The Honorary White Dog, Michael, Candace, Gregg, Richard, and I took Steve to Vallecito Lake near Durango CO to celebrate his birthday weekend. We rented a house overlooking the lake.
We had great views and shared plenty of smiles!
We hiked and ran in grassy meadows. We saw a young buck in our "yard" and Michael saw a bear on the opposite shore as he and Steve motorboated to scope out the lake.
We hugged a lot and enjoyed each other's company.
We displayed our mastery over the art of fishing (caught nothin' but the giggles at one point)!
We did a fair amount of following Quinn's nap zen.
Dragon learned how to swim...and unlike White Dog, LOVES it!
White Dog moved her terra-forming skills gained in our backyard to a larger scale on the beach. She also taught Dragon some of the beginning design concepts. When THWD plagiarized one of HER works and began altering it, WD had no choice but to fill in that hole and chase Dragon from the site!
Gregg made pumpkin spice cake with dark rich chocolate frosting and pepitas as garnish.
Early this morning Steve received a very special birthday wish as we looked out of bedroom window in response to White Dog's throaty growl. There on the ridge at eye height to us was a pair of grey wolves standing under the pines in the grey drizzle. They stood and looked right at Steve before silently slipping back into the brush.
With Richard and Gregg along, our idea of "roughing it" food wise was not hot dogs and canned beans. This is the cheese and fruit tray for apres hiking one afternoon. We had red wine and mushroom sauced steak with potatoes gratin and asparagus on night, blueberry pancakes with honeyed spiced greek yogurt and pork sausage
for breakfast, grilled pesto salmon and veggies for lunch, pork loin with grainy mustard crust, risotto, and grilled stringed beans...and homemade humus...and guacamole...yes, the pups enjoyed the feasting, too...and we all enjoyed the sprawling on deck chairs watching the Perseid Meteors and moaning about eating too much after!
We hiked and ran in grassy meadows. We saw a young buck in our "yard" and Michael saw a bear on the opposite shore as he and Steve motorboated to scope out the lake.
We hugged a lot and enjoyed each other's company.
We displayed our mastery over the art of fishing (caught nothin' but the giggles at one point)!
We did a fair amount of following Quinn's nap zen.
Dragon learned how to swim...and unlike White Dog, LOVES it!
Dragon was also our chipmunk security guard and nearly got one of the bold ground squirrels! Taught that guy a lesson!
White Dog moved her terra-forming skills gained in our backyard to a larger scale on the beach. She also taught Dragon some of the beginning design concepts. When THWD plagiarized one of HER works and began altering it, WD had no choice but to fill in that hole and chase Dragon from the site!
Gregg made pumpkin spice cake with dark rich chocolate frosting and pepitas as garnish.Early this morning Steve received a very special birthday wish as we looked out of bedroom window in response to White Dog's throaty growl. There on the ridge at eye height to us was a pair of grey wolves standing under the pines in the grey drizzle. They stood and looked right at Steve before silently slipping back into the brush.
With Richard and Gregg along, our idea of "roughing it" food wise was not hot dogs and canned beans. This is the cheese and fruit tray for apres hiking one afternoon. We had red wine and mushroom sauced steak with potatoes gratin and asparagus on night, blueberry pancakes with honeyed spiced greek yogurt and pork sausagefor breakfast, grilled pesto salmon and veggies for lunch, pork loin with grainy mustard crust, risotto, and grilled stringed beans...and homemade humus...and guacamole...yes, the pups enjoyed the feasting, too...and we all enjoyed the sprawling on deck chairs watching the Perseid Meteors and moaning about eating too much after!
It was wonderful weekend of natural beauty, marvelous loving heart family, and a reminder that growing old is not so bad when you have such wonderful two- and four-legged people to share the journey with. Tomorrow, White Dog will show you what she and TOWD gave Steve for as a gift (Thanks to Casper D Dog's very talented mom)!