BOXER ADVENTURES

 We packed up this morning and said out goodbyes to cabin life. I hope the dogs enjoyed the trip as much as we did! I know they slept well on the way home! I am thrilled at how great both do0gs were on this trip!  They met wildlife, other dogs and many strangers and handled it all perfectly. I am also SOOOOOO happy that Sisko's knee issue never acted up (knock on wood) despite all the hiking, walking and running miles!!

 I didn't make any plans for our last full day because I was sure that we would all be exhausted.  We slept in a little late and when we let them out at 8:30 AM to go to the bathroom this started: So much for being exhausted! It was very cold with a thick cloud cover and we weren't sure we wanted to be out in the cold, so we took it easy.  Late morning the sun peeked out we decided to hit a couple of short easy trails. I am a streak runner and had just been doing minimal miles after our long hikes. Marc and I both wanted to get a run in and so we went to the beginning point of the Pine Creek Trail in Wellsboro, PA. I told Marc to go ahead and run and I would start with the dogs and see how they felt and if they seemed tired we would just walk. Needless to say, they were both completely ready to run and we crushed 5 miles.   We got back to the cabin early and relaxed since it was our last night there.

 I debated if I wanted to spend more time in the car today, but I had read about World's End State Park which was about 1.25 hours from our park and looked fabulous.  We decided to head out.   I was not prepared for the conditions on the way to that park which consisted of windy roads and hills.  Both Booker and I got very car sick.  I began to regret my decision to travel to what I became convinced was actually the end of the world! We got into the visitor's center and the helpful staff gave us some suggestions and we chose a challenging trail and headed out.  Any potential regrets I had were instantly gone as we hiked this AMAZING trail. While Sisko does great off leash, Booker is not 100% reliable yet AND this was a hike along the edge of the canyon almost the entire way.  So we gave them a lot of slack but kept them firmly on leash! They had a great time moving back forth sniffing the smells.  This trail offered some challenging spots navigating between, over and under huge

 This morning we decided to hike some of the trails within the park.  There is a loop that goes around the lake and we thought that would make a nice hike. The dogs were both raring to go despite the long hike yesterday.  It was pretty chilly out, but the sun was bright, and Sisko definitely prefers cooler temps! It was a relaxing way to spend the morning, and the dogs loved the unfamiliar smells and paths that they had never experienced.  They were forced to endure many photo shoots! On the way back we encounter some deer.  One was especially friendly - I suspect that people feed them and they show very little fear of humans or even the dogs!  Booker didn't know what to do with himself! Sisko showed a lot of restraint and neither one barked which was great! We ended today with just over 9 miles!

 We made it through night one.  As anticipated, Sisko settled right down and went to sleep.  Booker was definitely nervous and several time came in to check on us - especially with some strange and different noises waking him up. We decided that today we would walk on the Pine Creek Rail Trail that goes through what is called the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon.  We packed our lunches and got out the door early, backpacks in hand. The weather was cook and partly cloudy.  We saw mainly people on bicycles, but also saw some other hikers.  The dogs took in all the different smells and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery.   We stopped at 5 miles to eat lunch and gave the dogs one of their favorite treats - SARDINES.   I was a little worried about Sisko getting tired, but he showed no signs of that even when we ended at mile 10! Then it was back to the cabin and we enjoyed a fire. At bedtime, Booker had already adjusted and made himself comfortable!

 We plan our fall vacation around Columbus Day.  We typically rent a cabin in one of the Pennsylvania State Parks and, in some of the cabins, they allow dogs.   It just so happens that this year, as we headed down, I had very mixed feelings.  Because I was very excited about Booker having this new adventure.  However, at the same time, this is the date we were headed back last year - the day that  Archer passed away.  Things are so different this year.  We never expected Archer to be still with us last year and there was a lot of nervousness and debate about taking him - whether it would be too much for him.  What if something happened?  And, of course, we decided to bring him.  So there was packing our cart so that he could ride while we took walks.  When to leave him alone in the cabin. And this year, instead we went with a very young dog who is still completely full of it.  So while I felt sad on one hand, I tried to just remember that Archer had a great week with us before he left

 This morning we hiked on a trail near us.  I've been running a lot with both dogs now thar the weather is getting cooler.  That is, of course, great exercise.  But they have been on leashes the whole time as we've been running either along our road or the multi-use trail.   So while they been getting exercise, it doesn't really provide the intense mental exercise that running off leash, exploring, listening to commands, smelling all the smells provides. Since this wooded trail is sparsely used, we could let them off to do all the things. They had a great time. As we were going along I noticed Booker overly a stump and suddenly... He lifted his leg . Aw man!  That was the first time that I know of that he has raised his leg too pee/  mark something. I knew he would - leg lifting to mark is largely a learned behavior and Sisko is king of the "I must mark my territory!" So now we get to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't decide to start marking things in