Oh the places we will go… if only we would go. Polly and I have created a Northern California excursion list a mile long, and, well, let me just say we’ve got about .95 miles to go. This is not because we are lazy or unwilling; it’s because there’s just so much to see and do around here. Plus, it’s winter, and around here that means RAIN, which is just makes a Hill person want to hole up in the snugly cabin.
Today we actually got to check an excursion off the list. Polly and I took the dogs, Shelby, Montana, and Josie, along with the two dogs we are dog-sitting, Nappy, the Great Dane, and Buddy, the Beagle, to “The Reservoir”. I also took the humongous camera, which might as well count as a medium-sized dog.
The not-so-patient pack, ready to go on a W-A-L-K
Two sturdy women and five dogs and a giant camera… no problem, right? It would have been no problem if it weren’t muddy as all get-out; and if we could have gotten away with letting the dogs roam off-lead. We tried letting the dogs loose for a while.
Things were going well until we realized we were missing Montana and Josie. We saw them take off ahead of us over the hill. Montana wouldn’t really alarm anyone with her demure ways; but that Josie is another story.
Polly and I were sure we would spot them once we crested the hill, but no, they were nowhere in sight. We turned around and checked out the scene behind us, and somehow, Montana and Josie had looped around and were about a quarter mile behind us harassing a Basset Hound and his owners. Apparently, Josie had wanted to show off the giant stick she had found.
There was some waving of arms and some not-so-happy body language being displayed by the Basset Hound’s owners. We waved back and shouted at our wayward pups. Eventually they barreled back up the hill to meet us.
We laughed the harassment off and continued on our merry way. About fifteen minutes later, we came across another park visitor who proceeded to give us a hard time about our pack of wild, off-leash canines. She explained that they had barreled down the hill at her. I didn’t really think that she was talking about our crazy mutts until she specified that one of the dogs almost knocked her over with the giant stick it was carrying. Damn it Josie! There ain’t nothing subtle about you, dog!
So, we succumbed to the rules and to the safety concerns of the other park visitors and clamped the leashes on the pack. The good thing was that at that point, they were all so tuckered out they could only half-heartedly pull us along the remainder of the walk.
Montana and Shelby coming back to get leashed up... the only good girls in the pack.
It’s a good thing we have so many other places to visit here in Northern California; I’m pretty sure we’ve been blacklisted from the Reservoir for a solid few months.
A crane beating a hasty retreat from the wild dogs
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