Sunday, October 6, 2013

Russian Gulch State Park

Pongo Goes Camping

September 26 & 27, 2013



Pongo has been doing great on his day trip adventures lately.  When I originally started taking him on trips, he'd be OK in the car and would do OK for an hour or two at whatever location we went to, but after that he'd basically shut down and want to go home.  His attitude changed dramatically this summer, though.  He would be excited the entire car ride, even on trips over two hours away.  He'd be totally into whatever we were doing for as long as we did it.  If he hadn't had enough he'd even refuse to get back into the car.  I decided to bump it up a notch and try an overnight camping trip.

California State Route 128
I wanted to keep it fairly close to home but also have it far enough away so that staying overnight wouldn't seem silly.  I decided to head for Mendocino.  It would be about a three hour drive, with some of it going through redwood forests.  If Pongo was having a hard time, it wouldn't be too far of a drive home in the middle of the night.

Mendocino County, CA
I worry about Pongo.  Yoshika picked him up from a shelter where he'd been isolated for being aggressive.  He was less than six months old at the time and had been brought in as a stray.  He's so alert and is wound so tight that I can't imagine the kind of stress that he must have been dealing with.  I think in our early adventures that he was either getting over-stimulated and/or he was worrying about not being able to go back home.  This trip, more than anything him else, was to give him the experience of camping overnight then going home.  I want him to know that we always go home in the end.

Russian Gulch State Park, CA
We arrived at Russian Gulch State Park in the late afternoon.  We ended up in the exact same site I'd camped in almost twenty years ago with my parents, sister and Sam.  Pongo worked his charms with the lady park ranger.  She came by and visited with us later.  We hiked out to the beach then went back to our camp site where I cooked us both up some dinner.  It was a little chilly at night, but we had a nice fire going.  I read by lantern and Pongo relaxed on his blanket until we went to bed.  I was worried with how he'd handle being outside at night in a strange place, but he didn't seem to have any problems.  He was probably calmer that night sleeping in the car than he normally is at home.  It was very quiet there, so I think that helped.  There's a lot of city noise where we live.  In fact, as we speak I can hear the music and PA announcer at the Raiders game.


We had a little drama in the morning when Pongo hurt his foot.  He didn't want me to look at it and I couldn't see a problem, but he was limping around.  At first he refused to eat breakfast, but eventually he ate it.  It all seemed a bit dramatic.  I packed everything up and we drove out to the headlands for some pictures.  As soon as he realized we were going to walk on some trails his foot didn't hurt anymore.  He was his normal, energetic self.  He was just panicking a little earlier.

Mendocino Headlands State Park, CA
We didn't stay too long.  I wanted him to absorb a sense that home is never too far away.  We'll see how well that worked next time we go camping.


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