Tag Archives: road trip

Desert Dreaming

May 1, 2016 Odee 1 Comment

For those that have just joined us on Jackson’s blog you may notice my name on here a bit. When his Facebook fans donated money for a GoPro camera I bought his domain name and promised him a website. Well he got a little impatient and just took over mine so his domain just points to this site.
– Matt

Woof! I thought I was in the truck traveling with my human where the land looks totally different. It was wonderful, all the strange and different smells were back and the wind from the window was blowing my ears back. The next think I knew my human was telling me I was dreaming. I thought I was back walking and running in that place where there were not many trees. My human and I were hiking on trails all over the place. I had my boots on because of those sticky plants, I am so glad Matt got those for me. I was visiting with other dogs and humans, it was fun. There were big rivers, but this time they were gentle and I went swimming, woof! In my dream I did not have to wait in the truck when my human went on some hikes, I got to go on every hike everywhere.

That was a wonderful dream about a strange and different place we just visited. Most of the places we went to did not have any trees, though there were a few around some places. I did get to go on a lot of hikes but Matt told me I was not allowed to go on some he wanted to go on. He did make sure I got to go on plenty; I just wish I could have gone on all of them. Ruff I wonder who I can complain to about that? We lived in the truck a lot so we were outdoors more than usual though we did stay in places Matt called hotels. We even stayed at a big one and I got in a room that moved and took you places!

Recently we have been on a few hikes in some of my favorite places, a mountain called Morrow and a forest with small mountains called Uwharrie. YouWharriee, Ruff, you try to say that! It is tough for a dog to say, how do you humans get that sound out? My human says we have a big trip planned sometime in a few months. I forget how long a month is, it seems a long ways off. I know he will keep reminding me, he did last time!

Ruff, I am getting sleepy again. Maybe I will dream about the desert place again. I hope so, I really liked it there! Well that is all I have to say for this evening. I had my supper and my bed is calling me to hike on another trail, woof!

The Last Leg

March 29, 2016 Odee Leave a comment

For those that have just joined us on Jackson’s blog (he took over my blog here months ago) I am adding this note. We are back from a month-long road trip visiting the desert canyons in the American west. I enjoy traveling, but I always regret my best buddy can’t go on a lot of my adventures. This was one of two we have planned this year centered around Jackson joining in on the grand adventure. Jackson is going to be doing all of the blog posts. We will be posting our photographs on our Facebook pages (and a few here also!)
– Matt

Woof, woof, I meant the title to be a pun, no it is not my last leg! We got back a week ago my human tells me, I have a hard time figuring out how long a week is and I just rely on my human keeping track of non-important stuff like that. I guess it is time for my account of the last part of our trip. Ruff, of course I will write more about what we did, but Matt told me to do a chronological account when I started this. Woof, I had to say stop right there and tell me what “chronolococal” was. That is a new word for me and I didn’t understand. He told me it meant to write the story in the order it happened, or that is what I understood from his explanation.

The view from our campsite in Nebraska at Ft. Kearney State Park.

Ruff, back to my story. In Nebraska we watched some birds he called Sandhill cranes, there were so many I could not even think about trying to count them. Later that morning my human met some friends. After seeing my friends Bob and Paulette Matt said we needed to go because the weather was going to get colder and we might as well start the trip home. We only drove four hours that day so we did not get far. I think Matt said we were in Springsomething Missouri. The next day we were supposed to get up early and leave because my human said we were going to drive for a long time. Well that did not happen, when that thing my human calls a phone (you know that thing you humans look at and talk to all the time) made and irritating sound when it was still dark, he turned it off. We left later then we were supposed to and then drove, and drove, and drove and kept on driving. I think we drove through three states. We went over big rivers and saw mountains again late that evening. Finally we drove up to a house made of logs where a cat lives and I got to meet my Facebook friend Aunt Marlene, my human said we were in southeastern Tennessee. She was real nice to me and gave me fried chicken (without bones) and other good treats. Hobo, the cat, was not too happy with me at first, but he got better before I left.

Aunt Marlene's back yard. — Aunt Marlene’s back yard.

After the long drive we stayed at Aunt Marlene’s place. It was in a quiet valley on a farm near a river called Ocoee. Once again I did not get to swim, ruff! It is a lot smaller than the other rivers, but my human said it was a dangerous one because it flowed so fast. After resting (and getting treats) for a day we got back in the truck after my human packed it back up. We made one more long drive, I got excited because it started smelling like places I knew and had been before. Then I started smelling places close to home and finally we got home in the afternoon so we had time to unpack. Well my human had time to unpack, I watched, woof!

Now that I have I finished my account of our trip I am still going to have more to say about what we did. I tried to let you know what we were doing as we did it. Maybe that is what that “choro” word means, ruff! I still have photographs and videos we have not looked at or edited, so I haven’t had the last word yet, ruff!

The Rock Garden & Nebraska

March 18, 2016 Odee 4 Comments

For those that have just joined us on Jackson’s blog I am adding this note. We are on our way back from a month-long road trip visiting the desert canyons in the American west. I enjoy traveling, but I always regret my best buddy can’t go on a lot of my adventures. This is one of two we have planned this year centered around Jackson joining in on the grand adventure. Jackson is going to be doing all of the blog posts. We will be posting our photographs on our Facebook pages (and a few here also!)
– Matt

Woof! My human changed his mind and we went one more in Colorado. Ruff, if you remember, our Colorado part… I think that is a state. My human keeps telling me we are in a new state. Most of these things he calls states he has been in before he says. But he did say he did go to a new one on this trip. Woof, back to Colorado: My human was upset because the big snow storm messed up his plans for us. We were going to camp near some waterfalls, but that is where we tried to get away from that storm my human friend Nancy called a blizzard. That place was called Rifle Waterfall State park. When we got there it was snowing so we did not do anything there. Then we tried to beat the big snow storm, ruff, I mean blizzard, but it beat us. Then the next day driving over the high places on the road my human called passes was slow and my human was tense the whole time. I could tell he was worried and really concentrating. When we got away from the snow he kept driving, he said he did not want to worry about the road closing again.

When we found a place to stay out of the bad wind, wind like I am not used to, wind blowing all the time hard, I was glad. I could not smell things like I am used to and I didn’t like that. After resting my human said he felt we were cheated out of enjoying Colorado and the last part of out west. He said I did not get to hike much in Colorado also, so he went to a place called the Garden of the Gods. My human said we were going to backtrack some, but it would be worth it, and woof, it was! We went all over looking at the big rocks and big views. I even shot video and still photos. I liked the humans and other dogs there, it was a dog friendly place to go, woof!

Then the next morning we got up early while it was still cold. The water inside the camper had frozen. Matt packed up and started the truck up and said we were going to Nebraska. We drove and drove, late that afternoon we came to a place with a lot of big strange birds. They were flying all over the place, sometimes there were so many they looked like a dark cloud, ruff. We found a nice campground at Ft. Kearney State Park, ruff, I think that is what Matt called it. The next morning we watched the birds land a field land and fly, there were a lot of them. My human said the were Sandhill cranes and were flying to their summer homes. Ruff, can you imagine that?

Well, we will probably be in Tennessee soon, so I will try to write from there, woof, woof!

The Big Building & the Snow!

March 15, 2016 Odee 2 Comments

Woof, woof, what an adventure! After playing ball with my human at camp yesterday morning, now we are in a room in a big building. My human calls it a hotel! I got to ride in a box that moves up and down, ruff, that was fun. You may wonder why we are staying in this big building that has boxes that go up and down. We were supposed to go camping at a new place after camping at Colorado National Monument. It was nice at the monument, there were friendly people at the campground, it didn’t get cold, and the stars were out.

My human had been looking at the weather on that little thing he talks into and said it looked okay. He picked another place to go camping called Rifle Falls State Park. Ruff, when we got there is was cold and snowing. I told my human to go back to town and check the weather forecast. He finally listened to me, sometimes he is hard-headed about things. I knew when I saw the frozen lake and no humans camping something was wrong. He decided to drive east to to a place called Boulder, ruff, is that a big rock? I have seen a lot of big rocks on this trip. Well my human said we had better try to beat the storm to the highest mountain ahead of the storm, but we did not make it.

We got on the big fast road and drove and drove. Woof, at first everything looked fine but then we stopped in the middle of the road with the big trucks and cars and weren’t going anywhere. The snow started coming down harder and harder. We waited and waited and it snowed and snowed. Then my human got on the little thing he talks into and talked and waited and talked and waited. He had to drive on a part of the road he called the shoulder. It made a rumbling noise I don’t like. Then he had to weave around cars that were stopped on the road blocking his and other humans way. They just stopped when they could have moved out of the way. After we got around the stopped cars we drove and stopped at a big building. I had to sit in the truck and wait, and wait , and wait. Then Matt came out and started taking things out of the truck. Then he came and walked me around in the snow, I like snow, ruff! Then he took me in the big building with all the good smells and I met some humans that were staying here. A lot of humans are here.

Woof, woof, that’s my story and I’m stikin’ to it, Ruff!

Arches and Canyonlands

March 13, 2016 Odee Leave a comment

Woof, woof,I’m tired, but I am behind on my blog so I am starting it tonight (Saturday) and will finish in the morning, ruff! We have been so busy since the last time I wrote. We drove from Bryce Canyon to a town called Moab. What a busy and interesting place! We had a hard tiime finding a place to stay, but we did. There are a lot of humans here, racing, riding, and driving big cars and trucks out in the wilderness and city, ruff. We have been visiting two parks here, Matt said they were called Arches and Canyonlands. My human also found out about some places I could go for a hike so we went to a place called Portal Arch. Matt put on my boots so I wouldn’t hurt my feet on those nasty sticky plants. We had a big surprise on the hike and I had to climb up some rocks while my human climbed up a ladder, but I made it okay. then we had to go back, but Matt figured out how to help me. He is pretty smart for a human. We explored the two parks for two days and it was so different than what I am used to at home. Hardly any trees and you can see a long, long way off, ruff!

We got up early today on Sunday, my human said something about time changing. I don’t understand what he meant about that, how does time change? Humans are so strange sometimes, he said it was an hour later, but it looked the same to me. Matt told me I will be going to a new state today, one I haven’t been to before. I think I am beginning to understand what a state is. Each one looks and smells so different than the other. He says we will be going to some more canyons, those are deep holes in the ground and when you are in them you can’t see as far, but you do see some amazing thing like big rocks, sometimes there is a river and sometimes there isn’t, woof!
Well I had better stop writing for now and get ready to go, I am all packed up and ready before my human, humans are so slow sometimes! Of course he is up earlier and is almost ready, he is faster than usual today. Oh, before I forget here is a link to my YouTube video of my hike the other day to Portal Arch:

Bryce Canyon National Park

March 10, 2016 Odee Leave a comment

Woof, woof, we drove from Zion National Park to Bryce Canyon National Park on Tuesday. What a difference between the two places. Both scenery and weather. While in Zion, my human got stuck in a thunderstorm while I was waiting on him in the truck. I was worried about him because it took a while for him to get down off the trail. I was glad he did not get hurt or struck by that bright stuff called lightning! When he got back he was wet all over and cold! He said a lot of foolish humans were still hiking up the mountain and trying to hide under trees and rocky cliffs. Wow, even dogs know better than that!

Some of the humans I met at Bryce Canyon.

When we got to Bryce Canyon we drove and took pictures after we checked into a motel. Matt said it was so cold at night at the canyon it would freeze inside the truck. When we were at the Gila cliff dwellings it got down to 19. I had to get under the sleeping bag and quilt to stay warm. Ruff, I like the room it was much warmer. The next day I went to a hike on the rim of Bryce Canyon and got to see the hoodoos in the canyon and meet a bunch of nice humans. It was a lot of fun. Then my human went for a hike in the canyon, ruff! I am not allowed in the canyon just because I am a dog, so I had to wait in the truck for him.

Wow, it sure is big, but not as big as the Grand Canyon!

Today we are going to a place called Arches National Park, I hope it is fun there too! I hope I can write another blog report then. Woof, woof, see you from there!

PS Woof, if you want to see my hike, here is a link to my YouTube channel and my hike at Bryce Canyon (and other videos too!)

On the Road to and at Zion National Park

March 6, 2016 Odee 4 Comments

For those that have just joined us on Jackson’s blog I am adding this note. We are on a month-long road trip visiting the desert canyons in the American west. I enjoy traveling, but I always regret my best buddy can’t go on a lot of my adventures. This is one of two we have planned this year centered around Jackson joining in on the grand adventure. Jackson is going to be doing all of the blog posts. We will be posting our photographs on our Facebook pages (and a few here also!)
– Matt

Woof, woof! We are now in Zion National Park my human tells me. I told him we needed to stay somewhere in a real room for a few days to rest. He had worn himself out even when he thought he was taking things easy. He says we have driven 3,700 miles, ruff I am not sure what a mile is so I asked him about that. He said there are about 2,000 human steps to a mile so I cannot imagine how many steps that would be such a big number and it would even be more in doggy steps, ruff!

Two days ago we left Page Arizona and went to another state. I am beginning to understand what a state is I think, each one looks so different and the humans talk different too. At some of these places the humans talk in languages I don’t understand, things my humans say are hard enough sometimes, but I don’t understand any words some of those other humans say. Matt told me they are from different countries. What are countries, are they like states? I just don’t know, I am learning so much on this trip.

Humans I met on the Toadstool Trail hike.

On our drive up we made several stops, one was right after leaving Page at Lake Powell and my human didn’t even let me swim there, ruff! Then we went on a hike in the Grand Staircase-Escalante area called the Toadstool Trail and I see why they are called that. Matt said they were also called hoodoos, ruff, such strange names out here in the west. Then we stopped at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. I watched my human hike out in the sand while I waited under a shady platform, it was hot that day.

One view of some of the toadstools, or hoodoos!

Another view of the toadstools. Matt left his cameras in my photograph, ruff!

When we got to Zion National Park I could tell my human needed some rest so I told him to get a room somewhere that allows dogs. Can you imagine some places don’t ike dogs? One place that said they take dogs asked my human if I was shedding, they said they were picky about who they let stay. Ruff why even bother saying they take dogs anyway – labs always shed, foo on them, ruff!

Yesterday I spent most of the day napping and I tried to get Matt to do the same. He did some, but he stayed working on the computer on our photographs and videos, I finally barked at him and told him to stop so he did, ruff! Then we went for a short drive in the afternoon and stopped by a little cafe in the town we are staying. That town is Springdale, he ate outside so I could sit with him at the table and he gave me some of his pizza to eat, yum that was real good!

Today it has been raining so we are resting and Matt has been planning what to do next. I will not tell yet, but will fill everyone in on my next report, woof, woof! I do know we will be in Zion park for the next day or two so Matt can take more photographs, then we will go to some more parks, ruff!

Day Two at the Grand Canyon

February 29, 2016 Odee Leave a comment

Woof, woof, we both took it a little easier yesterday, my human was tired from the first day at the Grand Canyon. He said we walked seven miles, woof, that’s not much, but I know he tires quicker than I do. Yesterday we only walked three miles, but it was still fun. Matt said we would drive out to the Desert View Watchtower and stop at the overlooks along the way. Ruff, I have a hard time calling them view points because where we live they call them overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway!

We went to the Tusayan ruins, my human says Pueblo Indians lived there 800 years ago. He said they only stayed about 20 years, ruff, that’s about how long the Gila cliff dewllers stayed at their place, I wonder why only 20 years? Then we we went to the watchtower, but I stayed in the truck because I couldn’t go in the tower and my human wanted to, ruff! I was surprised it took us as long to drive and take photographs, but we had a great time.

Today my human may go hiking, but I will either have to stay in the truck or go to a kennel. He has to take a big covered truck called a shuttle and they don’t let dogs on those, ruff! He said there was a place he could hike to take some photographs inside the canyon at Yavapai Point. He is not sure, but I will let everyone know in my report tomorrow.

We did have to politely wait our turn to take photographs.

Woof, it’s time for my morning walk, I will woof at you tomorrow!

Our Great Side Trip

February 26, 2016 Odee Leave a comment

Woof, woof! So far it has been a great trip but I got bored of all the driving and put my paw down! Too much driving and no fun and I could tell my human was getting tried. I saw him looking at all the big brown signs and saying he would like to go there and finally I told him to go to one. He said we were still in New Mexico and had a ways to go so I thought doing something different would be good. All I have been doing on the trip is taking videos with my camera mounted on the dash of the truck and I wanted to do some real picture taking and hiking, ruff!

Well Matt decided to go to a place where people lived up in the cliffs a long, long time ago. He said they left the area way back in the 12th century, now I have no idea what a century is, but it must be a long time! They lived in these big caves and built houses with rocks. He told me it was the Gila Cliff dwellings. Woof, I got to explore a little one on a smaller trail, my human said that trail is called “Trail to the. Past” We also saw some of the writings of humans that lived there a long time ago, called pictographs (my human told me that word!)

This one looks about the right size for me!

After our visit to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, we drove back on the curving windy road, then all the way to a city called Phoenix where my human met some of his pack and visited for a day. He stayed at his aunt’s (who was very kind and nice to me) and saw a lot of cousins. He also also met an internet friend for the first time, woof! I had a good time.

Today we will be driving again, but not the hundreds and hundreds of miles we have been. Matt said we have gone more than 2,700 miles in five days, ruff and he told me I have been in seven new states. I had to get him to remind me what a state was so he tried to make me understand what they are. I’m still not sure but he said there had boundaries like dogs have their territories. Ruff maybe by the end of the trip I will understand fully. Woof, but back to where we are going. My human said we will be going to a place called Sedona and after that the Grand Canyon!

Woof, woof! I can wait to see those and write about them. I’ll be back here soon to report, ruff!

February 1, 2016 Odee 2 Comments

Just to keep everyone up-to-date I am adding this note to Jackson’s post. We are preparing for a long road trip to visit the desert canyons in the American west. I enjoy traveling, but I always regret my best buddy can’t go on a lot of my adventures. This is one of two we have planned this year centered around Jackson joining in on the grand adventure.
– Matt

Woof, I have been too excited to write, and as usual my human hasn’t taken time to write anything either. I will say he has been busy with the giveaways. That is over but now he is busy getting ready for our adventure. I don’t know what all the fuss is about, but I’m ready. He has spent hours on the computer and that stupid smart phone he talks to ordering things and talking with other humans. I made sure he ordered some things I wanted too.

Ruff, I need to get back to what I was writing about. Matt is getting the truck ready for what he says will be a long road trip. I love riding in the truck, woof! Since my human is lazy and slow about writing I am taking over his blog to write about our trip as we go along. While he was ordering tings for his camera I told him I wanted some things just for me to use in the truck. I want to use it as a dash-cam; I just have to be careful not to slobber too much on it so he won’t have to clean the camera up, woof! At least it is waterproof, my human is smart sometimes!

He has been showing me pictures of where we are going and I have never seen anything like it. It looks so strange and I just can’t wait to see it. The only thing I worry about is finding some water to swim in. I haven’t seen many lakes or rivers in those pictures. I am looking forward to meeting more humans including some of my human’s pack. Of course I want to meet other dogs to play and talk with along the way.

I am going to show some before photos of the truck. Matt says this will be our home on wheels for a month but he says it will be much nicer than this when he is done. Maybe that is why he is taking so long. I am ready to go now, ruff! I keep everyone posted on our progress. I have to keep on Matt to be sure he is working on the right things so we can leave on time. He wanders off more than I do!

Jackson riding shotgun on a photo adventure. — Here I am ready for action!

Woof, one more thing my human finally made www.photodogjackson.com work now. That will take you to his blog for now (this page.) Little does he know I am taking over this one until he gives me my own blog!

Now for the before and after photographs of some of the truck repairs and improvements.

Woof! This this the before photograph.

And this is the new bumper on my truck. Great job Travis at Uwharrie Welding!

The Adventures of Odee & Matt