Happy Summer Days

Yesterday I told you about my bike ride to an incredible campsite in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. It was a long journey but it was worth it! The view captivated me for our entire stay at the campsite.

Not only was there a great view but there was also a lake very nearby. Our Labs thought that was divine!

It's interesting - for the entire time that K was alive, she took the lead in retrieving objects from lakes. R would wait on the shore to try to grab hold of the object when she brought it in, even after he was fast enough to win the swimming race sometimes.

Now, R always takes the lead in retrieving, and Shyla plays the role of "poacher" on the shore. Even when we throw two objects, Shyla doesn't go after the second one. Rather she waits near shore for R. Perhaps this is a common older-younger dog interaction.

On most retrieves, Shyla swims out to meet Rono about 10 yards from shore so she gets wet!

We had lots of fun playing in that lake while the weather stayed good. As you'll hear in the coming days, we were in for a huge change in weather which made swimming not fun. Snow will do that.

Back in camp after a day of mountain biking, running, and swimming, I adored the sunsets that bathed Shyla in warm light that made her chocolate fur glow. Some evenings, the sunset was clear.

Most evenings, it was not.

But, the unrelenting clouds led to some incredibly fiery sunsets.

We had such fun in this campsite. It's one of the "happy places" that I keep in my mind to get me through tough things like root canals. Everything about the spot where we camped is etched into my memory, and I think of it many times during the year. I love it!

P.S. Today is the last day to vote in the Trailcampro.com contest that I've entered a photo in. Please read the last paragraph of my previous post if you want to vote (one vote per email address). Thank you so much! I promise that this is the last reminder.