Wiggly Black Dog

Short one on the move

2011-09-11T20:07:00.001-07:00

The short one left town for a month! First stop was my grandogrent's house. I on the other hand have stayed home to assist with important home improvement projects. Don't tell Anna but there are less walls in the house than there were when she left.

Here's my grandogpa snuggling with a strange looking owl.

Grandogma and the short one enjoying the sunset with a glass of wine after swimming all afternoon.

And this is the beautiful view of the high Sierra that she enjoyed while out for a run in Mammoth this evening. I'm pretty jealous but I don't think I would have enjoyed the next stop (Vegas) so much so I'll be kickin it at the house with the boys, rolling in rotten fish and eating hot dogs. THAT'S the life!

I can fly!

2011-08-23T10:47:00.001-07:00

I have no photographic evidence of my claim but just ask the short one... in an attempt to rescue a particullarly special stick from it's eminent demise I jumped off a 15 foot high cliff into a river. It turned out to be a bit upsetting as I maintained my usual jumping composure and slapped the water hard with my belly. The short one must have thought it looked fun and decided to jump of the rock which was not good for me as I have been left with the responsibility of making sure nobody drowns. It was a rough evening by the river for me but I did successfully rescue at least 40 sticks and 3 people from the frigid waters of the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the Willamette River. I'll see if I can get some photos tomorrow but in the meantime, here is a picture of the peeps and I on a bike ride.

Photos from the summer

2011-08-09T07:14:00.001-07:00

Here's Paul. Well that's really just his leg covered in insulation from the attic where he's been crawling around fixing things. He moved in with us for the summer to help out with some projects and settle in Hood River or Portland. He is THE BEST! And he gives good belly rubs and feeds me bacon.

It's been a big blueberry season so the short ones got together with Melissa and some even shorter ones to scour the farm for juice blue bombs.

We've also got a garden going! It's a little one but it's a start and the peppers on this plant, while not smelling exceptionally tasty to this dog seem to be a hot commodity around here.

Here's The tall one on a ride through what seems to be a sprouting forest of lupin. I have a feeling that with climate changing soon these flowers are going to replace the trees. They are HUGe!

The short one went on a solo birthday ride (she didn't even bring me!). I thought it seemed strange that she'd pack an ice pack and a beer in her pack but she seems quite pleased to be enjoying it at the top of the climb with the view reflected in her glasses.

That's all I've got for now! I'm headed off to work with the tall one to supervise while he builds trail.

Near death dogsperience.

2011-08-07T13:34:00.001-07:00

I almost died last week. For no reason that my people or my vet have been able to pin point I spiked a dangerously high fever, stopped eating and started looking rather drunk. The small one, being the worrier that she is drug me (literally) to the vet where I was poked prodded, injected, drained and cooed over by three very concerned women. While I do like my vet and her assistants, I do not like to go there. It smells like scared animals and illness and I'm always afraid that I might end up getting stuck in there as it seems many others have. In fact, on this trip they tried to keep me overnight but my amazing people know me well enough to know that staying the night would have created more stress than healing. So, I went home and after a couple days of having pills stuffed down my throat I'm doing much better!

Laying in the dirt season

2011-06-10T14:03:00.001-07:00

It is officially laying in the dirt season! I love this time of year for a few reasons. One, I generally get to swim a lot. Two, my people shape these lovely dirt piles just for me to lay in. Three, grilling usually leads to dropped food and meat juice.

Being a dog rocks.

Wiggly black dog gets a cat

2011-04-06T21:41:00.001-07:00

My peeps got me a cat! They actually got me two but I still haven't met them because apparently they don't like people or dogs much. So far the only real benefit I've received is a few bits of cat food but hopefully they will start catching those creepy ghost mice that keep me up all night!

Meow

2011-03-07T06:56:00.001-08:00

This is what happens when the short one goes for a ride without me!

She could have been eaten!

Getting Lazy in my Old Age

2011-01-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe I've left my millions of readers hanging since October! What can I say? I'm a busy dog. It seems like every time I get ready to write you a compelling story about my wiggly shenanigans one of my peeps toss me in the car and we're off on another adventure.

We went down to visit my Grandogrents in CA for Thanksgiving which was awesome. Their neighbors have the most delicious compost pile I've ever tasted. It was good fuel for the back country skitastrophy my peeps took me out on. In search of good snow we drove for miles through 1'+ deep snow in the Subaru before nearly getting it stuck. Didn't make it to the access point for the extra rad skiing so while the tall one drove back down the super sketchy road, the short one made some turns with me while we skiied down the road. We then headed over to Mt Shasta where they slapped the skins on their tele skis and drug me up the mountain through deep, thick, wet snow for about an hour. Once they turned around I knew I was screwed because my big lab feet are definitely not as fast as their freshly waxed skis. As I post holed down the mountain up to my chest as fast as I could they disappeared through the trees ahead. I figured they were planning to leave me up there and almost gave up hope when I saw the short one upside down with one of her skis planted straight into the heavy snow. She didn't seem to find my attempts at assistance helpful but eventually dug herself out and headed back to the car with me.

Shortly after our trip to CA I was once again hucked into the car and heading North to Forks WA to visit my other Grandogrents and family. I got to kick it with the wiener dogs, Big Gus and Little Gus while watching the peeps partake in this very strange custom during which they make a huge mess removing stuff that has all sorts of interesting smells on it from fancy boxes. I don't really understand the purpose since very few of the boxes contain anything edible or stinky but people are strange like that.

I was trying to help.

Happy!

The Tall One picked up a copy of a novel our friend from MI just published!

Afterwards the tall one dropped the short one and I off at a trail that took us through the rainforest out to a secluded beach. We ran the whole thing even though I'm pretty sure by the looks we got from the other people on the trail that I wasn't supposed to be out there. Silly dog haters. The tall one headed out to scope the surf which was WAY to big to enjoy so we headed back to the house for some really yummy dinner.

Julie pants just like me sometimes!

Julie and Anna after skating to the water fall.

Julie, CJ and Jason getting ready to head back down the hill.

There's been a lot going on here in the Gorge too. The peeps have been working and Anna has been enjoying lots of time with her friends, skiing and running while Jason's been spending much more time kayaking than he has in quite a while. Our friends, Melissa and Corbin Shays (and their cute kids) have had a impossibly difficult winter. Corbin passed away on January 4th after a long and amazingly graceful fight with brain cancer. Being a dog I don't know much about these things but he was one happy guy who's laughter was contagious. He made people happy and dogs wiggly and I always liked that about him. I think that even in his absence he is still bringing smiles to a lot of faces and that's not something just anyone with only two legs can do.

Corbin shredding.

The peeps seem to be gearing up for a busy spring/summer of travel. The tall one just built up a new bike to go with the new line of jumps that he's been working on in the yard and the short one has been eagerly awaiting the guy in the big brown truck who I can only assume from the excitement she expresses when talking about the impending delivery, must have a huge load of dog treats, rawhide, or stinky stuff. I'll be sure to post a picture of said package's contents soon.

I guess that's all I've got for now. I've caught you up a bit and hopefully I can do a better job with this blogging stuff... I've said that before. I'm off to stare at the bowl of cat food the short one has been putting out for our friendly ferrel mouse catcher. The bowl is just sitting outside of the glass door and I'm confident that if I stare at it long enough I may be able to somehow eat it through the glass. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Wedding announcement

2010-10-19T18:34:00.001-07:00

Big Cubes Black Wedding Announcements

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View the entire collection of cards.

2010-10-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

The peeps got married on Sunday!

Blang!

2010-09-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's pretty freakin cool. When the tall one proposed he had already talked to Kevin Lindsey (the jeweler) and his dad (the man with the diamonds) and planned to have a custom ring created. The diamond was Jason's Grandmothers and the metal is recycled Paladium (similar to Platinum). There are a few smaller stones which will be added but have not been finished yet. The tall one also has a super cool custom ring. It's made of gold and has a very unique design similar to the one on this ring. His says "Maite Zitut Betiko" on the inside which the short one told him means "I love you fart face" but because I speak Basque I figured out that it really means "I'll love you forever". Her ring says "Betiko Batasuna" which, despite what the short one will tell you means "together forever".

So, there you have it! Here's the video that Kevin Lindsey put together of the process of making the short one's bling.

The girl people just keep getting weirder.

2010-08-30T13:06:00.001-07:00

Yeah, so as you'd probably guess, the short one sucks at shopping. She is impatient, she can't stand crowds and doesn't enjoy sales people cooing over her so trying to find a dress for a wedding is a bit of a task... But, when the two shorties and their slightly taller friend headed out on their dress procuring adventure yesterday we had no idea they'd find such a find! Check out these hottays! Who doesn't want to look like a hot pink prom queen with a sassy 80s wing lady on their wedding day? Note the sign in the background too. The one you can't read says "no trying dresses on for fun". Entirely too many rules for these three gals.

I really hope they bought these dresses because I think that black dog hair and hot pink goes super well together AND, that dress would make a sweet Moxy bed after she's done with it. I also love short dresses because I always get a reaction when I lift them up with my nose. I learned to do that after a year of working at the bike shop on summer days in Hood River. An important skill if you're a dog who wants some attention. Sometimes not the most positive attention...

Missing Dill (Bryan McCullah)

2010-08-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

Lunch breaks at Cold Stream, perfecting the term "Me Gusta Beber Cervesa" in Spanish after said lunch breaks, 4 wheeling cars that were not made for such shenanigans, Using a universal remote to drive Mrs. --- to insanity, chillin at the docks, listening to music, hanging with your amazing family, running around in the mountains and causing harmless trouble all over Truckee. These are only a few of the things that I'll always remember you for. I'd always figured we'd reconnect one of these days, that we'd become close again, that our partners would be great friends and that what we had as kids wouldn't be lost. And now I just wish I'd made more of an effort because we'll never have that opportunity now. You're missed Dill but you'll never be forgotten.

Yeah!

2010-07-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

So, after running around Portland all day the tall one returned with a bag of stuff and a hankerin to head to the river (no complaints here!). We headed on over to our favorite secret swimming hole under a purple sunset. He brought the short one's favorite Sushi, a bottle of Sake and a whole lot of sticks along. It was sweet. The highlight for me was when wading across the 2+ foot deep creek that gets you to the secret spot the short one fell in the river. Her jeans got soaked so she spent the evening rocking Jason's sweatshirt worn upside down with her legs through the arms. Very MC Hammer. There are benefits to being incredibly short and wearing sweatshirts upside down is one of them.

Oh! I forgot, the whole reason I started writing this. While we were down by the water they threw a ton of sticks for me. It was awesome. Wait, there was something else... right, the tall one popped out this little box, got short, and asked the short one if she'd marry him. She said something along the lines of "hell yeah!", put something shiny on her finger and then they proceeded with the stick throwing. I don't know what the big deal was or what marry means... I think I have an aunt named Mary. Maybe it had something to do with her. Eh, either way, they seem quite pleased with themselves so I'll go along with it. I hope they do it again tomorrow because the swimming was RAD! So, here's a photo of the two of them back in the day. It's been 7+ years since they met and this was taken sometime around the beginning!

Sssshhhhh!

2010-07-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

Check it out. I'm a cat.

Tails and Tales

2010-07-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Wow, so much has happened and I'm way behind on telling you stories... Let's start with the important stuff... I got to go hang out with my grandogrents for a whole week while the small one was out galavanting around Northern California and the tall one was working in the Kings Range on the coast (southern Humboldt). It was awesome until they chopped off my tail. Yep, take a moment to collect yourself. Chopped. Off. My. Tail. Well, not all of it but about an inch and a half which, in dog inches is 17 feet. You see, between being a generally wiggly dog and doing my crazy "dinner dance" 2-3 times a day I had apparently knocked my tail on walls, doors, furniture, kid's faces and people's legs hard enough to get a big cut right on top of a small mole. Said cut was not healing because nobody has every successfully stopped me from wiggling so the Doc said he could either try to remove the mole and it would likely never heal or chop off a chunk of my precious tail and take it easy for a few weeks while it heals. So, my grandogma consulted with the peeps and suddenly there I was, in the "recovery room", as high as a professor from Humboldt State University and missing 17 feet (1.5") of my tail! The recovery has been tough. No swimming, no mountain bike rides, no fun. I did get into a sweet wrestling match with the short one but she accidentally stepped on my stump which set me back a few days in the healing process (but I received a ton of treats, rawhide and pity snuggles). I'm still sitting here with a colorful bandage on my tail. It's healing but I keep trying to chew on it so it's bandaged up until the process is finished. Hopefully I can get back in the water by the end of the week but it's all up to Dr. short person.

We went to Canada last week so the peeps could ride at Whistler for the short one's birthday. It was awesome! They had a great time on the mountain and I had a great time kickin it with my long lost (though slightly shorter and rounder) twin Lily and her ferocious and terrifying miniature pincher friend Lincoln. Now we're home, back to being hermits and working on our sweet new pump track in the backyard. For those of you who don't know what that is... it's a bunch of dirt, piled in a specific way so that people can ride it on bikes and have a lot of fun.

The artful landscaping was all the short one (with some help moving the big rocks from the tall one).

I've got to get back to laying in the middle of the driveway soaking up the sun. It's an important job and nobody else seems willing to do it so it's back to work for me!

Creeksploring

2010-05-24T16:51:00.000-07:00

The Small one and our buddy Miles took me on a super rad creeksploringventure on a glacial creek that comes right off the north side of Mount Hood. Had the weather been better you'd be able to see the mountain straight ahead in all of these shots but you just get a glimpse of the bottom of it in a few of them. This area was apparently quite hammered by a huge flood about 4 years ago leaving it riddled with debris and very impressive giant rocks with huge cracks and scrapes from glacial movement. We spent the day boulder hopping and checking out what was around the next corner and the next one and the next one and... I think you get it. We saw a lot of cool stuff and I have a lot of sticks to remove from this flood plain so I'm going to get back to work on that now.

I REALLY wanted to get up there but it was quite a leap.

The peeps found this rad columnar piece of rock, stood it on end and climbed it.

Karate Kid.

Big Foot.

Here's Miles chillin on a giant log above the creek.

There wasn't a whole lot of color in the flooded area but once in a while we'd find blobs of green and orange.

Miles likes to balance.

And now I begin working very hard to rid this place of sticks. It's a difficult job but I don't see anyone else volunteering to take care of this very serious problem.

The Wells'

2010-05-16T08:30:00.001-07:00

The Tall One's Dad came out for a visit last weekend. While the people worked on house projects I dug holes around the yard, hunted salamanders in the creek, ate sticks and begged for food. The small one dognapped me for a couple fun rides too! Here are some photos of our Saturday working in the yard.

These flowers (bleeding hearts) are popping all over the yard. They, however do not taste as good as they look.

Here we have the Wells boys burning stuff.

And now they're working hard making sure the fire doesn't spread. Apparently this task requires quite a bit of beer.

Oh, and I don't know if I've shown you this but the small one finally has a tree fort (she always wanted one so it was a big selling point on the house). I can't get in so I just circle the perimeter and bark occasionally to remind her that I'm all alone on the ground.

And here's Tom making sure the rake doesn't get away while enjoying the warm toasty fire that raged all weekend. I have a lot less sticks to eat now.

The small one found these while clearing yard debris. Luckily when she went back to see if they'd been abandoned the mama bird was happily keeping them warm. Now they just have to keep me from eating them!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!

The stick

2010-05-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

My friend Daisy's person Miles came over today to film my miraculous stick extraction project. It's a pretty sweet video! Thanks for filming Miles. It's shot in HD so if you want to see the full screen version just click on the box with the four tiny arrows in the lower right hand corner or click the link below to see it on You Tube which might be a bit higher quality.

See it on You Tube right here.

Ghosts= Mice

2010-04-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a rough week without the tall one at the Woxague household. You see, every morning around 4am I've been waking up to some pretty creepy noises. I was sure it was something very threatening so I took to pacing the hallway infront of the bedroom to protect the short one which would wake her up and she doesn't really like being awake at 4am. At first we thought perhaps it was a zombie trying to get in, then we thought it might be aliens, then we thought it must be a ghost but since it hadn't attacked yet it was probably casper or slimer (you know, the friendly but somewhat annoying sorts of ghosts). And finally we realized it was a ferocious... mean... terrible... mouse. Yep, we've been loosing hours of precious sleep over a teeny tiny little mouse. It's taken to chewing open all the containers in the spice drawer. Must be in to spicy foods because so far it's enjoyed a fair amount of curry, ginger, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, thyme and rosemary. Luckily the food is secured in the pantry which has proven mouse proof. So, that's my story for the week. I'll spare you the details of what we are doing about said mouse. Let's just say I was motivated to write this post because I heard a loud SNAP! come from the spice drawer.

Dog Jedi

2010-04-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing I'm around to keep my peeps from falling off their bikes. For example, in this photo I am using my Jedi skills to keep Jason's bike from falling over sideways. Had I not been there to help he'd be toast. I like toast though so that would be cool.

Right now I'm kickin it with my grandogma, eating lots of food, and waiting for the girls to get back from Sea Otter in Monterey where they're no doubt having a great time. Perhaps I'll have some photos of said good times when they get back. Rumor has it they were hanging out with a few people who actually read this blog!

My new job

2010-02-28T14:25:00.001-08:00

There is a creek in out yard and amongst the fish, crawdads, rocks and bugs I have found that it contains an excessive amount of sticks. I have taken it upon myself to remove all sticks from the creek which is very hard work.

Sticks are sometimes hard to catch so I wait until I think they are not watching...

And then I strike!

Sometimes the stick escapes (I'm not very good at holding my breath so the underwater battle is short)...

And sometimes I win and proceed to do my crazy stick dance.

And then, I feast!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Things I Love

2010-02-12T00:51:00.000-08:00

I love these green shoes. 97% of the time, when they are placed on the feet of the small person it means I get to go run around and smell stuff outside in areas that I'm not supposed to go by myself. These ugly green shoes are my ticket to freedom so once in a while I just stare at them hoping they'll get pulled off the shoe rack. It usually works. Anna's a sucker for my sad lab eyes.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

More of my Peeps

2010-01-29T15:18:00.001-08:00

The two legged ones ditched me and headed for Everybody's Brewing for lunch. This is Gradogpa and the small one's brother Paul. They didn't bring me anything either. Where's the love I ask? Where?

They had fun. I slept.

Tools

2010-01-27T14:55:00.001-08:00

This is awesome! I can now use the peeps' iPhone to work! Even better, I can use it to take pictures too! For example, here is a picture of my desk. I sit in the warm spot underneath. Anna sits on an strange human chair. I think I got the better deal here!

And here's a photo of Jason's office:

Shane took that one! Ok, now that I can do this remotely I'll be sure to bother you with plenty of things from my strange dog world!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I love girls that ride bikes (and boys too)

2010-01-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

Check this video out! It's going to be premiered in Seattle on February 5th! It's my big film debut... if you pay attention you'll see me wiggling in the middle of this short trailer. My good friend Mia's person Tammy is in it too! Oh, and the short one is shown playing in the dirt but not riding so here is a picture of us both on the trail from Sun Valley ID! It's an old picture but while we're both sitting in our office hard at work that is where we would really like to be...

The Time Has Come to Blog Again

2010-01-05T17:55:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year readers of the WBD! Hope the holidays were full of fresh powder, good people, and lots of treats!

I've decided that since we seem to be somewhat settled into our new home and the small one has agreed to share part of her office (the part under the desk that's really fluffy where I get LOTS of belly rubs) I finally have some more time to tell you about what I've been up to.

As you may know, the peeps finally found a house that is to their liking. FINALLY! I was beginning to think it would never happen so I'd actually made an appt. to check myself into the local adoption agency but I'm glad it didn't come to that cause check out these digs! This photo was day one of getting some furniture in the house after we spent A LOT of time painting walls and trim and ceilings and installing these very slippery bamboo floors (thanks grandogrents!). The place is awesome! Of course, the best part is the yard and the big creek that's in the back yard. I spend a lot of my time hunting fish and birds and strange hoofed animals outside. We also share the residence with a squirrel named Pumpkin who lives in the Sauna. He sits on the roof of the sauna and I sit in the living room and we stare at each other through the window for hours. He's great. That's really the biggest news from this wiggly black dog as of late. We're just really enjoying having a home, fixing it up and trying to "increase it's awesome" as the peeps say before it's time to begin moving dirt around in the yard and building those rolly things they ride their bikes on. I don't really get it. It's super hard to chase them on such obstacles because they are constantly hopping around in the air and changing direction but it seems to bring em joy so I just go with it. So, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here's to lots of exciting adventures for ya'll!

Been a while

2009-10-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hi! It's me the Moxy dog and no, I haven't given up blogging entirely. Just taking a break. I'm a pretty busy dog so I've just been working on hitting my stride now that I'm back in Oregon. I've been spending quite a bit of time helping my peeps shop for a house which has made them both a bit crazy. We've also done some traveling and spent some time with my grandogrents lately. One of these days soon I'll share another adventure with you but for now I just thought I'd say hi and let you know I'm still alive! We're good, just busy!

Strange Human Activites

2009-04-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

My people do odd things when they don't have me around. Take for example, this photo of Anna. In the back ground you'll see a strange device that levitates humans and takes them half way up a mountain. Then, they slide on those odd sticks back down the hill at high rates of speed, and do it all over again. Sort of reminds me of our friend's pet gerbil running around it's wheel. Despite the obvious wierdness of this activity, there are a lot of other people who seem to find it very exciting. And, as you'll notice, there is a distinct lack of canine representation because we're all sitting in our peoples cars enjoying the smells of the parking lot and barking loudly at each other.

(Photo-Scott Frey)- Scott, nice shot!

Musical Peeps or maybe it's a musical house?

2009-03-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

That's the best way of describing things in the life of this dog's brain right now. First the short one left for a week of lobbying in Washington DC. Personally, I don't see the draw of a place where mud is nearly non existent but she was quite excited to experience DC, meet with Senators, Congresspeople, old friends, new friends and promote cycling and access on a national level.

Here she is with her friends Chris and Jill on the steps of the capitol just after meeting with Senator Reid's staff in that second story office just above her head in the photo (courtesy of Chris). She didn't mention anything about dogs, smelly stuff, or food so I'm not very interested in that story.

This was at the reception after a day on Capitol Hill enjoying a beverage with a cyclist from Hawaii. There were people from all over the country at the Bike Summit, but still, no dogs. I wonder if they have a national dog summit?

This is a group of Californians meeting briefly with Cogressman McClintock in his DC office to talk about mountain bike trail access in NorCal. The short one was not expecting to get to meet him as they had made the appt. with his staff so it was a pleasant suprise.

This is inside a building on Capitol Hill that is hard to escape because, apparently after the reception they closed all but one exit and there's about 50 of them so it was difficult to find the right one. Anna's in this photo somewhere.

Eventually the adventures of pavement and city came to an end and my people and I were reunited for a few brief days in our little cabin home in Hood River. Then the other one left! What is this? We go from living in a Subaru for two years to living on opposite sides of the country? I didn't sign up for this! Anyway, the tall one headed off to North Carolina for the Proffesional Trail Builders Association Conference where there was no shortage of mud, dirt, and dogs. I think he won the cool trip out of the two but hey, I'm a dog, what do I know.

Here he seems to be making up for the lack of his small person by riding around on a small person's bike.

And it seems as though I almost ended up with a new sibbling but they were all just a bit too big to fit in the carryon bag. At least he was in the company of four leggeds!

Here's Jill again! She gets to spend more time with my peeps than I do since she was in DC with Anna and in North Carolina with Jason at the conference. I think she's stalking them... It's ok though. I think she's rad and clearly she's a good person cause those puppies LOVE her.

And for your entertainment, here are two small people getting their ninja on during girlcation in Bend. And I'm off to play in the dirt with the tall one and the small one because they are finally both here! For a few days anyway. Then Jason heads to South Dakota for a month of more.

Workin Hard

2009-03-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

The largest one in the family has taken it upon himself to build a new mountain bike trail in his spare time and I have been recruited as his assistant. Not only must I diligently keep an eye out for any ferocious forest dwellers (squirrels, butterflies, and sometimes deer) and chase them away should they come close to our trail but I am also responsible for destroying or eating any sticks that may fall onto the trail after it has been built and guarding the chainsaw as seen here.

After all the toil I have to work even harder just to get a crumb to eat by looking painfully pitiful (which comes quite naturally) and wiggling the very tip of my tail so that my adorableness and pitifulness are overwhelming and he is forced to share his lunch or feel the guilt all day.

I'm happy to say that the trail is going to be AMAZING! Can't wait till it's done so my peeps will take me riding on it!

A Vacation Without a Dog... I know, it doesn't seem like fun to me either.

2009-01-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

The small one ditched Jason and I for a few days of hanging out with my Grandogma in Bend. Despite the fact that I was left out of this exciting adventure and didn't get to see one of my favorite and most loved people, I agreed to post a few pictures of stuff I missed out on.

This is my awesome Grandogma taking a quick break while skate skiing at Virginia Miesner Snow Park outside of Bend. They had a great time skiing but the snow was a little sticky and they had to work pretty hard.

The view of Mt Hood from 197 made for a nice drive south... really though, without a dog in the car, it must have been horribly boring.

Martinis and Beer at the Kennedy School polished off a good day of skiing and shopping. Luckily Anna returned from the fun mini vacation carrying plenty of tasty treats so I have forgiven her for leaving me at home.

Pretty Mountains in the Mist

2009-01-04T08:32:00.003-08:00

This is a photo that Anna took yesterday of the view of Mt Hood from near Mt Adams. I live right between them. It's pretty here.

Bouncy Black Dog

2008-12-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

Well, 15 degrees didn't end up being that cold after all. It's a bit colder now and to top it off, I can't find anywhere to, well, do stuff that good dogs do outside. You see, I'm a picky dog. Like some who require a fire hydrant, I require a nice patch of grass. If you pay close attention to the following photos, you will find that there is a current grass crisis. Hence the look on my face in this photo.

Oh, and this is not a picture of me laying in the snow. I'm standing up, doggy paddling so that I won't drown in the stuff.

This is our neighbor's orchard. It's not currently producing fruit. CAUSE IT'S FROZEN!

Prayer flags and icicles. They go well together.

The top of the small one's head while she made me help her "groom" a skate ski track on the back 40. Said grooming was done by skiing around in a big oval with tele skis and skins on while bribing me to follow with delicious peanut butter treats. Delicious peanut butter treats sent to me by my good friends Cathy and Jim! Thanks you two! I love ya!

And finally, this is my impression of a snow plow.

15 Degrees!

2008-12-14T17:49:00.000-08:00

15 Degrees is not warm. Not unless you're from Antarctica. Then it's probably bordering on tropical. Here in Hood River, it is very very far from warm. The best part of it all is that when it is not warm, water turns into this white fluffy stuff my people call snow and I LOVE SNOW. We woke up this morning to quite a bit of the frozen liquid so we decided to wander around outside and enjoy it. Here are some photos we brought back from our exploration of the frozen world.

When it's really cold outside, I have to go very fast everywhere. Here I am going very fast.

And here is Jason just before he was hit in the head by what seems to have been a snow ball... MWAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!

The Black Hole

2008-12-05T11:41:00.001-08:00

For your photographical entertainment my smaller person has made you this:

Is this the end of my career as a Wiggly Black Dog Blogger? You decide.

2008-12-02T16:18:00.000-08:00

We're home. Our job as the Trail Care Crew has come to an end and it couldn't have been better timing. We've been craving a real winter, time with friends and family, and a house but hadn't gotten to the point of burn out quite yet so here we are enjoying all but the winter. Two years was the perfect amount of time to travel around the world. We had amazing experiences, met many new friends and some people we'll look forward to forgetting, visited some of the most beautiful places and some places that we now know to avoid, learned many lessons, grew as a team, continued our passion for teaching (well, maybe my peeps more than me), discovered a new piece of the bicycling industry/world that we hope to stay a part of for years to come and most importantly, we loved every second of it. My favorite part was more of the eating, sleeping, swimming and running but I added all the other stuff cause my peeps told me to. So, now we've stopped moving sort of. Not to say that any of us have stayed in one place for more than an hour or so with the exception of sleeping but we're working on winding down, doing a little nesting, and enjoying a home.

This is me before I was discovered on the camouflage smooshy chair where I am very much not allowed to be (apparently NOT very camo due to my being discovered on it! I'm returning that to the manufacturer and demanding a refund!).

And here I am explaining that it was a simple misunderstanding. "I thought you said stay off the futon! I didn't realize that you were including other furniture in that rule. I am deeply apologetic and hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me as I lay here on the hard hard wooden floor, cold and alone." How could you be mad at that shmoopy sad face? It always works. I sit on the couch, they kick me off, they feel bad, I get treats. Suckers!

So, you might ask "what are you going to do now?". I don't know what I'm going to do. It's really up to you. If you'd like I can keep writing stories because really, there's all sorts of exciting stuff going on here or I could stop and spend more time eating, swimming, running and sleeping. Heck, I might even pick up a new hobby and try fetching frisbees (the whole bringing them back thing doesn't sound so good though). If you want me to keep blogging post a comment. If you want me to stop blogging, keep it to yourself! I can't take that sort of criticism.

My peeps on the other hand will be jumping into their new positions with IMBA Trail Solutions doing a whole lot of trail design, consulting, education and advocacy work in lots of different places with different groups, and land management agencies. They'll still be traveling but based out of Hood River and not on the road as much. The travel will be longer term so they'll visit a project for a few weeks instead of a few days and each project will be bigger than what they've been doing every week for the past two years. They're working for the same organization but changing positions so that a new couple can have the experience that they did and they can settle down a little. Capiche?

Cast your vote... more WBD?

There's no Place Like Somewhere Awesome

2008-11-19T09:48:00.000-08:00

Our home on the road looks like this. The bags and toys are always the same but the space that holds them is different every couple nights. As long as I've got my bed, my people and know where my bag of dog food is located I'm pretty happy but if you take any of those things out of the equation I turn into "crazy twitchy nervous black dog".

It'll be strange unpacking all these bags for the last time (well, not really but the last time for quite a while) when we get home next week. Filling the fridge with groceries for more than two days. Plugging the ipod into the home stereo. Hearing a house key jingling on my people's key chain. Buying dish soap. These are all little things that normal people who haven't been living out of a car for 2 years wouldn't even think twice about but there are many aspects of what most consider normal that have not been a part of our life for the last 719 days.

Please Send Peanut Butter Treats To...

2008-11-12T12:46:00.000-08:00

We've got a mailing address in Hood River so get all old school on us and send a letter. Or some peanut butter dog treats... or a steak, or a cat... I'd really like a cat. I wasn't even going to tell you about it until my people mentioned that other people can send treats via these boxes. Did I mention that I really like peanut butter treats? So, if you'd like to send me fan mail you can apparently just write.

(Recipient's Name)
(If it's for me "C/O small person or tall person")
PO Box 1315
Hood River, OR 97031

on the envelope and it will miraculously show up in this little locked box that is inside this building that I'm not allowed to go in. It's sort of strange and I don't really understand the technology but I'm a dog and I like to keep things simple.

And for your viewing pleasure here is a photo of Jason going really fast (he's the blur in the middle of the rapid).

Ah, Sigh.

2008-11-06T12:26:00.000-08:00

Ok, I've avoided talking politics despite my secret dog passion for all things political (my people leave NPR on the radio when I'm home alone, I can't help it). I'm sure that not everyone who reads this shares the excitement and cheek cramping ear to ear smiles that have been plastered to the faces of my peeps since these four came walking out on the stage to accept the presidency but that's ok. I'm a dog and I don't care what your political views are as long as you don't vote to outlaw swimming or food. I just want to say that I hope, for the sake of the extra treats I've been getting due to extremely high amounts of happiness and jubilation in our house (that's right, I said house, I'll get to that) that we can all share in the positive forward motion that a new president brings, look past our differences and, you get the point, no cheesy cliche, lets just all get along ok? And lets all be PSYCHED! And give your dogs more treats!

So, about the house thing. We have a house! We're still traveling for a few more weeks but we had a week off and decided to get settled in so that when we do get off the road we don't have to move. Our house (it has walls AND a roof) is located in Hood River and we're excited to spend as much of the winter as we can hanging out in it after we get done playing that weird game where my peeps attach sticks to their feet and slide around in the snow so I can chase them. But, until Thanksgiving, we are still vagrant traveling dirt bags and we will be living it up, having way too much fun, and enjoying our last few weeks of the best job in the world until then.

A Funny Story From The Short One.

2008-09-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Once in a while we could all use a solo ride and when you live in a Subaru that solitude becomes a necessity. After we parked our 20 square foot mobile home at the Comfort Inn of Fruita CO for a few days of down time I decided to ride out to the Kokapelli Trail Head for some delicious sunset single track. Little did I know that last night the resident Troll had been up to no good in our Subaru.

You see, I’ve come to the conclusion that our Subaru came with a troll named Mingus who lives in the spare tire well. Late at night Mingus pushes all our gear aside, creeps out of the spare tire well and steals things out of my Camel Back. Mainly tubes, patch kits and pumps. The stuff you really need when you’re riding around in places like Fruita. The problem is that Mingus is tricky and he only strikes on occasion so I sometimes forget to double check my pack and make sure the stuff I rarely use is in there. It’s not often that I have to change a flat or patch a tube. In fact, until today it’s been a couple weeks.

As I was cresting the overpass of HWY 70 on the last section of pavement before hitting the dirt road that would lead me to single track I noticed the familiar feeling of a floppy front tire. Sure enough, upon inspection I had a couple tiny thorns in my tire. “No Problem” I thought, “I’ve got a tube and two patches… plenty to get me through a ride and back home.” But as I emptied my pack I realized Mingus had struck again. My tube was gone however, he hadn’t been able to locate my hidden patch kit. I pulled the thorns out, patched the only hole I could find and was on my way. Perfect timing the sun was just getting low.

On the dirt road decent towards the trail head I noticed my rear tire was feeling a little loose, I decided to wait until I got to the trail to fix it but it was losing air faster than I thought and the wheelie drop off a little ledge wasn’t smooth enough. Ssssssssssss, pinch flat. “Damn it Mingus!” Now I had a leak in my rear tube and two holes from a pinch flat with only one patch left. As concerned riders rolled by and asked I was OK I let my pride get the best of me while forcing a smile and telling them “thanks but I’ve got it.” I cut the patch into four pieces, covered the holes, pulled out another thorn and decided I’d take the chance and keep rolling towards the trail.

Only 50 yards into the first climb I felt my rear wheel wiggling around behind me again. My tiny little quarter patches hadn’t been enough. It’s probably good Mingus didn’t hear what I said about him this time. I was a little frustrated and the Pennywise rolling from my ipod wasn’t very calming. I pulled out my last quarter of a patch and got to it realizing that there was no way I was going to make it five and a half miles back to Fruita at this rate. I finally swallowed my pride and flagged a friendly group of riders down to beg for a patch, a tube, or a ride back to town. My trail Karma paid off and thankfully they had a tube for me. After assuring them that I would be fine and promising I would not get lost alone at night they wished me luck and rolled away.

With only a few minutes of daylight left I was determined to get a little trail riding in so I quickly rolled to the closest viewpoint and took in the last bits golden light on the cliff walls. My ride didn’t end up as planned and it wasn’t exactly one of those amazing mountain biking experiences but it was an interesting little mini adventure and as my friend Aaron always used to say when ever we found ourselves freezing in the snow on the side of a mountain, “it doesn’t have to be fun to be fun.”

Sausage Foot

2008-09-27T15:28:00.000-07:00

Please send treats. I like the peanut butter flavored kind. My leg has turned into a hairy black sausage because I'm just a really really hard core dog. We're hanging out on the continental divide in Colorado and yesterday and after riding a section of the Divide Trail we dropped down a rippin fun decent called Greens Creek which was apparently a little to much for this Wiggly Black Dog. Luckily I've got an overly concerned small Basque-0 to freak out when I get hurt so we went to the vet today, got an x-ray and decided it's nothing deadly. They sent me home with some good drugs and told me not to have any fun for a couple weeks. LAME. So, here are some photos of fun and people we like to have fun with to make me feel better!

Fun ride last week in Kurt Gowdy State Park WY.

My fun friend Julie at Whistler... I didn't get to go on this trip but man did I hear about if for a long time.

And Julie's fun and fun-ny looking husband Shane in Whistler.

And of course the always fun Cleary family.

And the JW killin it at Kurt Gowdy.

2008-09-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

The drive from Bozeman MT to Jackson WY was in no way boring or unscenic. There's this quaint little park called Yellowstone between the two locations so we thought we'd check it out. The small basque one was on a photo marathon as we didn't have a ton of time but wanted to see as much as possible. There were all sorts of chase-able animals that I watched from my throne in the back seat but the peeps wouldn't let me out. The bison didn't look THAT big to me.

The Tetons and a big lake

Good Old Faithful and a big geyser.

Some really hot water.

My cousin harry munching on what we think were grasshoppers.

Some really big goats.

Cow Boys and Mountain Bikers

2008-09-16T09:35:00.001-07:00

You know, it's funny how a bunch of people who love trails for very similar reasons so often don't get along. I'm always hearing my peeps talking about how to reduce user conflict on trails between equestrians, hikers, bikers, runners and dogs. Personally I don't see the problem because I'm a dog and I love everyone but every week the topic comes up. So, last weekend we were all really psyched to work with the most united group of trail enthusiasts we've come across. We spent the weekend camping, working, playing and eating with representatives from the Montana Wilderness Association, the Wilderness Society, the Last Chance Back Country Horseman's club, the MSU mountain bike team, the High Divide Cyclery Club, a bunch of other people and their dogs.

So, if you're up on trail politics you probably understand how unique this situation is. It would be similar to getting a group of hunters, animal rights activists, and wildlife conservationalists together for a weekend of fun. And everyone had a great time!

We did a ton of trail work, enjoyed some good home cookin done right by the horsemen & women, shared a little whiskey, talked about hunting, biking and hiking adventures, walked on a slackline, and enjoyed the Back Country Horsemen's luxurious wall tents with wood stoves during the cold evenings. The coolest thing was seeing everyone realize how much they had in common despite their difference in recreational mode, political views, and backgrounds.

I took it upon myself to make sure none of these tasty sticks of meat were wasted. The locals took pity on my sad sad story of nomadic traveling and days without food and I left camp bloated and happy like a Lab should be.

We also helped the local wilderness advocates and mountain bikers find a new mountain bike route that will circumnavigate the new proposed wilderness area south of Helena MT.

Now we're kickin it in Bozeman with our friends Chad and Devri from Bend who we haven't seen in about 4 years. It's amazing how time doesn't really count anymore. It feels like maybe we haven't caught up with them in a few months... not a few years!

Excuses Excuses

2008-08-31T13:57:00.000-07:00

A cat got my tongue, a dog ate my key board, I got hit really hard in the head by a tennis ball and had to relearn how to type, I was chasing cats when a tripped over an open lap top leaving me with two broken toes and a fear of computers that it has taken many hours of therapy to fix... These are all very legitimate and possibly true reasons as to why I have not been updating this blog. I'm pretty sure the real reason is that I have just not had anything painfully exciting to blog about. We have certainly been having a great time, life is fantastic and everyone is so happy that we have to do face yoga to keep our smile muscles from cramping, it's just that our last few months of work have not been the usual bouncing from place to place adventure. Instead of moving every 4 days we've been in town for 3 weeks at a time and in all honesty, it's a bit monotonous after living the life of a nomad. It's amazing how much adjustment we need in order to deal with one area for a long period of time. One might think it's probably nice to relax, which is true. But you know that feeling you get when you run as fast as you can on one of those moving walk ways in the airport and then hit the floor that isn't moving (my people sneak me into airports all the time just so we can do that)? That's sort of how it feels to switch from constantly moving to plopping down in a strange place for 3 weeks.

So, that said, we're excited to finish our last few months as the Trail Care Crew in true TCC style with lots of visits to lots of different places mostly in the North West. We're also excited to have been able to enjoy the last few weeks at home with friends, friend's people, and our families. It's been awesome being home, we'll take 3 weeks here anytime! My people seem to be morphing into a strange new domesticated way of living with hopes of buying a house in Hood River this fall so that we have a place in the beginning December when we get off the road. They have spent a lot of time looking at houses, scrunching up their faces in funny ways and talking on the phone about numbers way bigger than my dog brain can comprehend (it only goes to 11).

If you'd like to see some great photos from our vacation adventures check out the IMBA blog at: www.onthetrail.imbatools.com
And I'll do my best to keep you updated on the coming months of Wiggly Black Dog action.

Happy Fall!

2008-08-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

The small Basque one gave Jason a helmet camera for his birthday which he got all sorts of semi exciting video with in Winter Park CO. Here is a video recorded by Jason and edited by Anna. It's their first try at this so it's not too fancy and the trail's not too exciting but there's a little spice in the middle to keep you entertained. My apology in advance for any cringes this may cause the parents.

TORNADO!!!

2008-07-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, there's really no need to panic. That's just what our life on the road has felt like for the past month! It's been a tornado full of bikes, dirt, kayaking, friends, work, AWESOME rides, delicious rawhide and great places. Unfortunatley it has been lacking a little in the internet access as I do my best blogging around 1am after my people have gone to bed and I can have some peace yet our recent accommodations have not offered such hi-tech services.

So, way back in the beginning of July we were in McCall ID for a few weeks while my people were working with the Forest Service on a few trail projects, helping out with a big bike race, swimming in a big lake, and riding their bikes on big mountains. It was awesome.

One of my favorite things in McCall was this squirrel named Yogi Flash. He lived in the back yard of our cabin in his own little cabin and spent hours every morning doing squirrel yoga on this beam. We had a special way of communicating. I would chew on my squeeky toy and he would squeek back at me. I hope he didn't think I was chewing on one of his buddies!

Another highlight was the access we had to this specially designed dog diving board. With it's added length I was able to gain a lot of speed in order to launch myself off the end so that I could plane into the water without getting my hair wet. Someone was really thinking when they made this!

I also helped build this trail by running up and down it to compact the soil. My people designed and helped build this for the Forest Service. They taught a Trail Building School just like they do every week and had a bunch of volunteers come out and help them dig. It was a good time and now McCall has a nice beginner friendly trail for people to learn on! I heard my grandogma was getting a bike in a couple weeks so maybe she'll go ride it with me?

YAY! We b-lined it for Boulder after working in Idaho so we could spend some much needed time with our friends from the IMBA office. We stayed with my best friends Zoe the cat and Beaudrou the dog. Their people Kristin and Ryan are pretty rad too and my peeps were really stoked to hang out with them. Ryan is also an excellent griller, check out that spread!

Now we're in Winter Park CO enjoying some awesome lightening storms. My peeps have lots of projects that they are working on here so we're running around a lot but we've gotten out on some great rides and I get to swim a lot and eat treats so I'm psyched. This picture was up on Doe Creek trail. Anna took me on a ride up there but a thunderstorm rolled in while we were up on the ridge and I had a pretty hard time keeping up on they way down. She was in a pretty big hurry!

This is at Sol Vista Bike Park which you may have read about in Decline. It's a pretty sweet place with a really cool pump track at the base lodge so we've been making it our regular after work stop for a quick work out. I'm pretty sure everyone should have one of these in their back yard because it seems to make my peeps very happy and it's fun to chase them on it.

So, that's a brief update but the best news I've got is that we're coming home in a week and we can't wait to see you all! We're really missing you guys and we're psyched to get to spend a whole five weeks in Hood River! See you soon!

The Stache Off

2008-06-24T08:47:00.001-07:00

AnnaLaxague_2192.JPG
Originally uploaded by sixvlt.

My people work with some pretty strange but fantastic folks (they fit right in). They decided that just before they all got together for a week of conferencing that they would have a Stache off. All the guys grew as much facial hair as possible and then mowed it into very odd shapes in order to compete in said stache off. These were some of the winning folacular works of art.

2008-05-18T20:18:00.000-07:00

We're in Durango Colorado kickin it with some cow boys eatin beans by the campfire and riding horses... ok, that's all a big lie except for the Durango part. I really dig this town as it is quite dog friendly and has a large river flowing through the middle. Not only is the town dog friendly but the B&B we're staying in has this HUGE fluffy dog bed with fresh sheets and delicious home made peanut butter dog treats. It's about time the hospitality industry starts catering to those of us who really matter!

Enough about me. I figured that I should fill you in on some of the work my peeps have been doing since we're always telling you stories about our days off. The best part is that the days on are a little more exhausting but just as exciting! Last year when we were in Durango we spent a lot of time trudging through dense brush laying out trails in the Durango Mountain Park. It was hard work and we weren't sure if the trails would be approved but this year we found out that they were approved and we got to build them! After teaching a class on trail building (I can take no credit for that) we headed out to the project that we had flagged with 25 trail enthusiasts. Here are a few photos of what we do every Saturday afternoon!

Cutting a trail through shale can be pretty hard work but it pays off.

This was the only patch of dirt we found all day amongst the shale. It was so soft and fluffy and diggable...

Here's our group of participants from the Durango trail advocacy club "Trails 2000". They are an awesome crew and we are once again blown away by the great personalities we've met here and the incredible hospitality of our host Mary.

Mary and I were working really hard on this section. I'm super helpful with the trail work supervision and finding of soft, cool, freshly dug patches of trail. I also really enjoy pulling all the sticks off the trail and eating them since my people don't really feed me.

BOWOWOWOWWOOOOO BARK

2008-04-26T07:41:00.000-07:00

That's how I sound when my people are doing this...

I don't know what it is but I just freak out and sound as though I am being attacked by a swarm of killer bees.

And then once in a while I get loose and try to chase down whoever is in the water which usually ends badly.

This was on Brush Creek just outside of Kernville, CA.

Not so bad eh?

Sorry, I've Broken!

2008-04-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

I know, it's been a while since I've updated you but I hurt my toe which has made it difficult to type. I would have Anna transcribe for me but she's a horrible speller so I fired her and just took a vacation. I'm feeling better now, my toe is still attached and I am almost cleared to run on the trail again. Since I was unable to get into any mischief in the woods I decided to become a threat to national security. The Department of Homeland Security was after me for a bit so I needed to stay off the blog and out of the public eye but now that I'm back at being a trail dog, the good news is:

So I am no longer having to lay low. I'll get you updated on all the other exciting stuff later.

There's No Place Like Something That Resembles Home

2008-03-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

We're not really sure where home is at this point so it's easy to be there. Right now we're in Grenada CA, at my grandogma & pa's new house and it feels a lot like home with an amazing view of Mount Shasta out of all the windows which come down to dog level so I can finally see outside. But then there's Hood River, the Cleary and Snyder residences which feel quite a bit like home, Discover Bicycles which is also pretty close and Post Canyon which is oozing with hominess. There is also of course, our beloved yurt just over the Columbia in WA which we love and often refer to as our home which starts the conversation about how we've never actually lived there but look forward to doing so someday. Last but nowhere close to least, is Forks WA where we can always expect good company, relaxation and all our toys are living in the garage. So I suppose at this point, being homesick for us involves missing 3 states and quite a few different spots in each one but thankfully we can say that right now we're home!

As many of you know, we've been spending a lot of time in places that bare no resemblance to home at all and that has been pretty exciting. Jason and Anna dropped me off with some friends in Arizona for 2 weeks so they could go gallivanting around the Caribbean islands. I think they felt a little bad when they said goodbye but I had a great time. They returned to find me 7lbs heavier, and as happy as can be with my two new golden retriever friends Duke and Hanna. Here's what they were up to while I was kickin it Arizona style. I'll let Anna tell the stories:

We'll start in the Dominican Republic. I shared a window with this cutie on the flight from Miami FL to Santiago DR. Upon arrival we were welcomed to the country by a couple of awesome guys who took us out to a delicious and very authentic DR dinner which consisted of meat, fried plantain, beer, meat, fried plantain and beer. The plantain was cooked in 4 different ways as was the meat. It was exceptional and just what we needed after a day in the airport.

We were up bright and early the next morning to explore potential new trails before we taught our first fully translated Trail Building School (Spanish is spoken in the DR). The ride was an adventure starting with a crew of local tobacco farmers and their kids flocking to our trucks to see what was going on as they had never seen mountain bikers in their mountains before. The sight of a girl on a mountain bike was even more of a shock but I had a good disguise with my short hair. The kids were especially impressed with the digital camera and loved seeing themselves in the view finder.

The ride was steep and consisted of trails that had been created by donkeys going from farm to farm along the creek. A few sections also seemed to be used by locals to access the water for washing and drinking. We saw kids with donkeys carrying many gallons of water from the creek up to the farms as we rode and even had one of them tag along on the ride. We weren't going very fast (Jason and I were riding the same size carbon hard-tail bikes with skinny skinny tires) so his flip flops didn't affect his ability to hang with us.

After the "exploratory" ride which was quite the adventure we rushed back to the hotel to get ready to teach a Trail Building School that we were 2 hours late for. The evening went well and it went late leaving us a few hours to sleep and prepare for trail work the next day. The work was fun and we built some sweet single track but those Dominican guys aren't used to letting the ladies swing tools. Every time I was able to trick someone into letting me grab a shovel there was someone else saying "Oh, here, let me get that for you". It was pretty funny so I took a lot of photos of Jason and the dudes working hard and gave up on getting dirty.

After a hard days work we headed back to the city. Don't forget that while we were in the beautiful Caribbean, we were by no means on vacation. We ended up working from 8am until 10pm everyday with out a moment going unscheduled. It was physically and socially exhausting but it was an incredible experience and one that we wouldn't trade for anything. The following morning we got up to go scout out some more trails. The ride was not what we would call and epic mountain biking experience but it was one of the coolest cultural adventures I've been on. While the trails were not the best quality, the scenery was incredible, the company was fun, and the people who lived in the tiny villages and farms we rode through made my day.

For being our first island visit in the Caribbean it was a little odd to spend the whole time in Santiago which is a bustling city in a developing country far from any beaches. The cyclists we got to meet were a lot of fun and we made plenty of friends while we were there. The strangest part is that despite the lack of good mountain bike trails, beaches, and whatever else we were expecting, out of the three islands we visited, the Dominican Republic is the one we are the most eager to see again. Perhaps it's because we only saw such a small part of it, mostly city and we know there's much more to explore.

After another exhausting day of airports we bounced from the DR back to Miami, through customs, a 6 hour lay over in the airport, 4 hour flight to Trinidad, through customs again and there we were. 7 miles off the coast of Venezuela on the southern most piece of Caribbean island. Our hotel was far away from everything up a winding road through the city and suburbs which we were told was not safe to walk on (I later found out that the warning was in-fact justified when I took the risk of walking home from town one afternoon). Once again our very scheduled days began with 8am to 10pm work. This left us little time for wandering so the location of our lodging didn't bother us. Luckily work included some really fun rides through the jungle with a crew of Trinidadians. In Trinidad everyone speaks English with a strong accent very similar to a Jamaican accent. It was nice to know that people understood us but it was not a two way street at first. It takes a while to catch on to the thick island speech but it sure sounds cool.

We taught another Trail Building School in Trinidad and spent two days out in the field building trail. It was so cool to work in the rain forest, use giant bamboo stalks in our construction and learn to swing a machete like a real islander! The people we worked with were awesome and the trail that was built was stocked with fast berms and flowy goodness.

We were starting to feel the affects of our schedule so Jason talked our host into giving us the evening off after our last day of trail work. I don't think our host realized that even going out to dinner with a group was feeling like work as neither of us had had a moment of solitude let alone a moment together in close to two weeks. I headed out of the hotel with my camera and went on an adventure of my own in the hills above Port of Spain and for the first time since we had been in Trinidad I got a glimpse of the ocean! Later that night Jason and I enjoyed a quiet dinner in the deserted hotel restaurant and enjoyed an evening to ourselves.

Now it was time for our 3 days of freedom in the Caribbean. We had decided to head over to the neighboring island of Tobago which is the ideal example of a classic Caribbean island. We had befriended a Tobago local while we were in Trinidad and he had hooked us up with a room and bikes far from the ugliness that was the Hilton. We met him on the 6am ferry and headed to the laid back, slow pace, mellow village near Boccu Bay where we enjoyed a few days of incredible company, ridiculously fun rides, painfully beautiful beaches and cute puppies.

Moxy almost ended up with a new sister. This is Tea Cup who kept us company in Tobago and helped me through a nasty case of food poisoning that kept me off the trails for a day.

Jason is riding a curb and while it's wider than most curbs, it drops 25' onto a metal shack on his left. The locals loved riding these things and they are all over the place on the roads that connect the single track in Tobago.

The bikes that live in Tobago are hard core. These things don't get to see a mechanic or new parts. Most of the bikes and parts are second hand and hammered. There is no real bike shop on Tobago and even getting your hands on a patch kit is a challenge. It took Jason and I the better half of a day to find a handful of patches. One of the tubes rollin on our rides had 27 patches on it! That should give you an idea of how tough it is to come by supplies. That said, the trails the company and the experience of riding in Tobago are so amazing that we didn't care what we were riding, we didn't care about the bald tires the broken components, or the size of the bikes we were on. I can't even explain how much fun we had rolling around Tobago with Rich, Gervais, and Eamon. Of course Jason paid for the good times as he was the best mechanic that had visited these guys and he gave all the bikes more love than they had seen in many years.

One of the coolest trails I've seen is in Tobago. After a steep road climb you roll to the top of a hill to find single track winding it's way from the end of the road through the tight pile of houses on top of the hill. This ribbon of single track continues to bob and weave through a small village between houses, shacks, and a small creek. It's complete with slick-rock, stone stairs, chunky drops and vicious dogs that will draw blood if you don't pin it. As we rolled past the yellow house in the photos below, a man came out onto his porch and invited us in for a taste of his homemade cashew wine. He'd seen the local guys riding out there before and loved the fact that we were having fun in his back yard. He hurried into his house and popped back out with an arm full of glasses, a bowl of ice cubes and a bottle of yellow wine. The wine was great and the man who's name I have forgotten shared stories of his younger days when he used to ride a bike in the military and build his own wheels. He even brought out a photo to share and behind the dusty broken glass was a much younger, taller, and more serious version of him in a Trinidadian military uniform.

We hadn't planned for the steep steep climb right after a glass of wine all of which, coupled with my already sick state made for a painful last half of the ride. I must add that along with all the incredible riding we also had some incredible beach time but, for fear of being stuck with the rest of the Caribbean tourists, I never took my camera to the beach. If you want to know what it was like, just find the most picturesque photo of a Caribbean island, add a hammock, a small surf break, replace all the crispy tourists with a handful of really good people from all over the world, some tasty beers, a few deadly jelly fish which washed up on the shore and you'd have the beach that we had the pleasure of being only a 2 minute walk away from. It was also at the end of every ride. Not so bad!

It was hard to leave Tobago but we were looking forward to our own bikes, seeing Moxy, and beginning the drive north to see our family and friends. We spent one last day on Trinidad before leaving and went for a ride with our host who had begged us to come look at one last Trinidad trail in hopes of deeming it an "IMBA Epic" at some point in the future. The trail was amazing and I wished that I had been able to eat more than a banana and a glass of cashew wine in the two days prior but despite the lack of energy, Jason helped keep me on my bike and smiling. He rocks! The trail took us past leaves bigger than us, big tarantula webs, some of the craziest sounding birds we've heard and through an old growth jungle which ended at a view of the north coast of Trinidad.

Now we're back in bundled up, cold as winter, no more shorts land! It's freaking cold here! But it's good to be home, wherever that is.

We're Back!

2008-03-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

My peeps have returned from their adventures in the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago with tan feet and all of strange smells stuck to them. I think they were playing with other dogs! Anyway, they are very busy with work and won't let me have the computer for long enough to post much so you'll have to wait a week or two for exciting stories and photos of my adventures in Arizona and theirs in the Caribbean. Here are a few to get you by until then.

Jervaise riding the curb in Plymouth Tobago, it's hard to see but there is a 25' drop onto a metal shack off the side.

Every day in Tobago ended with a sweet sunset on the beach after putting in lots of miles with great people on the trail.

Texas Paradise

2008-02-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

My people left me in a kennel for 2 nights. Doesn't that sound horrible? It's really not. The kennel was rad. Kym, the owner is the coolest lady in Texas and staying at her kennel consists of 4-5 hours of hiking in the desert each day, swimming in the creek, hanging out in her kitchen and sleeping in the house. It was awesome and I had a great time. I'm glad I stayed there too because while I was galavanting around the Southern Texas desert with my gang of awesome dog homies, my people were up in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park where the Kitties are far to big for me to chase. The short one has a little story about their adventure for you:

Jason, Kelly, Collins and I worked in the back country of the Chisos Mountains which are on the border of Texas and Mexico for the last 3 days with a National Park Service Trail Crew. We stayed at Boot Camp, a long standing Back Country Trail Crew camp and historical site. It was incredible. The Chisos are unlike any mountains I have seen or explored. At 7500' jutting out of the desert like an explosion of rock and dirt they are covered with juniper, pine, agave, and all sorts of cacti. They are also filled with Mountain Lion, Bear, Javalina, and other furry woodland creatures. For those of you who haven't seen the 4 bins of Mountain Lion pictures, and stuffed animals in my parent's garage that made up my Christmas and birthday gifts as a child, I have a long standing obsession with these big kitties. When Kelly told me she had just seen a large black cat butt disappear into the bushes I figured it was something else as these cats are brown and nobody had seen a panther up there yet so I went to check it out. Yeah, maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to do but as I said before, obsessed. So, I walked slowly through the scene in the photo above until I came upon a clearing in the trees where I saw the most beautiful and terrifying animal I have ever seen. It's a strange feeling to be overcome by fear and awe. I couldn't move. The cat was huge and only 50 feet away from me walking slowly through the grass across my view with an un-fazed glance in my direction. As soon as I pulled myself together I walked back to the group (with many over the shoulder checks) and told them what I had seen. Three of us went back into the woods and followed the cat for about a half mile. Troop and Eric saw it again, Eric got a fuzzy photo, and we called it a day. I'll post the photo as soon as I get it. So, there is my story for the week. I'm still high on the Chisos. Those mountains are spectacular and so unique. I've never been anywhere like this and I will definitely come back. Here area few photographs from our adventure.

View of Mexico from the South Rim

Das Boot Camp Cabin

Agave

It's sharp but it tastes sooooo good!

My Peeps is Odd.

2008-02-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

It's not very often that we get to double back on our tracks but today we got the opportunity to revisit the first work project my people did when we hit the road last year. needless to say, it was the best part of the trail! I must have missed the conversation about how it was followed by lots more of the same and ended up tearing my paws pretty badly on the sharp desert rocks.

As most of you know, the shorter half of my people is a little odd... note the socks.

And the taller one is, well, also a little odd.

Luckily they are surrounded by plenty of oddness so it all works out.

Some Photos from the Desert

2008-01-30T07:55:00.000-08:00

My people and I just got done working on a big trail design project at Glenn Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona. You might recognize the name as being at the beginning of the Grand Canyon. It's specfreakintacular there.

2008-01-27T07:21:00.000-08:00

The short one needed some yoga instruction so I took it upon myself to assist. The problem was the relaxing music. I fell asleep. I'm not a very helpful dog sometimes but at least I'm cute.

2008-01-26T14:45:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while. I'm a horrible blog dog but you've got to give me a break. My people have been dragging me all over the place, in and out of meetings, parties, and bowling allies. That's right. Staff week and IMBA involves all of the above. It's tough but I'm the dog for the job. With Office week over we headed to Gooseberry Mesa on the Utah/Arizona border for a little late winter riding...

Gooseberry rocks. Go there. And for those of you who would enjoy a little cultural tourism, Colorado City is just down the road. If you haven't heard of it just pick up a copy of of "Under the Banner of Heaven".

We are psyched to have a couple rock stars with us for the next month. My peeps are training the new Trail Care Crew Kelly and Collins and I am helping them cope with life sans Keeta (their dog) who will be joining them on the road in a couple months. Here they are on their first ride of in the South West! They love it!

Anna and Kelly were loving the rocks. It was a nice change from the chilly chilly snow and it's great to have a couple cool cats rollin around with us!

A Mandala For You

2008-01-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

There's a story to go with this photo but I won't tell it. It's a love story about these two people named Andre and Debbie who just celebrated their anniversary. If you look closely you can see that the two stones in the center are hearts and those stones were placed there by someone who was thinking of them and appreciating their love on a beautiful day in an amazing canyon on the Middle Fork of the Feather River in Idaho. It wasn't me because I was left behind while others got to paddle the Middle Fork and go to Costa Rica (pout pout). Happy Belated Anniversary!

We've Reached the Pacific!

2008-01-06T09:24:00.000-08:00

There my not be a lot of people out there who enjoy traveling to the beach for a few days of cold, windy, rainy, storms but my peeps seem to think it's great. The waves have been huge and munchy, too much so for surfing but the beaches are beautiful and it's always fun to watch the short one panic when I run out into the surf to get the stick. I don't think she knows I used to be a life gaurd.

2008-01-01T08:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Anna took me, my good buddy Ellie and our friend Pete from New York up to check out the Yurt and take in the views. That's Mount Hood in the background. It's good to be home.

Pete proves to be a proficient tosser of snow and kept us all quite entertained.

I can fly.

Friends Don't Let Friends Use Wall Paper

2007-12-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

I have been given a simple task by my people. From a hair that was found embedded in the layers of wall paper at my grandogma's new house I was told to find and bite the person who put the wall paper on the wall. I tried to tell them that I was not a person sniffing dog but they don't seem to care. Anna's parents have bought a new house with the intentions of remodeling the hell out of it and we're helping. The problem is the !@#$@#$ wall paper. We soaked it, we covered it in wall paper eating chemicals, we scraped and scraped and scraped and it would not come off the walls. As Anna was preparing to gas and torch the wall they finally agreed that a steamer might be a better solution so they got one and while it still sucked more than most things, it got the job done after hours of tedious, messy and pain staking scraping.

That said, We're back on the west coast enjoying some much needed family time and looking forward to a few more weeks of kickin it with our friends. We're psyched that we'll get to continue with more good west coast times after our little break from work. It sounds like we'll be on this side of the Rocky Mountains for most of the next year and we're SO HAPPY about that! Oh, and my people are going to leave me in the desert tied to a cactus while they go the the very southern most islands of the Caribbean for two weeks to design some trails and get their surf on. It's Ok, don't worry about me. I'm sure they'll leave water and a bowl of food.

Bless Yer Haart

2007-12-12T19:27:00.000-08:00

That's what they say in Tennesse. Bless yer haart. We just left beautiful Big South Fork National Recreation area where we rode/ran some of the most senic trail we've seen since leaving the west side of the rockies. Being a dog in a national park is rough as, technically I am not supposed to be off leash or really even in the park but they bend the rules here and there. A little wiggly charm goes a long way. The problem is that I don't really get the whole 200' cliff thing and I tend to think that I can just hop down and chase the bunnies below so my peeps had to leave me at home for a few of the rides.

I don't see the humor in this one but I've also never learnt how ta spell write.

Those southern boys had a hard time letting the lady do all the work but nobody else had a "silky pocket boy" saw in their camelbac. I'm not kidding, that's what it's called.

Once in a while my people need be shown how it's done so they had to follow me off this one.

My people require airtime

2007-11-26T19:23:00.001-08:00

Just a reminder of how cute of a dog I am.

2007-11-26T18:54:00.001-08:00

2007-11-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

And there it is! The first pump track is pumpalicious. I'll throw some more photos up tonight or tomorrow with some riders on it. There is also another pump track behind the photographer from this shot that you can gap into from the first one. I suppose all the dirt moving efforts have paid off!

Dirt Movers

2007-11-20T17:46:00.000-08:00

It's a strange hobby my people have taken up in the past year. This whole thing about moving dirt, digging holes, filling in holes, building strange and unexplainable piles out of dirt, logs and rocks. It's quite odd. It's really beginning to get a little out of hand. The habit has become so consuming that they aquired a dirt dealer who is now hooking them up with dirt by the truck loads. Not only that but because they have so much of the stuff, they had to employee a mechanical excavator to help them build their little piles. I'm worried that this is becoming a problem. It's their week off, we're in beautiful Virginia hanging out with friends yet they are still playing with dirt. Are they going to trade me in for a dog made of dirt? Or perhaps one that is the color of dirt? Or kick me out of the car to make room for this new toy they are seen playing with in these photos? I'll keep you posted over the next couple days. Perhaps these piles of dirt will become something spectacular. If not, I am afraid we will have to have an intervention.

JW dumping the soon to be berm of a pump track

Anna scooping up some squishy red clay to turn into some rolly rolly rollers

It's starting to come together... or so they say. Keep checking for updates. The first pump track of 4 should be done in a few days.

Don't Leave Me

2007-11-05T18:13:00.000-08:00

Every week they pack up the car and every week I wonder if they are still planning to pack me up too. I have found that the only safe way to make sure that they don't forget me is to stay in or near the car. Sitting pittifully with my tail between my legs usually elicits some sympathy treats and if that doesn't work I just load up and refuse to move. I wouldn't be so concerned about such things if I weren't at risk of missing out on all this fun stuff in the case of being accidentaly forgoten.

Log ride in Midland MI city forest

Trail in Kanatta Canada

The always beautiful views of the gas station in Water Town NY

Sproing!

A little night buildering is always a good time

Fall trails

Teeters with rails?

Oh Canada

2007-10-23T18:37:00.000-07:00

My people just took me to doggy disney land for a week. It was sooo rad. Every morning, they would open the door and there would be this giant river right in front of me. I would spend the day standing in the river, fetching sticks, barking at the rapids, and laying in the sun and then I would lick the grill of the fire pit after dinner for a while before my boyfriend, big fluffy wolf dog would come over for an evening chase around the yard.

In the mean time, Jason and Anna were having a pretty darn good time themselves. The Ottawa river is well known for it's white water so there was that, as I said, right out the front door.

Jason at "Trick or Treat"

Anna at push button in big borrowed gear (photo credits: Collin Moneypenny)

JW being rad (photo credits: Collin Moneypenny)

The Anna antiboof (photo credits: Collin Moneypenny)

The mountain biking in Kanatta just down the road was some of the best we had seen in a while. I even got to meet my first porcupine on the trail which, by the tone of my people's voices when they saw me running towards it I deemed as dangerous and kept my space. Even from 4 feet it didn't look like anything worth playing with.

Je Aime Quebec!

2007-10-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

Or something like that. The last five days have been a none stop trail building, mountain biking, pink polkadot trail flagging, crazy Canadian party. My people are sifting through the hundreds of photos so that I can fill you in on all the juicy details so give me a day or so and I'll post again. Until then, here's a photo to remind you what a strange life we lead. My people are thinking about going into the trail building fashion industry.

Big Furry Bullies

2007-09-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

All I wanted to do was play but this cute cuddly ball of claws would have none of it. Of course, I was barking at him, and well... bouncing around like a freak. But that's what you do when you're playing! So, instead of the usual response of some fun tackling, rolling around in the grass and good four legged romping, this little guy slapped me in the face, chased me across the yard, and when he finally caught me, he tore into by back side with a big paw full of knives. I've got scars! Now my people make fun of me because apparently I was screaming like a little baby shitzu throughout the whole ordeal.

I suppose I will have to give up on my idealistic ways. Cats will probably never play with me. So now I just bark louder at them! MWAAHAHAHA!

The Big Big City

2007-09-20T04:28:00.000-07:00

My people left me at home ALL DAY yesterday so they could go galavant around New York City with our friend Pete. And here's what they did while I kicked it at home with three ferocious cats.

They walked quickly through time square and took pictures of other people taking pictures of things while dodging the gaping mouthed who, instead of watching their path stared up in disbelief at all the gigantic adds.

Pete, who knows some stuff about dinosaurs and rocks gave them a tour of the Museum of Natural History which was pretty darn cool. Little did they know that this fella is not at all unlike the cats that I was simultaneously battling back at the house.

Some time was spent cruising through Central Park so they grabbed some cafine, found a rock in the sun, a made like turtles.

Of course you can't go to the big apple without checking out the Metropolitan Museum of Art so they proceeded to break all the rules, get yelled at by guards and admire some very fine art.

Geatin sassy on the roof of "The Met"

And we thought guys who drive Hummers were trying to prove something...

The day sped up even more with a little Ethiopian in The Village, kickin it with the hipsters and learning how to be rad in the city from the raddest.

No trip to the city is quite complete without a crazy cab ride to Grand Central to throw down a martini before hopping back on the train.

Finally, back on the train in route to save me from the felines.

Happy Dirt

2007-09-12T06:22:00.001-07:00

IMG_2589.JPG
Originally uploaded by sixvlt.

St. George, Maine

Nnnneeebbrrrraassskkkaaaa is a long state

2007-09-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

It always seems like they wait until I'm dreaming about bunnies and then, mid chase, they pull into a rest stop and wake me up. I can never catch those freaking bunnies! While I do miss out on the floppy eared fur balls, at least I get to hop out and stretch, sniff, drink some water and pee in another new state. I wonder how many big dogs have been to 33 states? We always see those little dogs bouncing in the front windows of RVs like fluffy pogo sticks but it's rare to find any big dogs to play with at the ever so popular truck stops along I-80.

Our last night in the mountains was spent on Donner Lake kickin it on "the hidden dock", a staple location for any Truckee grown person and a great place to relax after a shuttle ride on the classic Downieville Down Hill.

So here we are, back on the East Coast and transitioning back into the world of trails and traveling. I suppose we never really stopped traveling during our time off but we were home! It was hard for all three of us to watch the North West melt into the Nevada Desert which morphed into the expanses of corn in Nebraska which, after a really really long time finally turned into the hills of upstate New York. Now we're in Maine on the coast enjoying beautiful views of the Atlantic, great people, good food, and plenty of salt water stick fetching. It's good to be back at work but we're all suffering from a little extra homesickness.

It was great to see you all!

HEADLINE: Hostile Take Over at Lost Lake By Four Black Dogs

2007-08-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

We talked these suckers into taking us up to Lost Lake the other day and they threw sticks for hours! It's good to know the dogs are in charge. We swam and they paddled, we ate poop and they swam, they tied us to a log so we wouldn't eat anymore poop and we broke the leash. It was excellent.

B-rizzle kicked it at the fun control post while my other homies and I chased the ladies in kayaks and barked at the catholic school group next door.

Audrey was even brave enough to flip the little boat over and give rolling a whirl. She rocked it. You'll see her bouncing down the Little White next time she's in town.

Eventually the last of the sun slipped behind the hill, the girls put their clothes back on and us four leggeds fell into a shivering heap of cold tired wet dog. Time to go home and chase squirrels!

Sweet Sweet North West

2007-08-04T11:16:00.001-07:00

After a record drive from Vermont to Washington:
3188.4 miles
51.25 total hours (includes stop times)
62 MPH average speed (includes stop times)

We finally arrived in the mountain speckled landscape of the Cascades and I could smell home. I hung my head out the window for so long that my eyelids started to permanently peel back. It's so so so good to be back in Hood River, kickin it with my homies and wreaking havoc in the bike shop.

So, after 7 and a half months of living on the road we have some interesting numbers to share with you. Here's what we've done since January.

25,000 miles in the car
1,200 miles on the bikes
0 sticks of deodorant
1000 miles running in front of my people while they ride their bikes
500 cups of coffee
86 energy bars/GU shots
84 different rivers/lakes/oceans used for stick retrieval

28 forced listenings to Fergilicious
220 lb.s of dog food and treats
3 broken frames
578 people taught how to build trail

15 boxes of random stuff sent home
44 towns worked in
137 in car mosh pits/air guitar solos
30 different states visited
2 broken forks
6 rivers paddled, sad but true, there's no freaking water on the East Coast right now! We're ditching the boats in Hood River and getting a couple extra bikes to make up for it.

workworkworkwork

2007-07-20T10:01:00.001-07:00

workworkworkwork
Originally uploaded by sixvlt.

If it wasn't for my brilliant Labrador nose we may have never found Anna under the growing pile of papers and maps. She's been hogging the computer to write up a bunch of reports and I have not had time to blog but I'll get some sweet pictures for you soon!

We're headed back to the West Coast the first week of August! Can't wait to see you! If anyone in Hood River needs or knows of anyone who needs a house/dog/cat/goldfish sitter or wants to rent us a room for a few weeks in August let us know. We hope to be in town sometime or the whole time between the 3rd and the 22nd.

Can't wait to see my dog friends!

Skeletor

2007-07-10T19:50:00.001-07:00

Skeletor
Originally uploaded by sixvlt.

Just a few more days and the lock will be the only thing left. It's suprising the sign post is still there!

Good Times on the East Coast

2007-06-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of my people's adventures over the past few weeks. I won't bore you with the work stuff but here's some of the fun.

Jason being rad in State College PA.

Even on BMX style vert. dirt jumps he can still throw the green giant around.

We found some very... um... interesting carpentry in Lockhaven PA. My peeps don't seem to think 1X1s are strong enough for
ladders that are 15' of the deck.

Anna found some slick rock in Pisgah National Forest on a very hilly, very fun ride.

Love thy tool.

The folks at Ace Whitewater in Fayetteville WV put us up in this sweet cabin. It even had a hot tub but Jason and Anna wouldn't let me in it.

After building a lot of rediculiously fun stunts Jason had to show everyone how to ride them.

Despite the 90% humidity, 95 degrees and giant clouds of bugs, we spent a few days riding and running at French Creek State Park in P.

And with Special Use Permits given to my peeps by the National Park Service in order to assess their trail system, they were able to ride in the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site.

More State College fun in the hot hot hot, humid, buggy, sun.

We found some of the biggest rocks we've ever seen planted in the trals of French Creek State Park as water bars. At least they aren't rubber.

This trail was hidden in the back yard of an unamed builder in PA. The sign rocks.

Chillin

2007-06-25T09:59:00.001-07:00

Chillin
Originally uploaded by sixvlt.

I've become a model. My short person has been following me around with her new camera for a couple days now and I am beginning to feel like I may need to dye my hair blond, get a miniture chihuahua, and demand nothing but the best caviar. It's hard being followed by the papratzi! I'm going to steal the camera and get some good shots so on so keep an eye out for a few new posts and leave a freaking comment so I know someone's actually interested in hearing my wiggly dogness.

Vroom Vroom

2007-06-18T14:52:00.001-07:00

IMG_1946.JPG
Originally uploaded by sixvlt.

While rolling through Eastern UT a few months ago we saw a sign for the Bonneville Salt Flats so we had to check it out. You've seen The Worlds Fastest Indian right? There were all these really fast cars zipping around and we smoked em all! You should have seen how upset they were! We forgot to take pictures of that but it was awesome. Really, the IMBAru with 500lbs on the roof is amazing quick.... what? I'm serious!

Virginia Mountain Bike Festival

2007-06-06T07:05:00.001-07:00

2007Stokesville-SpinoRichAnnaJW.JPG
Originally uploaded by sixvlt.

It was like crazy K9 heaven at the festival. We were allowed to run free, no leashes, no rules, and tons of kids who dropped their food. This picture of Anna, Jason, Spencer Powlison (their coordinator from Boulder CO) and Rich Edwards (IMBA Trail Solutions) was taken at the beginning of an awesome ride through the George Washington National Forest. Too many road climbs for me though! I hung out back at camp and protected stuff.

So Pretty! (the trees!)

2007-05-25T07:10:00.001-07:00

DSCN0515.JPG
Originally uploaded by sixvlt.

My peeps left me at home for this one but what a ride it was! Tons of fun turns like this one and all kinds of good stuff to be had just outside of Harrisonburg Virginia. Anna finally got to try out her new fork and the review is good.

If You're Homesick...

2007-05-10T19:08:00.001-07:00

If You're Homesick...
Originally uploaded by sixvlt.

If you are a Northwesterner and you find yourself traveling through the Midwest, you may find yourself feeling a little over exposed, turned around, and completely unable to find your bearings due to lack of topography. Anna was experiencing all of this along with a touch of homesickness when she suddenly grabbed a permanent marker and started scribbling all over the the windshield of our house. After a sigh or relief, Jason and I realized that we were sort of missing our mountainous home too. So we watched the sunset and pretended to be driving towards Mt. Hood on our way to spend the evening with our friends. We miss you!!

Good Info

2007-05-08T20:50:00.001-07:00

It's nice to know that even the liquor store outside of Fruita CO is full of great advice.

Service Dog

2007-04-21T20:11:00.000-07:00

I am a boneified Service Dog. That means I get to go anywhere my people go so that I can emotionally support them and be spastic with class. So what it really comes down to is that I am a pro. I built trail with a therapist who thought I was awesome and deserved to hang out in the park that had an evil "no dogs" rule, so she signed my papers and deamed me certifiable. Now I can go in the Wilderness where even Mnt. Bikes are not allowed, down town Boulder, grocery stores and best of all, YOUR HOUSE! It's the law, you can't keep me out MWAAHHAAHHAA!!!

A short story about what I learned today.

2007-04-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

This is a big manky waterfall. I learned today that swimming in a turbulent pool directly above big manky water falls is a bad idea even for a dog of high swimming ability such as myself. I only wanted to rescue Jason from the horrible experience of being in the river without me but as I jumped into Pauley Creek in the Sierra Mountains of NorCal and heard everyone frantically calling me, I thought, perhaps I had made a bad decision. As I was was swept toward the lip of the falls I figured out why it was a bad idea. Just as I was about to go over, one of the other boaters paddled out and made a micro eddy behind his boat so that I could swim next to it, grabbed my collar and pushed me to Anna who had jumped in the river, in her clothes and was standing waste deep just beyond the current. I was pretty exhausted at this point from being stuck in the current swimming upstream so she pulled me in to the rocks and I crawled out of the water with my tail between my legs. Oops. In an effort to teach me that whitewater is bad for dogs, my people then took me to the Reno, NV white water park where Jason threw sticks in the river just above a big hole. I went deep a couple times, it freaked me out but I still tried to rescue the sticks. Enough about me. Here are a few shots of Pauley Creek which flows along the famous Downieville Downhill. Jason hooked up with some boaters from Mammoth Lakes to run the creek while Anna and I went for a run up the trail and took some pictures.

While we were in Truckee CA Anna got a chance to visit a few of her childhood hang outs. That's Donner Lake in the back ground and Truckee just beyond that.

We also got a chance to go climb around on her old jungle gym. She used to spend time just about everyday sitting on this rock, hanging out, enjoying the view. That's why she can't tell you jack about movies or music from the 80s and 90s yet, can explain in detail every crack, bump, cave and piece of lichen that exists on this large granite rock. We had to pry her off the rock and bribe her with chocolate to get back in the car. Good thing Jason is patient.

So, there you have it. Now we're working hard in Price UT where the grill lines are stained on the microwaved chicken but the fun riding and good people make up for it. I keep trying to tell my people that they should try dog food for a few days and then complain about painted meat but they just tell me to stop barking. We've got to work on the language barrier.

City Girl

2007-04-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

The city is not the friendliest place for dogs but occasionally the shorter half of my team of chauffeurs will take me for a rebellious run on a golf course.

The problem with big cities is that all the trails surrounding them don't seem to allow dogs so my mom gets to eat all the gross stuff that I would usually find, like banana slugs... I think she ran out of GU on this ride outside of Redwood City CA. They told me it was uphill both ways! HOW FUN!

Luckily, after leaving So-Cal, we spent a night in Kernville and played in the river! It made up for all the time stuck in traffic.

I did get to go on this ride in Pacifica CA but after I ran through piles of poison oak, my people stuck me in the car for the second lap. It was full of fun kickers, and fast bermed turns... I had no choice but to run through the Poison Oak so they wouldn't land on me.

Something about muscle beach...

We headed over to Oakland CA after galavanting around the South side of the Bay Area for a week of working with local land managers, cycling clubs and trail users to talk about access issues and show them how to build some sweet single track. In return they showed us how to ride up some STEEP fire roads. My peeps also got to go for an incredible ride in Tamirancho, miles of swoopy single track in Marin County.

which included some nice breaks...

As we left the Bay Area I kept thinking I smelled something familiar and then I saw this huge white mountain that I recognized... we were going home (kind of)! Technically we were home because we live in the car but we seemed to be going to my grandogma's house where I would surely be spoiled and taken for lots of runs in the woods, get to play in the yard, chase squirrels and harass chickens. Mount Shasta is like Disney Land for dogs and my people seem to feel the same way about it.

The OTHER blog

2007-03-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

As if I am not doing a good enough job, Anna and Jason had to go and start their own blog. They told me it's required for work... I hope their not planning on downsizing or anything. I NEED THIS JOB! Check out their "work blog" at:

http://onthetrail.imbatools.com/

Just cut and paste it into your address bar if it doesn't show up as a link.

And here's a photo of the lovely view that people from LA get when they venture out in the wilderness. That's not fog.

So-Cal

2007-03-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

It must be my paws on the keyboard but this damn computer sure has been having problems! Now that it's spent a few days at the "doctor" lets see if it'll work for a little while. So, we've finally left the prickly world of Arizona and entered the sprawling cities of Southern California. I was a bit concerned about the lack of room for dogs to run but found that there's a whole lot of single track in So-Cal and not a lot of people on any of it. We've been having a good ol time breaking the leash laws and sneaking into dogless places!

Like the beach!

And camp grounds in Orange County!

But the best is when the Forest Service Ranger lets me run off leash, chasing bunnies all over the park, right infront of him while everyone else works!

I've got to keep my people happy and make sure they get out and ride... this one was in Noble Canyon outside of San Diego CA. If you are down there you've got to hit Noble Canyon, it's a whole lot of rocky goodness! Anna liked it so much that she left a little bit of herself there... literally. Jason tried to do the same but his skin's just too tough.

It's always sweet to have time to visit our much missed family while we are on the road. We were lucky to get to see Ttantta (Aunt in Basque) Jeanine, Luise, and Mitsy TWICE while we were in Orange County. Ttantta Jeanine spoiled us with her delicious cooking and awesome hospitallity. Luckily she knows how to keep a wiggly black dog happy (bacon, hint hint, lots of bacon). I wasn't sure if I was going to make it without all the goodies Craig used to feed at me at Disco but I'm pulling through with a little help from the fam.

2007-03-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

Copious amounts of sand and 40mph winds make for a natural sand blasting machine. We were more concerned about the precious bikes swaying back and forth on top of the car than we were the shiny new Subaru we had just received the day before. I think this was a sign that we were supposed to stay in Moab but we had to head south and get to work in Tucson. We drove without stopping through hundreds of miles of this sand storm with visibility dropping to about 30' at times but we weren't getting out of the car.

Once arriving in Tucson I was psyched to find that Martha, our host for the weekend had a dog door in her house. What freedom! My people left me to play with the dog door while they headed out the Saguaro National Park to work with the park trails department on surveying a new trail. They didn't realize that this new trail was going to be in the wilderness where no bikes are allowed until they had been hiking for a mile or so. Despite the mix up, they trudged through the painfully sharp landscape for most of the day in search of a perfect route while I ate cookies, played in the yard, and slept on furniture at "home".
This was an old windmill that was used to power a pump for the well that has long since run dry. Tucson is experiencing a drop in the water table as more and more people move there.

The Saguaro Cacti are the big tall ones in the background. Some where 30' tall and they don't grow their first "arm" until they are around 70 years old. Most of them have been around much longer than any of us and their uncanny resemblance to people gives them personality. They also have Cacti called Choya (sp?). If you brush against or even get too close to one, a big ball of needles pops off and embeds itself in your skin. I got a few of them stuck in my feet which I attempted to pull out with my mouth so I had no sympathy for Jason when he got one stuck in his arm and used a tool to pull it out. Wuss.

Such a lady.

Mark, Anna, Jason and the guy who's name we can't remember are taking a break at the Flinstone Cafe just off the star pass trail system west of Tucson.

Surprise! Surprise! We are back in Sedona for a couple days on our way to Prescott where we will work this weekend. I get a day off from chasing bikes and the two leggeds are getting ready to try out the big bad Gary Fishers. That's right, they drew it out as long as they could but the Reigns are getting boxed up and shipped home tomorrow :(

Furry Woodland Creatures

2007-02-25T07:12:00.000-08:00

We are in the 3.2 state of Utah spending our totally undeserved time off playing in Moab. While my people have been rolling around the cliffsides on bikes, I have decided to take up hunting. So far I'm not very good at it but give me time. I'm working on my pounce. Those bunnies won't know what hit them. I'm a pretty ferocious dog when I'm chasing varmets.

So, you might begin to notice a theme with the photos. All the shots of a rider are taken of Anna and all the shots of someone changing a flat or chillin at a view point are of Jason. This is because Jason is one of those people who all ways remembers to take pictures and Anna is a slacker who only remembers to take pictures when she's waiting for Jason to change a flat (that's also the only time she can catch him:).

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow...or something like that.

2007-02-19T07:40:00.000-08:00

New Mexico is not the friendliest place for a dog. We went to Las Cruses for a Trail Building School and by the end of our first ride, my paws were bloody and full of cacti. While I was left in a strange (but nice) home alone, my people left with Kristin and Ryan (the other trail care crew) to play in the dirt, ride their bikes and enjoy tasty adult beverages at the brewery. After 5 days in the southern New Mexico desert, our need for trees became quite strong so we headed back to Sedona for our days off. My people finally realized that a lady needs some sassy red shoes so for Valentines day they bought me a pair of red, vibram soled, dog booties. What a life saver! They rolled around the trails of Sedona while I stayed at the Lodge (which is about as close as we've come to home in the past couple months) and nursed my paws.

After Sedona we headed down to Tucson Arizona for a 24 hour mountain bike race. Yep that's right, people riding their bikes around a 17 mile course for 24 hours straight. CRAZY. We had a good time, I rolled around in the dirt a lot and cheered the racers on. Still unable to run after mountain bikes, Anna left me behind and rode the course which consisted of dirt roads, and single track climbs. Not very exciting but I guess if you are riding it at 4am for the 12th time, you don't want any excitement.

On the last day of the race, Ryan and Kristin, the Trail Care Crew that we have been traveling with for the last couple months headed East to Houston Texas without us. It's not often that you get a chance to travel with a couple you have never met, work with them, ride with them and then feel like you are saying goodbye to yet another couple of long time, good friends when they leave. They are two of the funniest people we've met (funny ha ha) and they made the first couple months on the road feel like home. So, if you ever meet them, give them a hard time and buy them a beer for us.

I'm a crazy crazy dog

2007-02-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

These last couple weeks have been awesome! I never knew that Trail Building Dog is the most glamorous of dog jobs ever. The day starts off with the usual greetings. I run around and jump on everyone as fast as I can so I can reach them before my people tell them to knee me when I jump. After defying my people, I spend a few hours smelling EVERTHING around the work site in search of poo. Next comes the real work of socializing with all the trail builders while dodging swinging Pulaski’s, McLeod’s, shovels, rock hammers and flying dirt. Eventually, after I have successfully suckered everyone out of at least part of their lunch, I settle down in the dirt next to one of my people and take a nap. It's great. Our work in Gallup NM was pretty cold. The dirt was frozen and the mornings were brisk but we made it work and repaired a pretty fantastic piece of existing trail. Unfortunately, in Las Cruses NM the following week, we went for a longish ride and I ripped the pads on three of my paws. A torturous few days followed while I was abandoned at the nice host family's house and wondered if my people where coming back for me while they were out working and riding their bikes. All in all, NM was an interesting state. We drove 4 hours to find a white water play park that barely existed, rode a BMX track in Albuquerque with a family of 5 rippers, all rocking mullets, built trail in frozen dirt, ate lots of really good carnitas tacos, and rode the trails in sunny, warm, Las Cruses. We even saw some of Sella the horses long lost wild cousins. Now we're back to Sedona for a few days off and a few days of riding. Kristin and Ryan, the other crew who have been mentoring us in the art of teaching, building trail, and being rad are ditching us in a week so I am hoping we can get in lots of riding and good times before they head for lovely Houston TX and us for Orange County CA. I'm going to have to go through this separation anxiety thing all over again!

h2o

2007-01-31T11:00:00.000-08:00

These pics are from Fossil Creek AZ. It's a beautiful, clear spring fed creek in the middle of the desert. We had a day off and rallied down to do some boating swimming and exploring. Anna doesn't have her boat so the paddling was limited but there were a few hike and huck water falls with killer swimming holes. It's not warm here, my people are just a little nuts.

oh Yeeeeaaaaah

2007-01-26T21:36:00.000-08:00

This place does not suck at all. It is being added to our perfect utopian ideal of mountains, surf, rivers, tasty beverages and general deliciousness. The trails start at the end of our hotel (view below) and continue as far as we could ever want them to. AND there's a river that's not frozen so I get to swim as much as I want! Not only that but there is a coffee shop that is also a bike shop. Coffee+bikes makes the peeps very very happy. So don't tell too many people but when you come here, stay at the Village Lodge in The Village of Oak Ceek, be really nice and they will give you a small mansion for a killer price and they love dogs.

Why Is The Dirt So Prickly!?

2007-01-24T21:24:00.000-08:00

This planet is quite strange. Rather than dirt, it is covered in plants that have very tiny nails sticking out of them. My people call them cacti. I call them EVIL. You try running 14 miles with nails in your paws! It's nice to play in the dirt and the peeps are about as happy as dogs in smelly stuff. Anna fell off a cliff yesterday and is turning funny colors in places but aside from that the riding has been spectacular. She took me for a hike today and Jason went out on his bike in search of the vortex that apparently connects new age places like Mt Shasta to new age places like Sedona. We are pretty sure you need some crystals, wheat grass and a New Age for Dummies book to find it though.
Here's a cheezy "car/scenic overlook" shot and a picture of a small landing strip Anna and I found while riding yesterday. Looking forward to some more fabulous rides tomorrow and a little bit of work.

Rollin Rollin Rollin...

2007-01-21T17:52:00.000-08:00

Hey there! On the road again after lots of meetings, skiing, BMX, dental work (Yep, that's nitrous), snow ball fights, aquarium poaching and goofing off in Boulder CO. The IMBA office is a lot like an indoor dog park. I got to sniff lots of dog tail and play "Rabid Crazy Dog" games. Not only that but my peeps take me EVERYWHERE with them now. It's awesome. I guess barking at the hotel cleaning people pays off. Now we are in Pueblo CO for the night and off to Sedona tomorrow.

We are all having a great time cruising around, adjusting to life on the road and learning how to best load the Subaru, find good food, and all those horribly stressful things like making sure the mugs are filled with good coffee before hitting the highway. Hopefully we will be able to find something less frozen than this soon so I can get my swim on.

Wind Ice and Culture Club

2007-01-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

Still not clear on why my people decided to leave that perfectly good house with all those dogs. On the other hand, they seem pretty psyched and they let me have my own queen sized bed last night (I even had 3 pillows). I can get used to this. It was windy in Rawlins as you can see by the sand dunes that formed on our window sill over night. 70+ mph with a bit of Wyoming ice (which is much slipperier than any other kind) thrown into the mix. At one point, my people seemed to be wondering if we were still on the right planet. With all the blowing snow and flat topography it was difficult to tell. Then we noticed some signs of intelligent life on the horizon. The wind mills and abundance of 80's dance music on the radio seemed to make them pretty happy. Lots of dancing. I don't want to be the one to tell them but they should stick to dancing only in the car.
I'll try to have some better pictures soon.

My People are Crazy

2007-01-07T16:34:00.000-08:00

Rantings of a wiggly black dog
This is my new home. My people have lost it. They moved out of a nice house and into a car. Not just any car but a car so full of stuff that it keeps falling on my bed. They need to fix that. It's not so bad though. We stopped at Deer Valley UT yesterday so they could ski and I got to bark at ladies in white fur coats. I am pretty sure I recognized one of those coats as a very fast bunny that I used to chase. Not fast enough it seems. They keep promising me they will take me for a ride but so far, everytime we have gone outside the wind has almost blown us away. We are currently enjoying the thriving metropolis of Rawlins WY where the freeway is closed both ways due to high wind and sheets of ice. It's pretty rad. Not unlike this gas station.