Another Great Dog Adventure!

Earlier this month, Dan and I packed up the spotted gang and headed off to northern Arizona to explore the south rim of Grand Canyon. Yep! The Grand Canyon!

This is a photo of Daisy, Scout, and Darby relaxing along the rim’s edge and attached below is a photo of all five of us just outside the park on our first day to the canyon.

Why the Grand Canyon and why bring the dogs?

Well, to answer the first part of that question, I had never been to the Grand Canyon before and Dan had only been there once as a child. Additionally, ever since Dan and I started dating and vacationing together, we had always talked about taking a road trip to the canyon, and, since Dan is currently on his sabbatical, we decided to create our own 3-day weekend and pay a quick visit to our neighboring state and check out this absolutely amazing natural wonder. As for the second part of the question (and as many of you already know), the dogs are pretty much our children and, as a family, we very much enjoy taking vacations together. I admit it’s not an easy thing to do, but, after all these years, Dan and I know just about all there is to know about traveling with our four-legged brood and, because of this, our “kids” have probably visited more places than most people. Basically, in addition to all the great places we’ve already visited in the southwest, our little fur family has also been to every state between New Mexico and Minnesota! As a matter of fact (believe it or not), our entire clan has actually been to Mt. Rushmore and Badlands National Park in South Dakota! We have also been to the Great Sand Dunes and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, and now, most recently, we have visited the Grand Canyon. We are very lucky to be able to travel as often and as well as we do. Next stop: Moab, Utah or San Antonio, Texas!

P.S. As an interesting side note for this trip, I have to tell you that Daisy, Darby, and Scout were very, VERY popular with the Japanese tourists! Yes, indeed! For whatever reason, the foreign tourists were absolutely fascinated with our dogs and, on a couple of occasions, Dan and I were actually approached and asked if it would be okay for them to pose for photos with our speckled assortment of tail wagers right there on the trail! Strange, huh? Never mind the big hole in the earth! All they wanted were photos of our black and white babies! Crazy (and, of course, extremely flattering, too!) I suppose it's not every day that you see two wacky Americans with three matching dogs at the Grand Canyon!