Holiday fun and a new foster friend

Happy Sunday and welcome to June.  I can't believe how fast this year is going!  It has officially been two weeks since I last wrote, mainly because we were out of town for the Memorial Day weekend last week and I just didn't have time to write.  So let's get caught up on everything that's been going on in our lives.

Two Sundays ago, we had a mid-80 degree day with lots of humidity.  I was supposed to do some work in the garden, but the weather was just too hot, and honestly, I was tired.  I decided we'd have a quiet day at home.  I was hesitant to get the dogs out for much of a walk because of the heat and humidity because Peaches just isn't handling the heat as well as she did when she was younger.  I have to keep reminding myself that she's an old lady now, at 12 1/2 years old, even though she doesn't always act her age.  

By late afternoon, I knew that we needed to get out of the house for at least a short adventure, and I decided to make the drive out to Oak Park in Grand Ledge.  I knew we could take a short walk in the shade and enjoy the view of the river.  We ended up venturing down to the the river bank for a walk along the ledges too.  I didn't have the right shoes for this added adventure, but I'm glad we did it still.

After about a mile at Oak Park we drove to the other side of the river for the short walk at Island Park.  It's not even a half-mile round trip to walk the length of the island, but it's always a good spot to see lots of ducks and geese and the dogs always enjoy the walk.  We'd had a nice little adventure in Grand Ledge.

That Monday was going to be another hot day.  I knew the girls would need an adventure, so I decided to take them out for a good run at Soldan Dog Park over my lunch.  I had a nice walk in the shady woods while they ran and explored.  Then we headed home where they spent short periods of time outside while I worked and they ate both their lunch and dinner using some fun new brain games I got for them recently.  

The weather Tuesday was even hotter, so other than some fun at home and meals using brain games, the only other adventure we had was a little drive in the country after work.  The girls happily watched me as I picked up some quick roadside geocaches.  

Wednesday night was my weekly shelter dog walk.  We walked several dogs that evening because we had a good group of walkers, but Trace is my favorite.  Isn't she adorable?

At the end of my work day on Thursday, I took the girls out to Eaton Rapids for a run at the Island City Dog park.  This dog park is always so quiet, and I love just sitting in the shade, throwing the ball for Mina, and watching Peaches explore with her nose.  She even got feisty and played ball a bit that day.  The best thing about this park is that it is on a really quiet street, so it feels like I'm sitting in a backyard just enjoying the day.  I could have stayed all evening. 

After dinner, I decided to take an evening trip to Soldan Dog Park.  I sat by the pond and just let the girls do what they wanted to do.  It was a great end to our evening.

I had Friday off for our extra long Memorial Day weekend.  The girls and I were meeting Vanessa mid-morning to make the drive North.  Since we were meeting her in St. Johns, I decided we could make a stop for doughnuts at the farm and then make a short visit to the Dewitt Dog Park nearby to let the girls burn some energy before our drive.  In our short 20 minute trip to the park, these two managed to gang up to kill a baby squirrel who made the mistake of running into a dog park of all places.  They were pretty pleased with themselves.

The traffic heading North wasn't too bad since we had left early enough in the day and we made it across the Bridge and into St Ignace for a late lunch at Clyde's.  

After a couple hours more, we made it to our final destination, Grand Marais.  We unloaded the car, settled into our rental, and then headed out for a short adventure in town.

We stopped in town for dinner at the Dunes Bar where we had some really yummy beer cheese dip and whitefish tacos, and then we headed back to the house for the girls to eat their dinner.  And then we all settled in for the night.

We woke to a cloudy Saturday morning, but even without the sun, this view was hard to beat.

Mina enjoyed a quiet morning of watching the world out the window while Peaches napped.  It was a nice start to our first day of vacation.  Sometimes it's nice to just have an unhurried, quiet start to the day.

When we finally headed out, the sun was shining. We headed out to make the drive toward Pine Stump for lunch and to do some exploring along the way.  We ended up on some really great back roads, did some geocaching in some pretty remote spots, and stopped at the Pretty Lake State Campground for a hike and some geocaching.

If we hadn't seen that there were geocaches here, we probably wouldn't have stopped, but I'm really glad that we did.  There were some really pretty lakes and it was a nice little hike with the girls.  

We finally made it to Pine Stump Junction for lunch.  The place was packed with several groups of ATVers, but we were able to get a table, and we ordered the pizza and cheese curd cubes.  Both were really good!

Now that we had eaten, we were ready to head out for more adventures.  We got in the car and headed West for a visit to a couple of spots in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

While I have visited Pictured Rocks more times than I can count, I had never visited the Au Sable Lighthouse because the trail to the lighthouse was never dog-friendly, but recently that has changed.  Of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make the hike out there, especially since it is along the North Country Trail.  

It's a 1 1/2 mile hike along a wide, flat, well-maintained section of the trail, and the trip out went quickly.  

Sadly, the lighthouse isn't open until June, but it was nice to be able to walk around the grounds and check out the views.  The girls were pretty happy with the hike too!

He had a really nice walk back to the car too.  There were pretty views of the lake, and the breeze off the lake kept the bugs at bay.  

We saw several Lady Slippers along the way too.  I love these pretty little spring flowers.

After a quick walk on the beach at the Hurricane River, we were back in the car and heading toward Sable Falls.  This is one waterfall in the area that I haven't often visited because it was one of the areas that was not dog-friendly, but that has changed recently here as well. 

We walked all of the stairs out to the falls and enjoyed the view before walking the rest of the way along the trail to the beach.  We spent a little time exploring the beach and enjoying the views for the dunes, but it was getting late and it was time to head back to the house for the night.

Vanessa made us dinner and we both cleaned up after our day of adventures, then we sat down to enjoy the views.  

Everyone was tired from our day of adventures, and Peaches was ready for her evening snuggles with Vanessa.

Sunday I slept in a bit, but eventually Mina made it obvious she was ready for more adventures, so off we went.  We had some really fun spots on our agenda for Sunday and the weather was nearly perfect.

Our first stop was Muskallonge Lake State Park.  We picked up some geocaches at the park and took a walk down to the Lake Superior Beach before heading out for a longer hike along the NCT, which also runs through the park.

The NCT in the area runs along Lake Superior and offers some really great views.  It is also a pretty wooded area.

There were lots of hills, and the woods was green with new leaves.   We had a great hike through the area.

After our hike, we headed into Deer Park for lunch at the Uglyfish Bakery where we both had a frittata and some treats.  We needed to fuel up for the rest of our day of adventure.  

We headed out from the bakery along coast guard road to pick up a couple of geocaches and to hit some more remote areas along the NCT.  We did a short hike here.  

Then after a quick stop  at the Deer Park Lodge for a potty break and a couple of quick purchases, we  were off for our long trip out to the Mouth of the Two Hearted River.  Mina and Peaches both loved sticking their heads out the windows and taking in all the smells.

When we arrived at the Two-hearted, we parked and immediately got on the NCT to make the walk to the mouth of the river where it meets Lake Superior.

What a beautiful beach and such a pretty spot.  Vanessa was busy checking out all of the rocks while I explored the beach with the girls.  

We walked along the NCT back toward the car and continued on along the trail to walk the bridge across the river and out to Lakes Superior on the other side.  

I love that the trail follows the beach to the West here.  Mina was just ready to get out to the water!

Of course I made the girls pose for a picture at the bridge before we could leave.  We only did about a mile on the trail here, but we really enjoyed exploring this area.

Our next adventure would take us further east along CR412 to the Crisp Point Lighthouse.  I've heard so many times how bad this road was that we were prepared for the worst.  But honestly, the road wasn't bad at all.  We picked a day that was pretty perfect for this trip, ensuring it hadn't rained in a couple of days, and we made it there safe and sound.  But of course we had to stop at this sign, which is less than 1 1/2 miles from the lighthouse.

I was happy that we made it out to the lighthouse while it was still open so that we could climb the tower.  

The views from the top are pretty spectacular.  I love how far you can see from up there.

After we climbed the tower, we got the girls out of the car to join us for a short walk and to get their picture taken here too.  With all of the adventures I've had with dogs around the UP over the years, it is exciting to still be able to find new spots to explore.  Mina and Peaches had several firsts with me over this weekend.

It began to sprinkle a bit as we left the lighthouse to head back to the house for the night, but we made it back safe and sound, ate dinner in, and then everyone snuggled up for a quiet night.

We woke to rain on Monday, which was not unexpected.  The girls both snuggled up with me on the sofa while we enjoyed a quiet morning before making our long drive home.  All too soon, we had to pack up and head out.  Of course, you know we had some rainy day adventures planned for the trip home too.

We took the back roads between Grand Marais and Newberry on the trip home and picked up some quick roadside geocaches along the way.  We were driving right by Oswald's Bear Ranch, so we decided to make the stop to check it out.  Vanessa and I had both never visited before, and even though it was raining, we were able to get out and take a walk around the property to see all of the bears.

We then made the drive to Paradise for lunch at Fresh Coast Cafe.  They have really good sandwiches, and we hadn't been there in years, so it was worth the drive.  Then we made the short drive from Paradise up to Whitefish Point for one final adventure.

We walked the Lighthouse property and made a visit to the beach.  Large sections of the beach area were fenced off for the Piping Plovers who are nesting in the area, and we were careful to avoid those areas.  

Somehow we got lucky and the rain stopped during our visit here so we were able to enjoy our time.

Sadly, before we knew it, it was time to load up the car and start our trip home, but the girls were pretty content and slept nicely most of the way home.  We had a great Memorial day weekend and look forward to next year's adventure!

This week at work felt extra busy, and I was so tired at the end of each work day that we didn't have any big adventures, but the girls did spend a lot of time outside during my work day.  

On Tuesday, I got to help with a transport for the National Brittany Rescue Network(NBRAN).  Tuck was pulled from a shelter in Muskegon and I helped him on leg two of his journey, from Grand Rapids to Lansing.  He was a sweet boy and an excellent passenger.

On Wednesday, I had our shelter dog walk.  We have some really nice dogs right now and I always enjoy these walks.  Wheeler really enjoyed his time out of the shelter.

Thursday, the girls and I made the drive out to Charlotte and took a walk around Lincoln Park.  They were so happy to be outside and checking out a new place.  It was a short walk, but an excellent weekday adventure.

Friday after work, I made the drive to visit my parents.  My dad continues to improve every time I see him and he is feeling great.  The girls got out for a nice run around my parents yard and a little exploring with me and my mom.  On the way home, we drove through Owosso, so I made a stop at Curwood Castle to get them out for a short walk before making the rest of our drive home.

It was a beautiful walk and a great way to end the week.  I'm really glad I decided to stop.

Saturday morning started with a morning shelter dog walk.  Hera is such a fun girl.  She loved her walk!

It was a small group of walkers, so only three dogs got out, but it was a really nice walk.  I got to walk Aayla.

Before leaving the shelter, I got Rafa ready to come home with me as my newest foster.  She's a sweet puppy probably 6-7 months old, and she needed a break from the shelter.  I knew that Mina and Peaches would do great with her and that she would love Mina.

The introduction when I got home went well, and the girls spent the majority of the afternoon outside playing.  It was just what I needed because I had lots of yardwork to do.  I spent the afternoon weeding my landscaping and trimming bushes.  It was a very productive afternoon.  Unfortunately, rain moved into the area around 4:30pm which kept me from finishing as much as I had wanted, but I am pretty happy with the progress I made.  

It was not a quiet night at my house because Mina and Rafa spent most of it wrestling.  If they weren't playing, they were following me everywhere I went while I did some house cleaning and laundry.  It was an especially productive Saturday and I was really happy with everything that I was able to get done.

Our Sunday started with Mina and Rafa playing and Peaches wondering why I brought this crazy youngster home with me.  I had planned on getting out to do some more work in the yard today, but the weather wasn't fully cooperating and neither were the dogs.  I have a few errands to run this afternoon and I still plan to get in a couple of hours of work in the yard too, but right now I'm right where I need to be.  I started the blog early with Peaches on my lap, and now I'm finally finishing it several hours later with Rafa on my lap.  In between I've kept myself busy with checking some to-dos off my list. The dogs have all settled in for a nice nap after a busy morning of play, so I think I'm just going to sit here a bit and watch a little game show network because it is okay to take some time for rest.  

I hope you all have a great week!  I know it's going to be a fun one at my house with Rafa here.