program. It's funny how 12 miles seems like nothing compared to my 21-miler 2 weekends ago.After packing and eating lunch we headed north. We took our book, Best Hikes with Dogs-AZ, and picked an easy 2-mile hike in Flagstaff to take Chloe on. Our book leaves much to be desired for Flagstaff hikes. A reas
onable day-hike length for us is between 6-10 miles. Since it was already late afternoon and we had already exercised for 2 hours early in the morning, we chose a short, "urban" hike. The Rio de Flag South trail was a pretty crappy hike. I would call it more of a walking path. Chloe was happy to get out and stretch her legs but Keeper and I were pretty disappointed in the "hike" that highlighted a man-made pond with "effluent" water. We saw a few other people with their dogs, were passed by numerous bikers, but did see a duck. Oh well.We checked into our hotel, assembled Chloe's crate, and took a nap. Then we crated the dog and headed into town for the evening. Flagstaff is really cute. A hippie college town through and through is how I would describe it. We went for a "warm-up" drink in a coffee/martini bar, wandered around the few shops
that were open on a Sunday night, checked out the Beaver Street Brewery for some appetizers and trivia, and then settled on a Thai place for dinner. It should be noted that the 108 degree Phoenix weather that sparked interest in this trip north vanished last week and it was unseasonably cold and rainy for most of the week. Although the rain stopped, it was really chilly up north!After breakfast and checking out of the hotel this morning, we decided to take the scenic drive through Sedona to get home. Amazing! The views driving down to the bottom of Oak Creek Canyon were unbelievable. The twists and turns of the
road actually reminded me of the Road to Hana in Maui. We thought the actual town of Sedona was cheesy. Lots of cowboy stores and jeep tours clutter the breathtaking views. I would love to go back into the forest and stay in a little cabin (NOT in town). We chose a 4-mile hike, Marg's Draw, and the views were not disappointing. It is weird to see not only mountain vegetation but tons of cacti as well. We had to be very careful with Chloe, who likes to stick her nose in all plants. She has not yet been pricked by a cactus and I didn't want to find out how she would react today. The prickly pears and hedgehogs were in full yellow and purple bloom. It was a cute (easy) little hike and we headed back to Phoenix in the afternoon.Some notes about traveling with my dog:
1) Al
though the dog "seatbelt" we have is much better than not fastening her at all, she is almost as annoying as a puking cat in the car (sorry, Baxter). She does not sit still the entire time!2) Having the dog crate right next to the bed is very annoying. I need white noise at night and was NOT lulled to sleep by Chloe constantly rearranging herself in the crate the ENTIRE night.
3) My dog is not the brightest. She does not "get" that she should/can go to the bathroom ANYTIME we are outside. Although much better than last summer, it still takes her longer than it should to figure out that I want her to pee before we get back in the car.
All in all it was a good 24 hour getaway. It is supposed to warm up again in Phoenix this week... just in time for our weekend trip to San Diego! Chloe, by the way, is NOT coming. She's playing with her dog friends at Troy, the groomer's, for the long weekend. Thank God.
