Back Again

Our motorhome (and me) at RedRock RV Park in Island Park, Idaho. I'm so excited to be here.

Dogs are known for their ability to smell well and remember smells I am told. This is definitely true with me. Familiar things bounce back into my head with the slightest sniff of them in the air. Most of these memories are good, but some are fantastic (that means really good). I'm now back in a familiar place which has those fantastic memories and smells. As soon as we turned our motorhome onto Red Rock road in Island Park, Idaho, I was up at the front window looking out, and the smells of the cows, the bears, the moose and the trees were so familiar that I started barking to let everyone know I was happy and remembered my summer home. I have spent 7 of my almost 9 years here in the summer so it is like a home for me.

Here's what the RedRock RV Park looks like from across the street (in the forest) in early May. See Henry's Lake (and me)

We see old friends, like Casey, my close beagle friend, and new ones like Mac that I met today. She's a small, little white fluffy thing with lots of energy, but we got to know each other and she settled down quickly. I get to see my human friends, like Gordon and Karen, Karen and Steve, and John, Georgiana and Arlene. They like me and I like them. Gordon always calls me in a high human voice from the top of his home (he has something Dad calls a balcony and he always tricks me because I never think to look up there for him.) Oh yea, I also got to see my cat friends that live with John, Georgiana and Arlene (they have 6 of those furry animals!). They look at me everyday when we go on our long morning walk from their big window in their motorhome. Sometimes they give me their paw to sniff when their door is open. So coming back to RedRock RV Park makes me feel really happy to see old friends.

I see lots of old friends, including John's cats (he has six) who like to see me too!

I scared some Geese off the land onto the ice of the lake. It's funny to see them walk on the water.

One of my favorite things is the walks with Dad and Mom. Yesterday we walked down to Henry's Lake. There was lots of that white cold stuff that Mom told me is called snow. It's fun to roll around in it because it is sometimes hard and lets me relieve the itching that is on my back. The lake is white in most places instead of black (Dad says blue, but I'm no judge of colors!). Dad says it's ice on top of the water, something like snow but much harder. The days are warming here and soon it will be all blue. I saw some big birds (Dad says they are Canada Geese) resting on the banks of the lake and I just couldn't resist chasing them. They flew onto the lake and walked around. It was funny to see something walking on the water!

There are a lot of familiar smells under the snow. I like to dig to find them. (some are squirrel holes and others are Badger holes,,,yikes!)

On the way to the lake I sniffed a lot of big holes that Dad says are the homes of Badgers. Dad tells me to stay away from the holes because the badgers have VERY sharp paws and will cut me if they find my nose in their hole. It's hard to resist I must admit though.

We walked down to Henrys Lake. It has lots of ice on it now (May 10th).

It is so quiet at the lake now, with no humans (except Mom and Dad and they don't really count), just birds and ducks (and me of course). Soon there will be those humans that Dad calls fishermen who look for their dinner on the end of a string in the lake. Now, I can claim the whole lake as my own (I'll share with Mom and Dad I guess).

All the mountains that are around us are white with this snow stuff and the air is cold. I like that because I'm always running around and I get hot easily, even with my summer coat as I have now (thanks to our visit to North Carolina and Texas and Arizona where it was hot.)

Dad and I started our daily morning walks down RedRock Road. It's fun to explore the smells and sights.

There aren't many humans at RedRock RV Park yet. I guess most of them are still packing, getting ready to come visit us. I like it when it is not too crowded, but I do like to visit other dogs, so I'm looking forward to when more dogs arrive here. I'm kinda like the park leader. I make sure they all feel welcome and obey the rules.

This morning Dad took me on a walk down Red Rock Road, and up onto the forest road. It was all white with snow. The birds were singing and we could see Henry's Lake and the mountains around it from there. I got to roll around and I slid down the road a bit on my back. It was fun. Dad made a lot of noise when he walked because his shoes crunched the snow down with every step. I was silent, but did fall through the snow ever so often. We heard the Sand Hill Cranes across the ranch and Dad even photographed a rare visitor to our area, the Clark's Nutcracker Jay bird. A great way to begin the day.

We saw this neat bird today on the fence post next to us on our walk, the Clark's Nutcracker Jay.

The aspen trees are waking up and growing fast to be ready for spring and all the humans that come to see them.

Dad says the trees and flowers are starting to wake up from a long winter sleep and getting ready for spring time. Right now they are stretching and growing fast (they don't have much time), but still they are mostly hiding their beauty. Most of the ground here is full of old and rotting flowers and leaves. I guess they are waiting for more humans to show up before they display their leaves and flowers. I'm sure Dad will be excited to see the flowers arrive so he can photograph them. So far he's only seen two flowers, the Sagebrush buttercup and the Wyoming Kittentails. But there will be more soon.

I've seen a few ground squirrels and smelled a lot more. They have been digging holes near us so I have a lot of exploring I can do, especially behind the RV park in the sagebrush.

Mom and Dad finally got the motorhome set up for the summer and my water dish and leash are outside where I can spend part of the day just looking at the sky and watching the other dogs walk by. Dad set up the bird feeder too, so before long I'll have the birds to watch too!

Soon Dad will be taking me on trips to Red Rock National Wildlife Refuge and Yellowstone National Park. That will be fun too!

Come see us at RedRock RV park this summer. You'll love it here like I do!

I'm so happy to be back here again, and I'm hoping that some of you will come to visit me at RedRock RV park. It's a great place in the country and I'm sure you'll love it too. Stop by to see me too, please. You can see the web page and learn all about it. (www. Redrockrvpark.com)

Until next week,

Arf

Reggie