Home to the Hills of Vermont

Thanks again for reading my canine communications!

Very big and very wet kisses, Mookie "The Bloggin Dog"

A Bit About Spinogaroni

I just wanted to make a brief mention of the diet of my human companions.  I think it is no strange coincidence that a favorite dish created  by the family on this trip included ...dog...hot dog that is.  So, in one pot combine:  Annie's macaroni & cheese, hot dogs and frozen spinach. And you get: Spinogaroni...

Nearing the End of our Journey in Niagara Falls

 This shall be the last of many scenic stops along this grand adventure.  We all grow a bit anxious to head home to the sweet green hills of Vermont.  This is clearly a marvel of the world...

As was this strange, but delicious looking, black squirrel that roamed near the falls:

Thanks for reading my canine communications!

Very big and very wet kisses, Mookie "The Bloggin Dog"

Homes from the Past in Michigan

 

Dave spent part of his youth in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.  In fact, here he is on that street.  As it was on the way home, we decided to make a stop here and stomp around in Dave’s old stomping grounds.  Pictured here is Dave’s home when he was 6 – 9 years old.   

And this was Fox Hills Elementary School where he went to 1^st through 4^th grades. 

But, the real reason for stopping here, especially for Anika and Caleb was to visit Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum.  For you Vermonters, this museum is a historical period reenactment museum, much like the Shelburne Museum, one of Anika and Caleb’s favorite museums.  Henry Ford spent some of his fortune to bring famous houses (Henry Ford, Noah Webster, Robert Frost) and laboratories and workshops (Thomas Edison, The Wright Brothers); as well as period craftsman, (Blacksmith, Tin Smith, Pottery Shop); and according to the family a

lot more.  Here are some pictures of the highlights:

The rides were all restored vehicles of the time period and included trains, Model T's, and horse drawn carts.

 

 

Pretty girls in pretty surroundings.

 And pretty meaningful houses:

The Cotswold Cottage and Robert Frost's Home.

We keep heading back east and next will cross into Canada to get to Niagara Falls.

Until then, big wet kisses, Mookie “The Bloggin’ Dog”



South Dakota – Where: “Objects in Mirror ARE Closer Than They Appear”

We started on our eastward swing that would take us on a northerly route towards home.  But, along the way we will make a few brief stops.  One of which was Mount Rushmore.  This iconic sculpture has been seen in pictures the world over, even by us canine types.  But, it is a different view from up close.  It is very impressive indeed.

It will be interesting to see if Crazy Horse’s mountainside sculpture turns out as impressive.  It has taken them a long time to get to even this point. 

While in South Dakota, we stayed at the very beautiful Custer State Park.  Unfortunately, the family was in need of some culture.  As soon as we arrived they ran down to what they said was a very nice theater right in the park called The Black Hills Playhouse.  They watched The  39 Steps, a more humorous version of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie of the same name but similar plot.  (Hey, I read the theater journals too you know.)

Custer State Park was created in hopes of preserving the bison that had been decimated in the early westward expansion of this country.  (Yes, I read history books too!)  So, even though the family had seen massive herds of these big fuzzy creatures they were really hoping to get a close up view.

Their first day (of just 2 in the park), they had close up views of these prairie dogs.  (They don’t look much like dogs to me – more like chew toys.)

They got a close up view this antelope mother and youngin’.

They got a close up view of this delicious, I mean cute, little bunny.

They got close up views of these wild burros. 

In fact, they got a real close up view of these burros.

From now on this warning on our car mirror will take on a whole new meaning.  Sorry, bad joke - I am sure I just made an ass of myself…  (I am such a punny puppy!)

So, where are all these bison? 

By the way, what did the Dad buffalo say to his son when he finally left home?  "Bye (bi) son!"  Ha-Ha  (I am such a comical canine!)  But I digress…where are the bison?! 

Well when the family started heading back to camp they finally saw this one lone buffalo grazing road-side.

So, we were all resigned to the fact that perhaps this would all we would see on our visit to this renowned “bison preserve”.  And then we started heading out of the park the next morning and found these…

And all of these!

And there were these posers.  I bet these guys were hired by the state park's marketing team.

Ah well, we had finally had our close encounters of the bison kind.  By day…

...or night…

We had plenty of objects to see in South Dakota that were "closer than they appear" here in my blog.

Next, we have a long stretch of driving towards the windy city and then a stop in Michigan.

Until then, big wet kisses,

Mookie “The Bloggin’ Dog”

Messin’ Around in Missoula

So, I have no idea what a BFF is – but Kirsten had one in high school and her name was Natalie.  So, as Kirsten tells the story – she started exchanging emails with Natalie right before we left on this grand adventure.  As Natalie knew that we were going to be in Montana, she invited us all to come stay with them in Missoula, Montana for a few days.  So, this was a mini-High School reunion for Kirsten. 

Turns out that Dave and her husband Steve would have a bit of a High School Reunion as well, as Steve graduated from the same High School as Dave and even graduated from the same MBA program at UConn.  More importantly, Steve loves dogs and we hit it off.  He was an excellent scratcher behind my ears.

Natalie and Steve also have two children Sydney, 10 years old and Eric, who was 2½.  Their kids and our kids also got along famously.  Caleb and Eric enjoyed chasing each other around and I enjoyed chasing them both.  Caleb also taught Eric the valuable skill of making goofy faces.  Steve was also quite proficient at this skill.

Sydney also could do her fair share of goofy faces.

The kids got along so well they even slept out under the stars together on the porch over-looking the mountains and Missoula.





Although Steve did love dogs he shared none of the amazing smelling meats that he cooked up over our stay.  Steve is a successful hunter and had prepared, flavored, and cured many varieties of venison sausages.  I think they ate some delicious variety at every meal.  But, did I get any of this... Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!  Look Steve even taunts me with his amazing grilled pizza complete with Italian venison sausage.

In addition to eating, the family did get adventurous and floated the Blackfoot River in inner-tubes.  And contrary to the calm water shown in these videos, I am told there were portions of the river that were Class IV and even Class V rapids. 

At one point Kirsten’s quick motherly instincts were called into action as Anika was launched from her tube and grabbed by her mother before she went down the rapids without her tube.  But, everyone survived and a good time was had by all.

In case you were wondering whether there was wildlife in the area – the answer is yes.  The white-tailed deer were a bit hungry as you can see.  This one grabs for an apple.

In addition, Dave just wouldn’t have survived this portion of the trip in the neighborhood of where the movie,  A River Runs Through It  took place, without some fishing.  Steve took Dave to Rock Creek to catch brown trout and Dave’s first Bull Trout.  That makes Dave’s 5^th trout species caught while on our trip.

Here is Steve in the process of catching more fish than Dave:

Our last evening in Missoula, both families left me behind, (I needed a rest from chasing Eric), and went out for dinner.  The boys were all decked out in their green shirts…

… and the girls got all gussied up in pink and green:

Many in these families rode the world’s fastest merry-go-round.  Luckily they did this before dinner as I am sure the results afterwards would not have been pretty.

Caleb caught the brass ring and donated the free ride to his sister.  What a nice big brother!

We all had a wonderful time with these new friends and old.  And from the looks of it, it was quite a reunion for Kirsten and Natalie:

I’ll write again of our adventures in South Dakota next.  Until then…

…big wet kisses, Mookie, “The Bloggin’ Dog”

Great Big Fish near Great Falls

A presenter at one of Dave’s Trout Unlimited meetings had presented the idea of catching enormous Rainbow Trout on the Missouri River in Montana.  As Dave is oriented to the pleasures and learning experiences of his children, he would ask the presenter for some advice as to where Caleb and Anika might catch some of these large “bows”.  With this information in hand Dave set out on his own for a day of reconnaissance to the Blue Ribbon Fishing Section of the Missouri River in the tail-waters of the Holter Dam.  Caleb, Anika and Kirsten would stay back at the KOA in Great Falls and enjoy the day at the water park there. 

Dave would watch as these enormous rainbow trout would be caught by the dozens of fisherman floating by in drift boats.  He would then watch as dozens of these porpoise behaving fish would roll around him and even fin within casting reach.  At one point he said a Montana Fish and Wildlife Ranger would stop to check Dave’s fishing license and would exclaim, “hey look at all those ‘big dogs’ around you – you should go after them”.  Dave was not pleased…

But, he was pleased when he caught two of these “big dogs”.  He would catch this 20 incher and another 18 incher. 

The next day Dave would bring the kids to this hole, but alas the fish were far more finicky on this day.

Even with Dave’s help the kids just couldn’t hook into one of these big rainbows.

Directly from this fishing hole we would head to Missoula, Montana where Kirsten would be reunited with her long lost BFF from High School.  Until then…

…Big Wet Kisses, Mookie, “The Bloggin’ Dog”