Making time for adventures

We started this week with our final day in Dayton.  We'd had a great weekend of hiking along the North Country, and I wanted to get in a few more miles before leaving town to head home.  The girls watched me like a hawk as I packed because you know they are always afraid of being left behind.

After checking out of our room, we headed to Island Park to start our hike.  It was a little brisk to start our walk, but we enjoyed the sunshine and the views of the Great Miami River and the Dayton skyline.

Peaches and Mina were pretty excited about all of the geese and ducks we saw along the river.

We hiked from Island Park to Deeds Point before turning to head back toward the car.  

We then walked across the bridge in Island Park into Triangle Park.  The short walk we took in Triangle Park was really nice. 

By the time we finally got back to the car to continue our journey North, the temperatures were warming up nicely.  While this had been very much an urban hike, we really enjoyed our 3.2 miles on the trail.  

Before we left Ohio, I wanted to get the girls out for one more walk along the trail and had decided the small town of Piqua would be a great stopping point.

We parked in town at Fountain Park and made the walk over to the trail.  This is another portion of the trail in Ohio that follows the towpath of the Miami and Erie Canal.  It was nicely paved and flat with a view of the canal.

While I hadn't planned on doing much distance here, we ended our time on this portion of the trail with another 1.7 miles for a total of 4.9 miles for the day, and a total of 13.6 miles for the weekend.  Combined with the 3.1 miles we hiked in January, this trip put us perfectly on track with our need to average 8.33 miles per month on the trail in order to reach our 100 mile goal for the year.  Plus it had felt really nice to get away and enjoy some time hiking with the girls.

On our way home, we made a stop at the Rehab facility for a visit with my dad.  He was in good spirits and I had a really nice visit with him.  Although the drive to visit him takes a lot out of me, I really appreciate all of the time we've spent together over the past 8 weeks. We finally got home after dark, but it had been a good day.  

Tuesday was an exhausting day at work.  By the time my day ended, I really didn't feel like taking the girls out for a walk, but I knew we all needed some fresh air and exercise.  I decided to take them to the Soldan Dog Park for a nice run.  Now that it is staying light later with the sunset after 6:15pm, I can get them out for some after work time here.  It's especially nice on days when I know that they could use a good run.  Mina had the best time playing fetch and even Peaches was zooming around through the woods.  We finished our visit with a short walk at Hawk Island Park before heading home for dinner and a quiet night.

Wednesday was another long and exhausting day.  Work has been so tiring lately, and with everything else going on in life right now, I just feel tired all of the time.  But I can't let that stop me from doing the import things, so of course Wednesday I headed out to the shelter for our Wednesday night dog walk.  We walked five really nice dogs.  My walking pal was Cookie Crisp.  She's a sweet little girl.

The girls got no fun with me on Wednesday, but thankfully the weather had been nice and they spent a lot of time outside throughout the day.  When I got home from dog walking, they ate dinner and then happily settled in for the night.  

Thursday my dad escaped the rehab for a facility for a trip to see his surgeon in Grand Blanc.  Since I had some questions and concerns that I wanted to discuss with the doctor, I met my mom and dad at his appointment.  It was so nice to see dad outside of the hospital and wearing something other than a hospital gown.   It was also really nice to see him up and walking...even if he needs a walker to get around.  He's getting stronger, and I'm really hoping he continues to progress well so that we can get him home.  This trip made for another long day and, while the girls didn't get out for much of a walk, they had been happy to join me for the drive and to get out for a short walk on the way home.  After two pretty boring days, I was really proud of them for being such good girls.  

Friday wasn't much better than Wednesday and Thursday.  Work was busy again, and the girls spent a lot of time outside throughout the day.  At the end of my workday, I loaded the girls into the car and made the drive to visit my dad at rehab.  I thought it would be nice to pick up some food and join him for his dinner.  We had a wonderful 90 minute visit.  It's a long drive home and we got back around 9pm.  It had been a really long day, but luckily we had no plans for Saturday.  

I had been looking forward to Saturday all week long.  I had so much I wanted to get done, but I was also looking forward to some down time to relax. 

We started the morning slowly and I enjoyed a little fun time playing with the girls.  Then I headed out for a late breakfast and to run some errands.  We added a trip to Soldan Dog Park to our outing so the girls could get in a good run.  

We had a great time at the park and the girls ran and sniffed and played to their heart's content.  Afterward, I finished running my errands before heading home.  I did a few things around the house and then sat down to transfer my data from my old phone to my new phone.  It hadn't quite been the Saturday that I had planned, but it had been a good day.  

Sunday we had plans for a little hiking and geocaching adventure with Vanessa.  We met at her house and then made the drive to the Pinkney area for a hike along the Mike Levine Lakelands Trail.  We had a nice 5 mile hike and picked up several geocaches along the way.  It was such a nice day to be out and we had a lot of fun.  The girls were so excited to be somewhere new.  They really needed the adventure.

After our hike, I made the drive to visit my dad.  He wasn't feeling as well today as he had been, so my visit was shorter than I had planned, but I was glad I went.  I have lots of thoughts about the state of rehab and nursing home care that I'll share some day, I just don't have the energy for it now.  I'm hoping tomorrow is a better day for him and that he's strong enough to go home soon.  While he's got a long road of recovery ahead of him still, getting him home when he is able will be a relief.  

And to end on a happy note, here is a cute picture of Fiona.  With everything going on in the world and in my life, she and Nicol give me a reason to smile every single day.  

Sometimes you just need an adventure

This has been an interesting week.  In some ways, life felt a little more normal than it had been, in others, life is still keeping me on my toes.  

Monday felt like a very typical Monday.  It was a normal day full of meetings at work.  After a busy day, the girls and I were able to get out for a nice walk around the neighborhood.    

Early Tuesday morning, we got the news that the paperwork had finally gone through for my dad to move out of the hospital into rehab.  They expected him to move mid-day, and my mom couldn't make it to the hospital that morning, so I changed my schedule and went early for my Tuesday visit.  When I got there, I noticed that dad wasn't doing quite as well as he had been and the nursing staff and doctors noticed too.  The decision was made to delay his transfer for the day.  I stayed through his lunch, and then made the drive home to finish my work day.

After work, the girls and I got out for a nice walk around the neighborhood and then I forced them to sit for a picture when we got home.  Once I fed them dinner and got them settled in, I had to head out for a special training for my work for the upcoming primary election.  It made for a long day!

Wednesday was a stressful day.  My dad suddenly spiked a fever of 101.9 degrees and was just a little off all day.  The nurses and doctors were stumped as to why, but ran several tests, ordered a CAT scan, and  took X-rays, but found no reason to explain this sudden change.  Given this change in his status, the doctor chose to keep him an additional day at the hospital.

In addition to everything going on with my dad, I received an update on Ryder from his consult with the vet in Illinois.  Unfortunately, because he lost so much weight and muscle mass, he isn't currently a candidate for surgery to repair his hernia.  Also, the hernia is larger than the vet was aware and has said that Ryder will need to see a specialist to complete the surgery.  Before he can get surgery, he will need to gain about 15-20 pounds and build muscle mass.  The vet assumes that this will take a minimum of 3 months.  Given everything going on with my dad, I just wasn't sure I could give him all of the care he would need pre- and post-surgery, so the rescue reached out to see if they could locate another foster family to take him.  Lucky for him, a foster with lots of experience with dogs needing to prepare for and heal after surgery has stepped up to take him in until he becomes adoptable.  While I am sad that he won't be coming back to us and I didn't really get the chance to give him a proper goodbye, I am so thankful for the foster that has stepped up to help him.  

After a rough day, I was glad to get out to the shelter for our Wednesday night dog walk.  All of the dogs had a great walk.  Dan Campbell got a little extra time outside in the play yard with one of our volunteers while I put the other dogs back in their kennels.  He's such a happy guy and I was glad to get to give him a little extra attention.  It always makes me feel better to spend time with dogs like Dan.  And on a happy note, he got adopted later in the week too!

Since I had no time to give the girls any love on Valentine's Day, I wanted to get them some extra love on Thursday.  It was a busy day, so I thought I'd take them with me when I went to visit my dad.  The work day was busy, and by the time I had time to take my lunch and drive to see him, it was almost 2:45pm.  I got the girls in the car and headed out, but not 15 minutes down the road I got a call from my mom that my dad would be moving to rehab that afternoon.  Not knowing exactly when they would move him, I made the decision to head home instead od continuing to the hospital and just call dad instead.  I had a nice conversation with him and, thankfully, his temperature had dropped to normal and he sounded like he was back to his normal self.  I could tell he was excited to be leaving the hospital and one step closer to getting home.  I was a little disappointed that I wasn't going to be there to see him leave the hospital.  

On the way home, I made a quick stop at Preuss Pets with the girls since they had been so good while I worked all day.  Then I headed home to finish my workday before taking the girls on a walk around the neighborhood and a trip to Soldan's.  They were very good girls.

Finally we reached Friday.  I had made the decision earlier in the week that I was going to take the day off and give myself an extra long President's Day weekend.  I had hoped to make a trip to the UP and get the girls out for some much needed adventures, but the weather throughout the state did not cooperate.  While the weather in Lansing was perfectly fine, both North and South of us had Winter Weather Advisories in effect and travel conditions were not going to be good.  Sadly, we had to cancel our plans to head to the UP. 

Instead, we spent a quiet morning lounging around and trying to figure out what we could do over our long weekend.  I wanted an adventure and was determined to make something happen.  While we didn't do much fun on Friday, we did do some cleaning and laundry as well as running some errands.  I finalized some plans for the weekend, and then decided to load the girls into the car and make the drive to visit my dad at the rehab facility.  I had a nice dinner time visit with him.  It was so nice to see him outside of the hospital finally.

Saturday morning, the girls and I headed out on our weekend adventure...to Ohio.  I had found a good deal on a nice hotel room in the Dayton area and thought we would spend some time exploring the North Country Trail in the area.  I was excited to check out some new spots.

Our first stop of the day was the small town of Delphos, one of the trail towns along the trail.  I didn't realize how far from the expressway the town was, and we ended up driving down some fun, drifty country roads to get there.  I also had some fun doing some geocaching along the way.

When we finally arrived in town, we parked at Stadium Park and headed out on the trail.  Throughout most of Ohio, the NCT follows the route of the Buckeye Trail, and this is one of those locations.  The trail in Delphos follows the old towpaths from the Miami and Erie Canal.

We made a stop at Lock 24 and then walked toward town and Lock 23.  It was a beautifully sunny day, but the temperatures were in the teens with frigid windchills.  Luckily as long as we were moving along steadily, we all stayed comfortable. 

This section of the trail was pretty unique too, since the path literally runs right through people's backyards.  It's a pretty cool area full of history.

After 2.2 miles we were back at the car.  While we hadn't taken a long walk, I was happy with the time we spent on the trail and the adventures we had getting there. 

While I had other things planned for the day, we actually had filled our day on the trip to Delphos, so we took more snowy country roads across Ohio until we finally reached I-75 again, and continued our journey to Dayton. 

After we checked in to our room, I took the girls for a visit to PetSmart, took a quick walk nearby, and then picked up dinner.  We took a 1 mile walk near our hotel after dinner and were settled in for the night by 8:15pm.  It had been a good day.

We woke to temperatures in the teens so we spent the morning lounging around and relaxing in our room.  By noon, the temperatures were finally starting to improve, so we headed out for the day.  

Our first NCT stop was Rona Hills Park.  The first mile of our "hike" followed the sidewalks through the neighborhood adjacent to the park.  I didn't realize this would be our walking path, but with the snowy and icy conditions I'd seen in some other areas, I was pleased with this start to the day.

We followed the trail to the edge of the park and I made the girls pose for a picture before we headed back to the car.  It was a nice 1.5 miles to start the day.

Next we headed to Central Park in Fairborn.  This section was more sidewalks through town.  One of the fun highlights of this section was the drive-thru liquor store we passed.

We also made a stop at the Calamityville 9/11 Memorial at Wright State University along the way and added another 2 miles.

Our next stop was at the Wright Brother Memorial.  We walked around the grounds, checked out the memorial and informational signs, and enjoyed the views from Wright Hill.  

Then we headed down the hill for another walk along the trail.  While part of this trail followed a busy road, I really enjoyed the part of the trail the ran along the river. We added another 1.7 miles on the trail here.

Our final stop of the day was Eastwood Metro Park where the trail follows the Mad River. It was a beautiful late afternoon walk.  

I loved the sun shining on the snow here. By the time we got here, the weather was so much better than it had been earlier in the day.  I really enjoyed this section of the trail

I wish we would have had more time to spend at this stop, but I was happy with our 1.2 miles on the trail in the sun.

We ended the day with a total of 6.5 miles on the trail, and a total of 8.7 for the weekend.  With 11 days left in the month, and more trail miles planned for our drive home on Monday, we are well on our way to staying on track to complete our 100 miles this year.  I'd like to get to more new places on the trail this year and this was a good start.

After making the drive back toward our hotel and picking up dinner, we settled into our room for the evening.  Mina insisted on a short wrestling match with Peaches and a stuffed cow hoof to chew, but finally climbed onto the sofa.  Peaches has been in bed since the wrestling match stopped.  

We'll be heading out shortly for a potty break and short walk and then it should be a quiet night.  

Tomorrow we will make the trek home with several stops along the way to add some more NCT miles and check out some fun spots along the way.  Even though it wasn't what I had originally planned, I'm so thankful for this weekend getaway with the girls.  

Life with a new friend

Well, we have made it through another week, and in the blink of an eye, it's mid-February.  I guess that's what happens when you are busy with life.  This week our focus was on helping Ryder settle in to life as a foster and allowing him to decompress from his time in the shelter. 

The first few days, and even weeks, with a new foster can be exhausting and stressful. Even if they come with some history, you don't really know anything about them and their past life.  It takes time for everyone to adjust to having someone new in the house and to figure out all of the dynamics of multiple dogs, their personalities, and learning to live with someone new.  Routines change, and the girls are put in a situation where they are sharing their home, their toys, and their mom with a stranger...a stranger who will be living with them for an undetermined amount of time and will basically be treated just like another member of our little pack.  And for Mina, this foster gig is still a really new experience.   She's doing well, but it certainly doesn't come without a few bumps along the way.

Meanwhile the new foster has its own set of issues.  Imagine the confusion they must face, especially when their lives have been turned upside down like Ryder's.  He is processing the loss of his owner, the confusion of being thrown into shelter life, and then coming into a new, unfamiliar home with people and dogs he just met.  It's a lot.  He is handling it pretty well, but it will take time for him to really feel comfortable. 

I started the week nervous about how I'd be able to get everyone enough excercise to keep us all happy.  Ryder is such a big, strong boy and I wasn't sure I'd be able to comfortably and safely walk him at the same time as the girls.  So Monday, I decided to start with an after work trip to Soldan's just to see how he'd handle on leash walking with another dog.  Mina is so good that she got to be my practice dog.   They did great!  

As a matter of fact, they did so well that we did a 1 mile walk in the neighborhood adjacent to the pet store.  

When we got back to the car, I decided we'd do another loop around the neighborhood with Peaches along for the walk.  We'll just say that walk didn't go quite as smoothly, but we made it back to the car without any major incidents.  Peaches likes to keep me on my toes.

I ended the evening with three very happy dogs. Ryder crashed after his dinner and didn't even move when I left the room.  It had been a successful first walk.

Tuesday was sunny and beautiful, so I was excited to get everyone out for  walk around the neighborhood before I left to visit my dad at the hospital.  We didn't get in a long walk, but we all enjoyed our time in the sun.

Wednesday the dogs spent a decent amount of time outside while I worked, although Ryder preferred to be inside napping close by most of the time.  He is my constant shadow and I can't move without him right on my heels, nudging my hands for attention.  It can be a little annoying, but I know he just wants love and reassurance, and eventually he'll settle in and know he's safe and I'm not going anywhere.

We had a really great Wednesday night dog walk at the shelter.  Captain Crunch and Dan Campbell were especially happy to get out of the shelter for an adventure.   We were able to get five dogs out for some excercise. What a great feeling.  Dan(pictured below) was definitely my favorite dog on our walk.

When I got home from the shelter, Ryder was especially happy to see me and I got watched very closely the rest of the evening.

Thursday's weather was beautiful and sunny, but my day was extra busy.  I made an earlier than normal visit to my dad because I had several late afternoon meetings at work and needed to be home for them.  So I ate lunch with dad and we had a really nice visit and then I headed out to get home for all of my meetings.

By the time my work day ended, the sunshine was gone and rain clouds were moving into the area.  But I really wanted to get everyone out for an extra fun walk, so we headed to Fenner.  I was very pleased with how well everyone did, especially with all of the added excitement from the smells and all the critters we saw.  We had a great 3 mile walk and got back to the car after dark, and luckily, before the rain moved into the area.  Later that night we had some heavy rain, hail, and thunderstorms move through the area.  What crazy weather for February!

Friday, I was able to get the dogs out for a quick walk on my lunch break.  It was nearly 60 degrees and we had to take advantage of it.  Then after work we took another 2 mile walk around the neighborhood before I fed everyone dinner and then headed out to watch my nephew Mason's basketball game.

It was the first game I made it to this year, and I really enjoyed watching him play.  The team remained undefeated on the season with a win that night.  Mason's having a really great senior year.

Saturday morning we were joined by Vanessa as we headed out to Paw Paw to start Ryder on his journey to Illinois where one of the rescue's veterinary partners will be performing his hernia surgery this week.  He'll be staying in Illinois for two weeks before making the trip back to our home for the remainder of his time in foster. 

This trip gave us the opportunity to get out on some geocaching adventures with Vanessa, something we haven't done in forever since we've both been so busy with work and life.

We had an excellent lunch of breakfast food at The Hot Skillet in Paw Paw, explored some interesting old Cemeteries, found a nice little wooded trail for a hike and a cute park to do a little walking to let he girls expend some energy.  Then we weaved our way home doing some geocaching along the way.

The girls especially loved our stop at the Bow-wow-tique in Richland, which we found completely by accident.   We saw that they were having a Valentine's Day event as we drove by, so we had to stop.  They had turned off the open sign by the time we parked, but were nice enough to reopen the store for us and made sure the girls each got a pup cup.  Of course Vanessa and I both bought them some goodies too.  It was a good final stop on our trip.

I made a quick stop at the store after we got home, and then the girls had dinner and each got their gifts from Vanessa.  They were both very happy with their treats.  We then had a very quiet evening at home.  Boy was it nice to get out on an adventure!

Since I didn't get to the hospital yesterday, I went to visit my dad today.  I was so excited that his doctor approved him to take a spin around the hospital in the wheelchair and I got to show him all of the exciting sites- the elevator, the surgery waiting room, the cafeteria, and the deli where I've eaten several lunches, and we even took a quick trip outside for some fresh air.  We sat in the atrium on the first floor for part of our visit which was a great change of pace.  We had a really good visit.

We are hoping that he'll be moving to rehab sometime later this week since it has finally been approved by his insurance, so who knows, maybe this will be my final trip to the hospital to visit him.   It will be strange not going there after 6 weeks of visits, but I'm excited for him to build his strength in rehab so he can get home soon.

The girls rode along with me to the hospital so we could stop somewhere new for a walk on the way home.  I decided to head to Holly and take walk around town.  What a cute little downtown.

We were happy to see the sun come out on our walk and enjoyed our little tour of this historic area.

We took another quick walk when we got home, had dinner, and I am finally resting for the remainder of the night.  

I'll end with a smiley Fiona who got to try her first Paczki this week.  She ate the whole thing and loved it.  Just look how big she's getting!  Time needs to slow down.

It should be quiet around here with Ryder gone this week and we have some fun plans for next weekend that I look forward to sharing next time.  

Have a great week everyone!