Monthly Archives: August 2011

How Do They Know?

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Pull out the luggage and Reid starts pacing.  Pack a bag or two and Pongo’s whole mood swings from Mr. Happy Go Lucky to Mr. Melancholy.  Pongo doesn’t do well when his pack isn’t together. He becomes a whole lot more barky and turns into a super pill: testing, testing, testing. Basically, driving Mama crazy.

To Pongo’s dismay, Steve spent most of last week working out in the field at Port MacKenzie. He came home on Saturday night and you could visibly see the relief in Pongo’s eyes.  He plopped himself down between Steve and myself happy as a clam.  Unfortunately, Steve began packing again last night to head back out into the field this week, and Pongo knew exactly what that meant: Papa’s leaving again.

I now have one depressed dog on my hands.

NRLB: Mission Accomplished!

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Our No Rock Left Behind campaign is complete!  It only took most of the summer for us to finally have a Pongo-Proofed yard.  Every scrumptious bit of river rock that Pongo so enjoys to partake in has been removed.  Every 6 foot board of jumpable fence has been replaced with a hopefully-there’s-no-way-he-can-get-his-body-over-that 7 foot cedar board. All that is left are 16×16 pavers, which there is no way he can wrap his mouth around these, and some pea gravel that he appears to have no interest in ingesting, for the doggie potty area.  We are enjoying “Fort Buchanan” and the sense of relief that Pongo is safe when out in the yard.

Before: Delicious Rock Walkway

After: 16×16 Pavers 

Before: 6 Foot Catapult Himself Over Fence 

After: 7 Foot Fence With New Sod For More Play Area

After: Doggie Potty Area

I have to include some garden shots to remind us all of the glorious summer we’ve had this year!

Road Trip!

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It’s been one week since we returned from our road trip down the ALCAN.  We drove from Anchorage to Seattle to Eugene, OR to Seattle and then back to Anchorage.  Over 6,000 miles total and all in 15 1/2 days!  It was a whirlwind of a trip but a fun way to visit family and spend some time exploring.

Pongo came along with us and did surprising well for being in the car so long.  He made himself comfortable in the backseat of the truck and entertained himself for hours looking and most importantly sniffing out the window.

I can’t believe for all the time we spent in the car, and the time we had on our hands while driving, we took very few pictures?!?  Some of the wildlife we saw on our way down and back up included: bears (over 10 black bears and maybe 1 grizzly-hard to tell she was pretty mangy looking), bison herds, elk, caribou, moose, a wolverine, rabbits, coyotes, deer, and Stone Goats.

While in Oregon, it was hot…a lot hotter than us Alaskans are used to: 85+ degrees.  I loved it but both Steve and Pongo were melting.  In order to cool off, Pongo enjoyed some time romping in rivers and in the ocean on the Oregon coast.

We were anxious to get home, once we started back to Alaska but did take some time to stop and enjoy the scenery, stretch our legs, and let the ol’ behinds recuperate.