All of a sudden, we are swiftly losing daylight and summer.
We have been blessed with a lot of rain; June is the rainy month here, and this year we had sunny days with regular evening thunderstorms, until about a week ago.
We have started having cool, even chilly nights.
But this is still a season of wide-open plans. Oh, the places we’ll go!
National Gardening Month is celebrated in June, then there are several days focused on the garden and its products through the summer.
There is certainly joy in Gardening Month – which is really all summer – a time of planting and watching fresh new shoots arising from the dirt.
I help pick everything with joy, from early lettuce to fall pumpkins.
There needs to be a national day or week for HURRY UP GARDEN! I see lots of green squash and tomatoes, but hope for a long warm Indian Summer.
Now is the time to explode forth after ice break-up, spring run-off, and the rainy season to plan road-trips and other adventures before the chilly end of summer.
So I’ve been thinking about the places we’ve been, and the places we want to see.
Here is my list – Oh the places I’ve been, and the places I’ll go:
The Places I’ve Been:
Dusty trails behind the herd, trailing them up to the mountains in the summer, and back down to the home-place in the fall.
Rocky trails, muddy trails, icy or rainy, easy and hard – that’s life for us all, isn’t it?
The concrete block walls of a shelter, or a kennel in foster care – better than being lost and alone on the streets, but every animal deserves a real home.
You might remember the really big trip I took to get here, winging me way north in 3 planes, helped by PilotsNPaws to get to my home.
And we saw the Grand Canyon on the way!
Behind mom on the four-wheeler – exploring, working, no matter – it is always a good ride. I’ve been riding the same old Polaris since I took over from Ladysmith – and she rode it for 14 years before me!
Redhawk Rose
I’ve been in a few good old trucks – My place was right behind Dad, but I usually have the whole back seat to myself.
Now I do the same in the boss’s truck.
Sometimes I jump in front and take over the drivers seat when I’m left alone in the truck, to wait.
In this family, every dog has always been a truck dog!
There have been some long road trips. One of Lady’s super powers was traveling, and she told me about what has become known as the Indiana Death March [IDM]. Several long trips to the Midwest, that Dad likes to drive nearly straight through.
She also told me a hysterical tale of her very first IDM, shortly after she came to live with our family. She made it all the way to Indiana and, upon arrival, was left alone in the truck for a short time. Now, she’d been alone many times on the way.
I can’t say what happened, but I now know a truck seat can be completely destroyed in under 10 minutes. There isn’t much to them, but a metal frame, a scrap of cloth and a lot of foam. In Lady’s defense and according to mom, that truck needed new seats anyway.
I personally have no interest in eating truck seats.
Of course, I’ve ridden shot-gun in some great old Jeeps, too – mom’s favorites.
We’ve been all over the northern Rockies. I love the wide vistas, the mountains, the water, the plains, although I admit I sleep a lot on our travels. It is fun to feel the breeze through my open window, and take in the new smells.
I’ve laid in cooling streams, ridden the boat in a few lakes.
You should visit Holter Lake. Once this was a winding part of the Missouri river, explored by Lewis and Clark, where they found high rocky walls they named The Gates of the Mountains. It was dammed up and is now a deep lake, with stunning views, history, some wild shores and camping spots. There is a big tour boat that brings the history alive, too. You can read about it here: https://www.visitmt.com/listings/general/lake/holter-lake
and here:
https://gatesofthemountains.com/
How about the mysterious disappearing river in Wyoming? An entire rushing river is just GONE! But don’t worry, it rises again downstream, where the trout are bigger than me!
It is something to see: https://www.blm.gov/visit/sinks-canyon
The Places I’ll Go:
How can I make this list, there are so many sights and one lifetime is never enough!
I’d like to see the Ark,
I’d like to spend more time near the Great Lakes, especially the wild north country of Superior. I say this even though I do not care for waves lapping at my furry blue underbelly.
Pictured Rocks shoreline
Mom loves cranes, and I think we need to visit some of the stops on their migration routes. We plan to visit the Platte river in Nebraska, and the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico.
I have been to the International Crane Foundation in Wisconsin, even though they did not let this old Heeler herd the big birds!
I think I’d like to ride a train, one of those grand old scenic tours along the coast. Except I don’t think they stop often enough for a canine to sniff and pee. I hear there is a whole train trail in Texas, if you can’t get enough. Me, I’m content to watch the little boys with their new garden train.
I have not seen the ocean.
There are so many more places I’d like to see. And someday, we will go to heaven, not for a visit, but for all time.
It is sad that we won’t go together, but there will be a grand reunion when we all get there. Now that is the place I really want to see!
Have you gone on vacation this summer? What places will you go?
