Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing you a warm and wonderful holiday
and all the best wishes for the New Year!!
 
The Berner Life
 
 

Monday, December 17, 2012

Mountain Rock Stars


Back in early October we thought it would be fun to take the dogs on a hike in Yosemite National Park for a few days.  Why we thought this would be easy and go off without a hitch is a mystery to this day.  Have we not READ this blog???  That being said, we had prepared in advance by training Bodie to wear a doggie backpack that he actually didn't loathe and seemed to wear with pride on our training hikes to Starbucks the weeks prior.  We booked a room near Yosemite at a trendy lodge that was surprisingly dog friendly (for an extra $75, of course) and made our way to the mountains.
 
While Yosemite is a beautiful place to hike, it doesn't exactly welcome canines with open arms.  They tell you to stick to paved roads and can't go in meadows or dirt trails.  Anyone that has ever been to Yosemite will tell you it is 99% meadows and dirt trails.  One does not travel all the way to Yosemite to take photos of the gift shop parking lot.  This was going to be my go-to response to any ranger who questioned me as to why I was standing the middle of a meadow with two dogs, having gotten there via a dirt trail.  Luckily, thanks to California's budget cuts, I didn't encounter any such ranger so didn't have to use my snappy one-liner.  This also meant my husband didn't have to bail me out of jail, either. 
 
Our first trek was to Mirror Lake which, ironically, has no water in it this time of year.  I guess renaming it "Big Rock In Dirt" for part of the year just doesn't have the same appeal.  Nonetheless, it was a pleasant enough walk that was mostly on a paved road ("See Mr. Ranger?  I'm complying!!") and the dogs were enjoying themselves immensely.  Occasionally we would pass another dog-walker and Leila would go on Red Alert but would stop short of actually putting on the after-burners and dragging me in the opposite direction.  She even stopped and watched in a combination of interest and horror as a line of horseback riders traveled by.  But there were just too many new smells and sounds for her to waste time fearing other creatures.  "I'll get back to hating you a minute, horse; I smell squirrel poop!"
 
One of the many great things about Yosemite is the tourists there from all over the world.  A majority of the busloads of camera-toting wide-eyed folks we met up with were from parts of Europe, although we detected many a twangy Southern and Midwest accent scattered throughout the group.  One thing the jolly folks from DeMoines and the smiling Londoners (and one delightful couple from Dubai!) had in common other than being so very sweet and friendly was their utter fascination with Bodie and Leila!  Up at Glacier Point, there were ooohs and ahhhs coming from people not even remotely looking at the view.  I heard so many people say "They are so lovely!" and "They make me miss my dogs at home" and if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me "What kind of dogs are those?" I could have put a sizable dent in their $75 lodge fee.  One woman was so tickled to see them she had to take a photo of herself with them.  One couple from Germany explained that they had two just like that back home.  It was all quite fun but I couldn't help wondering if Half Dome and El Capitan were getting just the slightest bit jealous.  Bodie, always the ham, was a tail-wagging tourist hugger, enjoying all the attention immensely.  Even Leila, the Greta Garbo of the Berner world, was getting in on the action, determined not to let a little thing like a fear of strangers get in the way of a series of head-pats and ear scratches, oh no.
 
Back at the lodge, we were provided two warm and cuddly dog beds that neither of the pups would so much as glance at.  Instead, they chose to immediately hop up on our beds, having obviously not read the memo stating that animals should not be on the lodge furniture.  Wearing their best "Hey, I'm on vacation!" expressions, one dog hopped up on one bed, the other on the opposite bed, and us four humans had to work around them.  I think the adoration of the tourist paparazzi has gone to their heads!
 
The next day we wandered into our favorite meadow (via a dirt path, no less) to get photos in front of Half Dome for our Christmas card.  Just our luck for once there was no one in sight, not a gushing tourist, scolding ranger, no one.  Except for a few deer in the distance we had the meadow to ourselves.  Ordinarily this would be an ideal arrangement but this time I wanted to see another warm body so we had someone to take the darn picture!  Instead we had to use the self timer on the camera, perched on a tripod, and then try like hell to get the dogs to NOT look at my husband who has now run back into the picture and instead concentrate on the tiny blinking red light on the camera way over there.  Yeah, you can only imagine how well THAT turned out!  Safe to say the outtakes are many.  When Leila finally got bored with it all and lied down, we knew we were going to have to make do with what we have.  That was about the time we saw the ranger truck drive by so we high-tailed it out of the meadow and back into the truck.
 
We probably could have seen more of Yosemite Valley and hiked more trails if we had left the pups at home, but it would not have been nearly as much fun (and law-breaking!).  And in addition to the beautiful scenery and majestic mountains, some tourists got an added benefit of seeing actual celebrities while on their trip to California, at least in Bodie and Leila's minds! 
 
"Rocks?  What rocks?  We're the only rock stars here!!"