Travels with Walter: Nomadic Poodle

I think this is the longest I have gone without posting. Walter and I have been out and about a lot and time to sit down and post has been at a premium. Aside from doing fun outdoor stuff, I spent a lot of time in late August and September working in the garden and in the kitchen doing some fun canning. Carrots anyone? I usually have a billion pounds of tomatoes to can but they did terrible this year. My knee issue post trip to Upper Priest Lake has not resolved completely so I will be having an MRI (pass the Valium). It is probably a bunch of meniscus rattling around in there. As long as I do not move or sit still it is all ok.

But back to important stuff. Here is what Walter (and sometimes Nancy and Elliot) and I have been up to in the past month not necessarily in order.

Flathead River Valley, Montana

Being the crazy people we are, Nancy and I drove over to the Flathead Valley to pick up some unwanted poodles from the horrible puppy mill woman. This is the same place that Elliot came from. We got three from her. Really, I just want to beat her senseless. She has absolutely no idea how horrible her actions are. No, the dogs are well fed but that is about it. She is breeding every kind of Oodle you can think of. Of the three, we still have one. Poor Bubble. She is basically feral but has come a long way. She is now in the house with us and follows the other dogs around. She will still not let us willingly touch her but she does not run as far away when we try. She has the same vacant look Elliot had at first but now he is our giant bouncy love muffin. The drive over and back was very beautiful along the Clark Fork and Flathead Rivers. The bison were out near Lone Pine which was cool.

Flathead River. I have a desire to take a paddling trip down this river next summer.

Bison outside of Lone Pine

Bubble as of yesterday after a bath and haircut

Bitterroot Valley, Montana

Walter and I went over to Montana again to Lake Como in the Bitterroot Valley. For some reason I have never been south of Missoula and was frankly astounded by the beauty. The valley has a strange smell that I picked up the second I turned right off Reserve Street in Missoula and kept getting a wiff of the whole weekend. It is a mix of sweetgrass, juniper, and cow poo. There is a state park at Lake Como that is usually wild in the summer with jet skis and wild parties but it was almost empty when we were there. The first night we stayed in the more primitive campground and we were the only ones there. It was a bit on the dingy side. Then the next morning we found the nicer campground down the road so we relocated and hung out with the old set in their RVs. The lake was nice and warm for a swim. We drove into the hamlet of Darby and poked around. The town has old west building fronts. We went to the old west mini mart for ice cream. We drove the back roads from the campground to Hamilton along the Bitterroot River on the way home. It is totally beautiful.

Walter just before our swim

The Bitterroot range

The river

A cute sign made by a child. The dog drawing looks amazingly like Walter

The lovely valley

Sea Level: the Pacific Coast

We took a VERY quick trip over to the coast to deliver one of the poodles. We delivered the dog (Topaz) and camped for the night at Ocean City State Park. The weather was wet and windy but that was ok. Nancy and Walter and I snuggled down in the back of the suburban. We were planning on spending two nights since we were there but the woman called us the next morning at 7:00am and wanted us to pick the dog up. I think the woman wanted a perfect out of the box dog. She was upset that Topaz did not know what to do with a ball. Screw her. Topaz now has a wonderful home with a family that lets her sleep in bed with them and does not care that she is not perfect. On the way home we stocked up at Trader Joe's and had a wonderful picnic at Lake Easton in the Cascade Mountains.

Walter's first trip to the ocean

Nancy giving a marine biology lesson to a stray child she picked up on the beach

Walter and mama snogging on the beach

Pretty Topaz at Lake Easton

Deep Creek and the Spokane River

We have spent a bit of time hiking, biking, and paddling around the Spokane River. It is close beauty. Highlights are the wonderful rock formations at Deep Creek and a moose that was just a few feet from our put-in around the other side of a huge willow. It scared the crap out of me. Deep Creek is just magical and the Centennial Trail from TJ Meenach to Nine Mile is my favorite section. We were going for a ride every couple of nights with a swim in the river part way through.

The moose has just his head sticking up above the water under the willow branches. I SWEAR, IT IS REALLY THERE!!!

The Deep Creek bridge and beach were I used to spend tons of time in the summer swimming from sun up to sundown.

Nancy in boat

Priest Lake

Nancy, Elliot and Walter and I took our annual trip to Jean's cabin at Priest Lake. The weather was unreal. We did some paddling and exploring and spent one entire day just sitting in lounge chairs on the dock. We explored the waterfalls and waterslides on Lion Creek and I even ventured a swim. But man, it was cold. The falls and the waterslides are amazing and each set of slides and falls have deep pools under them all the way down the valley. We found several great places to camp along the creek if the urge should ever strike us. But it was nice having a cabin to retire to at the end of the day. Below are pictures of Lion Creek, my cold swim, and the lake.