Vermont Adventures: Dog Mountain

If there is a heaven on earth for dogs (and the people who love them), it is Dog Mountain.

From their website:

Dog Mountain is set on 150 acres on a private mountain top spot in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The unspoiled haven is covered with hiking trails and dog ponds. Wildflowers abound in the summer and snow shoeing is a favorite activity in the winter. Dogs are not just welcome here, they are cherished!

And that is the truth! Honey Ham could sense something great as we pulled onto the long drive up to the property. She just new that she was about to have some serious dog fun.

To say it was amazing is an understatement. First of all, we are not used to such a dog friendly environment! This place is all about the dogs. We cannot say enough good things about the staff there. Everyone was smiling at Ham and didn't even get mad at her when she went behind the register and started rummaging for tennis balls!

They didn't care that she was sniffing around the food tables!

They were fine with her drinking from their water bowls and leaving jowl puddles on their floor!

They let her play with their toys!

And run where ever she wanted!

And run she did! We have never seen little Ham run so fast before!

She ran over the hills and through the wild flowers.

She ran right up to the Dog Chapel.

And through the chapel doggie door.

She paid her respects at the alter.

We looked around and tried not to cry.

The walls are packed floor to ceiling with notes and pictures from humans whose best friends (dogs) have passed.

It is very emotional.

And very beautiful.

All the gorgeous artwork, wood carvings, etc. is the work of Stephen Huneck.

We had seen a few of his pieces through the years and liked them, but we never knew about the artist, his story or the extent of his work. To learn more about Stephen Huneck check out this link. It makes us sad that he is no longer here to continue to create. We are so thankful that he left all of us Dog Mountain and that his wife continues to keep it going in his memory.

If you like dogs and/or art, please visit their website and buy something or donate a few dollars to help save Dog Mountain. They are having issues with taxes (BOOO TAXES!!!). Read their story and you will want to help.

Right now they are having a really great discount by using the code SAVE. You will get 55% off all original limited edition woodcut prints, including framing! WOW! We have our eyes on a few prints that would be a nice addition to our walls. When we visited we bought the Sled Dogs Vermont - Giclee print and its gorgeous. It came in a sturdy, black wood frame and its a perfect way to remember our love for Vermont and our times there.

OK, thats all. Now go shopping on their website and plan your trip to Dog Mountain!

Vermont Adventures: Road Trip!

Better late then never...

The next few posts will be about our trip to Vermont that we took at the end of June. We have about 7,000 pictures but we will try and narrow it down a bit! Enjoy!

We love that drive up to Vermont. For us its about 6 and a half hours to the Northern Kingdom and the oasis that is the Phineas Swann. Its so north that its practically Canada! But with views like these, who cares?

Honey Ham is excellent in the car and just lays in the back seat in the little nest we make her out of pillows and blankets.

Occasionally she tries to surf the center console.

We take lots of stops and walk breaks. Even though Honey NEVER goes to the bathroom and rarely drinks when we are on road trips. Hopefully if we were on a trip longer than 6 hours she would go.

Love that Vermont rush hour traffic!

We stopped at the nicest rest stop EVER in Shannon, VT. It was gorgeous with picnic areas and a scenic overlook and an impressive Vietnam Veterans Memorial. While looking for a good picture of the rest stop I actually found an NY Times article about it and their use of "Green Flush" toilets. Uhm, interesting? Here is a link to that article anyway. The only thing I could find a picture of was the green water in their green flush toilets and this isn't that kind of blog so...just take our word for it and if you ever find yourself in that part of VT, stop at the Shannon rest stop to stretch your legs.

See, we told you it was nice!

There may have also been a stop at a McDonald's for some breakfast but we will not admit to that nor show photo proof of it. Even if Honey does love McGriddles.

Next post will be post about an AMAZING PLACE we visited!

Drool Happens

Bulldogs Can't Swim!!

I love when people tell us that. People looked at us today with Honey Ham at the beach and thought we must be nuts! Then they saw Honey Ham in the water and laughed. Maybe bulldogs can't swim...but Honey Ham can.

(Always supervised of course!!! We take Honey's safety and comfort VERY seriously. Bulldogs are a special breed and we don't mess around when it comes to her safety. We went to the beach prepared and were ready to leave at a moments notice if we had to. And don't forget, it has taken three years for Honey to become this comfortable in the water and if she didn't trust us I doubt she would swim the way she does.)

Eye Spy

The Little Mermaid Ham

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July everyone! Honey Ham will be relaxing by the pool and eating grilled sausage and hopefully some lobster later.

Everyone needs to check out Phineas Swann Bed and Breakfast Inn. The Phineas is a dog friendly B&B in Montgomery Center, Vermont and it is run by the awesome Jay and John. They even have their own little rescue bully named Phinny! She is too cute.

We truly cannot say enough nice things about the Phineas Swann. We were married there in October and everything was so beautiful. We loved it so much there that we just had to go back. So we did! It was just as perfect as we remembered. We have several hundred pictures from our recent trip up to Vermont. I think I will break it up into a few different posts so its not picture overload.

Sneak peek:

This is where Mr. T and I were married in October. Right in this very spot!

We had an amazing wedding and Honey Ham was right there with us.

A typical Phineas breakfast. Yum!!

Ham modeling by the Phineas Swann sign.

Our favorite spot to relax.

See that river? That will be a whole different post. Honey Ham LOVES that river.

How can you not love a place that has bulldogs all over it?!

Please, go check out their website and book your room now! You (and your dog) will LOVE staying there!