Part 1 - The Bestest, Funnest River Rest Stop Eve

It was time once again to drive up to the farm. I collected all six dogs into my little red car and headed up the Northway to Exit 29. I exited there and pulled into the abandoned Frontier Town for a rest stop. We did not go to the ghost town this time, though. We just stopped at the Schroon River for a bit of cooling water and leg stretching:

The younger dogs ran immediately down to the water but I had to encourage blind old Wally and deaf old Winky across the sand dunes:

Seamus and Fergus had already finished their water splashing time when I caught up to them and we all began heading down along the river's edge:

We went farther than we'd ever gone before, leaving the oldsters behind. I could keep an eye on them easily, however, in that open terrain. Wally got a burst of energy and enthusiasm, rapidly catching up to us. Winky, not so much. Old Winky is so far in this photo that he's just a tiny dot:

We arrived at a point where there was a stretch of water only 3 or 4 inches deep between us and an interesting island. I was wearing brand new shoes and didn't want to get them wet - but hey, how could I NOT ford the stream and have a look at that island?:

Winky was still far behind us but headed our way. Wally had caught up to us in a surprising burst of energy and enthusiasm. In fact, he was by this time actually playing in the water:

I forded the stream with the younger dogs and encouraged Wally to follow. He was making his way across the water when I snapped this picture:

And yes, that's crabby old Winky far off to the left, still on his way:

We walked up onto the rocks of the island to see what was on the other side:

And I was amazed to see a deep, deep pool of water perhaps 10 feet deep or more. The next time we do this I plan to have appropriate clothing and do a bit of swimming:

Seamus loves water but had never seen such deep water or steep drop-off. He stood on the rocks with Wally and just looked, apparently unsure what to do:

In the end, all the dogs just played in the shallower waters. Winky arrived at the shore but refused to try to cross it. This was turning out to be, as the title says, the bestest, funnest river rest stop ever. I'll post more tomorrow: