I wanted to post this entry last night while we were in Dunsmuir, however the very sketchy Travelodge we were staying in had no WIFI in addition to the phone lines being down. Also, there was very little data coverage in the area so it made it almost impossible to do anything online. So here is the late post for Day 7. I included it with Day 8 as both days were rather uneventful. They were driving days and we did not really do anything exciting.
Day 7:
Today we are traveling from Newport back to Dunsmuir. Since we knew we would be driving for 5.5 hours today, we wanted to start the day off at the beach and play Frisbee with Odin before spending the day in the car. The beach was right below the Hallmark Resort and it was rather isolated. I watched the beach while we were packing and getting ready for the day and saw that the beach had very light traffic. I had only seen 1 person walking along the beach while we were getting ready. It was really nice being on such a secluded beach as we didn’t really need to keep an eye out for other dogs. We were able to put all of our focus into having a good time.
Little did we know that we had an audience watching at the hotel above the beach. The hotel’s breakfast area was located directly above the beach where we were playing. When Odin and I went to the lobby to check out, two families came to tell me that they were watching and were impressed with his tricks and Frisbee skills. Odin got many pets from them before we left. I was very proud of how he behaved in the lobby. He remained focused on me when we entered and approached the desk. Even after he had finished getting petted by the families he remained focused on me and was perfectly heeling while we left the lobby. All of the focus training we have been doing at him is paying off.
We had a long drive to Dunsmuir. We made a stop in Shasta (about 20 min north of Dunsmuir) to stop and play Frisbee in their local dog park. The dog park at Shastice Park was very nice and had a good amount of trees in it which was nice. We were the only ones at the park and we played until Odin stopped bringing the Frisbee back. From there we went to check into our hotel.
When we pulled into the parking lot of the very secluded Dunsmuir Travelodge, we instantly knew we were staying in a less than average hotel. The main check in area was in an empty detached diner and the guy checking us in was a little grimy. Once we had checked in, the front desk guy informed us that the phones and WIFI in the hotel did not work. Also the location had very little cell service and data coverage. It reminded us of something out of a horror film. Also it probably didn’t help that during the 5.5 hour drive we had been listening to murder and serial killer podcasts… But we did survive the night so I guess it was fine.
Day 8:
This was another uneventful day. We packed up for the last time and loaded ourselves into the car for the 4 hour drive home.
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Overall, we had a very good trip. I was very impressed with how well Odin’s training and reactivity management was coming along. We still have a few things to work on which became apparent during the trip (ie. barking every time one of us leaves the hotel room), but all in all, it was a very fun and manageable trip. We had a great time and we were all a little sad that the trip had come to an end. Time to plan our next adventure!
Suburban Border Collie 