without saying that our little family went for a ride on Saturday. Steve and I have some new helmets — shorties for the first time since we’re trying to stay cool in the recent hot weather — so we headed out to give them a try. It really was a beautiful day. We went down the LaHave River to Voglers Cove, then out on the highway as far as Mahone Bay, then we took the secondary road down to Chester so Jake could romp around on Graves Island. And romp he did.

Our crazy Cairn ran around on the grass, but soon found a path we hadn’t seen before, a path that led down to a tiny sand beach. Within a minute he was down there strolling into the water. He was really funny to watch and went in deeper than he usually does. Jake likes the water as long as he can touch bottom and this time he went in until the water went right up over his back. We’re not really sure what exactly happened next — either Jake started to float a bit (which is doubtful since he’s let’s just say rather solid) or the sand slightly gave way under his feet. Regardless, it left Jake scrambling to get turned around in water that was pretty much up to his chin, but he did it. It didn’t seem to deter him either, since he strolled back into the water again and again after that, just not quite so deep.

He ended up very wet and rather sandy, but once he made it back up the bank he went a little nuts rolling around on the grass and was dry in no time and ready to hit the road again. Well, okay, we might have encouraged him a little to get him to leave his perfect parkland by telling him we’d go to Tim’s, which we did, the one in Mahone Bay.

We sat on a bench looking at the boats and the ducks in the water. Jake had a Timbit. Steve and I had iced coffees. It really was pretty close to a perfect day.

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July 19, 2010

Always someplace to go

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It never ceases to surprise me that there is always someplace to go and something to see and do within a few hours’ drive in the summer, indeed for most of the year.

I hear people talk about having nothing to do sometimes and I just shake my head. There are so many events in Nova Scotia that so many volunteers put so much time and effort into making successful. Add to that the fact that tourists travel for hundreds, even thousands, of miles to take in the sights here and I wonder if people who say they are bored make much of an effort to find something to see and do.

Take this weekend for example. Steve and I decided to head down to Shelburne Founders’ Days on Saturday afternoon, mostly for the ride, but also to see what it was all about since we’d never been to the festival. As I’ve written before, I really love the Shelburne waterfront so I didn’t need any convincing.

It was a great and very diverse event that I’m sure must have had something for everyone. There were water activities — the dory races were happening while we were there — and all kinds of history and culture, from traditional Mi’kmaq crafts to an 18th century military encampment, from street vendors to sporting challenges. And that’s just while we were there. There was also musical entertainment, fireworks, decorated boats and pirates … yep, pirates.

Admittedly, it was pretty warm on Saturday afternoon, especially walking around in jeans and bike boots, but we drank lots of water and stayed where there was a breeze as much as possible and the three of us had a great time. Jake met a few other dogs and had his first ever Li’l Orbits donuts. Those were a big hit with both of my boys.

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July 12, 2010

Taking a second look

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You don’t always have to go far to find a not-so-hidden treasure.

The funny thing about travelling, whether on a motorcycle or by car, is that we so often think we have to go great distances to find something worthy of visiting. We drive to the other end of the province or another province to stop at parks or seashores or museums or whatever takes our fancy. Yet how often to we drive by our own local places without stopping or without even thinking about stopping. We’ll spend an hour at a park after driving an hour to get there, rather than just spend an hour at one of our own parks or scenic places.

It seems the old saying that familiarity breeds contempt really is true.

When you stop to think about it, how many tourists flock to the South Shore of Nova Scotia every year? They come here because they think we have something special here. Yet how often do we stop to recognize the treasures all around us?

I was struck with this thought a few weeks ago when Steve and Jake and I went for a ride. Steve hadn’t been feeling well for about a week, but he wanted to take the bikes out somewhere, so he came up with the idea of going to Western Shore. We could stop at Wild Rose Park, get take-out from Island View Restaurant (I believe he convinced me with promises of lobster sandwiches) and have a quick picnic.

It was beautiful. Wild Rose really is a lovely park with lots of picnic tables and a breathtaking seaside view. The sun was shining and there was a light breeze off the water. Tourists would have loved it and we did too. Jake scampered around the rocks and rose bushes, met some people and some other dogs, and generally had a great time.

And the lobster sandwiches were really good too.

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July 5, 2010

Lovin’ this weather

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Wow, I love summer.

What’s not to love — warm weather, ice cream, barbecues, beaches and riding with my boys.

Steve and Jake and I have spent quite a lot of time on the road lately. We’ve been joking that we’re building our endurance for our upcoming road trip. What a wonderful excuse to keep riding and ignore all those chores that need to be done at home. The chores will still be there, but this fabulous weather is definitely going to disappear at some point.

Canada Day was kind of crazy this year. I had to work most of it. Steve had to work some of it. But we still managed to squeeze out about two hours for a trip down to Chester, then into Mahone Bay for ice cream. It was fun.

Saturday was a great day. We rode up Highway 8 through the northern part of Queens County (for some reason I love that section of road) and on to Annapolis Royal, which is one of my favourite places to visit. Jake’s too. As usual, we tried to have a quiet cup of coffee (well Steve had coffee, I had my usual vanilla latte) sitting outside our favourite Annapolis coffee shop, but Jake had other ideas.

Once the oatcake disappeared (they don’t sell Timbits there), he wasn’t going to sit still. He could see the giant green lawns of Fort Anne across the street and Jake does love large expanses of green grass. He scampered around there for more than an hour, up and down the hills and around the paths, stopping to roll here and there, four paws in the air, tongue flopping from one side of his mouth to the other. It’s quite funny and more than one person stopped and chuckled.

Then we headed north, eventually ending up in Kentville and coming back down Highway 12. It was such a fun day.

We went around the Aspotogan on Sunday afternoon, our first trip around the peninsula this year. The idea was to cool off from all the heat and it certainly worked. Let’s just say it was refreshing down around Deep Cove and Blandford with the wind blowing ashore and white caps on the water. We definitely cooled off, then stopped to let Jake wander around at Bayswater provincial park where lots of families were having picnics and other people were just relaxing — exactly what we were doing in our own way.

Summer really is just the best thing.

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June 28, 2010

Just beachin’

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What better way to spend the first weekend of the summer than at the beach.

Steve and I decided a ride to Summerville Beach was in order this weekend. The weather was warm, there was just enough breeze off the water to make it not too hot in jeans and boots, and Jake needed a bath anyway so the sand and salt water didn’t make any difference. And, wow, was there ever a lot of sand and salt water.

I don’t just mean the beach. For some reason, Jake decided to really get into his afternoon at the beach this time around. He waded into the waves and rolled in the wet sand. He waded into the waves and rubbed his face in the wet sand. He waded into the waves and … I’m sure you get the point.

He was absolutely covered in sand. I finally had to take him into the shallow water to try to wash some of the sand off his face. I was concerned it would get into his eyes, but it was already too late. I had to wipe the sand out of his eyes and wash it off of his ears and off his head and … again, I’m sure you get the point. I did discover that my new waterproof boots really are waterproof.

The one thing our usually so smart Cairn couldn’t seem to grasp was that the water was salty, or maybe he just didn’t care. Every time he took a dip it seemed like he also took a few laps of water. We were afraid it would make him sick, but it didn’t seem to bother him. We gave him plenty of fresh water after our walk on the beach and our RoadDog was as good as new.

Well, after a stop at Tim’s in Liverpool and a bath when we got home he was as good as new.

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June 21, 2010

That tongue comes in handy

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I don’t know where the idea came from.

I’m not sure if someone suggested it or if Steve or I thought of it ourselves, although something tells me the notion came from somewhere else.

But since about midwinter, we’ve had an almost empty peanut butter jar sitting in the bottom of our pantry cupboard. Actually, sitting might be a pleasantry since I know that jar fell out at least a dozen times — light jar, full pantry shelf, I probably don’t need to say any more about that.

When I put a second empty jar down there next to the first (apparently we eat quite a lot of peanut butter), I knew the time had come. So a few weekends ago, when we were planning to spend a couple of hours working in the yard, I decided it was time to act. Out came jar number one — out of the cupboard, out the door, right out to the yard where Jake was sitting being a big help with the yard work.

That was pretty much the last we heard from him for about an hour and a half except one time when he lost control of the jar and it rolled away from him. There was a bit of a bark to draw our attention to his predicament, the jar was returned to his waiting paws and he was back at it.

We always joke that Jake’s tongue is about six inches long, but whether it doesn’t stretch as far as we thought or he had a problem with the angle, I don’t know, but he just couldn’t get to the bottom of that jar no matter how hard he tried. The sides of the jar, however, were pretty much bare when I finally took it away from him.

And our RoadDog was a very happy boy. I haven’t told him about the second empty jar in the pantry. I’m saving it for another day when he’d rather be riding on the bikes and we decide to work outside instead.

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