Two traveling doggie girls traverse the US and Canada with their favorite people. Dakota and Zoe (plus their Doggie Angel, Phaedra) camp in private and national or state parks in their 5th wheel. Join them as they comment (sometimes sarcastically about their parents) and see parts of North America with them!
Oh, Boy!!!!! We are back on the Oregon coast. We arrived in Newport at the Port of Newport Marina which is a little less then half way down the coast. It’s not a beautiful campground, but it's really cool and there are places for Phaedra and me to walk though I didn’t get the tug thrown a lot. We are right under the famous Newport bridge and did see the fog roll in which was a sight. This is so different from Hood River: here sights and sounds are really part of the ocean. There are foghorns calling each night and the sea gulls' mournful cries fly overhead. The marina has beautiful yatchs and sailboats. We even walked out on the piers to check the boats out. Right nearby, there is a science center, Hatfield Marine Science Center, which is a research station for Oregon State University. We stayed home while Mama and Papa saw a Giant Pacific Octopus being fed and learned
about other ocean creatures. Who cares about stupid octopuses anyway? Not us!
Our friends from Sanibel, Joann and Bob, drove down from their summer place near Seattle and visited us the first 2 days. We really enjoyed them. They all went to the Rogue Brewery right next to the campground the first night and celebrated Mama’s birthday (she just turned 39, you know) at an ocean front restaurant the second night. They spent a lot of time at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, a park
Western Gull and chicks
shared by the BLM and Oregon parks. There is a really pretty lighthouse and below it is a very rocky shoreline with cool tide pools, lots of birds, and harbor seals. Over the time we were in this area, Mama and Papa saw young Peregrine Falcons, baby Western Gulls, baby Brandt’s Cormorants and sooooo many seals. One was a baby. This has really become a baby trip for all of us.
Tsunami Pier
After our friends left, we traveled up the coast to Lincoln City to visit the sights stopping at Depot Bay, the world’s smallest harbor. Phaedra and I got to go along to help them look for whales. None swam by - otherwise our outstanding eye sight would have found them for the folks! I bet all of you remember the terrible tsunami that hit Japan. Anyway, when we were in Newport, there was this place called Agate Beach where a pier from Japan washed on shore. It was washed away in the tsunami, floated all the way across the Pacific Ocean and landed on this beach. It is huge! Bigger that the Brooklyn Bridge, I bet. Papa says no, but I think I know more than he does. I’ll let him think he is right, though. All of us girls have to humor him every once in a while. We also spent a day riding south to Florence to go to a dealer to have our hitch looked at. That was about as much fun as getting my teeth cleaned. The scenery was great, though, with wonderful views of the ocean and big trees that a boy dog would love.
From Newport we went on to Winchester Bay. The marina there had the neatest campground - with views out to the ocean and then boats on the other side. We were surrounded by water on 3 sides with a dog walking path all the way around. One day we were walking and all of a sudden there was this really, really loud ROAR! I thought the spots on my body were going to jump right off. Then I thought it was a tsunami! Well, I’m still here, but the day was soooo windy that the waves were crashing and banging on the rocks. I was really scared on that walk.
The best part for me was that there are huge sand dunes going for miles and I was able to run, run run. Papa wanted to ride an ATV but never did. Phaedra and I took the folks on a hike which ended up above the sand dunes and we saw tons of these little buzzing ants - they were really the ATVs. It looked like lots of fun, but kinda scary the way the zipped up to the top of a huge dune and then flew down again with sand flying from the paddles on their back wheels.
We went south to our friend, Pat Kelly’s area of Coos Bay. We drove along the coast to a special area called Simpson Reef and saw Harbor Seals, Elephant Seals, California Sea Lions and Stellar Sea Lions. Boy, did the folks have a great time. We ended up in Bandon which had wonderful rock formations sticking up right out of the sand.
It was then on to Eugene, Oregon to visit with Saralee and Ralph who introduced Mom to Dad many,many, many years ago. Along the way, we passed huge herds of Roosevelt Elk. They live in an area that has been designated a refuge. There were babies!
Animal House
The campground that Ralph found, was next to Dexter Lake which was well known for The Dexter Lake Club that appeared in the movie Animal House from a long, long, long time ago. They had to go one night to have a drink. Remember the original Food Fight? That was from the University of Oregon at a fraternity party. Wish I had been there, then!
Eugene has some fantastic gardens. We visited the Hesse Gardens which are amazing because Ralph and Saralee made them. Ralph built a building in the garden. It has trains running around in it. All of them walked all over the gardens and on their river, played with the trains, drank Margaritas, and played with cats. Guess where we were... at home in the RV. I hate cats! Those gardens were better than ones that they have paid money to visit Mama said. Saralee and Ralph took them all over the area and visited University of Oregon’s campus, various covered bridges and spent a day at King Estates, a winery.
Well, all good things must come to an end, but something new is always just around the corner. Next stop is the giant redwoods in Northern California.
Phaedra will keep you posted on the Redwoods when we get back to you. And, be sure to check out the video below of the Giant Pacific Octopus - he's cool.
Licks and Wags for now.
Zoe the Great! (And her faithful sidekick, Phaedra!)
Boy, oh boy, have we had excitement since leaving The Tetons.
Mama and Papa wanted to see something new so they chose a place in southern Idaho near Arco which was the first American city to be totally powered by atomic power. This was the location of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. The drive took us through some beautiful countryside in Wyoming, and then onto the high desert of Idaho where we lost the air conditioner in the truck. Zoe and I loved it with the windows open and the wind “a blowin”. Dad complained about the 93 degree temperature, but we loved it.
Bluebird in the Craters
By the the time we got to the campground, everybody was tired because wehad to drive through 40 mph winds. That didn't stop us from heading
out to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Whew! That's a mouthful! The last eruption of this volcanic area was 2000 years ago. The Pahoehoe flow traveled 18 miles before it stopped. We could even see lava rocks in our campground in Arco. We all drove over to the park which was very stark and empty except for the lava beds. The wind was blowing so hard we would have been blown into a lava tube if we got out, so we all just rode around and looked from the car.
This is so cool! It looks like Hawaii - or at least that's what the parents said. But, it's sharp and black and hard on puppy paws. I know this because the first people who crossed the volcanic field who weren't Native Americans were two guys and a dog. Big mistake! This guy, Robert Limbert decided that someone needed to preserve this area so he got a friend, Walter Cole, and his Airedale dog went with him. You know, the tragedy of this is that nowhere is his dog's name given! The good news is that Limbert loved his pooch so much that he carried him many miles over the lava when his paws became so cut and sore from walking on the lava that he could only hobble. Bad people would just have left this big guy there. He's good people!
The next day Mom and Dad went back and hiked into lava tubes which would have been fun for us. We knew by then, though, that this type of ground is really hard on poor little puppy paws, so it was good that we stayed at the camper. Still, we had to stay alone. It is amazing how many flowers and trees find a way to live on the lava fields.
Mt. Hood
We were there only 2 nights and then drove on towards The Columbia Gorge. The air still was not working but an Papa got an appointment to have the truck looked at in "The Dalles", Oregon which was near Hood River where we were going to stay for a week. Mom offered to drive on the way there, again, and noticed something loose on the camper so she stopped along the interstate. They got out to discover the the back camper tire had shredded with only a 1/2 inch of tread left on either side. The center was completely bare like a reverse Mohawk haircut - or the opposite from Zoe's Mohawk when she gets riled up! We were so lucky that the tire did not blow. We made it to town and were able to get all 4 tires replaced but discovered that the tire pieces had damaged the underside of the camper. But, we could drive it and found out we could get the camper fixed in Portland which is where our good friend Nancy - from old times in Germany - lives.
We camped in a state park for 6 nights right along the Columbia River Gorge. There was a great field in back of the camper where I could run, run and run. Every time the folks would leave us alone to watch the kite boarders and wind surfers in Hood River or explore the Historic Columbia Gorge Highway, they would return, feel guilty about leaving us alone, and take me out to play in the field. FUN ! FUN ! FUN !
They took us up to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and we got to play in he snow! It was 51 degrees. Our little tender paws got really cold but I really loved it. Zoe didn't quite know what to do - first thing she thought of was to turn the snow white! Yuck! Who wants to roll around in yellow snow?
We got to visit wineries and fruit orchards on the way to Mt. Hood. You know, there is only one food I don't like - celery. They don't grow celery near Hood River. We saw cherry trees that I could have feasted under and apples starting on the trees. I'd spend more time running through the lavender fields, too! Zoe really liked it every time we left the park because the rangers gave us doggie treats when we came back. I even ate them just so Zoe wouldn't get it all! There were tons of squirrels for us to chase, too, if we had been able to. There were so many that they looked like lemmings going over the edge of the gorge cliffs!
Remember the fires in Estes Park? Well, they followed us
to Hood River, too. They were close by but we couldn’t smell them. The
firefighters were worried as much about falling off the cliffs and the
rattlesnakes as they were about being able to contain the fires. When
we heard about the snakes, Zoe and I didn’t like walking in the tall
grass much anymore!
On the 4th of July, we drove over to Mt. Adams in southern Washington and spent the day getting lost and seeing beautiful scenery. We heard lot of fireworks that night, but never saw any. There was part of the road that had blockades up and the road had dropped four or five inches down. We either had to go back 25 miles or go across it. I think that we went across it but I crawled under my pillow and didn't watch. It's bad, you know, when the folks stop talking and the knuckles of their hands get really white while holding on! Anyway, when I came out from under the pillow, we were on a really small road and I hoped there would not be any cars that came toward us - there wasn't anywhere to go. Whew! We made it back though.
We drove to Portland and left the camper to get fixed and stayed in our first hotel. We liked the camper much better. There was a big bowl of treats near the hotel door, though, so Dad got us one every time he took us for a walk. I had to go out alottttttt!. We got to see Nancy, a friend from their Germany days which made Mom and Dad happy. We love Nancy! She is the best! We met her two years ago and she brought us the best treats. It only took one overnight before we could pick up the camper and we headed out for Newport on the Oregon Coast where we are going to stay.
Hope that Zoe has ONLY good news on the next part of our voyage!
Here's wishes for “Fair Winds and Following Seas”!
Oh, Boy!!!!! We are back on the Oregon coast. We arrived in Newport at the Port of Newport Marina which is a little less then half way down the coast. It’s not a beautiful campground, but it's really cool and there are places for Phaedra and me to walk though I didn’t get the tug thrown a lot. We are right under the famous Newport bridge and did see the fog roll in which was a sight. This is so different from Hood River: here sights and sounds are really part of the ocean. There 
are foghorns calling each night and the sea gulls' mournful cries fly overhead. The marina has beautiful yatchs and sailboats. We even walked out on the piers to check the boats out. Right nearby, there is a science center, Hatfield Marine Science Center, which is a research station for Oregon State University. We stayed home while Mama and Papa saw a Giant Pacific Octopus being fed and learned
Our friends from Sanibel, Joann and Bob, drove down from their summer place near Seattle and visited us the first 2 days. We really enjoyed them. They all went to the Rogue Brewery right next to the campground the first night and celebrated Mama’s birthday (she just turned 39, you know) at an ocean front restaurant the second night. They spent a lot of time at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, a park
the time we were in this area, Mama and Papa saw young Peregrine Falcons, baby Western Gulls, baby Brandt’s Cormorants and sooooo many seals. One was a baby. This has really become a baby trip for all of us.
harbor. Phaedra and I got to go along to help them look for whales. None swam by - otherwise our outstanding eye sight would have found them for the folks! I bet all of you remember the terrible tsunami that hit Japan. Anyway, when we were in Newport, there was this place called Agate Beach where a pier from Japan washed on shore. It was washed away in the tsunami, floated all the way across the Pacific Ocean and landed on this beach. It is huge! Bigger that the Brooklyn Bridge, I bet. Papa says no, but I think I know 
more than he does. I’ll let him think he is right, though. All of us girls have to humor him every once in a while. We also
spent a day riding south to Florence to go to a dealer to have our hitch looked at. That was about as much fun as getting my teeth cleaned. The scenery was great, though, with wonderful views of the ocean and big trees that a boy dog would love.
with views out to the ocean and then boats on the other side. We were surrounded by water on 3 sides with a dog walking path all the way around. One day we were walking and all of a sudden there was this really, really loud ROAR! I thought the spots on my body were going to jump right off. Then I thought it was a tsunami! Well, I’m still here, but the day was soooo windy that the waves were crashing and banging on the rocks. I was really scared on that walk.
The best part for me was that there are huge sand dunes going for miles and I was able to run, run run. Papa wanted to ride an ATV but never did. Phaedra and I took the folks on a hike which ended up above the sand dunes and we saw tons of these little buzzing ants - they were really the ATVs. It looked like lots of fun, but kinda scary the way the zipped up to the top of a huge dune and then flew down again with sand flying from the paddles on their back wheels.
along the coast to a special area called Simpson Reef and saw Harbor Seals, Elephant Seals, California Sea Lions and Stellar Sea Lions. Boy, did the folks have a great time. We ended up in Bandon which had wonderful rock formations sticking up right out of the sand.
It was then on to Eugene, Oregon to visit with Saralee and Ralph who introduced Mom to Dad many,many, many years ago. Along the way, we passed huge herds of Roosevelt Elk. They live in an area that has been designated a refuge. There were babies!
was well known for The Dexter Lake Club that appeared in the movie Animal House from a long, long, long time ago. They had to go one night to have a drink. Remember the original Food Fight? That was from the University of Oregon at a fraternity party. Wish I had been there, then!
Eugene has some fantastic gardens. We visited the Hesse Gardens which are amazing because Ralph and Saralee made them. Ralph built a building in the garden. It has trains running around in it. All of them 
walked all over the gardens and on their river, played with the trains, drank Margaritas, and played with cats. Guess where we were... at home in the RV. I hate cats! Those
gardens were better than ones that they have paid money to visit Mama said. Saralee and
Ralph took them all over the area and visited University of Oregon’s campus, various covered bridges and spent a day at King Estates, a winery. 
