Rest Stop At Mountain Pond

Well, back to our trip north through the Adirondacks to visit the farm. The dogs and I had taken a rest break near the town of Keane and then traveled most of the way northward, almost to Malone, New York. There's another favorite stop of mine along the way, and that's Mountain Pond, just off Route 30. I turned in and drove along the lake searching for a good place to let the dogs out. There were campers near where I usually stop, so I kept driving. I learned that the lakeside road (and the lake, of course) went on for much longer than I'd ever imagined. The views were terrific:

And then I found an unused campsite on the lake with no other people around anywhere. I stopped and let the dogs out. That, of course, made them quite happy. Fergus, Wally, Clover and Daphne sniffed around and then headed directly to the water:

Wren doesn't move much unless encouraged to do so. I urged her to move through the grass by calling her toward the water. She's going deaf and I didn't want to holler in order to make myself heard, but I've learned that many deaf old dogs can hear hand claps. That worked with Wren also:

Clover and Seamus, little buddy and big buddy, trotted right down to the water's edge:

Daphne and Fergus waded right into the shallow water, but this was a new, intimidating experience for little Clover:

Seamus, of course, has no fear of water and immediately did his brontosaurus imitation:

The two Papillon pups, Daphne and Clover, went exploring like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. They were adorable:

Wren and Wally found a shady spot of grass where they could enjoy the outdoors without expending any energy:

Winky, always the independent sort, set off on his own adventure to sniff and explore the area:

I love this photo as it shows tiny Clover, unafraid in the wilds of the Adirondacks. She's having a grand time. I think my dogs live very happy lives and this photo reminds me of that:

And lastly, a short video of the two Papillon puppies exploring the shoreline of Mountain Pond. It's nothing exciting - just a glimpse into a moment of life as a puppy. You may notice that both of them like to eat grass. I've come to believe that must be a Papillon trait as both are well nourished and none of my other dogs are voracious grass eaters: