Camping in Samuel P. Taylor State Park

My camp site #51

I have been looking forward to spending more time in the woods with Kelsey.  Finally the school is out and my weekend in Samuel P. Taylor S.P. has arrived. People rave about this park. It has 4 stars out of 5 on Yelp reviews. The place is fairly close and easy to get to for me.  I checked in shortly after 2 p.m. Kelsey was just as excited, and she immediately checked out the camp site.  My site, #51, is pretty cozy. Since I camp solo, it's good. I just set up my tent right between the picnic table and the wooden storage. 

The park is magnificent but a bit over crowded with people with their children and their fancy camping gear and RVs. A bunch of young boys decided to play frisbee right in front of my camp site. They were making quite a bit of noise with their loud talking and yelling and constantly throwing the frisbee into my camp site. Kelsey had already claimed her temporary territory, so she started barking and attempted to run after them. So much for wanting some peace and quiet.

After I set up the tent, I took Kelsey away for a hike to get away from all the noise makers.

Secrets of Survival!  Is Kelsey trying to tell me something?

The evening was quiet after some more yelling between people who tried to back in their RVs and trailers.  There were many warning signs about raccoons. I was pretty sure no raccoons would be visiting my site since I didn't really cook anything.  I had a burrito from my favorite taco truck right before going to the camp site, so I wasn't hungry at all!

In the middle of the night, I suddenly heard some animal's hissing and a man's scream. It sounded like someone had a surprise visitor.

Kelsey is so tired after the 2 hour hike

On the next morning, I was starving. I got up early so I could have more time to enjoy the quietness in the woods. Since I was camping solo, I didn't bother to make a fire to cook my food. Not long ago I bought a portable gas stove from Ranch 99 when it was on sale. It was the best $11 I have spent!  The stove is light weight and so convenient. I also got 4 cans of Butane canisters for something like $4. I use it for camping, picnicking, and I can also use it for hotpot meals in the winter.

After the breakfast, I took Kelsey on a 2 hour hike. It was so peaceful!

Miller Knox Regional Shoreline

Going straight up the hill from Old Country Trail

I went to Crockett Hills Regional Park again last weekend. Although it was another good hike, I found 2 small ticks on Kelsey's face as I wiped her face after the hike. They weren't biting Kelsey at the time, so I was able to remove them quickly with the doggie wet wipe. On the next morning, I found another tick in my car. I guess I won't be going to Crockett Hills Regional Park until I put Kelsey on some kind of tick medication. This morning I decided to pay a second visit to Miller Knox. According to my "The Dog's Lover Companion Guide", there is a large undeveloped area to hike at Miller Knox, which I did not see last time. 

As I drove down Dornan Drive, I noticed trails on the hill side of the street (see photo above). After parking my car in one of the parking lots, I went back to the trail with Kelsey and started going up the hill. It's quite steep. Before reaching to the more leveled ground, I used my 2 front legs to help me get a better balance. I wished that I wore my hiking boots instead of my hiking shoes with worn out traction.

It didn't take long to reach top of the hill, but it was a good workout. Kelsey was visibly overheated from the sun. This would be a great place to come during the winter since much of the trails are exposed without any shade. The views are excellent from the top. We were enjoying some rare solitude moments on top of the hill. I thought I would take a short 360 degree video from top of the hill while nobody was around. Little did I know that someone always showed up before I could complete a 50 second clip. 

I made 3 attempts and couldn't even have one full minute to myself and Kelsey.  You will see in the video below that a family with children were quite noisy as they trekked down the trail (0:24).  Nevertheless, it was a good hike. I plan on going back there again in my boots and earlier during the day to avoid noisy people and children. There are quite a few trails all over the hill. The entire loop is almost 3 miles and take up to half day. Next time I will also bring some water and snack with me.

Dusty's Bath Time

For the last few years I have become quite allergic to Dusty, so I have not been grooming him as much as I should. Lately, he has started looking not only dusty but filthy. My guilty level got to the point that I decided to not only give him a haircut but also a bath. I was a bit unsure as I have never given Dusty a bath since I got him 10 years ago. I have seen rabbits swimming on Youtube. I knew someone who let her pet rabbit swim in the bathtub. I knew some rabbits actually love water, but could that be Dusty? After all, he's over 10 years old now.

I made sure the water is warm but not too warm before putting Dusty in it. He seemed to take it quite well and didn't freak out. That was a good sign. I don't have any shampoo for rabbits, so I just washed him with warm water. I changed the water several times until it no longer turned dirty.  I clipped his nails while they were soft from soaking in the warm water. It was so much easier! I blew dried him with a hairdryer set on low.  He seemed to enjoy the whole experience!

He even washed his face while in the tub and played with the water a bit. I took a short clip of Dusty splashing water with his front feet!