Getting A Little Bit Farther Into Frontier Town

Another "farm Sunday" came around and I loaded all the dogs into the car with as much other stuff as my little car would carry. We drove from Albany northward for over an hour and half and then got off the highway at Exit 29, home of the abandoned Frontier Town. That had been the location of the best rest stops in the world until the winter snow piled up, preventing us from getting back into the forest. I had high hopes that it was all melted by this time - and apparently, so did the Papillons:

We got a few hundred feet back along the old road before ice and snow forced me to stop. But we were far enough in for me to let the dogs out for a romp:

The old, abandoned hotel was visible as well as the closed gas station. But what we wanted were the grasslands:

The dogs explored and sniffed and played. And all was well until Fergus and Clover ran out onto that ice covered pond. The thought of them falling through the ice was so horrible that I immediately called them back and steered them away from the pond:

Wally and Winky, old and handicapped, stayed near the car. But I could see Wally wanted to find us, so I began calling him:

Following the sound of my voice, Wally began making his way across the snowy field. Winky stayed near the car:


Pretty soon all the dogs but Winky were enjoying their time in the field. We stopped at this old piece of split rail fence for a photo:

The old fence was covered with gorgeous lichens. Such intricate beauty is available just for the looking. One only needs to pay attention:

And then we began making our way back to the car. Can you see that little black dot in front of the car? That's Winky, who hadn't ventured out across the field with the rest of us:

When he saw us getting close, Winky waddled out on the snow to join us. He didn't get very far, but that, I suppose, was a big adventure for such an old dog:

Seamus encouraged him back toward the car:

I got everyone back into the car except Winky, so I took a photo of the crew while we waited. I finally had to put a leash on him, both to lead him and to help him back up into the car. He always snaps at everything in sight when he first gets helped up into the car, so I seldom him. But once all the dogs were in the car and comfortable, we proceeded on our way to the farm: