I wasn't sure if I liked the peddleboat or not at first
Then I realized it was a good way to see the lake
Then I found it was very comfortable if you lie down in it.
What am I looking at so intently you ask?
A loon! He wonders why I'm looking at him.
I thought the peddleboat was so fun after a couple rides that one night at midnight, after I got Mama up so I could go poop because I'd gotten into Grandpa's birdseed and eaten about two cups worth, I took Mama down to the dock to try to get her to take me out in it. Mama said she wasn't going to take me for a boat ride at midnight when she was only wearing a bathrobe. Spoilsport.
Because it rained so much Mama and I spent a lot of time walking in Mama's property. It is a big hunk of woods surrounded by roads. Mama said I could run free in it, but I must not run onto the road. The first hike we took I was very good and didn't run out onto the roads. I did find the swamp and made Mama wade through it after me and then I found the peat bog and made her hop from hummock to hummock after me. She missed at one point and went in up to her knees and she said, "Zorro, some day a thousand years from now they are going to find me as a bog mummy and wonder why I have a long leash wrapped around my waist."
The second hike I wasn't so good. When we got to one side of the property I ran off onto the road and took off to try to find a drink. Mama had to walk down the road calling for me. After a few calls I came trotting back to her down the middle of the road. Mama said that was very bad and dangerous and took me back to the woods. We tromped around some more and then I decided I was done and wanted to go back to the house so I ran out onto the road to go there. Mama said I was very lucky that both the mini van and the mailman stopped their cars to let me cross the road. Then I got put on a leash and walked home in disgrace. And Mama said no more off leash running for me for the rest of vacation. Mean.
One rainy morning Mama took me to a place called "the butcher" and bought a special treat for me. She put it in the fridge and said I'd get it later in the day. Then later in the day she set up my crate, which I was NOT happy about, but when I got in she gave me a wonderful thing called a marrow bone. Oh my. It was so good that while Mama was gone I alternated between howling and chewing on the bone. Then when Mama came home she took the bone and said it was for crate or outside only and went outside with it. I was so excited when she gave it back to me I couldn't even settle down to eat it. Here is a movie of me with the bone:
When it wasn't raining I got to swim and play in the water. Here is a movie of me diving:
At the end of our vacation Mama's middle brother came over with his dog, Missy, and Mama's niece and nephew and their dog, Noodles. Missy is very old so she stayed in the house and I only got to sniff noses with her on leash when they were leaving but Noodles and I had a great time running around and I even showed her how to dive off the dock. She sank like a stone when she tried the first time and the second time she chose the absolute worst place to dive from and got tangled in some boat lines. Mama untangled her and Noodles decided I could be the dock diver and she'd swim from shore after that. That night I wanted to sleep on the couch, but Grandma has a "no dogs on the couch" rule so I wasn't allowed to. So I went to bed early by myself, which I never do. Mama said it was a good thing vacation was almost over because I might not last many more days.
If dogs aren't supposed to be on the couch, why was this section made in exactly the right shape for me?
The next day Mama cleaned up and packed and I helped by uncleaning up and unpacking and we went for a very short very choppy peddleboat ride and then Mama's middle brother and his wife came and helped Mama put the boat away and we went home. I think vacations should last forever because they are much more fun than not vacations where I spend a lot more time in my crate and there aren't boats and marrow bones.
