Sage's mom just re-did her cabin on the lake so we decided to escape the city and head up there. It was so super nice with a fantastic view of the lake from her deck. His mom, sister and cousin joined us on Saturday. It was Bill's first mountain trip too and we had plans to do some hiking along Deep Creek.
Saturday we hung out with Sage's old band-mates. All of them had dogs and band practice was on this sprawling hillside property, essentially a dog's playground, so Bill got to run free the whole time. The weather was clear and crisp, a nice change from SD lately. We decided to get up there a few times each month to enjoy the fresh air (and so sage could play guitar; his old mates are pressing him to join their band but he may just be an occasional guest appearance). Sunday we hiked Deep Creek, but not the nice groomed trail we did last spring. Sage wanted to show Bill and I a pool he used to hang out at but it involved some bushwhacking. We thrashed through brush and crawled over felled, burned trees. We even found what looked like a small human's leg bones under one such tree. It was not really my dream hike and Bill was having trouble with the terrain. We bailed and found the road. But Sage was determined so we tried another part of the creek. Although brush free, it consisted of steep rock walls along the creek that we had to scale at times, a difficult task with a new puppy. Bill was definitely hesitant about the whole thing and we ended up turning back before the pool. It was beautiful though, and Sage got to show off his bridge skills (which ended with him knee deep in the icy creek).
Later we met the band-mates at the ball field/dog park. Mountain dog park culture is not the same as here. There are no regulars and dogs aren't actually supposed to be off-leash, although they all are. Also, there was a bagpiper playing. After a mexican lunch with Steve and Liz, we hit the road. Bill was finally tired out and accepted his job as the backseat passenger with minor complaints. Here he is trying to stay awake but falling asleep while sitting up in his S&M style car harness we torture him with.
We got home by 6pm and cleaned up. To my absolute horror, I discovered a large black tic engorging himself in my back. His head was way in there and it hurt. I had thought it was a sunburn because of the radiating burning pain I had been experiencing since noon, although in hindsight my back had never been exposed to the sun. We burned his butt and he mostly backed out but left one of his suckers in there. I am awaiting a doctor's appointment now to finish the job. Weirdly, Bill has not one critter on him.
