RuedeBuhr Road Rage - Day Three

Kelly and I drove as far as we could yesterday, and ended up overnighting at a rest stop on I-5 north of Sacramento.  We got up early the next morning and drove the rest of the way to Lake Tahoe.

The day was sunny and balmy, and our first view of the lake was breathtaking.

We drove around the south end of the lake, passing Emerald Bay, which was absolutely gorgeous on the sunny spring day.

We stopped at Falling Leaf Lake, Kelly's favorite place in Tahoe.  After parking Harvey the RV, we had a short hike to the shore.  Along the way, Rufus and Cooper made up for fact that they had not been able to "heed the call of nature" for quite some time.  Being good doggy parents, we picked all this up, but it added some significant weight to our load.

Rufus, feeling much lighter, jumped on a fallen log to check the surrounding terrain for bears and lions.

 

Fallen Leaf Lake turned out the be stunning, surrounded by snow covered peaks.  The lake itself was a deep aquamarine.  Kelly and the boys immediately waded in to  cool off (the day having grown warm).

I waded out onto a large log that had fallen into the lake, and Rufus followed (putting his Agility training to good use).

 

  

Cooper gave some thought to following...

 

...but elected to hunt for sticks instead.

This led to the obligatory game of Swim and Fetch.

Everyone thus cooled off and relaxed, we hiked back to the car through meadows populated with aspens flush with their first spring foliage.

 

We then drove up to South Lake Tahoe, where we visited Kelly's long time friend, April.  Cooper, having recharged his batteries with a brief nap, immediately challenged Kelly to a game of tug using a rope belonging to April's dog Sam.

Later that evening, we headed up to Squaw Valley to have drinks with Monika  and Michelle, the sister and wife (respectively) of one of my best friends.

All pictures from this day are available here.

RuedeBuhr Road Rage Day Two

After getting a bit of late start, we continued south along the Oregon coast.

We stopped at Bullard Beach State Park to stretch our legs and take advantage of the fantastic weather.

Cooper seemed especially excited to be able romp in the sand.

The boys quickly located an appropriately sized piece of driftwood and demanded a game of Fetch.

This generally involved Rufus (who is far more comfortable in the water) charging into the surf after the stick.

Cooper would then promptly swipe it from him, and a game of Chase would ensue.

We finally loaded up into Harvey the RV again and headed south into Northern California

We passed some truly spectacular views.

After a couple of hours on the road, we stopped to check out the Redwoods at Jedediah Smith State Park to cool off in the Smith River and check out the Redwoods.

While Kelly and I found the water too cold for our taste, the boys took the opportunity to wet their feet and cool off.

Predictably, yet another game of Fetch ensued.

Rufus demonstrated some particularly fine swimming skills against the current.

Predictably, Cooper was always waiting at the water's edge to swipe Rufus's stick and kick off a game of Chase.

All this activity left both dogs pretty beat by the time we loaded up for our final leg over the coastal range to pick up Highway 5.

Our route took us through the gorge of the Trinity River, which was AMAZING.

Next stop, Lake Tahoe (with an intervening stop to camp)!

All the pictures from today are available here.

RuedeBuhr Road Rage Day One

After many last minute, unanticipated hiccups which delayed our departure by two and a half days, we were finally able to head out on our great adventure late on Friday morning (May 16).

The weather was particularly fine, and Rufus was not ready to get cooped up in a vehicle just yet. He took my command to load up as an invitation to play tag.

Our route took us south through Portland and over to the Oregon Coast, where we spent the night in the Oregon Dunes National Park

The boys found all the rattling and shaking that Harvey the RV generates with on the road a bit disconcerting, and elected to ride as close to the front of the vehicle as they could get. Rufus took this opportunity to offer editorial comments on my navigational skill.

Cooper demand that Rufus quit hogging the other front seat, and took the opportunity to call "shotgun" at our first pit stop.

However, all the excitement of the trip deprived Cooper and Rufus of their customary 10am - 4pm nap, with the result that, by the end of the day, Cooper was sprawled across most of the front of the vehicle.

When we finally reached the campground where we were to spend the first night, the boys passed out from exhaustion immediately after dinner.

All the pictures from today are available here.

Enter Harvey the RV

In preparation for our 3-week, 4,000+ mile road trip, we made a temporary addition to our family: Harvey the RV. We picked him up on a typically damp, gray, chilly day in May.

Kelly was very excited.

After checking Harvey out from the helpful folks at Cruise America, we took him home to introduce him to the dogs. They took to Harvey immediately, and were excited about the fact that we had given them a bunk of their very own in the rear of the RV.

Moving Monkeys

We are preparing for a big move to Europe, and our monkeys are dealing with all the chaos this entails rather well. The movers showed up today and wrapped everything not nailed down in brown shipping paper.

Max found this total change in the geography of our house fascinating, and spent the morning frolicking in the nooks and crannies of our living room.

Towards the end of the day, Cooper got so anxious about everything around him disappearing, that he decided to sit on Mom to insure that she did not disappear too...

There's a Cooper Under My Bed!

Cooper is a restless sleeper, and I came in last night to find that, in his nocturnal twitching, he had worked himself UNDER our bed. Needless to say, maneuvering him out was... interesting...