Over the 4th of July weekend, we decided to take a trip up to Whidbey Island, for a few reasons:
- It is close, only an hour or so away (including ferry time), so it was easy on my back for travel.
- Our friends Shannon and Damon have an amazing house they built on the Island - and by that, I mean built by hand: “hammer, hammer, saw, saw”. It was great to see them and spend time with them, and their new son, Griffin (and their dog, Ebey). They are great college friends, who we do not spend nearly enough time with.
- Because we stayed with them, I knew I could rest as much as my back needed to; taking breaks regularly to lay flat, etc… and not feeling obligated to do too much.
- We happen to just really like Whidbey Island - artsy, beautiful, friendly, and close.
- And of course, get Molly away from the loud bangs of illegal (and legal) fireworks.
- In particular, Greg and Clodagh had called out, on a past trip, the wonders of Double Bluff Beach’s off leash dog park on Whidbey - a few mile long open beach for off-leash access. We wanted to get Molly into the water again.
- I have been cooped up in the house for a while now - I was looking forward to just getting out of here for a weekend as I move back into working more.
It was just what we needed - it fit all of those goals above, and we are really super-appreciative of the Arndt’s for hosting us. Molly had a fantastic time too - she got to run around their property, go swimming, get lots of fun new treats, and just be one happy (and tired!) dog.
Pictures - click for larger ones as usual:
People:
Dogs:
Arndt House:
Videos - might need to visit the actual blog post to view:
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Greg, Joelle, Shay (woof!), Molly (woof!) and I spent some quality time at the dog park on Saturday - and then we got hungry for dinner. We spent a bit of time researching where to eat that would allow dogs to sit with us (since we had the dogs with us, and it was so hot out, we didn’t want to leave them in the car). We ended up back at Norm’s, the only place we know of that allows dogs both inside and out. Luckily, we were able to get an outdoor spot, so both us and the pooches were happy with the choice.
Rather than always going back there, I spent some time looking up additional places around Seattle that are dog-friendly. Found a couple of a articles with good links
- http://www.chowhound.com/topics/520235 - recommends Norm’s, the Islander, Tutta Bella, and Volunteer Park Cafe (so far, more likely coming). (Note: Broksonic, who replied, is me - I use that name on some sites. I think it was the brand of a TV I had a while ago, or something like that - I’ve been using it forever)
- http://community.livejournal.com/seattle/5202948.html - recommends White Horse Trading Company, Norm’s, Wayword Coffeehouse, C+P Coffee, Lava Lounge, Tin Hat, Stumbling Monk, Summit Public House, Edmonds The Dining Dog Cafe & Bakery. But then digresses into arguments over dogs and food, also links to DogFriendly’s and Citysearches list, but I called a few of the places on there - I wouldn’t trust those lists.
Good to have options!
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On a follow-up to my last post, here’s a good link to a write-up of Seattle dog parks: http://www.nwsource.com/recreation/match-your-pup-right-local-leash-area
And a good map of all of them: http://www.coladog.org/olas/COLOR_MAP_MUDBAY07.pdf
We’ve tried Golden Gardens and Woodland Park, as I stated previously. Northgate’s is also really close. Once I can walk well again (more shortly), we’ll have to try that one out…
But more importantly: Come on Lower Kinnear Park - get the dog park built there already! (I just sent an email to Citizens for Off-leash Areas to find out more on the status of this - the last public info is circa 2006).
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Molly just got dropped off from her weekly visit to the Bone-A-Fide ranch, and I’ve never seen her with a bigger smile on her face. She loves that place for doggie daycare!
We checked out some of the in-city options (Barking Lounge, Downtown Dog Lounge, etc…), but got such a better feeling when we headed out to Snohomish to do our visit with Bone-A-Fide; it is a huge open area (as opposed to indoors), the dogs all looked like they were playing the full time (as opposed to some play, some crated, as the others have due to numbers of dogs there), and even better - they do pickups and drop offs, along with having boarding available.
Ian, the driver, says Molly is really cute during the whole experience.
She loves running around in the van - there are 12 dogs together on the ride up (which takes a half-hour) - and is one of the best of the bunch - she stares out the window, then plays, then goes back to staring out the window - just like at home.
At the ranch, she’s apparently quite a digger (which we’ve also seen at the local dog parks - we’ve gone to Golden Gardens and Woodland Park) - she loves digging up a pile, than jumping back trying to catch the dirt - I’ll have to get a video the next time she does this at the dog park. She’s apparently quite the teacher, and gets other dogs excited to start digging as well! It’s pretty cute :)
On the way back, she tends to sleep a bunch, according to Ian, but as soon as they turn into Queen Anne, Molly perks up, seemingly saying: “I know this place!” and gets pretty excited as they approach the house.
She also runs around a bunch while she’s there - which explains why she just ran into the house, came up to me, licked my face, and immediately jumped on her bed to go to sleep! As they say on the Animal Planet shows - “A tired dog is a happy dog!”
Highly recommend any Seattle dog owners check out this place.
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Hi. It’s Molly again! I like when Aaron lets me blog.
I had a really busy weekend so far, and I’ve made a bunch of friends.
First, we went over to Jeff and Erica’s for Shabbat dinner - I really liked being part of the group when we all stood around and did Kiddush. I was such a good girl praying with everyone! Their cat, Sam, was a little afraid of me, but it wasn’t my fault - I didn’t even go near that thing! I tried putting on my best face though - everyone was petting me, I played nicely, and it was the most fun I have had in a long, long time though! One thing I loved was when Jeff pulled out his laser pointer. The red light on the floor made me go crazy! I pounced on it whenever I saw it.
Saturday, we walked down one of the main streets - and I was pretty good for a while, but then we got to Queen Anne Ave, and I got really scared.
Later, we went to a big lake (I think they called it Green Lake). I had a lot of fun, but it might have been too much - Aaron and Joelle had a hard time holding on to me, since whenever I saw the ducks, I wanted to do my acrobatic moves and lunge after them. I think they are going to work with me to make those pesky birds a little less appealing!
Finally, Greg and his dog, Shay, came over for dinner and to play. (Clodagh was out of town) It was the first time another dog came into the house with me! We got along pretty well, though there was some initial playful growling. I really liked spending time with Greg - it was fun to fight for his attention with Shay! But we tired ourselves out as well… so we got a nice nap in before going for a big walk. It was good to walk with Shay - having another dog showing me not to be afraid of streets and parks definitely helped me get over some fears, but Queen Anne is still really scary - we’ll have to keep trying before I become okay with there!
All in all, it was a really fun weekend so far! I can’t wait to see what else is in store. I hear a rumor that a bunch of people are coming over for a meeting tonight - this should be fun!