2011 Memory Series: Train

 I don't even remember where this was...  Somewhere in the mid west.

But I do remember it was hot and everything was prickly.

And I remember this train had to be over a mile long.

Cooper was more interested in the ground and things to smell than the train.

I tried to count the cars but I was trying to watch Cooper too.

I would lose count so I just gave up.

Cooper had all kinds of things to think about, including this little girl who came to say hi.

2011 Memory Series: Jerry's Back Yard

We spent 4 nights here in this back yard.  It was safe for Cooper and had plenty of places to sniff and roam.

There were so many pretty flowers and plants. I wished I had a better camera to take Cooper's pictures.  

All I really had was my cell phone and a little automatic pocket camera with a zoom.  Look at ALL THE MEMORIES I CAPTURE in this 2011 Memory Series.

2011 Memory Series: Sleeping Bag

This was one of the silliest days.  It was laundry day so I had washed everything we had that had been dirty for a week.

Cooper's sleeping bag was the bedding inside his travel crate.  Sometimes it could get really stinky.

When it came out of the drier and I was folding everything he climbed into it and actually was falling asleep, so we gave him a pillow.

How goofy is this?  Like he's a human.  I wonder if Cooper gets the difference.

2011 Memory Series: A Palm Tree for Cooper

Photo opp!  When you see a cute little palm tree in California...

You take a picture of you cute little dog with it.

2011 Memory Series: Hotel Hair Cut

On a long trip you have to find time to be beautiful.

We took the opportunity while we were broken down in California to get a much needed hair cut out of the way.

2011 Memory Series: Found A Stream

Behind one of our hotels, Cooper found one of his favorite things to do.

SLOSH AROUND IN WATER!

He loves water!  He found water in about every state we stopped in.

2011 Memory Series: Hotel Life

And here's Cooper's comfort zone.

He loved every single hotel we stopped at.

He would jump on the bed and roll and growl.  As happy as you'd ever see him any day on our trip.

2011 Memory Series: Exhausted

This was at the beginning of our 2011 cross country trip.  We had made it to a friend's house in VA.

He was still getting used to how our days were going to go with riding the bike most of the day, then settling in at night.

He was going to be a pro within another week or so.

2011 Memory Series: The Overpass

I don't remember why we stopped here.

That's the trouble with the Memory Series... This was in 2011.  BUT... any biker appreciates a good overpass to keep you out of direct sun or rain.  Looks like I was trying to make Cooper comfortable here.

2011 Memory Series: Sea Loins Bark?

I remember this day.

Cooper was very interested in listening to these sea lions bark.

He would tilt his head as if to try to understand their strange words.

Very cute.

2011 Memory Series: River Exploration

As with yesterday's post, here Cooper actually made it into the water.

No surprise there... he usually can't help himself.  He will explore and explore non stop for hours.

He's like a child.  He likes to show what he finds.  He'll find something worth digging at or nudging with his nose and he'll bark at it.  Then he looks up to see if you see it too.  It's so much fun to watch his curiosity at work.

2011 Memory Series: Big River

Cooper always goes looking for water.  No matter how much.  If he can get his feet we, he's happy. 

He loves to chase things and he will put his face in the water to pick something out of the water.  A real water lover.

2011 Memory Series: I Didn't Do It!

This was so funny.  Cooper sometimes is allowed to go off to explore on his own if it seems safe enough.

This picture was taken on one of those occasions.  Sometimes things strike me as funny.  It looks like he was caught painting graffiti here.  The look of guilt is really funny if you imagine that was the story.

2011 Memory Series: In The Tree

This is another favorite picture.  I hate that it's so blurry, but the memory is clear.

I remember the smell and the feel and the fun.  I would love to relive these days and understand what we were experiencing so we could live these days more fully.

2011 Memory Series: Walk The Length

I put Cooper up on top of the tree so he could walk all along the length.

His nose went like crazy.  He walked the whole length a couple times before I called him down.

2011 Memory Series: Making His Mark

In the history of a tree this size, there is a LOT of history it has lived through.

This sign is at the base of one of the biggest trees in this forest.  Read what that tree has lived through.

Now Cooper is leaving his mark... though it may not be much more than a dribble of nourishment to this tree it will forever be in the grains of its history. 

2011 Memory Series: Can't Help But Look Up

It's amazing to just look up into these trees.

They seem to go into the sky like Jack's bean stock.

As if you could climb to the top of them and find a whole new land.

Hand here at the bottom, it starts with looking up.

Even Cooper can't help but look up to try to see the sky.

2011 Memory Series: Amazing Size

I know this is a blurry picture but because he looks SO TINY next to this tree I thought it would be worth the post.

It just seems to represent the AMAZING size difference there is to these trees in California in comparison to the ones back home in Massachusetts.

2011 Memory Series: Walking With Giants

How amazingly tiny I felt in this forest.

Cooper was even smaller.

These woods are clearly well walked and also maintained by care takers.

It felt familiar and majestic at the same time.

2011 Memory Series: RV Park

We spent some time in this RV park because Jesse's bike broke down.  We enjoyed the stay.  

They were great to us there.  We had a tent, not an RV but we couldn't go anywhere.  We were stuck!

While we were there we got to see a lot of things right there at the RV park.

The park was in a forest of Redwood Trees. 

HUGE TREES!!!  There was so much to admire.

Do you see Cooper's little face under my legs?