I think the best part of the vacation by far was our morning hikes with the pugs. The weather was perfect! The pugs could run about and we did not have to worry about them overheating. And it wasn't too cold for us.
The terrain was way more rugged than our normal evening walks which are always on sidewalks. I think this got the pugs all excited because they really felt like they were on an adventure.
The mountain air and the fresh scenery really invigorated the pugs!
Our vacation started with a 9.5 hour drive from FL to the Smoky Mountains in NC. The boys are road trip pros. They have made the trip from MD to FL several times and have the whole routine down pat. They sleep while we drive, potty when we stop to get gas and are just all around awesome travel companions.
This was our first real road trip with Luna, so we were curious to see how she would do. I figured she would just follow the boys' lead and relax while we were on the road.
But, once again I was wrong. There was something about being in the car with all her things that was a little unsettling to Luna. It took 153 miles for her to settle down. She wasn't crazy out of control or anything, but she certainly wasn't as relaxed as the boys who were sawing logs by that point. She was just very alert, like we were going to be arriving at our final destination at any minute.
Luckily, she eventually settled and realized that this was going to be a long road trip. At that point the car was filled with nothing but the sounds of pugs snoring and 80's tunes.
The dog park has a nifty water fountain for the dogs that has bowls on two different levels. One on the ground and one about knee level for larger dogs. It is a great idea, the only problem is that only Henry is brave enough to drink from the fountain. Benjamin and Luna don't seem to trust a water bowl with a small stream of water shooting up from the middle. In fact they wouldn't go anywhere near they fountain lest they get wet!
One day last week we spiced things up a bit and instead of going for our normal walk after dinner we took a quick trip to the dog park. The moment we arrived at the dog park all of the other dogs left. Geez. I don't know if we should be offended or not.
So the pugs had the whole park to themselves. Henry amused himself for a moment by darting through the tunnel, but other than that the pugs spent the majority of their time sniffing around.
A few minutes before we were ready to leave, a small white dog arrived at the park. The dog was 11 years old and after the customary dog park greeting, the pugs and the white dog all went off smelling around in different directions. One 11 year old dog, two 9 year old pugs and a 7 year old pug don't make for the most active dog park crowd. The most active thing that night was the mosquitoes!
This shot was taken back when Benny was really Baby Benny. It was taken in April 2003 in Ocean City, MD and Benjamin was just a year old.
We decided to take Benjamin and Henry to the beach (or down the ocean hun if your from Baltimore) in April because it is the off season and dogs are allowed on the beach and the boardwalk.
It was a windy day and as soon as we hit the boardwalk the wind picked up even more. Benny was a bit chilly so we bought two toddler shirts for the boys from one of the few shops that was open and having a clearance sale. Benny got a tough guy muscle shirt and Henry ended up with a peach Ocean City shirt with sleeves. Needless to say, Henry was unhappy with the fact that his shirt had sleeves and actually refused to walk once we put his shirt on him. So off came Henry's shirt. To this day, he refuses to wear a shirt with sleeves.
We walked up and down the boardwalk and down by the water and the pugs had a blast. I vividly remember the pugs' ears blowing straight up in the air from the strong wind. In fact, the strong winds almost delivered the pugs a whole pizza. We stopped for lunch at one of our favorite pizza places and setup a nice place to eat on the boardwalk. Well, a strong gust of wind came along and blew our pizza right down the boardwalk! Luckily, we were able to catch it and no damage was done, but it was kinda funny chasing our pizza down.
Here is little Luna's Swim Camp clip. She is by far the best swimmer out of the 3 pugs, but she is very nervous in the water. No under water clips of her swimming. If you go under water to get video of her swimming she doesn't know where to swim to!
Benjamin and Luna are very happy that their obligatory, yearly dip in the pool is complete. Now they don't have to worry about having to get in the pool until next year. I'm sure that makes Henry happy because that means more pool time for him.
Here is Benjamin's Swim Camp clip. Note the lack of enthusiasm on his part. He is all about swimming to the step hopping out of the pool and then running through the doggie door and back into the house so he can drip all over the rug. Paybacks
