Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

 I’m going to deviate just a bit from our RV travels. While the rig is parked, we have not been. Lol. My friend Elaine organizes an annual girls-only tent camping trip and this year, our daughter Randi and Raney came along. We left Tuesday, 8/2, for Alder Lake Campground near Eatonville, WA. Even though it’s only an hour or so from home, we’ve never been there. Alder Lake Park is part of the Tacoma Power (Public Utilities) Parks and definitely worth a visit! There are 173 campsites spread over 4 camping areas, a 161-acre lake, boat ramps with moorage dock, two day use areas, and lots of amenities for both RV’ers and tent campers. 

Mt Rainier from Alder Lake
(Photo credit goes to Diana, I think)

Elaine had reserved two sites for two nights and we had eight happy campers of the two-legged variety plus Raney and Goldie representing the four-legged contingent. The food was delicious, the beverages adult, the scenery gorgeous and the weather was perfect…until it wasn’t. We woke up to rain at 5:50am on Thursday our departure day. Oh well, it did little to dampen our spirits, although I can’t say the same for our gear. Lol.

The full cast of characters - L to R
Raney, Randi, Teddi, Quineesa, Tracy, Betty, Diana, Elaine, Florine and Goldie

Setting up our campsite at Alder Lake.

Goldie wanted on Betty's lap, while Raney claimed a chair of her own. Lol. 

Campfire time!

Raney loved tent camping. She made new friends and had fun at the lake and at the playground. However, her favorite part was getting to sleep with her Mommy and Sister. She secured her spot in the snuggling hall of fame, demanding to go to bed early so she could cuddle and sleeping in past 8:00am both mornings. What an angel baby!

Beautiful day at Alder Lake!

Raney tried out the playground slide.

Such a pretty girl!

Raney LOVED getting to sleep with her Sissy and Mommy.

Before we went tent camping we were super excited to combine Happy Hour with our friends, Bob and Carole with a puppy play date. Ruby and Raney had an absolute blast together! Ruby is tiny, but fierce. And, the girl can fly!! She really can. Ruby leapt off the top step of our deck, gained elevation, sailed over a gravel walkway and landed several feet into a planting area. Raney was in hot pursuit and I was momentarily terrified she would try the same thing. (Remember this is the girl I was carrying down the steps so she wouldn’t put too much strain on her joints just a few weeks ago.) Luckily, Raney paused and clambered down the steps without checking to see if her wings worked. Whew! 

It was fun to see Riley take an interest in Ruby too. He’s still not too sure what to do with Raney, but he was fascinated by Ruby. He actually tried to join in the play a few times, so hopefully that bodes well for the future. As hard as Raney played with Ruby, we were very impressed with how gentle she was with Buddy, who is 16 years old with all the limitations that entails. We were thrilled that the puppies got along so well and see many more "Happy Hour with the Hounds" in our future. Lol.  

Ruby quickly learned the tunnel was a good spot to hide.

Riley was very intrigued with Ruby and she sure held her own with the big dogs.

Ruby gives Buddy a friendly nibble. He wasn't thrilled. Lol. 

On Tuesday, 8/9, Riley had a playdate scheduled with his Great Dane buddy, Mina. We’ve been taking them to the Sniffspot (think Airbnb for dogs – for a small fee you bring your dogs to a participating property to play) at Five Ash Farm near Enumclaw. It’s a fantastic property with goats, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, and my favorites – two Scottish Highland cows, Johan and Thessaly. Since Mina and Raney haven’t been introduced, we kept Raney at the main house with our hosts, John and Stephanie, while Mina and Riley played in the woods. We had so much fun! Raney got to meet all the barnyard residents and we got a chance to play in the creek too.

Raney greets the welcoming committee.

Johan, Teddy the Turkey, Dottie, and Thessaly with Mina in the background.

Dolly and Raney were very interested in each other.

Raney enjoyed the creek too!

On the way home we stopped at Cascadia Pizza for some excellent Neapolitan-style pizza. Raney and Riley were happy to dispose of any unwanted pizza crust, actually they didn't care if we wanted it or not. Lol. After her exciting visit to the farm, girlfriend was quickly passed out under the table. 

Cascadia - a perfect stop for pizza, beer and a nap. 

After a month-long break from our workouts, we are back at it. But now we have help! Lol. Thought you might enjoy seeing Raney assisting Mom with pushups. Raney says, “Pushups on your knees is cheating, you could use some extra weight.” and helping Dad with his Supermans, “Let me get that leg up further for you.”  It was reminiscent of the Puppy Yoga Challenge that Riley used to do with us. Go ahead and try holding a pose with an energetic puppy licking your face (or your toes). 😊

Raney fills in for our personal trainer. 😊

We had planned a family BBQ for Saturday, 8/13, so Randi, who is visiting from Texas, could see everyone. Besides, any excuse is good to get Rog to do ribs on the Traeger. 😊 Then I found out that Raney’s breeder, Mai and Dave who live near Portland, were going to be at a dog show in Enumclaw that day. Hmmmm…invitations were quickly extended and soon we had all three girls from Raney’s litter and her Momma, Kiska, lined up for a playdate during the BBQ! For those of you who followed Mai’s litter, you’ll recall that Kiska had six puppies – three girls and three boys, with two brindle and one fawn of each gender. They were originally called after the Brady Bunch (the girls were Jan, Cindy and Marsha). Mai kept the fawn girl, Nova (Jan), Katrina has Ripley (Cindy) and you all know that Raney (Marsha) is our baby girl. Everyone was taking pics and sharing, so I can't take credit for all the fun shots, I just stole my favorites. 

Nova, Ripley and Raney

Mai was so happy to see her grandpuppies again!

Mai and Dave get some puppy love (top).
Katrina oversees a puppy reunion (L).
Carole snuggles Ripley (R).

Kiska puppy bows to her girls.

The girls totally wore themselves out! It was such a delight to see them play and wrestle and chase each other all over the place. Good food, good friends, and great puppies - we can’t wait to do it again!! 

The girls wasted no time getting reacquainted!

Bathing beauties!

The humans had a great time too.

Check out these amazing cupcakes that Katrina made for the puppers. 
Riley gives them two paws up!

But the fun didn’t end there! Bob and Carole brought Ruby over for some playtime and later in the evening a family friend, Charles, stopped by too.

Ruby enjoyed her cupcake too.

Charles with Raney and Riley.

One tired puppy. Lol.

On Monday, 8/15, Raney made her first foray to one of our all-time favorites, Brewmaster's Taproom. There she got to meet the owners, Marley and Garrett, and a host of the regulars, who all were rooting for her when we were trying to decide which of the brindle females to bring home. She is well on the way to insinuating herself into Riley’s fan club. Lol. Being ridiculously cute, happy to give kisses, and having ears soooo soft they’re what dreams are made of, doesn’t hurt either. Lol.

Raney at the taproom.

 

Layla serves up the best brews.

Both the puppers were super chill. 

Our last events of note (I’ve got to pull the plug and get this posted sometime!) was a puppy playdate with a new friend on Tuesday, 8/16. Our personal trainer, Robyn, also just got a puppy. Max is a 12 week old German Shorthaired Pointer. We’d also asked to borrow Robyn’s kids, Cassidy, Tucker and Micah. Kids are in short supply around here and it’s an important part of socialization. Needless to say, a fun time was had by all.

Tucker, Micah, and Cassidy enjoyed the puppy playdate almost
as much as Max and Raney.

Raney and her new friend, Max.

My ferns took a beating, but the kids had fun!

Later that afternoon, Raney was formally introduced to Mina, Riley’s BFF Great Dane buddy. Mina will always be Riley’s special friend, but it will be a huge win if someday the three of them can all play together.

The introduction to Mina, Riley's BFF went quite well.

 

Riley and Mina enjoy their standing Tuesday playdate.

Well that pretty much brings you up to speed. We still haven’t decided if, when, or where we might go this fall. But I can assure you, Raney will be a whole lot bigger by then. At 15 weeks, she weighed in at 57.2 pounds. Girlfriend is growing like a weed! Riley has put on a few pounds too, hitting 215 on the vet’s scale. It should be interesting travels.😊

Final picture! 
An impressive double puppy slinger. 
Yes, she's a mastiff. 😆