Another Adventure

Hey everybody. The Food Guy just picked me up from another great stay with my ATL peeps, Jen, Zozo, & Sug. He decided he needed a break from all his work, so he took a trip out to Utah to do a little climbing and hiking. I was a little bummed when he told me he was flying out there, which meant I couldn't go. But, when he told me I was going to stay with my ATL crew, I was pretty psyched.

Anyway, we just got home and Food Guy's cleaning all his gear, so I figured I give y'all a little update before he gets back to work. He's been grading papers all day on the plane, so I don't think he'll mind me getting my paws on the keyboard for a few minutes.

The trip sounds like it was pretty sweet. After a short hike up to a place called Ruth Lake, Food Guy and his friend found a sweet spot to camp. There was some stuff on the ground that you might call snow, but out West they say it's just some sleet. I don't know it looked pretty cold. Food Guy had to dust off his survival skills and get a little fire started using some Bear Gryls skills.

Then, he pieced together a little groundcloth out of the plastic bags he brought with them. Notice the whole in one of them?

That's 'cause he had to wear a trash bag for a rain coat. He figured he didn't need one since he was going Utah, so he left it in the truck. Not smart. It rained, then there was sleet, then some hail. Pretty crazy. But all in all, the weather was nice. Mostly sunny, cool, and not humid at all. Sounds like paradise to me. After a fun night in the Uintas, there was long trek back to the trailhead. Not really a direct route. I heard there was a little getting lost and some hitchhiking involved, but hey, not all who wander are lost, right? Food Guy got to go climbing in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Sunday. Sounds pretty sweet to me. I hear they don't allow dogs in that canyon because it's the watershed for Salt Lake City, but I'm sure if I was there we would have gone somewhere else.

Check out the view from the campsite. Not too shabby, eh? I think I would have really liked it out there. Hopefully, I'll get to go out there this summer. With a little luck Food Guy will land this job in Bozeman, Montana that he's applying for. Then, I'll get to go on all kinds of new adventures out West.

Home again

Hi, everybody! I'm back. The Food Guy did an OK job with the blog while he was out West, but now I'm back. He's pretty tired from having so much fun out there. I was pretty happy to see the Food Guy when he picked me up last night. It was a little late though. He didn't get to Jen's until like midnight. I mean, I was all ready to settle in for a good night's sleep when he got there. I was pretty tired from having so much fun last week. The Food Guy and I rolled into Athens at 2:30 in the morning. I slept the whole way home, and I jumped right in bed when we got home.

Last week was a lot of fun though. I got to hang out with Jen, Zozo, and Sug. They're so much fun! I got to go for a couple of runs by the river at Sope Creek. I spent lots and lots of time playing in the yard, and I even found some new, fun ways to pass the time outside. I learned how to dig. Me and Zozo and Sug had lots of fun digging in the yard. We got caught the first time, but then Zozo taught me how to clean my paws off so I'd look innocent. She's such a smart doggie. She tries to hide how smart she is. She acts like she's just a lazy fuzzy bear, but she's really as smart as Sug-- and you know Sug can read books. That's pretty smart. I had so much fun with my ATL peeps that I almost forgot the Food Guy was gone. Jen let me sit on her lap as much as I wanted to, and she didn't get mad at me when I thought the sprinkler was a dog toy. I even made a new friend, Bella. She's a sweet doggie. She's drinks water like I do, which means that she drinks a lot of water and tries to get as much on the floor as she can. She also likes to play with lots of toys at once. We played and played and played and played. I think we made Sug tired from how much we ran around.

I really do like going on adventures, but I think the Food Guy and I are both pretty happy to have a little bit of time to chill here in Athens. I think we're gonna stay close to home for a little while. It is July, which means we need to be able to watch the Tour every day! But I'm sure we'll go on a big adventure pretty soon. I'll keep y'all posted!

The Epistemological Ruminations of an Arts-Based Yellow Canine

OR: A Yellow Dog Goes to College:

What's up everybody? The Food Guy and I just got back from a really fun week in the mountains. Food Guy had to go to a writing workshop for a week, and he worked it out so that I could go too. One of the Food Guy's professors was running this workshop at Amicalola Falls in North Georgia. I think it just made good sense for me to be able to go. I spend so much time hanging out while Food Guy is reading all of his books and writing his papers that I think they really need to give me a PhD too when the Food Guy graduates. Now, maybe they will since I've been to college. What do y'all think? 

Amicalola is a really cool place. I think everyone should go there if they get the chance. There's a lot of really cool places to see there, and so much good stuff to smell.  Check out this really cool spot along the creek:

Now, y'all know that I'm a smart dog and all that, but I learned lots of new words this week. Greg, one of our friends who stayed with us in the cabin, is a pretty smart guy. He knows all kinds of big words. So, he helped me learn some new ones. We spent lots of time sitting around the cabin and I got some good tutoring.

 Greg told me that I was an Arts-based, Multi-genre dog who didn't just have thoughts. He said I had "epistemological ruminations." He suggested the title for this post, and I thought it was a pretty good one. I was thinking Yellow Dog Goes to College was pretty good, but Greg's title sounds much, much better. I mean, I do have some pretty deep thoughts. Most dogs do, really. We have lots and lots of time to sit around and think about stuff. And, lots of dogs are smart. My friend Sug is so smart. She can read anything you put in front of her. And my friend Zozo. I think she's the smartest. She's figured out how to sleep like 20 hours a day!

Anyway, it was a really fun week. The Food Guy got lots of writing done, and I helped him whenever I could. Mostly, I just sat next to him on the floor or sat on the couch next to people while they worked. It was a pretty sweet set up:  

We didn't just work though. We went for lots and lots of runs on the trails. Food Guy and I ran for a couple of hours everyday. Well, we took one day off because Food Guy just HAD to make sure he got enough work done. He can be such a geek that way. "Gotta get my work done, gotta get my work done," he says. Luckily, I told him he could call going for a run on the trail "work" if he was smart. See, all he has to do is think about what he's supposed to be writing while he's out running, and bingo: you're working! You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out. But overall, the schedule seemed pretty good to me. The people spent a lot of time drinking coffee and talking about the stuff they were writing. Then, they went to "class" every night where they helped each other with their writing projects. I mostly slept while all that was going on. I mean, a dog can only do so much thinking. I had to make sure I got plenty of sleep, so Food Guy and I could go exploring on the trails everyday. The trails at Amicalola Falls are pretty sweet. Check out some of the views we found along the way:

The trails were really good for running. Food Guy's ankle seems to have finally healed. It had been giving him some trouble for a while, so we weren't getting to run very much before we went. He was riding his bike more than running, which sucks for me because that means I have to stay home. I like watching Sportscenter and all that, but I like being out on the trail much, much more. So, I was pretty glad he was feeling better 'cause I would have hated to spend a whole week at this trail running paradise without getting some serious miles in. Even an arts-based, multi-genre yellow canine has to get his miles in. You know, you can't work ALL the time. Sometimes I just had to look at the Food Guy and say, "C'mon let's GO!"

We didn't just run and work though.  We spent some good time hanging out around the cabin. Greg brought his guitar and played us some songs everyday. Man, that guy can play the guitar. He even took the time to teach the Food Guy a few chords. 

I'm not sure how that's gonna work out. He might even get mad at me for telling y'all about the guitar thing. You know Reeve is gonna start calling him a dirty hippie if he starts playing guitar. But I think it wouldn't be too bad if the Food Guy learned to play a little music. We even had a campfire or two. We stayed up pretty late the last night hanging out and listening to Greg play guitar around the campfire. The Good Doctor (Christine) managed to secure the appropriate liquid refreshments we needed when she made a run to town on Thursday, so we celebrated finishing our work with a roaring campfire Friday night. 

Well, we're back in Athens now. We went home for the weekend and had a good time hanging out at the Lake. I got to play with Bosco, the Food Guy's brother's dog. We had big time running around in the yard by the lake. The Food Guy's dad snuck me lots of extra dog bones. I have him convinced that Food Guy never feeds me. Sshh, don't tell him that I get plenty to eat. I'm not really looking forward to next week. Food Guy will be teaching all day and then grading for the online classes at night. Not to mention he has to finish up getting his dissertation prospectus ready and all that kinds of jazz.  Ughh, I'm gonna really have to get on him about getting out of bed early, so we can go run on our trails behind our house. Not that I like getting up early. I don't. But, I'll make up for it sleeping all day while he's working. Zozo and Sug taught me that trick. Like I said, those are some smart doggies. 

Spring Break Starts on the AT

The Food Guy's spring break started on Friday, so when he got home from the library we packed up the rolling doghouse and headed for WNC to go for a run on the AT. Y'all know I like going for a run in the mountains, so I was pretty psyched. We got our friend Ben to drop us off in Reeve's truck at the Wesser Creek trail on saturday morning after spending some time hanging out and visiting folks around NOC. Ben's the man for dropping us off and having Reeve's truck back at NOC for us when we finished our run. 'Cause I was tired and ready for some food.

Wait 'till you see where we went, and you'll know why I was so tired I couldn't even jump in the truck at the end of the day. After a long, long uphill on the Wesser Creek trail, we hit the AT and from there it wasn't too long before we got to Wesser Bald. It was a steep climb, but there were lots of creeks to drink from and even a few spots of snow to eat. Food Guy and Reeve were working hard to keep running in a few spots and they had to settle for a fast hike for some long sections. I didn't mind that since it gave me more time to run around smelling stuff. I think I might have used a little too much energy- by the time we got the Wesser Bald, I was pretty tired. 

The run back down to NOC was pretty fun. It was fast and had lots of twists and turns and I was entertained by how many times Food Guy and Reeve rolled their ankles on roots and rocks. You know- it's all fun and games 'til somebody gets hurt, then it's hilarious. 

Once we got down to the Center, I was pretty tired. Food Guy gave me some dog bones and I drank from the river for a little while. It's still too early in the year for Reeve to turn the water on at the Silvermine house, so, I just slept in the back of the truck while the people went up to base camp and took showers. All in all, I'd say it was a great first day of Spring Break. Food Guy didn't bring his computer, so he didn't do any work at all. I took a long nap while Food Guy and Reeve went into town to eat Mexican food with the crew from NOC. 

Day 2 was pretty sweet too. I was pretty tired in the morning and Reeve and Food Guy let me sleep in while they went and had breakfast with Ken and Juliet. Then, Food Guy and I headed for Amicalola Falls to hike part of the approach trail to the AT. Check this place out:

There were lots of people there, so I had to stay on a leash for a while. Once we got away from all the people, I got off the leash and got to run all around. We hiked around for about 4 or 5 hours- I don't know much about clocks and time, but it was long enough for me to be tired. I was pretty glad we were hiking around a river because I was a thirsty yellow dog. Food Guy carried water and a bowl for me, but I like to drink out of the creek whenever I get a chance. 

We hike along the creek and hung out on a bridge overlooking the river for a while. We saw some really cool stuff. Check out this old truck. 

 I found a ball on the trail, and I got the Food Guy to throw it for me for a while- note to self: chasing a ball while hiking is a bad idea the day after a long run. I was so worn out when we got back to the car that Food Guy had to pick me and put me in the back seat. I slept the whole way home and I wasn't exactly feeling like bugging the Food Guy to take me for a walk this morning. I'll wait 'till tonight to make sure everything is as it should be on our trails behind the house. 

Food Guys parents came were passing through Athens this morning, so he went and ate breakfast with them while I slept in again. You know something? I'm pretty good at sleeping. I had a good teacher. My buddy Zozo told me I should sleep at least 18 hours a day. Sometimes, I don't get that much sleeping in, so I'm making up for it today.  I think he probably needs a day off too. I'm thinking we'll both take the day off today and then head back out for a run tomorrow. 

Writing, hiking, running

What's up y'all?! I know it's been forever since I've managed to get my dog feet on the keyboard, so I've got lots to catch you all up on. The Food Guy has been writing his comprehensive exams for the last couple of weeks, so he's always on our computer. But, he's taking a nap after running a half-marathon at Ft. Yargo right now, so I'll try to catch y'all up while he's sleeping. I'll start with today and then try to remember what happened since I ate last. Well, first of all the Food Guy got up at some ungodly hour this morning to head out to the race. It's been raining in Athens for two days, so I can't figure out why he went to run a trail race today. I didn't even get to go 'cause it was raining again. I was a little bummed to have to stay home alone- I mean, it's not like I'm a regular dog who's used to that sort of thing. Food Guy usually takes me everywhere. But I wasn't complaining when I saw what he looked like when the race was over. Talk about muddy- check it out:

Crazy, huh? Y'all know I'm kind of a crazy showering dog and I don't like to be muddy, so I'm not too sad that I missed that run. So, what else have we been up to? Well, let's see. Like I said Food Guy is constantly on the computer writing his exams, but that does mean that he's home all day with me a lot. So, I like that. He hasn't really had time to ride his bike very much, which is good for me since I can't go with him on the bike. We've been running almost everyday, which is great. I love running. There's so much good stuff to smell out there on the trails. Plus, we stop by the dog park a lot on our runs. Did I mention that I like the dog park?

Food Guy did take a weekend off a couple of weeks ago. We went up to NC to meet Brian and Nate for a weekend hike on the AT. It was awesome. It was so cold though. We hiked from Stecoah Gap to Cheoah Bald on Saturday. It was amazing. Check out the sunset:

Pretty sweet, huh? The moon rising was also not a bad touch. 

It did seem like we picked the windiest place on earth to pitch the tents though. I guess I should not complain. Food Guy carried all of my food and water for me. Plus he carried the tent and the sleeping bag. It was so cold up there! Once we climbed in the tent for the night, I couldn't stop shivering. Food Guy wrapped me up in his jacket, but that just didn't cut it. I was FREEZING. Finally, the Food Guy let me crawl into the sleeping bag. Ahh, now that was the stuff! I slept all nice and toasty warm in the bottom of the mummy bag. Mountain Hardware makes a pretty bad ass sleeping bag. Room enough for a Yellow Dog in the bottom of the bag. Well done, boys, well done. 

Anyway. Food Guy woke me up for breakfast and we packed up and finished the hike in the morning. We walked along a beautiful trail to the NOC. Food Guy used to work there, so he had to stop and talk to all his friends and eat some lunch. I thought I'd get to go into the restaurant, but I had to stay outside. 

I thought that was a little silly. I mean, it's not like I'm a regular dog or anything. Heck, I can write, and I have my own blog. But, some people just don't understand how the world should work. I was pretty tired from running up and down the trail trying to make sure I got to smell everything. I mean, it's not like I was carrying anything and walking 8 or 9 miles in a morning is not big deal anyway. Food Guy and I run that far a couple of days a week. So, I had to make sure I got a good workout in. I don't want Zozo and Sug to think I'm getting fat and lazy. I'll bet I hiked 30 miles that weekend. It was pretty sweet. Although, I think I should have run around a little less. Food Guy mentioned something about getting me my own pack so I can carry my own food and water next time we go hiking. I'm cool with that as long as Food Guy slips a few extra dog bones in that pack.

Well, Food Guy's waking up from his nap. We're gonna watch the Heels finish whooping Ga. Tech. Hope y'all have a great week. Don't work too hard or anything. You know I won't. 

I don't think the Food Guy's ever met a stranger

The Food Guy finally got back from his conference in Florida. I don't know why, but I couldn't go with him. For some reason they don't let dogs go to resorts in Sanibel Island Florida. I'm not complaining though. I had a pretty good week chillin' with my peeps in the ATL. Jen, Zozo, and Sug and I had a big time this week. I was pretty happy to see my food guy when he got back tonight. He had some crazy stories from his trip. I'll tell ya what: Food Guy lives a pretty charmed life and I'd say the kindness of strangers is pretty good thing except I just don't think the Food Guy would call anyone a stranger. 

See, after he dropped me off to stay with my ATL peeps this week, he caught a flight to Ft. Myers Florida for a conference called ARF. You'd think they let dogs go to conference called ARF, but they don't. Anyway, he went down there with no clue how he was going to get to Sanibel Island from the airport. He said he'd, "just sort it out when he got there." That's my Food Guy. He won't go into the woods without a plan and lots of food and stuff, but make him travel around in the city and he just flies by the seat of his pants. Good think he doesn't mind just chatting people up. When he got off the plane, he just started talking to some people. They happened to be from Berry College in good 'ol Rome Ga. Guess what? They were Georgia grads and they were going to the conference, so they were kind enough to let him poach a ride. They even gave him a ride back to the airport today!  Then, check this out. He didn't really know where he was staying. He just figured he'd go the conference and figure it out. One of his friends from school, Amy, had talked to some of her friends who said he could stay with them. Food Guy didn't really know where they were staying but he figured getting to Sanibel was the most important thing to figure out since he had to give a presentation at the conference the next day. Anyway, it turns out that Amy's friends were staying at the conference hotel and after a few hours of hanging around, Food Guy got in touch with them and stayed in a sweet pad on the beach. Check it out:

Not too bad for a food guy who left Georgia in a rain storm without much of an idea of where he was going.  He ended up spending the last couple of days hanging out with some really cool people. He told me he went running on the beach. I think he should give me some extra dog bones for going running without me!

I'm pretty tired from playing with Zozo and Sug all week. Our friend Jen is a top-notch food lady. She even let me go on all the dog walks with Zozo and Sug. That's pretty cool since it meant that she had to walk three doggies at one. That's some serious leash management! 

Well, y'all have a good weekend. I've got to go back to sleep. You know, yellow dogs like to sleep a lot. Plus Zozo has been coaching me on the importance of getting a full 18 hours of sleep in everyday.