Saturday was not Spot's day. The poor dog was abandoned before the sun had officially risen and without his morning walk so his mom could take a standardized test. Then, Chris and I had to go to work, which we finished with around 6 p.m.
We were home after quick trip to the grocery store to pick up the basics (i.e. fish, asparagus, and Ben & Jerry's). Of course our dog didn't hold our long absence against us, and greeted us as he always did: with his furry white tail wagging. Two blocks out on his first walk of the day, Chris gets a phone call. A teenager had apparently been shot in the head at a nearby high school with a starter gun. We had to go.
So poor Spottie had to be rushed back, loaded in the car, and driven to the high school. And after that, he had to wait in the car for literally hours, as his parents stood in the cold outside the doors of the school, which was heavily armed with sour-faced faculty, to wait for someone to tell us what was going on.
We knew we owed Spot big for putting up with journalists as owners. So after we slept in, we loaded our furry friend into the car and took him on a NEW adventure to the Virgin River in Virgin, Utah. I have included some photos below, in sequential order.
We let Spot off the leash as soon as we parked the car, and he soaked up every ounce of the afternoon's freedom. He chased what he wanted to chase, dug where he wanted to dig, and sloshed around the river. He was in Heaven.
I don't know if the photos do justice to just how dirty Spot was when we left. It wasn't an accidental dirty; he made sure of it. Spot rubbed the dirt onto his sides and hinds like he was basking in the fine sand. Whenever our dog gets himself dirty, we throw him in the back of the subaru to make sure he doesn't dirty the seats. But we sometimes forget Spot's determination to do what he wants when he wants. Chris and I stopped at the restaurant in Virgin, which also doubles as a tourist's Western dream store, and parked the car where we could monitor the dog.
We tied his leash to a loop in the car to anchor him in the back. We have him a little slack so he could sit up or go to sleep. But those options weren't enough. He twice forced his way over the seat and almost choked himself to death. We finally gave up and unhooked him so we could eat our buffalo burger and chicken wrap in peace. Spot made his way to front of the car before Chris had even sat back down at the table, and sat his dirty self in the passenger seat.
To make us look like we weren't quite the pushovers we really are, we forced him to the back on the way home. Spot strained to feel the air on his nose from the open car window, which he likes almost as much as getting dirty. Obviously, the dog needed a bath as soon as we got home, the second worst action we could ever do to him. The funny thing about Spot is, when he's wet, you can see the little black spots on his pink skin. He looks pathetic. Just for the ultimate revenge of dirtying my seat, I took a picture.
I think we made up for Saturday, but you'd have to ask him to know for sure.
I don't think you can beat the beautiful scenery at this peaceful beach where dogs and their masters came to jog, walk, or just ponder life.
