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Tag Archives: Sedona Arizona

New Expedition

14 Aug

Today I got to go on a new adventure. I got to go exploring.

I can’t believe we’ve never been here before. It’s my wash, after all.

But it’s the other part of my wash.

When we get to this place in my trails we usually go left and head back home. To explore this part we have to go right.

Finally I talked my person into going right for a change.

And we were off – on a new expedition.

At first I had a good time checking out all the new smells in this wash.

But then I saw something really strange.

A barkless tree.

It’s a good thing this tree is not a dog. It would have a terrible time giving warnings in dog talk.

We headed up past that tree and kept on going.

And then I saw it.

Something I’ve never seen on my trails before.

I think somebody has been expecting me because…

they started building me a house.

Whoever is building it must be coming back because they haven’t finished with it.

The walls are almost high enough for me, but the house still needs a roof.

I looked to see if I could see anyone around.

I don’t see anybody this way.

Nobody over this direction either.

The house builder doesn’t seem to be around anywhere.

Guess I’ll go inspect the place.

As long as there’s no rain I can wait for the roof.

32 Comments

Posted by Bongo on August 14, 2013 in Bongo, dogs, humor

Tags: dry wash, Pets, Sedona, Sedona Arizona, stones, Trail, Tree

I’m a Starbucks Dog

27 Jul

I really do not like thunder. It’s one of the most horrible things there is.

But I’m thinking now that maybe there’s a good side to thunder.

Thunder has some benefits of its own.

Yesterday I got to go to church – twice – because my person didn’t want to leave me home alone while it thundered.

But today was even better.

For the first time ever, I got to go to Starbucks.

Well, I didn’t get to go in Starbucks, but they have tables outside my Starbucks – and dogs are allowed to sit there.

They even have a special Starbucks drink for dogs outside their front door.

And not only did I get to go to Starbucks, but so did my friend Pablo.

I hadn’t seen Pablo for months and months so I had to check him out and make sure it was really him.

Pablo and I met lots of new people while we were there and we got lots of loves.

Even kid loves. The best kind.

We saw some strange animals too.

I’ve never seen animals like this on my trails.

They seemed friendly though. I wanted to play with them, but I couldn’t get them to take notice of me.

So I decided to check out the view from our table.

I couldn’t see much. There were a lot of bushes in the way.

My person said she had a better view though.

I guess being taller than a dog has its advantages.

My person says there’s a rock in this picture named after a famous dog.

Hey, I’m famous. Is there a rock named after me?

What? It’s not me? It’s a dog named Snoopy?

I kept waiting for Snoopy to get up and bark so I could spot him, but my person says all he does is lay on his back.

He’s laying there on top of the rocks to the right of the tallest rocks in the picture.

I guess I need to work on getting as famous as Snoopy.

That way I can sleep all day too.

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29 Comments

Posted by Bongo on July 27, 2013 in Bongo, dogs, humor

Tags: Arizona, Outdoors, Pablo, Pets, Photography, Sedona, Sedona Arizona, Snoopy Rock, Starbucks

Hazy Gloom

02 Jul

When I looked outside yesterday morning I could barely see the red rocks on my trails. They seemed to be covered in some kind of fog.

But we rarely get fog here. And especially not in June.

A heavy cloud has covered the land.

And not just your ordinary fleecy cloud that fades away when the sun gets hot.

This seems like a cloud of doom. A cloud of destruction.

And that’s what it is.

It’s weighing over me so I’m going to take a break from being funny, or silly, or adventurous today.

Because what is covering up my rocks is the smoke drifting over from the Yarnell Fire.

This fire has made national news due to the loss of nineteen hotshot firefighters. These young men were husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers. They left families and friends behind who are in deep grief over their loss.

This fire has destroyed about two hundred houses and other buildings in Yarnell, and has caused the evacuation of hundreds of residents in the towns of Yarnell and Peeple’s Valley.

And the fire is still running wild and is nowhere near being contained.

So today, rather than telling you about one of my adventures I’m going to ask for prayer instead.

Please pray for all of those who lost a loved one.

Please pray for all those who have lost a home, and for all those who have been evacuated from their homes.

Shelters have been set up for evacuated animals. Please pray for the animals too.

Please pray for the safety of the many people who continue to fight this fire.

And please pray for rain. Lots of it. We haven’t had rain in so long and it’s so dry here. Our rainy season should start in a few days. Please pray that it starts right away- at least over that fire.

Did I do okay, person?

I hope they put that fire out right away because I’m ready for another adventure.

37 Comments

Posted by Bongo on July 2, 2013 in Bongo, dogs, humor

Tags: Arizona, Firefighter, Grief Loss and Bereavement, Peeples Valley Arizona, Pets, Prayer, Sedona Arizona, smoke, Yarnell, Yarnell Hill Fire

The Hottest Day

29 Jun

Today was the hottest day of the year, so what did my person want to do?

She wanted to go outside and experiment with her new camera.

I don’t know why she couldn’t have waited until maybe October. When the weather’s nice.

So we had to spend extra time out in the heat today while my person fiddled with her camera and figured out how to change the settings.

And she still has her old camera. She could have taken that instead.

It’s really stupid why my person has a new camera.

She was taking me for a walk on my trails and taking pictures (she’s always doing that) and my younger person called so she was trying to take pictures and talk on the phone and she dropped her camera.

I was really excited when my person said her camera wouldn’t work – but what did she do? She ordered another one right away. She said she felt naked without her camera and this new one did more.

Well my younger person got her camera working again so now my person has two cameras. And she had to experiment with the new camera on the hottest day of the year.

Here I am panting away and my person’s taking pictures of…

Juniper berries, and…

red rocks, and…

dead flowers.

But I’ve decided I really don’t like this camera after she took this picture of me.

I hope that camera has a setting for suave and debonair.

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42 Comments

Posted by Bongo on June 29, 2013 in Bongo, dogs, humor

Tags: Camera, heat, Pets, Photography, Sedona, Sedona Arizona

Ocotillo All Over

18 Jun

Last year my person and I took an extra long walk on trails that we hardly ever go on, because my person said that was the only place on my trails where the ocotillo grow.

Well, she lied.

Because we went on a trail that we sometimes go on – but the last time we went on it there was a sign on the part that goes back to our house saying it was closed. The sign said they wanted more cactus to grow on it – or something like that.

And besides that there were two people cuddling with each other this time.

I would have gone right up to those people and got some loves too, but my person said we could take the long way back.

The long way goes parallel (I don’t know what that word is – my person made me use it) to my regular trail, but it’s higher up the hill. My person says she hasn’t been on it in a very long time and I’m not sure if I’ve been on it at all. At least it doesn’t smell familiar.

So we were walking along on this long way trail and there they were.

Bunches of ocotillo just hanging out on the side of the hill.

They were even blooming with their little red flowers on top.

I’m still not sure why my person cares about these things though. I mean, look how tall and skinny they are.

If I was that skinny my person would probably take me to the vet for treats and loves.

I sure hope my person doesn’t try to take some of my treats and bring them up here to these ocotillo plants to fatten them up.

I think I’d better head back home now so I can keep a close eye on my treats.

Oh no, I forgot.

There’s a tame ocotillo across the street at my neighbor dog Toby’s house.

Toby, quick! Hide your treats!

20 Comments

Posted by Bongo on June 18, 2013 in Bongo, dogs, humor

Tags: Hiking, ocotillo, Outdoors, Pets, Photography, Recreation, Sedona, Sedona Arizona, Trail, Walking

Trail Danger

13 Jun

I was heading down my trail and I realized they were everywhere. All over my trails.

I don’t want to get near that nasty plant.

I think somebody put that plant there on purpose – so everybody would stay in the center of the trail and not wander off in the bushes.

Because if you wander off in the bushes you might not come back.

That plant has a reputation for catching its victims and holding on to them.

And never letting them go.

I bet if I wandered far enough into the bushes – if I managed to make it, that is – I’d find skeletons being held by that plant.

Skeletons of animals or people that tried to escape, but couldn’t.

Animals or people that died in the clutches of that plant and are stuck forever.

Yikes! This is scary. I sure hope that plant doesn’t get overgrown onto my trails and try to grab me.

I don’t want to go back home yet, but I sure don’t want to be stuck in the clutches of one of those things.

These plants look innocent enough.

That’s how they fool you into getting too close.

But these plants have a horrible name for a horrible reason.

They’re called Catclaw.

And I have firsthand experience with catclaws. The animal kind.

And these thorns look almost the same.

Yikes! I’ll be walking carefully back home now.

If you don’t see a blog post from me tomorrow, could somebody please come check the bushes on my trails?

22 Comments

Posted by Bongo on June 13, 2013 in Bongo, dogs, humor

Tags: catclaw, Catclaw Mimosa, Outdoors, Pets, Photography, Plant, Sedona, Sedona Arizona, thorns, Trail

Searching for Century Plants

06 Jun

My person and I went out on an extra long walk. A century plant trek.

We started out on the trail where most of the century plants were last year. We figured we’d find lots of them. Well, my person figured. I was just happy for the walk.

We found some century plants.

The old dead ones from last year.

But there were only a couple new century plants on this whole trail, and they weren’t even in full bloom yet.

So we headed back. The trail is a loop so we kept looking for century plants on the way back.

And then we found it.

Century Plant Hill.

There were lots of century plants on this hill. Last year there were only two.

If you look really close you can even see the bugs flying around the flowers.

Speaking of bugs, they were everywhere. Especially on my person because she doesn’t have lots of hair to protect her like I do. Those little “no see ‘ems” that come out this time of year were all over her arms.

So we headed back home.

But my person still couldn’t stop taking pictures, even though the bugs were worse around the plants.

I thought maybe if I turned the color off…

the bugs would go away. But they didn’t…

so I turned the color back on again.

One last look at Century Plant Hill and we headed home.

Come on, person. I said we were heading home. I don’t care if there’s a bird in that plant. You have to look really close to see it.

Well, if you’re going to stop and take pictures of birds, then you’d better show the picture of me…

and the new friend I made on the way to Century Plant Hill.

This part was way more fun than looking for century plants.

28 Comments

Posted by Bongo on June 6, 2013 in Bongo, dogs, humor

Tags: Agave americana, century plant, Pets, Photography, Sedona, Sedona Arizona, Trail, Walking

Mysterious Object

01 Jun

I found this strange object when I was out on my trails. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I guess I’d better get investigating and figure out what it is.

Time for my Detective Dog hat.

This won’t do.

That’s better.

Maybe it will help if I look at that object in its natural environment.

When I found it, it looked like this.

Oh, look at this. These weeds are right near where I found this object.

Maybe these will give me some clues.

I am not eating these weeds, person.

I didn’t find anything in here anyway.

What do you mean, look up?

What does that have to do with anything? Can’t you see how high it is?

This little thing I found was way down here.

I still don’t know why you’re looking at that.

Well, yeah. It’s kind of the same color.

I’m not getting anywhere with this investigation. Let’s head on down the trail.

I’ll think about this later.

30 Comments

Posted by Bongo on June 1, 2013 in Bongo, dogs, humor

Tags: century plant, Detective Dog, Pets, Sedona, Sedona Arizona, Trail, Weed

Name that Corner

29 May

This time of year my street has two corners with special names. At least I think they should have special names.

After we got back from my trails I got an extra long walk so we could go to these corners and my person could take pictures. I guess I don’t mind her taking pictures if I get a longer walk because of it.

This first corner is for the birds.

Bird of Paradise, that is. That’s what these yellow flowers are called.

The next corner is Century Plant Corner.

Every year for as long as I can remember, one Century Plant has shot up on this corner.

I’m not sure what’s going on though, because these corners have the wrong street signs on them. They have some really strange names that don’t even look like Bird of Paradise Corner or Century Plant Corner.

This is really bad, because people are going to get lost when they try to find these places.

Maybe I’d better get some new signs and post them on these corners.

Oh yeah, forget the signs. That Century Plant isn’t in full bloom yet and awhile back I promised I’d show some pictures of the ones on my trails when they started blooming. My person made my climb a hill so she could get pictures of this one. The first one to bloom on my trails this year.

Alright, that’s enough. Stop your gawking.

This is a blog about me.

40 Comments

Posted by Bongo on May 29, 2013 in Bongo, dogs, humor

Tags: Agave americana, bird of paradise, century plant, Pets, Photography, Sedona, Sedona Arizona, Street sign, Trail

West Fork

14 May

Over the weekend I got in the car with my people and we started going somewhere I’ve never been before. My people said it was a place called Oak Creek Canyon. All I know is that the smells there were a lot different than the smells on my trails.

I sure hope this isn’t a new route to the dog hotel.

The car stopped and when I got out I didn’t see a dog hotel anywhere in sight.

Whew! I can relax now.

We walked a little ways and then I found it. It’s a trail sign and it says West Fork.

This is where I told my people to go. My friend Lola and her person Shary said it’s the best trail ever, and my people have never taken me here before. That’s okay, because now I can take them here.

Hey, check this out! It’s a bridge – and there’s water down there.