Camping...doggie style

This camping stuff is WAY COOL!

This weekend, Mom took me camping for the very first time. We went to some place called Laguna/El Prado Campground in the Cleveland National Forest. Its only about 1 hour 20 minutes from Sandy Eggo, but it feels like we were super duper far away from home.

There were lots of trees...bigger than I've EVER seen before! Right away when we got there, Mom unloaded and picked out a good spot for our tent. For those doggies who dont know, a tent is where you sleep at night when you go campin. Its kinda like a house...only smaller. With no kitchen. And no shower.

Mom picked a extra good spot for our tent. Right under a big tree so it would be nice and shady for most of the day.

Mom said since it was nice and warm we wouldnt need to put the rain fly on. That was nice cuz the tent had lots of windows and I liked lookin out when I was inside.

There were lots of people in our group, and even more doggies! It was sure shapin up to be a fun weekend!

After everybody got their campsites set up, we had to move some cars. It was decided that one of the trucks would move, so we all got to hop in the back and go for a little ride. This was kinda special, cuz Mom would NEVER let me ride in the back of a truck like this on any other ocassion. She said since we were in a campground, and goin super slow it would be ok though. She sat next to me though, and held on super tight so I wouldn't jump out or fall out! Apparently, I gotsa high center of gravity...whatever that means!

Friday night, we walked around a lil and just got introducted to each others. I liked all the doggies just fine...but a few of them were a little scared of me. Mom says its cuz I'm a big lug and don't always watch where I'm puttin my big feet. Pretty soon though, everyone realized how cool of a dude I am!

The next mornin we got up and went on a hike. Boy it sure was pretty up here. Nothin like the city area where we live, and for sure nothin like the beach, which is one of my favoritest places to go.

This was just as fun though, minus the water. We got to hike across a big thing called a meadow.

I tried to walked slow...so the doggies with the short legs could keep up. I'm a nice doggie like that.

Mom had her camera with her so we had to stop and take lots of pictures. I got real good at posin, and by the end of the weekend we were all good at our 'sit-stays'. Even the human peoples!

We were hikin along, mindin our own beeswax, when all of a sudden I saw these BIG doggies up ahead! Cleo and I started woofin at them, and Mom & everybody was laughin cuz my woof was big and deep and Cleo (the lil poodle mix) has a high pitched lil bark. We had quite the duet goin on.

Mom finally told me those weren't doggies up ahead, but somethin called "cows". Apparently, this is what she says she sometimes lives with...cuz my poops can be kinda soft and look like a cow patty.

I thought I needed to check out the cow patty up close. I din't see nuthin special about them, besides bein kinda stinky.

There were some big boulders along the way, and Mom kept makin us stop and take more pictures.

Pretty soon we caught up with Jack, a Cairn terrier who had LOTS of energy. Apparently, he had found the lake. Unfortunately, the water in the lake was almost gone cuz it has been super hot and we haven't had rain in a long time, and when Jack jumped in he found out it was mainly made of mud.

I thought it looked like fun, but Mom wouldn't let me off the leash to check it out myself.

She sure can be a party pooper some times!

We hiked for a little while longer and Mom took lots of pictures.

Here's my bestest bud Kona...we did a good 'sit-stay' for this picture.

There were lots of things to climb and jump on. Mom was always tellin me to 'hop up' and stay. What does she think I am, a rabbit?

It was gettin pretty warm out though, and since neither me nor KoneMan are used to hikin very far, Mom turned us around and we headed back to camp. Luckily, our humans had lots of water and kept makin us drink so the heat wouldn't make us sick. Mom also brought my special cooling jacket and put that on me and got it wet. That really felt good!

By the time we got back to camp, we wuz all super pooped out. Good thing all the humans wanted to relax. I dont think I coulda moved another step!

Here's Ginger-dog, takin a 'cat' nap. Does any doggie know why they call it that? She doesn't look like a cat at all!

old-dog Kelsey was also wiped out

Even young Jupiter was tuckered out after the hike

Later on in the day, after I was rested up, Mom made me take some more pictures.

She made Kona do it too. We sure were bored!

Once that was done though, she let us run and play in a big area next to the camp site! The campground host was super nice. We were suppose to be on leash at all times, but as long as we were in our campsite she didn't say anything.

Then, all of a sudden there was a bear in the campground!

Mom said that was just "Smokey the Bear". Since it was super hot and dry up where we were, he was goin around and makin sure people and doggies were aware of the fire danger. That's scary stuff....super hot and glowy at night. The brush was so dry we had to be super careful and only have small fires in the pits that were provided. I was sure glad I'm a doggie and have my Mom to keep me safe! I thought he was a little scary.

One thing I learned is this. Sittin on a picnic bench is not quite as soft as sittin on the couch at home.

All in all, it was a super fun weekend. Mom said I did really good and was very happy I didn't bark at night and keep her (and everyone else) awake. I think I was so tired, I couldn't of barked even if I'd wanted to!