Monday, September 7, 2009

Labor Day!

Today my family and I went to Antelope Island. It was incredibly fun! For you Utah people that like hiking/biking, trail riding on horses, boating, etc, I suggest you visit Antelope Island. It was only my second time being there (My first being when I was about 12ish) and I had a blast. It's such a beautiful place, and I would love to make regular trips there.
Spike seemed to enjoy the hiking, but didn't like being in the water so much.

(Click photos for full view)
Here is Spike on our way over to the water. It was about 1/2 a mile walk. The first 300 yards or so was really soft, fine sand. So we all decided to walk over barefoot since our shoes and flip-flops kept slipping off in the sand. Huge mistake. With each step we took there were more and more rocks in the sand, and with each step we took, the rocks got sharper and sharper. At one point the ground was basically just dried up mud and it felt like walking on glass. My feet hurt just thinking about it. But the closer we got to the water, the soft sand returned, but there were still tons of rocks in it, and it still hurt to walk. Never doing that again.



















Here is Spike in the water. Being the Great Salt Lake, I didn't let him lap it up. (Not that he'd want to!) He wasn't quite sure what he thought if it.
There is so much salt in there that when his collar dried, there was a layer of salt crusted onto it. I ended up putting it in the washer at home. There was no hope of getting all of it off by hand. I'm also probably going to have to condition my leather leash. It was kinda stupid of me, taking it into the water.



















We forgot to bring Spike's bowl with us over to the water, so this is how I ended up giving him water.



















Eating dinner after his "Fresh Water shower".
This was after we returned from swimming in the lake.



















After his shower, the wind was blowing pretty good and Spike was shivering like a leaf. So I went to the car, grabbed a spare towel and wrapped him up in it while I ate. Cute, yes?



















Here is my sister, Rian with wrapped up Spike.







































She claims she doesn't really like Spike, but the fact that she held him to help warm him up says otherwise.
He is thanking her for the love. :]







































Spike and my brother, Shea ("Shay" like Shea Stadium) on our way up to Buffalo Point.



















Spike on our way up to Buffalo Point.



















Another photo along the way to Buffalo Point.







































At the top of Buffalo Point.







































Me and Spike at the top of Buffalo Point. Ignore my face. By the time we got there, I had sweated off all my make up and my hair was so wind blown that it looked like I just got out of bed. :]







































When we got up there, Spike was so tired. I set him on this rock, and he just slumped down. The next three pictures are his progression--




















































There were quite a few Sunflowers at the top of Buffalo Point.







































I hiked that in FLIP FLOPS. Hiking wasn't on the agenda for today, so I obviously wasn't prepared, haha.
It's much steeper than it appears.







































While we were there, we saw a couple Bison.




































We also saw an Antelope!



















We also saw a Coyote! But unfortunately it was too far away to try and get a photo.


Here is a photo I took on our way off the island. I took it from a moving car, to bear with me. This picture was the only one of my "in a moving car" collection that was worthy of showing.





















When we got home, Spike got an extra conditioning bath. He passed out on the floor afterward.
Compared to today, tomorrow is going to be boring, and I am not looking forward to it.



Did anyone else do anything exciting for Labor Day?

9 comments:

  1. Looks like you had a great time! Love all the pics!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great pictures! I went to Antelope Island with my class when I lived in Utah. I wasn't puppy raising back then...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow what a cool trip! I LOVVVE the pic of Spike in a towel, Too cute for words!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks like fun! I love those pictures, looks gorgeous! And good boy Spike, what a trooper!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Awesome pictures! I love taking my dogs to different places, though I have not been out to Antelope Island.
    I am another raiser here in UT, do you mind if I link your blog to mine?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey Lauren, can I steal some of your pictures for the website please. :D Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Megan, of course you can! You have my permission to use any photo I post on blogger or facebook.
    :]

    ReplyDelete