Shiny Happy People

Weekend trip

We went hiking this weekend. The original plan was to hike and see a bunch of waterfalls in the gorge and then camp nearby in the van. It was a little hotter than we anticipated and Vada and Jamie were both about to overhead so we turned back before we got to the waterfalls, but it was still a fun weekend. Jamie enjoyed cooling off in the water.

Jamie likes being able to stand between our seats in the van. She mainly spends her time with her nose smashed against the vents on the dash — smelling everything as we drive down the road.

We got Vada a small play tent that fits in the van. At night we put it up in the pop top and zip her in so that she won’t roll off the ledge. It worked great and kept her out of the way until we went to bed.

There’s not a ton of space in the van, but everyone seems to fit and be able to find places to sleep and play. Also, we had lazer beams installed in Jamie’s eyes.

Fur friend.

Vada loves to watch Jamie. And now she really wants to touch Jamie. We are going to have to work on “gentle” with Vada as she immediately wants to grab onto any part of Jamie she can get a hold of. Jamie is already starting to practice avoidance with Vada. We’ve been telling Jamie that although Vada will be a good friend someday, things are going to get worse before they get better.

Rosy cheeks.

Sometimes Vada’s cheeks are very rosy. Not sure what that is all about.

Getting her feet underneath her

6 Months Old

Happy 1/2 Birthday Vada!

Livin’ in a van down by the ocean

Since before Vada was born Carmen and I have been trying to figure out how we would travel and do “adventures” with an infant in tow. She’s a little young to handle sleeping on snow and ice and it’s going to be a few more years before she can walk in crampons or clip into a rope. We’ve also already learned the hard way that she can’t spend as much time on the trail as we can. That means that for quite a while we’re going to be close the the trail head. So then where do we camp? And how can Jamie go with us? I started looking at camper vans, mainly pimped out VW vans (Westfalia) last year. Even the most updated vans were still a VW and would have been very tight with two adults, a growing child, and a greyhound. Then I found Sportsmobiles. They look like they could drive over a VW. Before we left for Japan we finally found a used one for sale here in Oregon and just had to go for it.

It’s built on a 2006 Ford E350 van. Then it was raised four inches and four wheel drive was added. Then they cut out the top and put in a pop-top (penthouse) bed. Add in a stove, sink, refrigerator, furnace, and power it all by solar power and propane and suddenly we can go just about anywhere (literally) and have plenty of room for all four of us. Although it is embarrassingly big — we sit almost eye-to-eye with truckers, we had to modify the front of our house to get in in the carport, and we’ve been asked if we are going to a monster truck rally — it does give us the ability to really get exactly where we want to go in a pretty small package.

This weekend was our inaugural trip in it to the Oregon coast. It was quick, only one night, but it gave us a chance to get things figured out and for pup to claim her space in the back of the van.

While at the coast we went to Cannon Beach. It was our first time there and it’s a really great location. I think Jamie liked it most of all. She would go crazy when her feet would hit the wet sand. We tried (as evidenced by the photos below) to run with her a bit, but there was just no way to catch up. The beach has pretty steep walls between the sand and town and very few stairs. So it is pretty closed off from traffic and streets. There were a lot of people around, so we (gulp) let her off leash and let her run. Man. She had a blast. I think Carmen and I both had mild heart attacks as she took off down the beach at 35 mph making giant loops around us before she shot past us at full speed and was a football field away before we really knew what happened. And then as quickly as it all started she ran out of energy and started looking for people to give her rubs. In less than a minute she had done her sprints and had trotted back to me ready to resume our walk on the beach.
It was absolutely fantastic to see her run as far and as hard as she wanted. And she was one happy dog while she was doing it. That is one treat though that I don’t think she’ll get again for a long, long time.

Next year’s big kids.

Here is this week's picture recap of Vada's little friends at the daycare. Vada, Parker, and Max are the babies of the room and spend most of the day together. They will stay in the infant room for another school year and get a chance to be the big kids! All three are around 6 months old but Max is much bigger and already is up on all fours rocking back and forth.

Carrots.

Not to be outdone by the man at the teppanyaki place in Tokyo, I cooked up some fresh carrots for Vada. I froze the leftovers in an ice cube tray so I could reheat individual size portions. She doesn’t really seem to love or hate it, but at least it keeps her occupied at the dinner table.

It’s good to be home.