What I learned from Talus’ adventure and road maintenance

Monday I planned on taking the dog for a hike and then helping Dad. His plan was to install a new tool box on the old crawler, move the sawmill and work on flattening and widening the sawmill area.

While he was working on the first job Talus and I walked the loop that goes west from the camper, north at the potato patch east on the ridge and back down to the camper.

I had my GPS with me and really wanted to get the loop recorded. I’d like to transfer the information on to a topo map.

On the ridge, near the path to the fern meadow Talus took off, I caught a glimpse of two brown figures jumping away and a fluffy, white bottom hopping over a log.

I chased after her and called for about 10 minutes. I decided I had better look for her, but would need my lunch, water and leash before I set off. I knew she would get tired, but I was afraid that she would have been so intent on the deer that she may have lost her way. This has happened to other dogs.

So, I ran down to the camper, told Dad what happened and was inhaling some chicken salad when a very hot and tired dog showed up. I gave her water and food in the shade of the camper shed and there she stayed for the rest of the time. I was very happy to see that she came back, I should know, she always remembers our walks, even after years and we have hiked all over the property over the course of her 9 years.

Dad decided not to move the sawmill, but to work on the road to the ridge instead. I got to try to move and smooth earth, but kept on making bigger and bigger holes. Dad is an expert, of course

When I got home, Talus was just too tired and achy to get out of the car:

This is what I now know: I can trust the dog to take care of herself most of the time, flattening a surface with a bulldozer is a lot harder than Dad makes it look.

All in all a good day and I learned a lot!