Sandy Beach, Sunshine, Wind Blowing Through Ears

Saturday Mom woke us up early and gave us breakfast then she got dressed and picked up our backpack.  Oh wow ! That means we are going somewhere fun.  We watched excitedly and followed right on her heels as she cleaned out the bag...she is always complaining because it's too heavy.  Then she filled our water bottle, their water bottle and grabbed a gallon jug of water...it appears we are going to be doing a lot of walking. 

Are we there yet?

Mom heard of this cupcake place and dog bakery both on the same street kind of in the direction we planned on traveling so she asked Dad if we could stop along the way.  This is what Mom and Dad had for breakfast and lunch.  They would never let us eat like that.  All I hear Mom talk about is losing weight.  I don't think these cupcakes were a good idea.  Well, I think she learned her lesson.  They were both complaining about these cupcakes.  They said they had no flavor.  They were supposed to be specialty gourmet treats with names like S'more, Boston Creme, Malt, The King, Banana Pistachio, and Root Beer.  They didn't taste anything like their names or the flavors they were supposed to be.  (Later when we got home Mom was eating one and found a hair - Gross! She said they will never go there again. ) They said they would much rather have regular grocery store cupcakes because they taste better.  Mom said they focused too much on making them look fancy and not enough time making them taste good.  If they don't taste good then what's the point.  That will teach them (Mom and Dad), anyway that just delayed Bella and I from getting to our walk.  Oh, wait they said there is a dog bakery on this street too.  Where, Where?  Lets go.  I'm sure there treats will be much better.

 Dad couldn't find a parking spot close enough for us to go to the bakery with Mom.  Usually she will take at least me with her to pick out our treats.  This time she had to go without us and she said the rudest thing...that's ok It'll be faster without Emma.  That was uncalled for.  I just like to sniff everything to make sure I don't miss out on anything, Gee.  I waited and she was back in flash, but where's my treats?  She said the bakery wasn't open yet.  They are on city time and not the same time our watches and clocks are set to.  Mom checked her phone.  Yep, her phone had updated to the local time and it was different.  She said we weren't missing out on anything because it was a teeny tiny shop, just a little nook in the wall and it didn't look like they had much.  She said she could make us better treats at home anyway.  Funny thing about that though she has hundreds of doggie cookbooks and she hasn't used any of them in a very long time.  She keeps promising to cook our meals and start making us homemade treats again  but it hasn't happened yet. 

Yeah, on the road again.  Our first exploration was Coffee Creek a nice park with some of the paths brick, but most were dirt and in a lot of spots the trails were completely covered with water.  It's rained for about two weeks and today was the second sunny and nice day.  We got a little wet and muddy.  Dad kept using the b-a-t-h word.  Yikes!  Then all of a sudden Dad stops and stares at my face and flicks a critter off it.  What????  He said a critter was nose surfing...along for a free ride.  It was a tick.  I don't know why they get so freaked out about those tiny little bugs.  I've heard Mom and Dad say they can make us sick.  That's why they are always looking us over and checking all our nooks and crannies during and after our walks.  We also get a once a month veterinary prescribed spot on treatment.

Mom wanted to lead the way and was trying to find the fountain and pond we walked to last time we were here.  This is only our second trip to this park.  Dad found it planning for a visit to the beach a few months back.  When will Mom realize she has no sense of direction and doesn't know which way is which or what way to go.  She had us going way out in the marshy wooded area of the park.  We turned around and headed back the way we had come with Dad taking the lead.  Look we found the pond and fountain.  

It was back into the Emmamobile and on to our next stop.  The beach.  YEAH!!!!!   I love the beach the wind blows my ears out like I'm flying, the sand is soft and smooth between my toes. 

I think I found something

Lets see what under here

Hmmm

flying

Am I tan yet?

It was a little windy today but it still felt nice and warm.  We sniffed the water, the sand and Mom collected some pretty rocks that washed up on shore, I thought I found some buried treasure but there was nothing there and I'm not really good at digging so I kind of lost interest. 

It was back to the Emmamobile and on to our next stop.  I wonder how many different places we are going to go today.  Oh, surprise this park has a doggie playground.  It has the paved trails that Mom and Dad prefer so we do not pick up any hitchhikers (ticks).  I prefer the sand and dirt trails, they are much easier on the feet.  By this time the sun was really shining and it was about 72 degrees. 

This park had the most paved trails we have ever seen.  Mom and Dad were really impressed by this park and kept saying they sure wished our town would invest in some dog friendly parks and activities so we don't always have to travel so far away.  They said the food for the Emmamobile is getting expensive.  They paid $4.25 a gallon and they said it takes a lot of gallons to feed the Emmamobile.  I wonder how many burgers make a gallon?  I bet I could eat a gallon of burgers.

We stopped and had lunch at White Castle.  Mom got us each our own slider plain.  She also shared their sack of sweet potato fries with us.  They were delicious.   We also stopped at Schoop's for milkshakes.  Dad got a strawberry and Mom had been craving a Green River.  It's green milk.  How odd.  It sure tasted good.  We both got to lick the bottom of the cup and the whip cream off the lid.  Yummy!!! 

We walked and walked and walked and walked and walked.  I am so tired.  By our third park Dad had to give my hiney a boost to get up in the Emmamobile.  I had lost my umph.  I usually jump in with gusto and excitement but after so many ins and outs and walking I was getting tired.  Mom didn't get pictures of the third and fourth parks because we weren't there long.  Their paved trails weren't as long and their doggie parks didn't have any agility equipment.  We decided the second park would be one we plan on returning to.  We sure didn't expect it to be as nice as it was.  After we got home we ate dinner and went to sleep.  Mom and Dad laughed at us because no one wanted to get up and go outside for our last potty before bed.  I was awake enough to hear Mom say her feet hurt and she could hardly walk after sitting down for awhile.  I thought she was going to fall over on me trying to get up and go to the kitchen.  Whew, she didn't.

Look, I was so tired I didn't even make it to my couch.  I always lay on the couch.

Too pooped to move