Along the muddy river

I had ignored the dogs for most of the week. The week had started out with three days of much-needed rain. On Tuesday late afternoon I was caught in a sudden downpour while walking Sammy and Zeke, and made it back to the house after only a 3/4-mile walk. That was perhaps all Sammy could handle. Poor guy had to "run" with me up our street, and I can barely run like I used to.

Wednesday the rain kept at bay long enough for me to pack up all four dogs into the van for a drive to the San Pedro River. I wanted to see how high the water was after all the rain we had gotten. They all needed some good exercise, but today's exercise was more fun for the three younger dogs. Sammy came along to sniff and pee along the trees, then rested in the shade of the overhead bridge.

The recent rains had flooded the river banks. The ground was still very muddy, and getting to the original river was a bit of a challenge. The grasses were also taller than me, making my footing even harder to maintain. Falling here would have been disastrous to my ego. The dogs had fun, and that's all that mattered.

The river was, as expected, brown from the recent run-offs. It was flowing rather fast as well, but that didn't seem to disturb the dogs. When Minnie grabbed a stick she wanted me to throw it, and she didn't care if the river current swept her away. Zeke and Sadie joined her, but never went as far into the water as she did. Only Zeke tried...once. He doesn't mind being in water as long as he can feel the ground.

Of course now I realized that the dogs were going to trash the van with their wet fur. They enjoyed chasing each other, running in and out of the water, and Minnie insisted on me throwing sticks for her. The current did tire her, as at one point she was grunting with exhaustion trying to climb out of the water. That's when I opted to cut the fun short to give the dogs a break. Minnie doesn't know when to quit and it's my job to watch her.

I found a pair of children's Navy blue prescription glasses under the bridge. They didn't look like they were there long as they weren't too sandy.

We didn't hike much today. Our visit was just a check on the river itself, but the dogs seemed to enjoy getting out and exploring.