Thursday, September 3, 2015

Frankly, Just Freddy

 

The last few weeks I have been taking a break from visiting public campgrounds, due to the crowds at first and then the fires.

Yep, Northern Washington has basically been burning in August. So I stayed at a couple of private campgrounds away from the flames and hung out with Freddy.

So this brief blog is all about him. If you are the kind of person who does not like cute babies, cute kittens, or cute puppies, read no further.

We stayed at the coast for a few days before heading east. Freddy loves the ocean and all the neat things he can find to put in his mouth. So he was always anxious to take a walk.

Waiting

He saw something in the distance.

Bird 1

I used my camera to zoom in.

Bird 2

I never realized the range of Blue Herons. I have seen them from Florida to Maine and now in Washington State.

Freddy wanted to get up close but I held him back.

Bird 3

He settled for a seafood buffet of crabs, barnacles, and mussels.

Seafood 1

Seafood 3

Seafood 2

The northwest coast is beautiful, and Freddy had a hard time leaving. He kept turning back for one last look…

The View

The Path

We left heaven and drove through hell. After topping the Cascades, it was 250 miles of smoke to Spokane.

Smoke 1

Smoke 2

Very nasty.

By some strange coincidence it started raining shortly after we arrived. That helped to tame the fires a bit and clean up the air.

Freddy was all set to explore a new place.

F1

Since I am merely his human, he always choses the trail.

F2

But I can be sneaky.

Freddy was looking at some small trout in a creek.

F3

I walked up behind him and accidentally slipped a bit.

He accidentally went splash.

He climbed out and gave me a couple of dirty looks.

F10

F11

Then he jumped back into the creek, jumped out, and started digging, showering himself with dirt. He glanced at me as if to say he could get much dirtier anytime he wanted, and I better be good if I wanted the trailer to stay clean inside.

F12

I surrendered.

Another day, another trail.

F13

On this one we found a perfect car for my nephew Riley, who just turned 16 a month ago.

Riley Car

No cost for gas or insurance, heck no need for a gps tracker. He could just sit in the driveway and make vroom vroom sounds until he goes away to college.

Freddy said that the car was boring and urged me along, said he heard some croaking.

F16

He found some frogs and tried to eat them.

F17

They fled to Frog Island and he followed.

F18

F19

The frogs fled under the lily pads and Freddy was frustrated.

F20

But he doesn’t give up easily. He saw one to the right, stared at it, and jumped.

F21

You can see by his legs that the water was only 6 inches deep where he crossed to Frog Island. The side he jumped off was a couple of feet deep.

He went under and came up sputtering. I was laughing hard and quickly snapped his leash on when he got out. He was feeling embarrassed and probably would have ran and sulked.

F22

F23

All in all, Freddy is a great puppy. He enjoys the outdoors and exploring new places. A contented boy.

The Tongue

But if I am late with his food or bathroom walk, he has a look that says I might not want to make that mistake again.

The Stare

Kinda looks like Keegan Bradley lining up a putt.

Regards,

Greg