Walk in the Park

Spring in Texas - superb! 

McKinney State Park was beautiful with flowers and cacti.

We walked around the water, but Byam wanted to swim.

Green Leaves of Spring

Leaving near-freezing temperatures, we traveled south far enough for sunny skies and 70 degree temperatures.  Greenleaf State Park OK offered us a tree-canopied, huge site overlooking the lake. 
Walking around without coats.  Ahhhhhhh......
Let the winter dog-hair shedding begin!

Arkansas State Park - Ready for the Airstream, Next Time

So fun with Byam here!
The hotel here is grand, yet I love having my own sheets, pillows, blankets, towels....
The State Park is wooded and beautiful.  Wish we had the Airstream here in Arkansas - next time!

No Elk at Elk Rock?

So inspired by the weekend seeing elk, we headed over to Elk Rock State Park to the lake surrounded by leaves turning their autumnal colors.  We enjoyed our hikes on the dog-friendly trails sharing the day with beautiful and tall horses.

Conditioning for the Upcoming Season

In the Airstream this weekend, to enjoy the cooler autumn weather.  Our clear coated aluminum with the satin finish, the leaves falling did not reflect well.

To start conditioning for the upcoming hunting season, Byam did have a great run.  She stayed mostly on the mowed trail, taking advantage of the cooling breeze.  But when the tall grass rustled, she was off into the weeds.  Back in the park, Byam let us pull burrs for 1-1/2 hour before she got a shower in the Airstream.

Checking out State Parks - Lake Anita

After a short evening drive, we stopped to check out a new-to-us state park at Lake Anita. 
While we only stayed overnight, we want to come back time someday to explore the park.

Camping at a State Park

When traveling west, we often leave late after work and spend our first night close to home.  Just to get a good nights sleep in the soaking-humid 90*+ heat, we many times stop at a  campground within a mile of the interstate.  These campgrounds are convenient, but not especially nice - yet usually are pricey.  In anticipation of our next trip west, we decided to check State Parks that are a bit further off the main roads.

This weekend was enjoyed at Prairie Rose State Park which is built around a man-made lake which was drained a couple years ago and has since refilled.  Byam enjoyed her wade/swim in the water, and S caught a few small panfish.  Our site looks huge, as nobody was camping at the group camp site down the hill toward the lake.

Tongue. Tongue. Tongue.

Sometimes Byam is all tongue!

We had a great day at the lake.  Byam was enjoying our walks around the campground and,really wanted to get into the water.  She does not like to jump in - she likes to carefully walk into water.  For her, knowing the water depth is important.  I wish I'd had the camera when we were on the dock.  She leaned over the edge beyond the point of no return.  Then her eyes got  huge and our time on the dock ended with a wet dog.

Water Water Water - Brittany Fun!

Byam had a great weekend finding water to play in - she just loves to dig in shallow water.

Puddle #1

Puddle #2

The river with Byam.

1 second later, the river without Byam.

Our campsite 7 at Ledges State Park.

No Dogs on Beach - No Lifeguard

Maybe not having a lifeguard is a good reason to keep dogs off the beach.  Iowa is not yet a dog tourist friendly state.

State Park Fun - Dirty Dirty Fun!

A weekend away with camping is a great time for a run.  Amazingly we kept our little Brittany out of the lake, as she was having great fun just stretching out her legs.

The trail back to our campsite was shady, cool, but a bit muddy.

After checking out places that might hide a bird or rabbit, Byam was covered with burrs.  It took 45 minutes to get her fur combed out and ready for a bath.  Our Airstream is really convenient for a dog bath, with it's shallow basin, and hand shower head.

 

Airstream, Airstream - Everywhere!

We are not the only Airstream today!  These lovely folks were stopping to get their dogs some exercise.

Next people stopped were Airstream fans also!  Riding Harleys, the guys were stopped to photograph our Airstream.  If I understood correctly, they own the Harley Davidson dealership in Australia.  And they recently purchased an Airstream trailer from the new dealer in Australia.  Made in America, but appreciated worldwide.

Summer of 2012 - More Mackinac Island - Dog Friendly

Unbelievably dog accomodating!  
My feet were tired from walking all about the island, but just were not ready to leave.  So we decided to buy tickets for the horse-drawn carriage tour.  I'm not really excited about riding around with canned tours led by bored guides repeating the same jokes 6 times daily.  So my expectations were low, yet we were going to tour parts of the State Park that we'd not yet walked.  And with dogs welcome - were excited to take our Brittany Spaniel with us for an open air ride.

 

The horses were not surprised to have a puppy on board, so we took a photo of Byam with the three strong horses nearing the end of their day.  

 

Such a nice day!

 

We stayed until the last ferry which whisked us back to St. Ignace.

 

 

Summer of 2012 - Mackinac Island with Byam

 

Dogs are welcome here!  Thank you Michigan - great place to vacation if your family includes your puppy.  We listed to the information about the canons.  When we watched the demonstration on the parade grounds.  Byam was a bit bored there listening to all that talking and trying to stay still...until the very end when the guns were fired.  She was pulling at her leash to get over to the bushes and spent half an hour searching for pheasants.

 

We took a break from looking at the fort on Mackinac Island to wade in Lake Superior.

Summer of 2012 - Inspriration for Wally Byam

Looking down from Mackinac Island's fort - we saw this wooden chapel and walked back down.  The shape reminds me of an Airstream with it's rounded top.  Even the gray color looks like unpolished aluminum, if you squint! 

We respectfully left Byam outside as we took a turn inside the Missionary Bark Chapel.  My camera flash illuminated the ceiling - looks like the endcap of a vintage Airstream! 

Summer of 2012 - Fort Wilkins - Dogs are Welcome!

We love love love dog friendly places!  We were able to walk around the historic grounds with Byam, trading places to take care to keep her respectfully outside the buildings.

Summer of 2012 Banning State Park

Looking forward to our first long walk on vacation!

Banning State Park allows dogs on the trails which is awesome.

We wandered up and down the trails throughout the park which is part of a previous stone quarry.  It was quiet - we met only 4 other people and 1 dog on our walk.  Really cool temperature inside the quarry area - so nice for August!

Byam wanted to go swimming, but the water was moving too fast.

Even a small waterfall in the park - great place!