Tuesday

Check-out day.  Our somewhat relaxing, somewhat stressful trip is finally over.  Here’s a look at the inside of the cabin we enjoyed our week in.

 

One last sniff for Benny:

And when we got home, this was there to greet us:

Monday

Monday we had reservations to tour the Biltmore House, which gave Benny more time to rest.  It is actually easier for him to rest when we are away than when we are home.  See our dogs love to play when we are home, but when we are not, they sleep.  Not a toy moves while we are out. 

In our dogs’ absence, we did find another to take our picture with:

And although there are no dogs in these pictures, here is what we did while they were sleeping.

And of course we did the wine tasting too!  Look at the size of this grape vine!

Sunday

Recovery day.  Benny was pretty close to normal this morning.  A bit drowsy, but hungry as ever and still wanting to hunt anything that moves.  After letting him sleep in the bed and doing our very best not to disturb him or make him move one bit, we woke up a bit sore.  Not to mention all of the stress from yesterday, so I placed Benny's bed by the spa and we started our day out relaxing.

Benny enjoyed the sunshine and watched the yard for anything that moved.

Then the dogs soaked up some sun on the back porch, where Benny continued to drowsily watch for any movement outside.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of Benny's stitched up belly and the bone that caused it.  Plus some more pictures of our day today.

Friday

We decided that Friday would be a good day for the dogs to catch up on some rest, so we set out early in the morning to go whitewater rafting on the French Broad River.  We had quite a good time, and were ready to take it easy ourselves by the time we got done.  These aren't pictures of the dogs, but here's what we did while they were sleeping.

 We are in the middle row- JP on left, me on right.

It was a fun and beautiful day.  We made it home before the rain!

Thursday Night

After our hike, it was back to the cabin for some R&R.  JP grilled up some very cheesy burgers . . .

 . . . and the boys got their bones to chew on.

Vixen got about half way through, before calling it quits, while Benny chewed away.  Notice Vixen behind the rocking chair.

 

Before we knew it Benny finished his and made his brother's disappear as well.  So then it was sleepy time.

The Cabin

OK, so there is a lot to tell about today, but I am really a stickler for chronological order, so here are some pictures of the cabin in which we are staying.  It allows dogs and is in the middle of the woods.  We are close to Asheville (about 20 minutes) and close to the Blue Ridge Parkway (about 15 minutes up a sickeningly winding road- thank goodness none of us, people or dogs, gets really car sick.)

On the way up the mountain to the cabin.  If we came in winter, we'd make sure to have plenty of provisions.

One of the views from the cabin:

Our front porch (ignore the mess; this was just after a rainy hike, details in the next post.)  In the far corner is the hot tub; really roughing it here!

Dogs at the Wineries

We made it to three wineries.  So many are closed on Tuesdays, so if you ever head out to taste wine in NC, make sure to bring a winery map with hours, or just don't go on a Monday or Tuesday.  At least the three we made it to all had great wine!

I tried to get a group photo at Sanders Ridge, but balancing the camera on the entrance sign and pushing the self-timer isn't always easy.  We're all there if you look close.

Sanders Ridge:  Here's the pups waiting on the porch for us to finish our wine tasting!

Next we went to Rag Apple Lassie.  The dogs stayed in the car with the AC running while we were tasting, but they still got to check out the grounds.  Here we all are in front of the winery and vineyards.

  Next I'll post some pictures of our lovely cabin and our first hike.  But right now, the hot tub is calling my already achy muscles.

The first Post!

I am starting this blog to share the very awesome life of my dogs, and kittens, and possibly live vicariously through them for a few minutes whenever I write. I have been meaning to start this for a while, but the motivation finally struck me when I was packing for our family trip to the mountains.  As we piled the supplies on the table for the dogs, it became quite impressive.  The other reason is to share our vacation with our families.  Just when you take phone reception for granted, both me and my parents are in two different locations without reception.  They are in upstate New York, and we are about 20 minutes outside of Asheville.  

So, how do two people who own a complete dog supply store pack for two dogs to go away to the mountains for one week?  Well, I took a picture.  The funny thing is, more was added after this picture, and, we actually went to a pet store here on the first day to pick up a couple of things we forgot!!

OK, well, the picture will have to wait.  My computer is too old to take the SD card from my camera, and I brought the wrong USB connector cord.  We might pick one up while we're out today, so perhaps I can post tonight.