My life has taken a turn for the better. In Seward, Mom finally got it that I need more exercise. Actually, she got it before, she just couldn't figure out how to do it since there are no fences and she doesn't jog. My habit of running away means I will never be allowed off leash.
She went to a little hardware store in Seward and bought me one of those retractable leashes. All these years she has refused, and now she thinks it is great. I run all over the place, she walks her normal pace, and I get lots of exercise.
I also get in a bit of trouble. I have taken to bush diving. I just LOVE the smells at the periphery of trails, streets, walks. That's where all the good stuff happens, as every dog knows. Mom has been dragging me out of the bush since she bought the new leash. Another thing that drives my nose crazy is the beach. Wow, is that a sensory overload. Now I can run into it, just like off leash dogs do.
This morning, Mom walked me on a boardwalk across a marsh. For a while, I stayed on the boardwalk, but just when she let down her guard, I leaped. I bounced around the marsh for a while, and she was saying, oh well, okay, whatever, and then she realized I was hip deep in muck. I paid quite the price with a hose later for that little bit of fun.
The whole family drove up Skyline drive, and I went bush diving at a scenic overlook. Mom ignored me for a little while, and guess what! I came up with a baby something. Like a mouse, or something. Mom felt bad, but I felt like a proud hunter.
Mom and Dad kept me in the RV most of the rest of the day while driving up the Sterling Highway. They looked around a quaint, all natural, little Russian fishing village called Ninilchik. It was settled by Russian Aleuts years ago. There was a volunteer showing the inside of the church, and she talked about the village and clams and eagles as well as the church. Mom wanted to know what the extra crossbars were on the Coptic cross, and she knew all about it. She's really from Montana, but she prefers living here.
Dad spotted a moose, and mom went back down the highway to photograph it. No moose. She said he sent her on a wild moose chase. Then she looked up the side of the hill and there it was, trucking off to somewhere. It was a pretty big one. Then she spotted another one grazing on the edge of the highway. That one was easy to see.
Finally, we came to Kenai, a little village on Cook Inlet with a Russian Orthodox history too. Mom took me walking along the bluffs above the inlet, and it was windy and cool. She says it was frosty, but I think it was the wind that made it feel cooler than 50 degrees. We saw the little church and the chapel that marked the graves of Father Nicholai somebody, the original parish priest, and his helper, who were the first to bring the small pox vaccine to the community. What I liked best about the chapel was the yard. It was mowed grass, but along the edges were excellent tall grasses to jump in. Mom took a little video so you can see me sniffing. What you can't really tell is that the mowed area is on the edge of a bluff dropping off to to Cook Inlet. Would have been such fun to slip the long line to go down there! Maybe tomorrow!
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