A Walk in the Woods.

We needed some fresh air this past weekend. The last few weeks have been unusually busy for me and TC. Plus, I can tell Maple has been bored of us because of her nightly whine sessions.

So on Saturday we decided to head a little ways out side of town to Crooked Creek. I've been to the overlook before by never really exploring in the woods.

We met up with our good friend Serge and his two dogs. You may remember the big white polar bear from the day we picked him up and saw a moose on the way home. That was nine months and seventy pounds ago. 

So, you've got Thor on the left, then Odin, Maple and Hobie is on the right. We loaded all four of them into Serge's truck to head a little deeper into the woods.

Along our way down the dirt road Thor decided that he didn't want to be in the truck anymore. So he jump/tumbled out, while we were driving, and started trotting down the road. He turned into a rock quarry and proceeded straight down a giant rock hill to the river all the while completely ignoring our calls. It looked like we were going to be going home without the polar bear for a while but Serge finally caught him after a thirty minute chase.

Anyway, we eventually came to a small river where I assumed we would park the truck and start hiking. But then Serge just drove right through it like it was totally normal.

I mean, I'm from the South, but these guys kindda had me feelin' like a country redneck.

Fortunately, we finally made landfall safely on the other side of the river. The woods were gorgeous and we wandered down a nice solid path for a bit.

I hung in the back to take photos and tried to be all creative and artsy. Why, I don't know. The woods were speaking to me, I guess and I'm trying to increase my collection of useless weird photos.

We were following a river but with all the rain, there were tons of flooded areas that we had to traverse.

TC likes to do things the hard way (he calls it the fun way) while I prefer to head up stream a bit and find a nice set of rocks to hop across. Less chance of breaking my neck or getting my camera wet.

Eventually, we reached the notorious waterfall, jumping rocks and swimming hole. Apparently this place is a hot spot during the summer. As a former lifeguard I think it is safe to say that this would be my idea of swimming hole hell. Although, I'm sure a few beers would probably solve that problem.

Of course, waterfalls, swimming in creeks, and running through the woods isn't enough fun for Maple. No, she needs to carry around every stick and branch she can get her teeth on and then hit you in the ass while she runs in circles. It's fun for everyone!

And then she wants to take her stick swimming - in the river we have to drive through! That's how deep it was. Deep enough for a lab to swim in is apparently the exact depth a truck can swim in as well.

And you know what she does as soon as she gets out of the water, don't you? She runs over and stands right next to you and shakes. Twice.

She's lucky I didn't leave her in the woods.