Our Canadian Cuties: Catching UP with Camping!

Or at least trying to catch up. August was a fun month for our little trio. We took Cora on a 7 night/8 day camping trip in southern Alberta with her favorite little friends, Claire and Sophie. We had a really great time. Especially because the weather was AWESOME for the whole trip. We had a rotten summer weather-wise up until mid August. I am really thankful Mother Nature decided to play nice with us.

The first morning started out with a LOT of excitement. What started out as a really happy morning (see above picture) ended not so great. Two camps down had some big mean dogs that decided that morning was a good morning to try and kill Reggie. Not only did they attack Reggie while I had him on a leash, but Cora was probably 15 feet behind me throwing rocks. I panicked and started screaming at octaves I didn't know I could reach. The dogs' owner came running as did Lee. The dog owner got the dogs off Reggie who was visibly shaken but otherwise unhurt. Somewhere in the 5 seconds (boy, did those 5 seconds feel like an eternity) of the attack, I decided to sacrifice Reggie to grab Cora. The owner kept apologizing, and I truly believed him that this was out of character of his dogs. Talk about being naive. Fast forward a couple of hours and the arrival of our friends. Low and behold, their dog was also attacked. Those mean dog people ended up leaving, but we carried bear spray and sling shots for the rest of the trip. In all my years of working with animals in both captivity and the wild, I have never been as scared as I was that morning.

The rest of the trip was fantastic. The girls spent LOTS of time swinging in the hammock, digging in the dirt, painting rocks, and dancing to Raffi. Lee was able to spend one whole day fishing with Corey while we gals headed to Waterton for some sightseeing. While Lee was catching fish, we were watching a mother black bear and her cub eating raspberries!! We were able to watch from the car which made it even more fun (and safe). We took the girls on a couple day hikes. Surprisingly, their little legs trucked right along. They really did well.

Cora loves sleeping in our tent. She snuggles up right between Lee and I. The first few nights we kept the rain fly off so we could see the stars. While that was a lot of fun, it was really cold. After a couple nights, I demanded the rain fly. :) It's amazing how warm the rain fly keeps the tent. Even though we love our tent, I am thinking we are going to have to upgrade soon. It is starting to get a little bit tight in there with Cora growing like a weed. Maybe Lee will get a new one for Christmas. :)

Enjoy the assortment of photos below. I think you can see how much fun we had.