Day Three - Happy Fourth of July

It was a pretty exuberant moment when the pack was ready to go outside at 7:45am. Perhaps something outside had piqued their interest, because no sooner had the door swung open than a game of chase was underway.

It took a bit of time to finish everything outside, but once that was done, we went downstairs for breakfast and to do a little work. Just before 10am, we headed out to the trail for a walk and headed the opposite way from yesterday on what was expected to be a short-ish jaunt; the plan being to then return home and prepare for the festivities of the day.

Surprisingly, no one ever showed any sign of fatigue, including Ms. Bella, (perhaps this recipe is a particularly good one for her) so we kept soldiering on until we found ourselves at Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek. Once they saw the shops, Bella and Lola conferred with each other and then asked that we go find something appropriate to wear for the holiday. It being a little before opening time left us with some time to kill and a quick pit stop was made at Starbucks.

Store after store disappointed us, either being out of stock on appropriate attire, or so inconsiderate as to not carry dog-related items. Spirits lowered when it seemed that this mission would be unsuccessful, but the large American Flag at Brandy Melville served as a beacon of hope. We went in and asked the shop staff whether they carried red and blue bandanas, and sure enough they did! Not only did they have the goods, the full team of ladies were all too happy to help in dressing our intrepid crew.

Not wanting to walk all the way back to base, we short circuited the day’s plan and headed to the neighboring Parkmead area of Walnut Creek to meet some new doggy friends and play a little cornhole. Dexter was especially fond of Sadie, a young corgi lass, and everyone was excited to be around so many playful pups. So excited, in fact, that after several hours none of our pack ever noticed the resident cat! Dear readers, you may notice how categorically inappropriate the cornhole boards were on Independence Day, but this writer hadn’t time to photoshop them.

The next planned stop was to be a brief visit (not how it ended up) to a BBQ in Lafayette and Bella and Grady wanted to hang back for some more mellow time with Patches and Izzy, while Dexter and Lola wanted to be more adventurous (although Dex took a car nap on the way). As soon as we arrived at our destination, the three and four year old boys who lived there (twins plus an older brother) went crazy for Dexter and couldn’t stop playing with him. Dexter had a blast walking around the back yard and going for a ride in their jeep.

Focused moved to the cul de sac where several competitive games of pickle ball and cornhole ensued, as well as completely unprotected scootering for the little boys, which left your trusty writer quite nervous… and although no warnings were heeded, neither did any injuries occur. Dex and Lola were quite content to observe and take a load off.

Dinner consisted of fresh grilled salmon accompanied by more doggy time with Roxy and a little chill time in the neighbors incredible backyard, before returning to retrieve Bella and Grady and heading back to Area 51. After everyone had eaten and Stretch had been visited with, we unwound in the family room before retiring to bed… what a looooooooong and incredibly fun day!