by Robyn | Apr 14, 2019 | Dogs, Travel
When John and I were planning our anniversary vacation last year, we wanted to keep it as affordable and simple as we could. We managed to get two free tickets on Delta by using our frequent flyer miles, and we booked a resort in Sedona for half-price via Homeaway. When were were looking at places to stay in Tucson, I scoured Airbnb for a central place at an affordable price. I saw some nice places, and some sketchy places within our budget, so I saved a few of the nice ones in my Airbnb favorites and revisited them a while later. This Airbnb kept popping up in my search, and it really seemed to fit the bill. The place was centrally located. It was beautifully decorated. It was just the right size and price, and it was available! But best of all, it had a host-dog – a Yellow Lab named Tugboat! So, duh…..we just had to book it!
When we arrived, Tugboat greeted us very enthusiastically! It was the first time since our boy Peter passed away that I had been around a Yellow Lab, and all the feelings started coming back. This boy looked so much like our boy, and even made the same kind of “groans of contentment” that our boy did when John rubbed his velvet ears.
Each morning, Tugboat waited outside our door, until we were ready to start the day. I’d take a peak through the curtain, and there he’d be – just curled up in a furry ball, waiting for us to say “good morning” and give him his morning butt-scratch. We only stayed with Tugboat for a few of days, but he managed to steal a little piece of my heart. We’ve made a forever friend with this guy – and his mom, Carly, too!
by Robyn | Oct 28, 2014 | Dogs, Travel
This past weekend was probably the most fun I’ve had in YEARS! My mom and her dog Abbey and I took a road trip up to Kennebunkport, Maine for the Colony Hotel‘s 11th Annual Dog Lover’s Weekend. We met so many great dogs (even a cat!) and we made some wonderful new friends!
Apparently we were the “newbies”, as most of the people have been coming to this event for years. I can see why! We’ve already booked our rooms for next year. Even though we were newbies, we were welcomed by so many “regulars” and we felt right at home! The staff at the Colony Hotel was absolutely wonderful too – and they went out of their way to make sure that “all of us crazy dog people” were taken care of.
Some of the weekend’s events included a welcome ceremony and dinner, a Paw-ject Runway costume parade, and a dog-wedding, YES, a DOG-WEDDING! Daisy and Odie tied the knot! 🙂 And, we were even invited to Winston’s 14th birthday party!!
I took so many photos (I went through 6 memory cards!) I hope you can get the essence of what this weekend was all about! It was amazing! And if you were one of the lucky ones who attended this weekend’s festivities, please leave a comment and share your experiences. Enjoy!
To see more of photos of this exciting weekend, be sure to visit our other website!
Abbey enjoying sunset – Colony Hotel Kennebunkport Maine
Shadow the Cat
Spyke the blind Black Lab, and his sister cat Shadow.
Handsome stud-muffin Barkley!
The happily married couple, Odie and Daisy
A royal wedding guest
Odie and Daisy cutting the wedding cake!
Winston’s 14th Birthday party!
A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel enjoying the festivities
It’s a Lab party!
At the end of the weekend, everyone has the same sad look on their face 🙁 See you next year!!!
To see more photos from this amazing weekend, visit our other website here!
by Robyn | Apr 5, 2014 | Dogs, Family Photography, Giving Back, Personal Ramblings, Travel
We’re a little late blogging about our recent trip to Kauai – Not because it wasn’t a spectacular vacation, but because we took a GAZILLION photos and we had to weed through them all!!!
We got to Kauai a little around 6:30pm (Hawaii time – which is 6 hours behind East Coast time), so after a day of flying, we were pretty spent! We did manage to get up enough energy to go to Duke’s Canoe Club for dinner – and it was amazing! We spent the first night at this cute little place called The Kauai Inn at Nawiliwili Harbor before we made our way for a timeshare we booked up in Princeville. Apparently, Princeville, and the rest of the North Shore, are the “rainiest” part of the island (who knew?) Well, it was true, and we did managed to get our fair share of rain. It was fine though, after all – we were on vacation! Haha!
Kauai is such a beautiful island. It seems to be very unspoiled by tourists (yeah, I know we were tourists too!) The landscape is very natural, not a lot of built-up areas, and even in the “touristy” parts weren’t overly touristy. It was just an incredibly relaxing place. One that I would definitely want to visit again! While we were on Kauai, we decided to volunteer at the Kauai Humane Society. We ended up going out on a “field trip” with one of their adoptable dogs, named Maka. When we got there, the staff at KHS told us we could check the kennel area, and choose up to three dogs – from the three, they would help match us up with the one who would be the best fit for us. We chose Maka, since he hadn’t been out on a recent field trip, and because when we walked by his kennel, he gave us the sweetest puppy-dog eyes, so we just HAD to choose him! Well, Maka ended up being a wonderful field trip pup! He walked on the beach with us, then walked along the Kapaa Bike Path with us, then when we stopped for lunch, he was just THE perfect pup! He just relaxed under our picnic table and waiting until we were done (his reward was a taste of my mahi mahi fish taco!)
Here are just a few of the gazillion photos we took!
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We met several other very lucky island pups while we were on Kauai! We met Georgia, a beautiful Lab mix at Anahola Bay. She was there to watch the sunset with her folks! We also met Prince, who apparently hangs out (by himself) at the beach at Ke’e State Park while he watches all the people swim and play in the water. On our final night in Kauai, we met Bill and Honey and a beautiful “tri-pod” named Molly Brown, who lost her leg after getting hit by a car.
Overall, Kauai was a SUPER dog-friendly island – and just a real people-friendly island in general! I miss it…but I will definitely be back!
Mahalo, Kauai!
by Robyn | Oct 2, 2013 | Dogs, Travel
Last week, John and I celebrated our 8th anniversary with a great day in Kanab, Utah. Kanab is starting to feel like a second home to us since we’ve been going there, every September, since 2008! This anniversary day was very special to us, as we got to spend the afternoon with Cheney the Yellow Lab. Like all Labs, Cheney is sweeter than sugar, and a big goof-ball to boot! We had such an amazing day…it was an honor to spend our special day with such a special guy! Thanks Cheney…and thank you Pam and Kathy!
by Robyn | Jul 29, 2012 | Dogs, Personal Ramblings, Travel
OK, so I guess going to Arizona in June wasn’t the smartest idea!!! I knew it would be warm….but it was HOT – sweltering HOT!!! But you know, even though it was HOT, it was still a dry heat and that beats the humidity in Connecticut any day!
While we were in Sedona, we met a beautiful Yellow Lab/Shepherd/Chow mix named “Yellowstone”. What a beautiful girl!!! Yellowstone will be 15 years old in September!!! She has a little bit of arthritis, so her family takes her out in her own little buggy so she can still travel and be with them on vacations! Isn’t that great!!!
Sedona is very pet friendly town…lots of restaurants and hotels allow your furry friend to stay. And how about those hiking trails!??? Maybe someday we’ll bring our critters with us!
For now, enjoy some of our travel photos of of Sedona, as well as the beautiful girl named, Yellowstone!!
by Robyn | Jul 18, 2011 | Personal Ramblings, Travel
Ahhh…Yellowstone. One of the places I’ve always wanted to visit, but never thought I’d actually see. The Land of Geysers, and Grizzlies…Bison and Bears. What a remarkable place! We stayed alongside the Yellowstone River in Gardiner, Montana in a wonderful little cabin, which was chock full of everything we could ever possibly need. The cabin was just 5 miles from the North Entrance of Yellowstone, so it was the perfect base camp for us. We were even able to drive as far down as the Tetons (it was a loooooong drive…but do-able.) I think everyone should visit Yellowstone at least once in their life! The place is incredible, and so unlike any place I’ve ever been!
If you do get to go to Yellowstone at some point in your life…please don’t let your children crap the place up!!! I saw so many parents letting their children run a muck!!!! I saw one kid scrapping the bottom of the Grand Prismatic Pool with his walking stick, and others walking in places clearly marked “DO NOT WALK”….and whatever you do, DON’T throw stuff into the pools or springs!!!! Your penny is not going to give you any luck, so don’t even think about it!!!
Anywhooo…Please be sure to check out the photos from our trip Thanks for looking!!!!
