Meeting Mr. Freckles

The last day of physical torture Blue Crap would pay for - the last Thursday in March - turned out to be one REALLY hot day. I always take Mabel with me because the doctor is near the arroyo we love so much. Since the PT knocks the wind out of me, a slow meandering hike lifts my spirits. But by the time I arrived... I was freaking over leaving Mabel in the car. It was WAY too hot!

The divine Mr. Freckles

So I improvised...I managed to snag a shady spot right across from the receptionist's window. I opened the rear door of the jeep and rolled all the windows down. Then I tied Mabel's leash to a handle in the back of the jeep. She got a big bowl of water from the nice folks inside and the receptionist kept an eye on her. My baby girl stayed put and was not over heated. I was so proud of her!!!

Mabel likes big sticks!

After my torture was over, we headed for the arroyo and had quite the adventure! First we ran into Rhodesian Ridgeback siblings... not our good friends Hank & Sue but another set. Mabel was doing a double take! This pair had a older sister that was a "Heinz 57" mix and she was a dead ringer for my childhood dog, Ginger. We had a blast petting and sniffing and getting the low down on the rising creek.

Mabel has the stick

Turns out, the snow pack was really melting deep in the forest and the creek was on the rise. This is the same one Mabel got swept down a week before. We went over to check out that spot - carefully. The area she used to work her way back to me was now super flooded, so we decided to try our luck much further upstream.

Mr. Freckles has the stick

Just as we reached the far side of the parking lot, we met a charming young gent named Mr. Freckles and his mom. We decided to hike together and just as we were descending toward the creek, we could see it was flooded right at the base of the hill. This trail would not do.

Run Mabel Run!

We hiked back up and started down the next. We could see that the river was only about a foot wide at the base of this hill so we started down it. The humans were laughing and chatting and isn't that a strange looking stick...SNAAAAAKE! We turned and ran like crazy calling for the dogs! Yes, it was a four foot rattler! ICK! (My second of the season!)

Come Mabel Come!

 Back up the hill and down the next trail. Finally, we were nearing water! And were the pups ever glad! They were panting like crazy. But soon enough they were in the water, chasing sticks, chasing each other and having a good frolic!

Chillin'

A good time was had by all but I felt like I was having a heat stroke after hiking back to the car! I swear, every day with Mabel is an adventure!