It's a Pittie-full Life
  • Home
  • Travels with Tucker
  • Is it Tucker-Tough?
  • Precious Cargo
  • Renovating Rover
  • Tucker's Favorite Folks

Travels with Tucker

I'm not John Steinbeck and Tucker is certainly no Charley. But after our first year together travelling over 14,000 miles, criss-crossing America, hitting 17 states, I thought it was about time we started documenting our adventures.

Where the Rainy Day Takes You..

12/11/2016

0 Comments

 
I woke up the next morning with a new perspective. It had rained almost every day in October in Vancouver. If I wanted to hike with Tucker, I couldn’t wait until the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. I had bought him a rain jacket—excuse me, a “Vancouver Jacket.” Might as well get some use out of it.
Picture
Vancouver boasts a rather extensive public park: Stanley Park. At just over 1000 acres (or 1.5 square miles), it beats New York’s Central park by over 150 acres.  While Central Park is, well, central, with views of the cityscape between the leaves of the trees, Stanley Park rests at the end of downtown, a peninsula of wildlife in an already wild space.

Despite the downpour, plenty of people were around in the more urban areas of the park to check out tours and monuments. I sought to be a little off the beaten path and closer to nature. I didn’t have to look far. I carried south along the park road to find parking and off to my right, I espied a full grown and particularly healthy adult coyote at the trail intersection.

Upon parking, I saw notices and signs about “how to co-exist with wildlife” and how to appropriately deal with coyotes. Despite urbanity being less than a mile away, Tucker and I had entered the wild, with the forest to our backs and the ocean to our front.
​
We headed toward the ocean.
Picture
​Tucker didn’t seem to mind the rain or jacket as much as I thought he would. We walked down to the seawall (or boardwalk) and looked out into the ocean. It wasn’t until about ten minutes of letting Tucker walk across the sands and dip his toes in the Canadian Pacific Ocean that I saw the sign stating, “No Dogs Allowed On Beach.” Whoops.
Picture
No one was around anyway. We took to the forest, finding a trail that would meander its way back to our car parked at a baseball field up the hill. 

Being in the woods here is like being in primordial times. You expect a dinosaur to come around a bend in the trail. The trees are ancient and glorious. And when they are killed, new ones sprout from their chopped off tops. You might not be able to see the street sign in the lower quarter left of this picture for perspective, but the top of this tree where the roots spill over is about eight feet high.
Picture
​This antler-like mossy head-dress for giants is in the distance and yet is still ginormous. My guess is that the width at the bottom is around fifteen feet.
Picture
​Here’s Tucker in front of a tree. Just one tree. I couldn't get the whole thing in one shot.
Picture
Here's the tree from far away:
Picture
​The thing no one tells you is that Vancouver is actually a rainforest. (That would explain the copious amounts of precipitation.)

​This fabulous ecosystem is about seven feet tall and about five feet wide and looks as if it was designed by Jim Henson.
Picture
​But it’s not all forests. This open meadow gave me the most magical, surreal feeling. Something went down here many many ages ago, but I’m not sure exactly what. 
Picture
​Historians chose this giantess of a tree to reconstruct and hold upright for everyone to see in the parking area. I think I saw bigger, more alive ones on our hike, but I guess this makes it easy for tourists.
Picture
​Tucker and I ran into two brindle Boxer-mixes running about off leash on the trail, and he happily greeted them and wanted to play. Their owner was also pleasant. Other than that, Tucker and I had the woods to ourselves.
Picture
If Tucker and I want to fit in, we need to be like the locals. Rain cannot deter us. Driving to work, I see women out and about wearing baseball hats and rain gear and hiking books. At least I don’t dress differently from them. But I’m not as tough as they are. I’ll get there, though. Maybe Tucker will even get to be like the two Boxers we met—no Vancouver jackets needed, just running in the rain like it’s the greatest thing in the world.
Picture
​For now, we’ll do one day at time, not let the weather deter us from adventures, and see where the day takes us.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    January 2021
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    May 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014

    Posts

    All
    2016.01.03 Home For The Holidays
    2016.01.04 A Hike On Another Planet
    2016.03.25 Equality Is For Everyone
    2016.03.27 Our Easter Weekend Services
    2016.04.15 Just Des(s)erts
    2016.05.29 Max Patch
    2016.05.29 Rising To The Peak
    2016.05.29 Spring Adventures
    2016.06.11 The Best Of The Unexpected
    2016.06.25 The Ghostly Tale Of Greybeard Trail
    2016.07.03 Escape...to Storyteller Rock
    2016.07.05 A Salute To Asheville From Chimney Rock
    2016.08.15 Up
    2016.10.01 Since You've Been Gone
    2016.12.09 How We Spent Our Summer Vacation
    2016.12.10 Let The Sun Shine In
    2016.12.11 Eyes To The Skies
    2016.12.11 Where The Rainy Day Takes You
    2016.12.18 Waiting For Whistler
    2016.12.31 Only In Canada
    2017.01.10 Christmas On The Coast
    2017.01.11 Christmas On The Coast
    2017.04.22 Out Of The Desert And Into The Land Of Enchantment
    2017.05.05 Someplace To Be; Not Somewhere To Go
    2017.05.20 New Canada
    2017.05.28 Rise To The Challenge
    2017.06.18 Exploring The 'Hood
    2017.06.24 Bishop's Lodge: Anything But Heavenly
    2017.07.01 Finding Your Church
    2017.07.08 Mother Nature's Springs
    2017.07.22 Beside Every Great Woman
    2017.10.15 Finding (Water)Fall(s)
    2017.10.28 This Is 40... Part I
    2017.10.29 This Is 40... Part II
    2017.11.18 Battle Amidst Beauty
    2017.11.25 To The Looking Glass
    2018.02.25 Where The Dog Takes You
    2018.03.31 After The Rains
    2018.04.14 Truly Home Again
    2018.06.02 Just A Walk On The Beach
    2018.07.21 Ready? On Set!
    2018.08.04 Return To The Redwoods
    2018.08.11 Return To The Redwoods
    2018.10.27 The Forty-First
    2018.12.15 The End Of The Tour
    2018.12.30 Santa Cruz
    2019.01.05 Chasing Mavericks
    2019.01.20 Finding Your Soulspace
    2019.02.09 Muir Magic
    2019.02.23 The Point Of Point Reyes
    2019.02.25 From Muir To Mori
    2019.03.02 Our Own Monterey
    2019.03.09 An Irish Escape
    2019.03.16 Hidden Vistas
    2019.04.06 Our Life: The Carnival
    2019.04.20 One Man's Trash Is Another Dog's Art
    2019.05.04 Black Rock And Blue Skies
    2019.06.08 Water
    2019.06.15 In Conversation... With Nature
    2019.06.29 Go Tell It On The Mountain
    2019.07.06 Not So Yosemite
    2019.07.07 Magic Chimneys
    2019.07.20 The Long Way Around
    2019.11.23 All Trails Lead Here
    2019.11.30 Seeking Solitude In All Directions
    2019.12.14 Forest Friends And Soul-Places
    2019.12.21 The San Franciscan Canine
    2019.12.26 An Unexpected Christmas
    2020.01.11 Kicking Off The New Year On The Coast: Part I
    2020.01.12 Kicking Off The New Year On The Coast: Part II
    2020.01.12 Kicking Off The New Year On The Coast: Part III
    2020.01.19 From The Beach To The Bay... Almost
    2020.03.01 Livin' La Vida Local (SF Style)
    2020.03.20 A Place In Which To Shelter
    2020.03.23 Socially Distant
    2020.03.26 Shelter Of Majestic Beauty
    2020.03.28 Follow Your Heart
    2020.04.04 South For The Spring
    2020.04.21 Finding The Way Back
    2020.05.11 First Rate Second Choice
    2020.05.30 Trails Worth Taking
    2020.07.15 A Reflection Of The Bay
    2020.07.22 A Quarter Of The Way To Half Moon Bay
    2020.10.10 Mountain Air
    2020.11.21 The Great Donut Drive
    2020.11.26 Holiday Special
    2020.12.21 The Great Conjunction
    2020.12.25 The Magic In Every Day
    2020.12.31 Some Other Beginning's End
    2021.09.12 The Oregon Trail
    2021.09.18 Reaching The Summit
    2021.09.26 In Light Of Grey Skies
    2021.10.03 Adventures Need Not Be Far
    20211010-from-the-sea-to-the-mountain
    2021.10.10 From The Sea To The Mountains
    2021.10.16 One Beaut Of A Butte
    2021.10.23 Birthday Falls
    2021.10.31 Where Angels Rest
    2021.11.07 Where Falcons Soar
    2021.11.14 To The End Of The Road... Or Island
    2021.11.20 Reflections
    2021.11.28 Giving Thanks To Mother Nature
    2021.12.05 The Journey Of The Falls
    2021.12.18 Right Here
    2021.12.26 The Magic Of Any Day
    2022.01.03 Taking Our Leave... Maybe
    2022.01.04 Beaches And Bluffs To The Redwood Forest
    2022.01.06 The City By The Bay... And Beyond
    2022.02.28 Chasing Waterfalls Again
    2022.04.06 The Beauty Along The Way
    2022.04.07 The Endless Coast
    2022.04.18 Eostre's Art
    2022.06.06 Near
    2022.06.14 Climbing A Mountain To Reach The Sea
    2022.07.11 Go South To Be North
    2022.07.18 Discovering Terranea
    2022.07.25 The Tee Off Trail
    2022.07.31 Farewell To The Westside
    2022.09.25 Fleeing The Heat For Fall
    2022.10.27 Return To The Redwoods
    2022.10.28 Commit To Adventure
    2022.10.29 Unexpected Turns
    2022.10.31 The Day After
    2022.12.26 The Mountain Temple
    2023.01.03 Back To The Bay
    And Away
    And The Day After...
    But Not Far Away
    Comes The (Water)Fall
    Everywhere
    Maximum Wind Speed
    Nose To The Wind
    Not Out There
    Not The Map
    Part I
    Part II
    Santa Clause
    Santa Paws
    The Look Of Discrimination
    The South's Answer To The Southwest
    Tucker Wescott: Interior Designer
    Up
    Water
    Yet Far

    RSS Feed

About    Contact   
c 2014 August Nights Press