Labor Day at Deer Valley

Well, Labor Day has come and gone...and now Sage and I (well, mainly Sage) are recovering from our fun filled weekend. For Sage and I, the trek started around 8 pm when we left College Station on Friday night. An hour and a half later we arrived in Houston and proceeded to wait for the third member of our trio to meet us. At approximately 11:30 pm, the three of us left for Deer Valley Ranch in Medina. Being the great car companions that we are, Sage and I slept almost the entirety of the trip.  We decided to wake up 30 min before we arrived to help with directions. Needless to say, it was a late night!

The rest of the weekend seemed like a blur of swimming...

...horses...

...exploring...

...tennis ball retrieving...

...and of course, more swimming!

As for the humans, well, we did a lot of the same. There was horseback riding, hiking, jeep riding, swimming, TENNIS BALL THROWING, star gazing, dirt bike riding, zip lining, belly flopping, exploring, dancing, chatting, bike riding...gosh, no wonder I'm so tired!

Sage may have also found a secret entrance  into the house...

All in all, it was a great trip! Everyone had such a great time just enjoying being outside and catching up with friends!

Until next time,

Erin & Sage

So Long Photoshop Sage!

Ok, so on a lighter note...I'd like to send off my trusty travel companion, Photoshop Sage. Photoshop Sage has been all over the country this summer. She visited the beautiful Colorado mountains, the white beaches in Hawaii, many stops along the road from Houston to California, and the breathtaking Yellowstone National Park. We've seen Aspen groves, snow-covered mountains, abandon mining towns, volcanoes, big waves, black sand beaches, white sand beaches, petrified rocks, pink jeeps, the Grand Canyon, Pebble Beach, Elk, Grizzly Bears, Old Faithful, the Tetons, and Mammoth Hot Springs! We had such a great summer!

Thanks for following us this summer! Real Sage is back in action now and can't wait to be back on the blog soon.

Update: Sage and I moved into our new house yesterday! Sage was very excited to check out her new room and backyard complete with her toy basket and baby pool. Once the excitement subsided, I could tell she was a little upset to leave her good pal Izzy, the bloodhound at my parent's house. How did I know this...? Well, for about an hour she stood by the front door waiting to get back in the car and go HOME! However, I'm happy to say that we made it through the night and visited her favorite park this morning. You can always tell when you have a happy dog when you see her wagging her tail whilst squatting to pee!

Goodbye for now

Well, first of all I'd like to apologize for our absence. Things have been pretty hectic since our last post. Second of all, I'd like to dedicate this post to my grandfather, Stewart Campbell. Almost four weeks ago, on August 4th, he passed away after a heroic battle with multiple myeloma. My grandfather, who we lovingly called 'Grumps' was a pretty amazing man. Among his many talents, duck hunting and blue marlin fishing were his favorite. In preparation for the memorial service, I searched through some old photographs for the purpose of making a slide show. While going through hundreds and hundreds of photographs, I discovered a man with a heart for adventure.

Initially this post was titled "Goodbye for now Photoshop Sage," as I was going to end the summer postings with a tribute to my created Photoshop Sage, however  as I contemplated "Goodbye for Now," it seems a fitting title to pay tribute to the man who taught me so much. I feel so very blessed to have been the granddaugher of such a great man. So, goodbye for now, Grumps...this not goodbye forever.

Road Trip Status & Final Destination: Carmel, California.

Well everyone, we made it to Carmel! Actually, we got here on Sunday night but I needed a few days to recover before recounting our arrival. So now that I'm fully recovered, here we go...

It has been so nice here and we've all been enjoying the cool temperatures and beautiful scenery. Yesterday we went on a "hike" in Big Sur to see a waterfall. The reason I'm reluctant to call it a hike is because it was approximately a quarter of a mile and very easy, however it was in a book called, "Day Hikes Around Big Sur." So you can see why I'm confused...

Once we arrived at the trail head, we were disappointed to see a sign indicating that dogs were not allowed on the trail.

However, after much deliberation, we decided that the sign wasn't saying that all dogs were banned from the trail...only the dog depicted in the sign. So, after a close inspection of the sign, we determined that Sage looked nothing like the depicted dog. I'm still not sure why the trail doesn't allow these particular dogs on the trail, but I am glad that Sage was able to enjoy the trail with us because the view from the trail was pretty spectacular. 

Later that afternoon, Larkin and I went by my favorite store in all of Carmel...Diggidy Dog. OK, well maybe it's not my FAVORITE store, but it's pretty cute. The reason I really enjoy it so much is because they have the cutest dog collars I have ever seen. And since Sage is so stylish, I enjoy picking her out new, fun collars for the next year.

Here are the two I settled on after spending much too long browsing all the wonderfully colorful choices.

 I think they're pretty cute!

For those of you wondering, these collars are from Up Country and are not Sage's first. My little sister, Marie, got Sage her first Up Country dog collar for Christmas this year and it's held up pretty well!

My other purchase was this fun sticker. I have seen them around and think they are super cute.

That's all for now! "Wag More, Bark Less!"

Road Trip Status: Grand Canyon

Greetings, faithful followers! Larkin here once again. I apologize for my absence; it's tough traveling cross-country with a dog, you know. After getting off to a rocky (no pun intended) start this morning, we arrived at the Grand Canyon National Park. It seemed like everyone and their dog (again with the puns) wanted their picture made with the park sign, so when we finally made it to the front of the line, we had to make the most of it.

As always, we posed in a few different fashions while Sage waited patiently for us to get settled. I think the pictures turned out nicely. Sage is so consistent in her pictures; never a hair out of place or dog food in her teeth. Must be nice!

After we visited the sign, the real adventure began! We headed into the park and were amazed at what we saw before us. These pictures are representative of our meager attempt to capture the grandeur of the canyon itself.

However, Sage wasn't interested in sitting around and talking about how awesome it was, so we stopped to snap a few more photos! 

Sage is used to being the center of attention, but I must say she seemed pretty small comparatively speaking. But not to worry, she resumed her normal status as soon as we left the park. Goodbye for now, we're off to try and catch the sunset at the canyon. Hopefully the next time you hear from us we will have reached our final destination: California!

Road Trip Status: Sedona, AZ

Well everyone, we finally made it to Arizona! After spending a couple of days in Santa Fe, it was time to move on to another state. The drive through New Mexico was full of beautiful red rock formations! However, as we made our way through Arizona we discovered that Arizona had red rocks too. A lot of 'em! After crossing the state line, it was time for another picture. We wanted to try a hand stand picture after the success of our "jump" picture at the New Mexico-Texas state line, but I was a little nervous about Sage's ability to do one...but, one again, Sage proved me wrong! She even one up-ed me with a one-handed hand stand!

She also utilized the "Pet Exercise Area" to stretch her legs a little bit before getting in the car once again.

We made another stop at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona to see what it had to offer. We all thought it was pretty neat. There were some really great views from the park's highest point where you could see for 120 miles all the way to Flagstaff! This picture of all three of us on top of the sign was pretty difficult to capture. I came away with some pretty nasty scratches...

After spending the night in Flagstaff, we left this morning for a quick one hour drive to Sedona. We were greeted by the 109 degree heat once we arrived! Our favorite part of the day was the Pink Jeep Tour through the beautiful sandstone.

There were some awesome views on the Broken Arrow tour. Sage could see for miles.

Sage even got a little adventurous and decided to show off her climbing skills. As she reenacted the scene from the Lion King, I snapped this picture. Don't worry, she was very careful!

We are headed to the Grand Canyon tomorrow. Stay tuned, there are be more great adventures ahead!

Road Trip Status: Santa Fe

Well, we've made it to New Mexico! Tonight is our second night in Santa Fe and it has been delightful. The weather has been so nice that we even wore long sleeves this morning! As we were driving into town, we saw a BIG sign for the Sage Inn. I thought it was so fun that there was something with Sage's name on it, that I just had to take a picture. I figured it was pretty rare. However as we walked around the town square, I began to notice something interesting...

Sage was everywhere! I thought it was so great that everyone in Santa Fe had been reading my blog and decided to dedicate their business to my Sage! However, after asking around I found out that it wasn't MY Sage that the shops and galleries were named after, it was a plant. Sage, the plant, happens to be pretty popular in these parts. However, I will choose to go on thinking that it is my Sage that inspires the popular name in Santa Fe.

I also thought I'd end this post with a dedication. San Retriever de Labrador, Patron Saint of Tennis Balls.

Off to Flagstaff tomorrow. Stay tuned