Weekend Road Trip

This past weekend, we took a quick trip upstate with Chewy and hiked part of the Appalachian Trail. The Appalachian Trail traverses the Appalachian Mountains and spans 2,184 miles from Georgia all the way to Maine. We went through just a teeny tiny portion within Clarence Fahnestock State Park in upstate New York.

Chewy was very pleased with the trail. The terrain varied nicely, including rocky paths, dirt paths, gravel paths, and stone steps. There were fallen leaves to roll in and some mud to step through. His tail was wagging happily for the entire walk:

He stopped often to smell the flowers, plants, and probably pee-mail.

And we found some funky-looking flowers along the way:

Chewy's new favorite thing is walking on logs. He put his front paws up at the end of this log and waited, as if to ask permission to climb it. Once he got the OK, he gleefully pounced down it and back.

We spent the night in an Extended Stay America, where the pet fee was $25/night instead of $100 like at some of the other hotels nearby. Chewy spent a good deal of time hanging out under the table. I guess it was a good den size for him.

Chewy head                                                                                      Chewy butt

He also liked to stay in the little kitchen area because it had a tile floor that was cooling for his belly. And, of course, because there was food there. He supervised the whole dinner-making process and got some boiled salmon at the end.

Can I help make dinner?

On the way home, we stopped at Harriman State Park, which also contains a segment of the Appalachian Trail. However, we couldn't figure out where to park the car near the trails, so we just walked around a lake picnic area. Chewy enjoyed climbing on all the boulders, and sniffed out lots of deer poop. He managed to grab a mouthful of it, but thankfully spat it all out of his own accord.

We had lunch at a dog-friendly BBQ restaurant with picnic tables for outdoor seating. Chewy camped out under the shade of the table, and we gave him some apple that I got for 75¢ each at a farm stand. I thought it was quite expensive for apples, but they were extra delicious! I wonder if Chewy noticed their superior quality.

After a weekend of car-riding and excitement, Chewy has been napping extensively since we got home. He recharges enough to play tug and shake his toys for a few minutes, and then it's right back to resting.