Another NC attraction!

We'd like to congratulate our friends Amy and Jason on the birth of their new baby Sharon Rae! Welcome, Baby Rae!!! We know the baby will have the best of everything, including our new friend Savannah the GSD to watch over her.

We can't wait to visit! Asheville--and beer--here we come!!!

Ever Advancing

What a great weekend for us! Not only was the weather in Winston-Salem, North Carolina relatively warm--not to mention sunny--Buko and Narra did great at the Obedience/Rally trial! In fact, we've been focused on agility for so long that we forgot what it was like to do well! :) Buko qualified both days in Rally, as did Narra. In addition, Narra qualified in Open B for the first time with a pretty awesome performance. To commemorate their success, Buko and Narra now have new titles: Rally Advanced (RA)!

Of course, no trip would be complete without some exploring. Between turns in the ring, we headed north to check out Pilot Mountain State Park and also Hanging Rock State Park. Again, weather was incredibly good, so we could hardly go wrong. Pilot Mountain involved a little climbing, so the boys guarded the van while Narra and her human checked out the summit. Hanging Rock, on the other hand, was just right for everyone--we all enjoyed the lake and trails. Also, our trial site bordered historic Bethabara, so we walked the Wagon Road Trail (is that redundant?). Correction, our bad: it's Wagon Trail road (no less redundant).

We should mention, btw, that there were dogs EVERYWHERE! The state parks were teeming with them. Mostly little ones, though: a jack russell, a fluffy one (like a shih-tzu?), a cute terrier mix (who was being carried); some bigger ones also: border collie, cattle dog mix, boxers, american bulldogs, and plenty of labs, of course ... We were, however, the only shepherds we saw. :) We could go on and on (like Narra did, showing off her heeling and other moves when she had an audience). So, yeah, North Carolina's got it going on. No wonder our human likes it there. Good times.

Here's Buko posing like a (Moravian?) pilgrim...

Hey Porter!

Each roadtrip brings its own epiphanies... this one brought a few, actually. Taking off felt a little self-indulgent, but our return trip to Savannah--this time for an agility trial--proved truly satisfying, if not particularly warm. For one, we realize the human's job is a pretty sweet deal. What other job lets you just take off for five days to play? The human agrees. (His mood hasn't changed, but at least he knows his complaints are baseless.) Not to mention that we needed those couple extra days to come home through Asheville to pick up some new growlers of Pisgah Brewing Co. organic beer! The human and his friends sure dig their porter and pale ale. Now that's indulgent--and we love it!

But "play" is what we're talkin' about. Our fun is easy, but the human had a special treat this trip: a reunion with his best buddies (minus one, unfortunately) from college. Although we had to wait in the hotel, we hear they painted the town red and more! They trolled River Street, bar hopping, listening to live music, basically connecting with their inner frat boys (embarrassing, isn't it?). As the evening wore on, we fear the sounds of the "Cousins" singing along with Johnny Cash out of an Acura SUV.

For us, we just love being on the go. On the road--and on this trip, in particular--we were warmed by the outpouring of love shown to special boy Jacks. Especially in the South, his name honors many a street, plaza, and park. Among our favorites are "Jackson Mountain" and the ever-popular "Jackson Love Highway." We ride that road every day!

Speaking of the road, this picture of ours was taken at a "hike" stop in Woods Bay State Natural Area in South Carolina.

Our joy

Hard to say if our greater joy is the trail or the hotel... The trail is definitely the mood enhancer, however. It sure makes the human happier. Who knows how grumpy he would've been if we didn't get out to hike a bit on the way home.

Much of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Shenandoah's Skyline Drive were closed due to winter weather, but enough of both roadways was open for us to check them out. From Asheville, we headed north to Grandfather Mtn (which was closed) and on to Boone, NC (home of the Appalachian State Mountaineers!). We picked up the Parkway there, had to hop the interstate for a bit, but then got on Skyline Drive outside Harrisonburg, VA. Yeah, it was cold, but skies were clear and the views were revitalizing. Our pictures are posted on Jackson's website.

Ring of fire

Okay, it's been five days since we got home, so the fallout from the agility trial has subsided for the most part. Let's just say it wasn't pretty.

On the last day, a nice lady said to Narra, "Are you going to be on fire again today, girl?" The human smiled and answered, "That's the only way she knows how to do it!" Yeah, he thought he was being smart, but the statement was prophetic--and not in a good way. Our first run was jumpers, and, again, we knocked more bars than we left up. But we sure were fast! :) The human was determined to do well in standard which would be our very last run of the trial. He walked the course very deliberately, planned his strategy decisively, and even battled nerves with some success. Narra, on the other hand, had other ideas. At the start line, she bolted early and took the first jump without her handler. He was surprised and unprepared, so called her back--big no-no, not allowed. The judge blew her whistle and excused the team from the ring. WHAA...?

You can imagine, there were no rewards, praise, or play after that. The human marched Narra to the van and drove us out of there like a bat out of hell. He was pissed! Spitting fire for almost two hours as we drove out of Asheville, he spewed bad language for miles! There was talk yet again of "quitting" agility...

Ironically, his anger brought us home in time to make Narra's agility class. Guess we're not quitting after all. :)

Sister spirit... and organic beer!

A definite highlight of our southern jaunt was visiting an old friend--and making some new ones. The classy lady sitting front and center is Savannah, a 7-year old German Shepherd girl who lives with our friends in Asheville. We didn't actually get to meet Savannah, not in that sniffing way, because of Jackson's "inappropriateness," but we did bark greetings through the window. Savannah has a pretty good life: she goes to work at the Pisgah Brewing Co. (one of only two organic breweries on the east coast) with her human every day (he owns it!). And she will soon assume expanded protection duties as her other human is expecting a baby later this month. You will recognize her new charge as the baby strolling around town in Clemson paraphernalia. :) We look forward to meeting you, baby Rae! Incidentally, the other human in the photo, Savannah's "uncle," is a former vegan chef now working with "exceptional" (in the euphemistic sense) high school students. And all the humans get to hang out in that party-ready gold room. Of course, Savannah hangs out there, too (and Simone the cat, too!).

Almost forgot to mention, our own human was pretty happy: not only did he get to catch up with friends, he brought home two growlers of beer: a pale ale and a porter. If you don't know what a "growler" is, it's a refillable glass jug, not unlike old-fashioned moonshine jugs. (We just learned that.) YEE HAW!

Chill, dog

Perhaps it was the size of the venue or the colosseum-style setting, but the human had quite the meltdown this morning. After a flawed jumpers run (yes, we can admit that), he packed up our stuff from the trial in a sulking snit and said we were heading home. His thoughts went something like "we suck, we quit, we're going home." Speak for yourself. At least he knew better than to take it out on us.

So we're not having a spectacular agility trial, let's just say Team Narra has been the entertainment... And it is all about having fun, isn't it? The only thing radical about our performance is leaving less bars up than we take down. That is, we're redefining the norm! Luckily, the human calmed down, and we're back in the game--win or lose, Narra always has a great time.

BTW, there's an awesome t-shirt that says "Great Dog! Too bad about the handler." We're not saying, we're just saying...

Down from the Mountain

We have descended from the high country--unfortunately, without any epiphanies or new vision. Art didn't really happen up there for the human, but we sure enjoyed the walks!

We will compensate for a lack of productivity in the studio with radical success in the agility ring! Narra is ready to go!!!

Okay, they're not the Rockies, but it's still a nice view, huh?
"Hardly a Road"--that's what it's called, but we don't care!
Narra imagines vanquishing her competition in agility!

Better Late than Never

(Somehow we just know this title is going to get used again--we didn't use it already, did we?)

We made it! The ride was actually pretty nice: weather wasn't too bad, and the scenery was great. Not bad for January! A little blustery today, but we managed. Yes, these Blue Ridge Mountains are beautiful--and actually blue! At least at dusk. Which tends to be the most beautiful time of day here, at least the human thinks so. He's been making sure to get out of the studio for us to walk just as the sun's going down. Spectacular (the views, not the human)! Even though there is no sign of the snow the website claimed was here.

Speaking of the studio, it looks pretty nice, too. At least in pictures. Dogs are not allowed in any of the studios, so we only get to see it in pictures. He put these together for us: the left side is the studio interior, and on the right is the view from the studio. How does he get any work done looking out onto that? Well, not like we got anything special going on, just hangin', listening to our ipod, waiting to go on walks...
While we do like it here, we're feeling a bit travel weary, even though it's been a while since we've been on the road. We suspect our human's reasons for taking to the road are not what they appear. At the risk of intruding on his emotional life once again, we think he needs to deal with where he is--wherever that might be. Yes, we are very precocious, not to mention prescient (perhaps). What would he do without us? If only he'd listen... ;)

Are we there yet?

So, we're told we're going on a roadtrip. And we've watched our human go through all the pre-drive rituals... so how come we haven't left yet??? As far as we can tell, the food's on board and bags are packed--what're we waiting for? The human seems to be practicing something called "procrastination." Apparently, he's quite good at it. We don't find it a talent worth cultivating, however.

Whenever we get going, we're supposed to end up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Human is looking forward to some concentrated, solitary studio time, and we're looking forward to new trails--and SNOW! Yes, it just snowed where we're heading. We've never been to Penland before, but the "photo of the 'week'" (which we would've missed had we left on time!) is very appealing. Tsamba visited there, and he loved it. The human thinks it's pretty great, too. We say, let's get the flock outta here!

After Penland, we're off to Asheville for an agility trial! Go, Narra!

Human pain

Here we are, back so soon! We promised to do better in 2007, and we're good to our word. Actually, this auspicious start to a blogging new year is tainted by the sadness of our human. We haven't seen him like this before. We'll call it unrequited love--not to be melodramatic or anything, because it certainly wasn't love (we don't think)--and now he's struggling with feelings he hasn't experienced in a long, long time. Well, our hopes for him in the coming year aren't completely dashed; we do hope he'll get back on that horse, so to speak. We just wish it didn't hurt so much.

And just so this entry isn't too sappy (and in case our human checks in here), take a look at this site: Unrequited Love: Agony and Rapture. You humans do entertain! Incidentally, this site has a page for you "adored ones," that is, you sad humans who don't know a good butt sniff when it's waved in your face.

Catching up

We've let an embarrassing amount of time pass since we last blogged, but, then again, not that much has happened in the last several months. Actually, that's not really true, but we don't think anyone would be interested in the minutiae of post-sabbatical blues. As it's New Year's Eve, though, we're feeling sentimental and wanting to look back--it hasn't been all that bad. The human's coming around (we think), though he still complains about his job a lot. We're actually hoping the new year brings him something special: he is quite smitten with someone at the moment, and it's been years since that's happened (way long before any of us)! Also, we're kinda sad for him that he's alone tonight. We love him and all, but he needs another human, too. (He probably won't like us writing that... did not mean it to sound like Sleepless in Seattle) Anyway, the next few little posts summarize some of our fall highlights... We'll try to be better in 2007!

Human talent, too

Okay, so it's not that special, but we're proud of our human for contributing to the Canine Partners for Life benefit auction. And he made a painting of us no less! :)

Doing what comes naturally

Why does Narra get to do all the fun stuff? Like chase sheep! Buko and Jacks watched from the van... Not fair. We packed up the van and went up to Raspberry Ridge Sheep Farm in Bangor, PA to try herding with shepherd Carolyn Wilki. The first step was a herding instinct test that Narra passed with flying colors! Carolyn's written assessment of Narra commented on her beautiful tending trot, ability to read sheep, and her attentiveness to her human. Narra and human then did a seminar with Carolyn where they spent a day learning some formal herding stuff. Again, Narra did great. In fact, she impressed everyone when she could be called off the sheep so reliably and consistently. We were told that's unusual for a fist-time herder! Of course, one other dog was able to do the same thing--another GSD bitch, of course! :) What now? Bangor is a little far from home, but we like Carolyn and her farm, so, hopefully, more lessons are in store.

Far Above Cayuga's Waters

With sabbatical over, the human has been pretty insufferable; in fact, we hear a lot of people refer to him as being unusually bitchy. While we don't normally subscribe to the use of the word "bitch" as negative, we understand what they're saying. Even as months have passed, his moodiness continues (beyond normal, that is). Thankfully, he has taken time for some little roadtrips. Usually, we go somewhere where Narra is entered in an agility trial. Back at the end of September, we ventured back up to the Finger Lakes for a weekend of dog shows known as the Wine Country Cluster. Pretty nice. It was up in Romulus, NY at Sampson State Park. Ironically, Buko ended up doing obedience, and Narra sat out the agility trial. Bad weather made for horrible agility courses: way too muddy for delicate competitors such as ourselves. The obedience ring, on the other hand, was just wet grass, so Buko gave it a go. Valorous attempt, but he's feeling too old for this stuff. He didn't really want to do the retrieve over the high jump, but he did try his best. He's what you call "retired" now--apparently, our human would like to be retired, too.

After the trials, we went to Ithaca, a place that is super sentimental to our person. We walked around the Arts quad and looked out over West Campus from the top of Libe slope. We even got to watch the sun set on Cayuga lake. School was still in session, so students stopped to visit with us. They say we're beautiful. :) Although one girl did tell Jackson he stinks. Ha, stinky is as stinky does. Another girl laughed at us while we took this picture. Ah, those were the days--at least, that's what we're told.

BTW, in October, Narra and Buko competed in rally obedience at the advanced level for the first time. Rally's not as demanding as conventional obedience, and jumps are only 16" so Buko's happy with this event. Also, humans actually get to talk to us, like in agility, so it's much more fun all the way around. Oh, almost forgot to mention, both Narra and Buko earned qualifying scores! That means they each have one leg toward their Advanced Rally titles (RA). Better yet, Buko got a third place! Yes, he beat Narra even. Well, long story short: Narra went first, and her human made all kinds of mistakes which he was then able to correct when it was Buko's turn.

An "Excellent" Adventure!

It's official: Narra is now a "Companion Dog Excellent"! She finished her CDX title at a big show up in Burlington, VT (thank you, Woodstock Dog Club!), with no less than a 192.5 out of 200. Not enough for a placement, but when fourth place went to a 196, you know competition was tough. We'll take it!

Although we were entered through the entire weekend, the super performance on Friday liberated us. Rather than kicking it with the dog show crowd, we decided to escape for the mountains. Unfortunately, having just come from Montana, we weren't terribly excited by the Green Mountains. We went to the White Mountains, too, but they also fell short. So, what else to do but make the pilgrimage to Katahdin? Not quite Montana's Crazies, but the solitude and open expanses of Maine were welcome.

The only problem: what's with Baxter State Park not allowing dogs?!?! We drove all the way up to the north entrance of the park only to be turned away. Being the law abiding, respectful pack that we are, we did not force the issue. Afterall, we figure access to the park was lost because of irresponsible behavior. We don't want people in the parks thinking dogs don't belong there--because we know they do!

Regardless, Buko was just happy not having to compete. Luckily, though, he will have plenty more chances! And all the while, Jacks was home making sure the air conditioning would be operating well for us when we got back. (Our pictures here.)

Gone and back again

Well, we're clearly not motivated to write/blog. Have just returned from an amazing trip to Montana (via Colorado and Wyoming, returning through South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin). Over the course of travel, we realize that we are much more visual beings than verbal ones. Took tons of pictures but didn't really write (or paint, for that matter). BUT big skies, open land, and solitude do wonders for clearing the mind, and--dare we say--spirit. We could also comment on beauty, but I'm not prepared to concede that argument just yet (despite what we experienced as unquestionable evidence of it). In any case, all our pictures are linked on Narra's webpage.

Speaking of which, this trek was strictly two for the road: just Narra and her human. The boys were given a reprieve from climbing elevations and fallen trees. While they may have felt left out, we think they eventually appreciated the comfort of couches.

Converted, conflicted

We've been home for a couple weeks now. Everyday distractions seem to hinder blogging, huh? Not that that there's anything interesting to report from here anyhow. Yeah, yeah, greener pastures, we know. Better silence than whining about work, no?

Anyway, northern Minnesota feels like a dream now--what happened to all that beautiful snow? Where's our cabin on the frozen lake? On the other hand, as best I recall, our trip didn't end without some adventure. We left the Gunflint Trail with an icy tear and reluctant van. Not as much reluctant as stuck really. Yes, really--stuck. At least it was a nice opportunity to play around the South Brule river. But when we tired of that, it was only by the grace of Bud's towing that we got back on the road (thank you, Bud!). Special thanks to the two women in a minivan who bothered to stop for a frantic motorist (whose van wasn't even visible from the road) and send help from town.

So, back on asphalt, we left the Gunflint Trail and Grand Marais and headed west to Ely. We just wanted to check out another part of the Superior National Forest, the Boundary Waters, and the International Wolf Center. We spent most of our time along the Echo Trail and decided that we should actually take a hike. We hadn't done any real hiking up to this point because of Jacks's foot, but he was starting to feel better and doing pretty well with the booties. Of course, we wanted to take it easy and thought a snow-packed access road, Moose River portage, would be just what the doctor ordered. The one-and-a-half-mile road ended up being a lot more work than we expected (we were forewarned that what looked innocently snow packed was in fact bottomless and waiting to swallow us up). Narra couldn't have cared less, Buko endured, and Jacks was just happy to be along, wet booties and all. We persevered with hopes of actually standing on the banks of the Moose River. The access road ended at a trail that claimed to be only another three quarters of a mile to the river, so we went for it. As if the access road wasn't bad enough, that little trail was a real challenge. Aside from snow-camouflaged streams--we couldn't see the walking planks--a number of trees had fallen across the trail. Again, Narra couldn't have cared less as she bounded happily over wayward birches. Buko will always try, and Jacks does what he can. To make a long story short(er), the boys reached their limit just shy of the river. We could hear Moose River in the distance, but it wasn't in sight. So close, but unfortunately, Buko got hung up on a tree; literally, he tried so hard to make it over but just couldn't. And Jacks looked on, stupefied and not without fear. Buko's eyes pleaded for his couch, and so, well, here we are.

Looking back on it, we miss winter. We love snow, icy trails, and the blazing whiteness of sun on fresh powder. A far cry from a history of beachcombing and tropical breezes. I'm not sure if we're actually converted, but snowshoes (and skijoring) are definitely in our future. At this moment, though, it's impossible not to be inspired by the freshness of spring. We'll definitely go back to the Boundary Waters and, next time, we want to actually see the water, even be on it.

BTW, speaking of spring, the picture above is from the Buchanan State Forest. Our ride home brought us through local roads--couldn't stand turnpikes anymore--and through forests and parks closer by. We forget some time that it's not so bad around here either.

Booty Call

28 March 2006:
First, let me say that we really like it here. Not just the north country, but Gunflint Lodge, too. That said, the lodge is a lot like the Catskills resort (which I believe wasn't actually in the Catskills) in Dirty Dancing. Kids, group activities, all the "family" stuff--but it's all rather endearing. If only we had a talent show! But it's much cooler here than in the Catskills (no pun intended). There's even a kind of hip, young staff. I imagine they go snowboarding on days off. Overheard them at breakfast talking about last night's activities. Those were the days... Nuff said.

On to the drama... (Which may or may not be as interesting as Dirty Dancing...) Unfortunately, our star is Jackson and his awful, recurring, gotta-be-painful sebaceous cysts. Looks like another one burst in his right, front paw (between toes), and it is very raw. Poor guy started limping last night and wasn't any better today. Suffice it to say he couldn't do any hiking. But a guy's gotta go, right? He's been having trouble in general with the crunchy snow (melts during the day, freezes at night), and it must be hard to pee or poop in comfort (and we all want that, don't we?). Long story short, drove into Grand Marais looking for booties. Got a set of black, XL fleecy ones with a rugged-ish sole. He adjusted to them pretty quickly and was soon all dapper on the frozen lakes. Tomorrow, however, the boy will rest.

In the meantime, the girl will work. Perhaps watching the sled dog team will inspire her. Even so, she dragged her human up a rather steep (and icy) trail today at Honeymoon Bluffs. Buko and Jacks watched the van. Who's got a better deal? More of a workout tomorrow!

Here's a preview of our Gunflint adventures.

Cabin Fever

27 March 2006:
Well, our agility trial came and went without incident. After the initial shock of being in a completely new place without one familiar face, we got down to it. Unfortunately, as my German buddy Bernard would say, we came up "dinks." In other words, double NQ. Been a while since that happened. But Narra garnered new fans as she's prone to do, and, as usual, she looked pretty amazing. Hey, you might as well look good, right?

Another new experience for us was that this trial had only one ring--so the day went very long. Lucky novice folks, we got to close the place down. The venue was pretty cool, though: Camp Bandy. Agility and obedience both indoors and out, plus herding. Wouldn't it be nice to own a place like that some day (in Wisconsin even!). Of course, it would just be for us--no sharing (even for money).

Anyway, despite the length of the day, we decided to drive on, to at least cut down some of the long drive to Grand Marais. There's never a good hotel when you need one, then lo and behold, you've driven six hours and made it north of Duluth to Two Harbors. Totally cut down the remaining drive north.

To make a long (uneventful) story short, we're here in our great little cabin at the Gunflint Lodge about an hour northwest of Grand Marais. Since we arrived in town fairly early, we had most of the day to explore the Gunflint Trail. Our weather karma has returned, it seems, as the day was amazingly beautiful. We had a great time in the cold--not too cold--and snow. Don't know what it is, but the Northwoods definitely owns a part of us. We walk out our door onto frozen Gunflint Lake, and the night sky has more stars than we've ever seen. We hear howling, too; the romantic wants to believe they're wolves, but it's probably just the sled dogs. How sad not to be able to tell the difference! Anyway, it's not so "rustic" a cabin, but it's a good place to think and make art. And, when all is said and done, isn't the wilderness much more fun with a sauna and whirlpool tub anyway? (Not to mention that Buko and Narra have appropriated the king bed.) At least we built a fire.:)