IN TRAINING

Well,per usual we are way behind in our reading and will catch up with all of your gossip as soon as possible. We have a pressing issue here at house of A+A. PL2 reminded me of something. August 8th is a very big day. Why you ask??? EARTHDOG!! YIPPEE!!!!! Now my next level would be senior earthdog.That is like going to Harvard for your Masters(your PhD would be Master Earthdog..PL2 says I will never make the Masters because you have to go into the tunnels PAIRED up with another dog..and that will NEVER happen...unless it was Archie but I don't think your coach is eligible)Now Senior Earthdog is the same length tunnel but there are some tricks to it, and I have never practiced in that kind....so.... PL2 said maybe I should just do my J.E. tunnel(which as you all know is quite challenging enough.)That's great PL I am WICKED excited!!!
UNTIL I realized it was in A WEEK and I have not been practicing AT ALL. and we have uhhhmmm been eating ice cream and stuff....so Archie said Lets go.........we have to cram in 2 months of practice into a week(but the pressure is off because I am no working for my E...just doing it for fun..Next year I will try for my S but that will be another story all together.....

So off we went to our training grounds......

So Archie started out by checking out all available digging sites....

I tried to help but he was screaming something like I AM THE COACH HERE AGATHA.......
OK here I go at my first dig.....concentrating... thinking of my little friend at the other end......






Next stop? The next site my coach thinks is a good training place.......





OK stop digging for one minute coach said...run around this section doing crazy zoomies

Next in my training triathlon,the swimming event....I as your coach will monitor from above.......( he hates to get his feet wet really..)

Here he HAD to come into the water because he said I wasn't doing it right. I don't know what he is talking about really because I was taking a break a playing this little game I made up which is pat the water with you paws and watch the water come spurting up....

OK he said ENOUGH OF THIS BACK TO THE DIGGING..I will show you how it is done......

And this, he said, is how you should look....

Ha... check out my black tongue.....

Wait is that a coyote I hear????



Well I can assure you I WAS POOPED but I think I am in shape( but no ice cream for me until after the event...) Here I am practicing next years winning speech after I get my S and my E( for Senior Earthdog) PL2 said she is not really sure but thinks to get your SE you have to go through the tunnel about 4500 times or something like that.... so we'll see.....)

The Mohawk Trail (or what we ate in one day on a family adventure)

So we went on a family adventure,and this time our famous tours are going to take you to another part of our wonderful state. Now of course we have Boston and all of the beautiful ocean towns and coasts and then we have the middle of the state and the mountains!!! This is called the Berkshires and there is a stretch of road called the Mohawk trail.Why is it called that? Because it really used to be a trail used by the Mohawks!!! You can make the picture bigger to see it better but this is part of the Mohawk trail. And it has the most beautiful mountains and quaint towns and fun things to do and see(we love our state...)







So for our trip we were going to do the trail and stop at one of our favorite towns Shelburne Falls.......It is a wonderful little town that is filled with artisans and old hippies and PL1+2 LOVE going there...( they kind of fit right in if ya know what I mean....)





Archie was really excited and got into the car first( I was still getting all of my things together..I wasn't sure if I should bring a blender or not but Asta and Lacie always say you can never go wrong ....)

PL2 packed a little bag for us with cold water( because you know they don't have water in other parts of the state..geesh,and treats and stuff.....)

This picture doesn't do the mountains justice......

It truly is spectacular out there....

Now first we stopped at this little place and we all decided to have lunch.....

They had little picnic tables outside so we could eat there too.......now Archie was REALLY excited....

While we were waiting we had a little drink(of Berkshire water.....)

There were a lot of old signs around like this hamburger one for 29 cents!!!!

Well here is my brother waiting for the food..too bad it is BEHIND him.......on the table....

We decided we would be really really good and quiet and wait under the table...WHAT A JACKPOT WE GOT!!! a piece of chicken and some pita bread but GET THIS........FRENCH FRIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We see everybody else here get french fries and now WE DID!!!!!!!!.We were truly in heaven..

So on we went....down the Mohawk trail... and we saw this.... a wire buffalo!!!

and then we saw this...........talk about Archie being in heaven......

He has decided he would like to have a tee pee in our front yard........(I may look like I am not paying attention but PL2 told me there are bears up here.....you can never be too sure so I am checking it out...)

Archie is taking measurements here...he said he could get a good poker game going in one of these tee pees...and he thinks he could get a little kitchenette in there.....

Of course no trip down the trail would be complete without going into one of these little "gift" shops.... They are run by the Indians...

PL1 likes to get moccasins and PL2 stocks up on mugs for work......More beautiful hills......

Another "gift" store........

beautiful farms...and maple trees farms that make maple syrup.......

Now we went especially to one of the towns on the trail ,Charlemont, to see this..It is a statue of a Mohawk looking across the Deerfield river with uplifted arms in supplication of the great spirit..I am paying my respects here.......

Here it is from far away.....

And close up...

Archie came over to pay his respect as well.....

See that little dot far away? That is our car! This area is so quiet and peaceful.. there are not a lot of cars.. and noise and people..and it is like going back into time..sometimes when you live in the city you need to come to a place like this to regroup.....

After that we were off to Shelburne Falls!! This town is loaded with artists....textile studios,leather making, pottery,gilded wooden bowls,a quilt studio and a glass blower1 There is also a place where they make candles and there are lots of painters....Everyone is so nice!Here is a store that has the same name as one of PL1+2's old dogs!!

Although he is trying to stop watching so many cooking shows(or so he says) Archie was looking for some good cook books here....

Isn't this place great!!!

The town is divided by this bridge across the river..Actually right behind here is an old Salmon falls and glacier where the Indians used to get salmon( I can't look up because I think I am developing a little fear of heights...)

See this bridge? It is all made up of flowers!!! all the way across......

Of course then we saw this sign.....

I am pretending to be an artist.....

THEN GUESS WHAT! YOU CAN BELIEVE IT!! We stopped to get.....ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And they put a GIGANTIC DOG COOKIE IN IT AS WELL!!!!!!!

PL2 had to help me hold the cup..if you are wondering where my brother is he is at another table...we tend to get a little ahmmm how shall I say territorial about our ice cream( not at all civilized like Maggie and Mitch...)

Isn't this nice? And they don't even have meters in the parking lot!

We just can not get over it!

This is such a great day!!!!

Quaint book store sign....

We found this great store.

I can't believe the cute stuff they have....

Archie liked this train set..........

So clever!

On the way back we go over this really really really high bridge..

with a spectacular view of the river..PL1 and Archie and I told PL2 to go ahead and take a picture...we would stay in the car........

She said she was ok until a truck went over the bridge and then she thought she might have to crawl back to the car but she did ok...this doesn't really show how really really really high it was......

So we rolled down the windows and I let the wind blow my ears..... Archie is looking at all the license plates and marking them off on a little card.....

A day filled with nature and chicken and good people and a little bread and beautiful scenery and french fries and wonderfull smells and cookies and ice cream...Life is good .......don't tell anyone but Archie had a little tummy ache today......