Friday, July 31, 2009

One more look

Well, we're home and more or less recovered from our trip home from Alaska. For the most part, the trip was absolutely awesome and Mommy and Daddy are already talking about going back. I had so many favorite parts, I'm not sure I can remember them all.

There was the very first day when we drove to Whittier. I stuck my head outside the car every time I could. We stopped at a place where you could watch for salmon. We didn't see any, but it smelled pretty interesting. It rained a lot that day but I got to meet a reindeer, and see some sea otters. That night we stayed in a little cottage in Seward and I know there had been bears there in the garden.

A couple of days later, we drove back to the city and we stopped along the way for ice cream. Daddy had rocky road and he shared it with me.

The next day, we went on the train and I got to sit on the seat and look out the window. Mommy took me out once so I could, you know, and it was really scary going up and down those steps, but I DID IT! We spent that night in a little cabin by a river. Mommy found me a stick that I could chew on and play with, and I still have it. It's my own Alaskan souvenir!

The bus ride through the big park was long but there was a lot to see. I saw the bears but they were too far away to smell me, so that was good. Somebody said there was a wolf but it was on the other side of the bus so I couldn't see it. It was a really pretty day, with lots of sun, clouds and wind. It rained that night but I got to stay in the cabin while Mommy and Daddy went to get dinner, so I didn't get wet.

The next day, I got to play in the river a little bit before we got back on the train. It was really cold but it was so much fun! I ran around in circles, and dug in the sand, and played with a stick. Mommy was laughing so hard!

A couple of days later, we went to a farm where they had a whole herd of musk ox. I met one of the little babies, only eleven weeks old, and then one of the older ones. The baby was scared of me I think, but the older one followed me all the way to the end of the fence. Then we went to an old gold mine in the mountains, and then we drove on a dirt road for a long way. It was a little scary, but I got to see snow, and that was cool.

We stayed in a little town called Talkeetna that night, and the next morning we wandered around the town. It's so small, that the main street is only a couple of blocks long. And the mayor is a cat! After Mommy and Daddy got some souvenirs, we went back to Anchorage and got on the plane to come home.

I can't wait to do it all again!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Last day....










Today is our last day in Alaska. :-( Tonight we will get on a plane and fly home to Alameda. It's been such a wonderful vacation and we've seen so many things we never thought we'd ever see:
The Nenana River, in Denali
An old, abandoned gold mine, near Palmer
A 14 month old muskox:

And sea otters.

Such a wonderful trip. We'll come back soon, I hope.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Denali






We were kind of out of touch for a while so I guess I have some catching up to do. A few days ago we went on the Alaska Railroad to Denali National Park. That's where Mt. McKinley is, which is the highest point in North America. It's also called Denali, which means The Great One, by the local natives. I can see what they mean because it's so amazing to look at. We couldn't see the top because of the clouds but our tour guide said you can only see it about twenty days a year anyway.


We got on a bus very early in the morning and Daddy let me sit on the seat next to him. Good thing too because I would have missed everything if I had had to stay on the floor like I''m supposed to!




Right off the bat, we saw a grizzly bear. He was a long way away, so I couldn't smell him too well but everyone said how big he was. After that, we saw some caribou. Man, those things have big horns on their heads. How do they carry all that weight around with them all the time?


After that, we saw some more caribou, and then we saw a wolf! The lady said it's rare to see one in the daytime and this one was sleeping in the sun. At least, I hope he was sleeping...



We rode that bus all the way to the end of the road and all the way back again. One hundred and eighty miles on a school bus. I was so tired at the end of the day, all I wanted to do was sleep. But I want to do that again sometime because it was so AWESOME!!!




Monday, July 20, 2009

North to Alaska!

























Oh. My. God. This place is so beautiful! Even though it's been raining, it's still so gorgeous! But I'm getting ahead of myself. We arrived on Friday afternoon after traveling all day, since about 5:00am. I got to sleep most of the way so I had a lot of energy when we got to the hotel. Mommy and Daddy were really tired though so they took a nap and then we went to get some dinner. It was really late but the sun was still shining! Weird.


The next day, we drove to a place called Whittier where we got on a boat that took us out into a couple of fjords. It was cold and rainy but it cleared up a little after we got out on the water. We saw lots of ice floating in the water and these big blue piles of ice called glaciers. I'm glad I didn't have to go in that water because it was so cold, it was almost white! We also saw some really cute little animals called sea otters that looked a little bit like me, except they liked to lie in the water and just float around. They let me sniff one and it was kind of cool.




Afterwards, we got back in the car and drove to a little cottage in the woods called Rose and Moss. The nice lady there had some really good biscuits for me and there were lots of interesting wild animal smells. There might have been some animals around but we didn't see any.

On Sunday, we got on a different boat that was going out into Prince William Sound to see whales and whatever else we could see. We saw a couple more otters, and some different kinds of birds. Unfortunately, Mommy got really sick and I was really worried about her so I didn't get to see a lot of other animals. :-(


We were supposed to drive to another town called Homer after the boat trip on Sunday but Mommy was too sick to drive so we stayed another night in Seward. Daddy and I took good care of her and now she's much better. We drove back to our hotel in Anchorage and tomorrow we're going on a train. I can't wait!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

My day at the Fair



Today we went to the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton. We got there real early before all the crowds and it was so nice. We walked around the midway, it was still closed but that didn't matter since we weren't going on any of the rides anyway. Then we wandered around some of the exhibits, including some really pretty gardens. I really wanted to go on the grass, but Daddy wouldn't let me. :-(

To make up for that, we went over to the kids park and guess what we saw?! There was a little ride there that had come from Michael Jackson's ranch called Neverland. Mommy was pretty excited and wanted to take a picture of us in front of it. Daddy just rolled his eyes but he was a good sport and went along with it.

Then, we walked over to this little yard that had sawdust all over it and some little bleachers set up under a tent. It felt so good to lie down on the grass but something smelled really interesting.... It was the mini dog races! The man said I had to lie under the bleachers so as not to distract the little dogs, but I could still see pretty well. There were three races with three little dogs in each race and some of them were so cute. I really wanted to play with them but I guess they were working, same as me.

After lunch, we saw a little show that had a dog in it that looked just like me! He was pretending to be the first mate on a pirate ship and he got to do all kinds of neat things like raise the anchor and climb a ladder! There were cats that climbed ropes and even one that walked a plank and then jumped off.

After that, we went over to see the big animals. I got to meet a rabbit, a chicken and a sheep. And when we went into the shed with the big animals, I came face to face with a pig that was bigger than me. I was sooooo scared that I jumped backwards to get away from it. But Mommy said that he couldn't get out of his pen, so I didn't have to be scared any more.

We had such a good time even though it was really hot. I think that after dinner, I'll just sleep for the rest of the day. G'night!










Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy Fourth!

I went with Robert and Karen to see the Fourth of July parade in Alameda today. We had so much fun! I saw horses, and other dogs, and lots of kids on bikes. There was a marching band, and some acrobats, and all kinds of other things, like these people on these really tall bicycles. I wonder how they get up there?






Play Date!

I had an awesome playdate last night with Karen's niece, Mackenzie. She came over to visit last night because her mom and dad went out for dinner, and we played almost the whole time! We played tag in the house, where we ran from the kitchen out to the front door and back again. Then we went out back and she threw the ring toy for me to catch.


I was so tired when she left that all I wanted to do was sleep!




Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Welcome friends

My name is Pandora and I'm a yellow Labrador Retriever. I was born on September 29, 2006 in San Rafael, California, and I lived with a lovely girl named Mackenzie for the first fifteen months of my life. I got lots of love and attention and I learned all kinds of things about how to be a well-behaved puppy, like how to sit and stay and lie down. I also learned how to not bark at other dogs and how to not beg for food when people are eating. That one was really hard!

When I was fifteen months old, I came home to San Rafael to learn how to be a Guide Dog for a visually-impaired person. I got lots more attention and learned a lot of new stuff like how to walk in a harness and how to lead someone who can't see very well down the street and to keep them safe at the same time. I also learned something called "intelligent disobedience", which basically means that if my person tells me to do something where I know someone is going to get hurt, I can disobey and not get in trouble for it. Pretty cool, huh!

I met my guardians, Robert and Karen, on the Fourth of July, 2008. They're terrific people who take very good care of me. They give me treats, and buy me toys and they take me almost everywhere they go! The only thing they won't let me do is do my business on the front lawn of the house. I have to go in the street and it's not very nice. :(

I plan to use this blog to tell you all about my adventures with Robert and Karen. We've already had quite a few and I'll tell you about those too. But I thought it would be polite to introduce myself first. See you soon!

Welcome to Pandora's Box

This is the story of Pandora, the Wonder Guide Dog and her miscellaneous adventures around the United States and eventually, around the world. We hope you enjoy it!