Posts Tagged ‘road trips’

Running with the Turkeys

Earlier in the month, Sid and I went camping yet again. I know, it seems we can’t get enough of it this year! This time our destination was Turkey Run State Park in Indiana. Joining us along for the adventure was Sid’s grandma (my Mom).

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The last time we were all at Turkey Run was two years ago, again right around Sid’s Birthday, and we stayed in a rustic camping cabin. This year, since the weather was so ideal, we opted for the tent experience. Lucky for us, it was warm and sunny the whole time.

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After we got our campsite set up, and Sid took inventory of our firewood supplies, we hit some of the lovely trails within the park.

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Sid may be twelve years old but he’s still pretty athletic (at least when he chooses to be).

We enjoyed just sitting around and relaxing at our campsite. It was really quiet and serene and the smell and cracking and of the campfire put us at ease.

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We hit up a couple trails the next day as well since that is one of the highlights of this lovely state park. And once again Sid showed us what an adventurer he is.

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Well, until he decided to take a break mid-hike. I guess I couldn’t blame him as I was a bit tired by then, too!

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On our last day, Sid was reluctant to get out of bed.

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I guess he had overdone it a bit on previous hikes and was not in the mood to walk anymore. So I came up with a solution:

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Sid was super snug and comfortable in the backpack. At one point he even dozed off and started snoring! On the trails that day we saw dozens of tiny frogs. They would dive into the water as soon as you’d get close, but I did manage to get close enough to this guy for a photo op before he took off.

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After the last trail, we had a picnic lunch and then it was time to pack up the tent, the camping supplies, and the pug – and head back to the city!

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Midwest Migration – Part 3

So we pick up today en route to Des Moines, IA. If you need a bit of back-story, check out Part 1 and Part 2. Once again, Sid found the most comfortable position for traveling. This, my friends, is how you ride shotgun!

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We arrived at our campsite located at the Acorn Valley Campground on Saylorville Lake. Once the tent was up Sid felt right at home. In case you can’t see him in the main photo, I added a little zoom bubble so you can better make out his pug mug through the tent’s screen door!

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We hung out for a bit at the campsite, had some lunch, and listened to the breezes blowing through the tall trees. It was very relaxing.

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We met up with my friends and their kids for a while and they treated us to a delicious dinner made with fresh veggies straight from their back yard. We also got to visit a really nice park near their home with all kind of huge boulders and tree trunk sections for kids to play and climb on. Of course Sid didn’t do any climbing, but he seemed to enjoy watching the kids play.

We had a nice sleep in our tent that evening as it was much warmer than the first night. We didn’t really even need any blankets!

The next morning we made breakfast and then explored the campground a bit.

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Then we packed everything up and headed into downtown Des Moines to check out the Pappajohn Sculpture Park. While waiting for my friends to arrive, we walked around near the library and found this awesome water feature that wrapped around the entire block.

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Soon my friends and their children arrived and both the kids and Sid couldn’t resist sloshing through the water.

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It was a good thing I had some towels in the car! After another nice afternoon visit, we loaded up the car and headed back home to Chicago.

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Of course our trip would not be complete with a quick pit stop at the Mississippi River!

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We hope you enjoyed coming with us on our camping road trip! We’re looking forward to the next one!

Midwest Migration – Part 2

So if you missed Part 1 of our Midwest road trip, Sid and I had just spent a slightly chilly night camped out in Madison, WI. As the sun rose the next morning, I fired up the tiny butane camping stove, got some hot tea brewing, and gave Sid his breakfast.

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We packed up the tent and hit the road towards St. Paul, Minnesota. As you all know, Sid insists on a comfortable ride when traveling, so I had two beds stacked up on the passenger seat for him to sprawl out on. And sprawl out he did.

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We arrived at my friends’ house right around noon and had a great time catching up and getting a tour of their place. Sid approved of the original vintage wood floors.

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We all loaded up into one car, crossed the Mississippi into Minneapolis and spent some time on Nicollet Island.

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We enjoyed hanging out by the water and enjoying the natural beauty and lovely views of the city from this vantage point. I think Sid liked being the object of affection of my friend’s 2-year-old son.

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In the evening we went to an outdoor concert back in St. Paul, called the Grand Oak Opry. The weather was perfect and even Sid got to partake in our snacks.

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The next morning we hung out a little more and then had hit to road for our next stop, Des Moines!

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To be continued in Part 3

Midwest Migration – Part 1

This September we didn’t have quite the extensive camping trip planned as we did last year for “Have Pug, Will Travel” but we did manage to get out of town for a few days over the past holiday weekend. The plan for this trip was a mid-western loop to visit friends in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Des Moines, Iowa, with some camping in between.

We left on Friday night and drove for a few hours to Madison, Wisconsin, where we camped at a KOA in order to break up the drive time to Minnesota. We arrived at 10:30 pm and miraculously I managed to successfully set up the tent in near darkness! It was only 50-degrees out that night, too, so Sid and I were tucked into sleeping bags with quilts on top to stay warm.

It was still chilly in the morning, but some breakfast in our bellies helped us warm up.

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Our next stop: St. Paul! (to be continued in Part 2)

Hobbling Around in Holland

We would like to thank you all for the positive thoughts and good pug juju you sent to Sid regarding his hind leg and back. He’s doing much better now and his pug saunter is almost back to 100 percent. He’s got a few more laser therapy sessions at the vet lined up so we’re keeping our fingers/paws crossed.

I know we just finished up reporting on our HPWT trip that culminated with a stop in Holland, MI, so it’s only fitting that we went back there just a few days after I wrote that last post! This time my friend Anna (affectionately known as “Aunt Anna” to Sid) and her young son came along on our adventure.

Holland is about a three-hour drive from Chicago and midway through our journey we stopped for lunch at Panera. Anna and her son ate inside while Sid and I got our lunch to go and ate outside in the rear hatch of our rented Toyota Rav4.

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“Hold up!” you might be saying right now. Yes, I did say “ate outside”, and yes our adventure was taking place in the middle of winter. Well, let me explain. Somehow on this late January day the sun was shining brightly, the sky was cloudless, and the outside temperature was almost 60 degrees! It definitely felt surreal but certainly made our dining al fresco experience extremely enjoyable. Sid even got to indulge in some potato chips which he normally would never get.

We arrived in Holland and our first stop was the music store R.I.T. Music. You see, one of the intentions of this trip was so I could buy a guitar amp I had seen at the shop when Sid and I passed through Holland on our HPWT trip last September. Mission Accomplished! We then took a stroll down the main drag, 8th Street. Well, the three humans strolled; the pug rolled.

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Yes, this happened to be the day that Sid’s back leg stopped working properly, almost immediately upon arrival at our destination. After an attempt to carry him left me with a tingling arm in under fifteen minutes, Anna thoughfully suggested we prop Sid up in the vacant stroller her son had been riding in earlier.

Being carted around like royalty came natural to Sid and although I had now become “that guy that pushes his pug around in a children’s stroller” the smiles he put on the faces of passersby made it all worthwhile.

We got some delicious sorbet and ice cream at Kilwin’s and that’s when Sid laid into me and Anna with his classic guilt-trip stare.

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Like a sucker, I fell hard for it and soon the little furball was lapping away at my ice cream. Within minutes both Sid and Anna’s son were under the spell of a massive sugar rush!

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We checked out a few more shops on 8th Street and then hopped in the car and rode over to Windmill Island Gardens. In the winter there isn’t really anything happening in the garden department, but the grounds are open, and free, and THERE IS A HUGE DUTCH WINDMILL! How could we resist?!

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The sun was setting by this point and the sight of the pink and purple clouds reflecting off the canals was magical.

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If you ever are passing through western Michigan, be sure to stop by Holland. It’s pug-approved!

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Have Pug, Will Travel – Part 6

Everyone staying warm? We hope so! We’ve been having a pretty relaxing January so far. I was casually flipping through some photos on the computer last night and realized I never wrapped up our Have Pug, Will Travel trip from September (Boy, does time fly)! So here is the much-anticipated (I’m sure) HPWT finale!

(If you need to catch up with earlier installments, here’s the whole kit and kaboodle.)

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When we last left you in Part 5, Sid and I had enjoyed an evening stroll along the beachfront after a day of several amazing hikes at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. After a restorative forty winks in our home on wheels, we woke up the next day and made breakfast. Sid embraced his managerial role, making sure I split the blueberries evenly between us.

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Since our campsite was so close to the beach, we took an enjoyable post-breakfast stroll in the sand.

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And of course we couldn’t resist taking a few glamour shots.

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We then packed everything back up into the van and got back on the road. Our next destination was the town of Holland, Michigan. After a scenic drive along the western-Michigan shoreline, we eventually arrived at the Lake Macatawa campground located within Holland State Park. And, like most campgrounds we stayed at during this trip, we were just a short walk to the water! Time for a dip!

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As you can see in the corner of the picture, there are kayaks for rent on Lake Macatawa, but unfortunately it was a little too late in the day by that point to rent them, so instead we headed towards downtown Holland. Our first stop was Kollen park where there were lots of people out enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.

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The town of Holland is very charming and we enjoyed just walking around and people-watching. The main drag, 8th Street, is lined with little specialty shops, brew-pubs, and restaurants.

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Oh, and of course DOG BOUTIQUES!

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The staff at Decadent Dogs were very sweet and extremely generous with free samples of their gourmet treats, which Sid very much appreciated. They seemed to be giving Sid extra-special treatment and I didn’t know why until they told me about their town mascot: a pug named Lucy. Yes, you heard me right — A PUG!

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(Photo of Lucy from Discover Holland Facebook page)

Unfortunately we didn’t get to meet Lucy in the fur because she was on vacation, but Sid left her a message (via “pee-mail”) at her headquarters for when she returns.

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We were in our element as it seemed like everywhere we looked, the town of Holland was obsessed with pugs. Even in the old-fashioned clock shop!

After a nice afternoon out strolling through the town, we arrived back at our campsite and Sid enjoyed a few treats he picked up at Decadent Dogs. Yum!

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The next morning, we packed up and headed back to sweet home, Chicago.

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Sid and I had such a fun time on our adventure and we hope you enjoyed traveling along with us! We can’t wait to make plans for our next Have Pug, Will Travel adventure!

Have Pug, Will Travel – Part 5

We hope everyone had a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Sid certainly got spoiled and will need to exercise all week long to get his waist back! I’m sure he’s looking forward to it.

Anywho, Sid and I are back today to continue the recap of our “Have Pug, Will Travel” (HPWT) road-trip from September. If you need to catch up with earlier installments, here’s Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

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At this point in the trip we were back on the road heading to Traverse City, MI. We took a scenic route that hugged the lakefront led us out to the very tip of the Old Mission Peninsula where we were greeted by a cute lighthouse that was built way back in 1870.

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Sid explored the beach – scanning for treats as usual.

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When he didn’t find any, he decided to do the next best thing and take a dip in the lake.

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The long and narrow peninsula is home to several wineries. We picked up a bottle for the grand-pugrents but since Sid is under 21 years old, he was unable to sample any vino.

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We arrived at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and set up our camp at the Platte River Campground.

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We explored the area around the campground, which was lush with trees, then made some dinner and went to bed early so we’d have plenty of energy for hiking the next day.

After a good’s night sleep, we had breakfast and then headed for the Empire Bluff Trail. It was a very lovely trail that wound through the forest.

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The trail kept slowly ascending and by the end a little boardwalk led us onto a sand bluff that rose up 400+ feet above Lake Michigan! I couldn’t believe how far we could see off into the distance when perched up so high.

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Sid couldn’t believe it either. See how excited he looked?!

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After that breathtaking view we hopped back into our HPWT Home-on-Wheels and followed the route of the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. This “trail” is actually a narrow paved road that winds through the forest and sand dunes and is dotted with a dozen scenic viewpoints where one can pull over, get out, and take a closer look. The concept behind this road is that it permits anyone – even those people that are unable to hike by foot on a rugged trail – to experience the beauty of the nature here.

Lookout points #9 and #10 were particularly spectacular – and extremely windy!

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We had a delicious picnic lunch at the Glen Haven Historic Village, which Sid was pretty happy about. He perked up after chomping down a few tasty b.c.’s. I suppose all that “scenic looking” must be considered arduous work for a pug.

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After our mid-day recharge, we headed to Pyramid Point to tackle another trail.

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Along the quaint tree-covered trail, we saw lots of cool little flowers, a few snails, and even some impressive looking mushrooms!

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And just like the previous trail, this one kept slowly going up. And up. And up.

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All those calories expended on the way up were definitely worth the view we experienced when we reached the point.

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Sid stared out onto Lake Michigan and took time for some deep thoughts. Either that or he was just thinking about ways to hijack the remaining b.c.’s from my backpack.

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At this point we were both ready for dinner so we headed to our campsite for the night which was at the D.H. Day campground.

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Sid wolfed his food down and then proceeded pass out while I relaxed and made some food for myself and lit the campfire.

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The D.H. Day campground was right next to the beach which is what made it superior to Platte River. So of course we couldn’t resist watching another stunning sunset and enjoying twilight time on the beach.

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With the brilliant moon and multitude of stars high above us, we settled in for the night.

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And…the HPWT epic tale will conclude in Part 6 where we visit Holland!