Ty’s Birthday

Rod and I are still mourning the end of our road-trip vacation, so we decided to celebrate Ty’s fourth birthday by taking the dogs on a day-trip on Saturday.  We say our cottage is in the “Poconos,” but those familiar with the area would disagree.  For the locals, our cottage is too far west to be included in the famous mountain area – I guess they might consider us to be in central Pennsylvania.  In fact, I have never been to what would be considered the heart of the Pocono Mountains, known as Lake Wallenpaupack.  We thought it would be a nice drive, and so on Saturday morning we loaded up the dogs and headed out.

Buster has developed a new game in the car.  He is sort of chasing traffic from inside the car.  The game starts with him stretching forwad as far as his car harness will reach so that he can rest his head on the armrest between the two front seats.  From there he is able to see out the windshield and he watches for oncoming traffic. Once he sees a car coming toward us he starts to get really excited – he watches it out the windshield, driver’s window, back seat window and eventually out the rear window.  He never takes his eyes off the car as we go buy, so you can imagine his head is turing really fast.  It’s kind of funny the first few times, but then it gets a little annoying.   

 So, we load up the dogs and take off on Saturday morning.  Ty promptly turns two circles in the back seat and falls asleep while Buster plays his “watch the traffic” game.  It took us a little more than an hour to get over to the Lake, which was not what I expected.  It is a very large lake with mostly residential areas around it.  We found one place where we could park and wald down to the beach, but there was really not a place to take a hike or get out and enjoy the day.

We did find a nice place of lunch with outdoor seating and good food.  The gentleman even gave the dogs a little dish of (sugar-free) ice cream with a dog treat on top!  We got a picture of Ty eating his – Buster’s was gone almost before we set it down.

Ty enjoying his birthday treatGreat little place!

 

 

From the Lake, we drove south on Hwy 6 through Milford.  What a cute little town!  I would have loved to stop, walk around, and get something to eat, but by that time it had clouded up and both dogs were asleep in the back seat, so we enjoyed the views from inside the car.  We stayed on Hwy 6 down through the Delaware Water Gap area – we really need to go back because it looks like there are some great hiking trails we’d really enjoy.  We also concluded that we need to do day-trips more often.  They are fun, they feel like a little mini vacation, and there are so many places right in our area that we’ve never visited.  If you have any suggestions for us, let us know!

You Go Philly!!

So, I know this blog is supposed to be about traveling WITH our dogs, but I felt the need to make an entry about a trip I took without them.  I had to go to Atlanta on business and, upon my return, I was heading out through the baggage claim area to grab a cab home, when (MUCH to my surprise) I saw a brand new dog area!  This is really exciting to me, even though we don’t fly with my dogs – well, we did once, when Blitzen, who passed away four years ago, was a tiny puppy and we were able to carry him onto the plane with us.  I’ve always been too afraid to “check” a dog – even for a direct flight.  Besides, the dogs LOVE to ride in the car!  So, we’ll keep our paws on the ground.

 

Anyway, they are calling it a Pet Port, at the airport – very cute and VERY nice!  This will be so great for people flying with their pets or service dogs into Philadelphia.  I did a little research and there are apparently seven Pet Ports around the airport.  All I can say is “WAY TO GO, PHILLY!!”  This is further evidence that Philadelphia is one of the most pet-friendly cities in the country!

 

Here is a link to the press release announcing the opening of the Pet Ports:   http://www.phl.org/news/080620.html

Hydrant, bench and pick-up bags, what more could a dog and owner ask for??

Celebrating Summer’s End

 

We’ve been in Manhattan since Thursday, and having a BLAST!  Rod and I love to go to the US Open and this year the dogs have joined us on the trip.  Thanks to the dogs, we have found our favorite hotel in New York – The Affinia Gardens on the Upper East Side.  This place is fantastic!  It’s bigger than most Manhattan apartments – we have a big living room, a full kitchen (including dishwasher and microwave), a big bedroom with two queen sized beds and a small bathroom.  AND, this place does not just accommodate people with their pets – they have a program call “Jet-Set Pets” and take it to a whole new level.  They brought up a little gift bag for the dogs, travel bowls, a “woof” mat to put the bowls on, and a sign for the door that let housekeeping know if the dogs were alone so they wouldn’t disturb them.

 

As great as the hotel and the room are, the best thing about this place is its location.  We are one-half block from 2^nd Avenue, which must have 100 restaurants with outdoor seating within walking distance of the hotel.  (Our favorite was Mediterraneo, an Italian restaurant at 66^th and 2^nd.  They couldn’t have been nicer about the dogs – even though Buster kept barking at the dogs walking by – and the food was great!  Be sure to try their homemade iced tea and the tartufo gelato is amazing.)  We are about three blocks from Central Park, miles and miles of paths to walk the dogs.  However, if you love Manhattan, walking around the city streets near the hotel is fantastic too.  The area is residential and not too crowded.  We will definitely be back!!!

 

Thanks so much, Matt and Ryan, for watching the dogs while Rod and I went to the Open!!

Rod and the boys climbing the rocks.

Buster the poser.

Ty taking a break in the shade.

 

Buster finds a sprinkler!!