70 degrees in February

The weather was amazingly awesome today. (In case you didn't already know this, it should be evident from the last sentence that I didn't major in creative writing). 70 degrees and sunny, just the recipe for going to the parks in downtown Richmond and taking the bozos for a nice long walk. In trying to figure out a place to walk, we remembered a 10K that we ran back in October. The course was nice, and was well suited for a good dog adventure.

We were not the only ones who had this bright idea, so the route was a tad bit crowded. As a side note, if you're walking in a public place, please keep your dog on a leash. Not only is it a law in Virginia to leash all dogs, but to not do so is a pain to everyone around you. Regardless, the walk was awesome. Pics:











Starting off on Brown's Island, we crossed the Mayo Bridge (lots of glass here, the dogs wished they had shoes so we didn't have to take crazy detours). Then up along the western portion of the floodwall walk, past one of our favorite places, Legend Brewery,who was unfortunately having their anniversary party, so it was going to be too crowded for us to go tonight. Then up past the Manchester Wall, where I spent many an afternoon climbing. Down some stairs, and it was across to Belle Isle (more on that later). After dodging the leashless dogs, groups of uncomfortable looking emo folks, groups of visibly high folks, and crossing the swaying Lee Bridge, we were back where we started, and ready to go home.

As for Belle Isle, we did have an added adventure when we found out the a bridge that we needed to cross was closed, so we found ourselves in need of crossing the river via the rocks. This isn't really a problem when it's just us humans, but there were several points where the dogs forced us to take alternate routes. Still, we came away with a much greater appreciation for their athletic abilities. At one point, however, no amount of athleticism would suffice - there was a five foot high old concrete slab to scale (humans accomplished this via a ladder). Britten climbed up and I had to lift the disgraced dogs up onto the slab to her. I think they were taken down a notch...don't want their egos getting too big.

By far, the highlight of the day, though was Chili tring to mark his territory. Isn't not that funny of a thing in itself, but he managed to make it interesting. First, when we stopped for water (see photo above), he peed on the bench right where Britten was sitting. The next time we stopped for water, he tried to pee on the backpack. Crazy mutt.

Now we're in the backyard, enjoying the last minutes of nice weather (and the nice wireless that allows me to write this from the backyard). Happy times, this will be a good day to remember.