A Saturday hike

I wanted to find something fun to do this weekend (even though the work has been piling up lately) so Shawn and I decided to take another hiking adventure. There are a lot of trails at Eno River, so we chose to trek down one that we did not attempt while my mom was here. This trail goes right by the water and is only a 1.2 mile loop. We thought that since it would a nice day and we had some free time, we might give Bella a taste of the great outdoors too.

We left mid-morning and drove out there. Bella has been in the car twice--once coming home from the shelter and then heading to the vet's office. Needless to say, she was not comfortable in the car.

After a few minutes, she finally relaxed enough to eat the treat we left out for her, but when we arrived at the parking lot, she still wasn't sure about the adventure. She sat timidly in my lap until we had her leashed up and set her outside the car.

The hike actually went really well. For the most part, Bella enjoyed meeting other dogs. We came across about a half dozen along the hike, and even the big full grown labs didn't really scare her. The yappy dogs that came running were another story, so in those instances we would just pick her up and walk on by.

This hike was a bit different from the one we took with my mom. It was right along the water, as I mentioned, and we saw some really cool turtles. They were on every few rocks or so. I know I have never seen turtles before on my hikes.

It was really nice being so close to the water. We even let Bella walk down to it and sniff around a bit (this inevitably led to her need for a bath). She really enjoyed it, so next time we might bring a towel and actually let her play in the water for a bit.

As for the hike itself, we didn't do the whole loop because about mid-way through I told Shawn I thought Bella had experienced enough (and was hyped up enough) that we should head back. If I had payed attention and realized it was a LOOP, we could have just kept going. Oh well. Next time I guess.

The drive home was a lot better. Bella was pretty tired out from all the hiking, and once we got home she got a  bath and a nap so that Shawn and I could do the mundane Saturday chores that needed to get done (like grocery shopping and cleaning).

Tonight is our first puppy class, so hopefully Bella will learn some skills and make some friends. :-) Shawn's already taught her sit, lay down, shake and, under certain circumstances, she understands stay.