Camping

Last weekend Caitlin and I went camping up on our land in West Virginia. This was kind of a "dry run" for future camping, which will hopefully be of longer duration.
Weather was great, and a good time was had by all, especially the dogs. We only had Tobey and Jodeo with us; they had a great time running around and exploring, and were very good about not wandering off too far. I had brought leashes, and a cinder block to tie them to, if necessary, but never needed it. They only real problem I had with the dogs was that they woofed at every little noise during the night, which woke me up every time. Caitlin pretty much slept through them woofing!
It was a very relaxing, albeit short trip to the outdoors. The most exciting thing that happened was that when we were clearing the fire pit, we found three snakes hiding under the rocks!! Little ones, and upon researching on-line back home, I think they were brown snakes, which are non-venomous. Neither of us thought to take pictures of them; will have to remember next time as it will make identification easier. Those were really the only critters we ran into, other than lots and lots of butterflies. And we saw signs of deer and bear tracks and scat).
The only disappointing thing was that it was overcast, which meant we didn't get to stargaze, and so we also missed out on the peak weekend of the annual Pleiades meteor shower. Oh, well, maybe next year.
Sunday morning we went into Snowshoe and had lunch before hitting the road. Since it's summer, most of the restaurants have outside seating and we could take the dogs. As we walked through the village, some guy left his table at one of the restaurants and made a bee-line towards us. Big JRT fan, and he spent a few minutes talking with us and playing with the dogs. He actually like Jodeo better, because he could tell that she had much more of terrier spunk than Tobey, who was a little too sweet and laid back for him. Never did get his name. He has three JRTs at home (130 acres somewhere nearby); used to have four, but one was killed by a black bear. Not that it has kept him from keeping his other JRTs away from bears, as he described what they did when they encountered one. Seemed kind of odd to Caitlin and I, although I know of plenty of people in JRTCA who hunt their dogs, and sometimes lose one to raccoons or groundhogs. But JRTs really aren't designed or bred for bear hunting.
Stopped at a local park along the river on the way back, because I've always wanted to stop there, and I wanted to see what the dogs would do around the water. Neat spot, obviously popularlots of people. Next time, though, need to bring shoes suitable for wading in the river! The dogs weren't excited about going in, and I think they would have if I had waded in. The water was certainly warm enough, and it was plenty warm enough outside, as the river bank was directly in the sun at the time.
I'd post a few pictures, but blogger isn't cooperating...it says my pictures are uploaded but then nothing is there when I post. I'll keep trying. Not that I have a lot, since both Caitlin and I forgot to recharge our cameras before we left home.