Labrador Retriever – Wandering Dawgs

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #334 – Cats and Dogs

February 7, 2025Posted in PhotographyTagged Cats and Dogs, Iditirod Dogs, Labrador Retriever, Lens-Artists, Pets, Photo Challenge, puppies, sheep dogs, sled dogs, Stubbs Mayor Cat, UGA Mascot, working dogs21 Comments

Tina brings us the fun challenge of cats and dogs. I’ve always been a dog person. When I was growing up we had dogs but never had a cat.

Family Dogs

Shortly after Henry and I married we became Labrador Retriever owners. Through the years we have had two different black Labs, a chocolate Lab named Blue, and Blondie. Blondie was our best friend and traveling companion for many years. She traveled thousands of miles with us in the back seat of our truck as we towed our RV around the U.S. and Canada. She chased tennis balls and swam in great lakes, oceans, creeks, ponds, and rivers.

We lost her in 2017. I still miss her today.

Working Sled Dogs in Alaska

During our Alaska travels we enjoyed meeting some of the working sled dogs in Denali National Park and visited the Iditerod Headquarters to meet some of those beautiful dogs.

Working Sheep Dogs

When we traveled to Ireland we enjoyed a demonstration of sheep dogs herding sheep.

The University of Georgia mascot Uga (pronounced “ug-a”)

The University of Georgia Mascot is a pure white English Bulldog named Uga. There have been eleven Ugas through the years. UGA IV attended the Heisman Trophy banquet in 1982 with Herschel Walker who won the Heisman Trophy that year. UGA V was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the number one college mascot in 1997 and had a part in the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”

Below, in the image on the left Uga VII is walking on the sidelines in front of his air conditioned dog house during a home game in Athens, Georgia. On the right is Uga X at an event in Savannah. The latest mascot is Uga XI who’s real name is “Boom”.

A Cat who was a Mayor

In 2013 we met a famous cat named Stubbs who was the Mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska. He passed away in 2017 after serving as Mayor for 20 years.

Stubbs, the mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska in July, 2013

Many thanks to Tina for this fun challenge Lens-Artists #333 – Cats and Dogs

Lens-Artists #95: All Wet

May 7, 2020May 7, 2020Posted in Alaska, PhotographyTagged All Wet, Labrador Retriever, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, Yellow Lab24 Comments

This week, Tina has asked us to show things that are All Wet.

As we traveled through Alaska in 2013 we saw wildlife almost every day and some the animals were all wet.

Two Sea Otters Valdez — Sea Otters on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez

Puffins on the Columbia Glacier Cruise from Valdez

Moose in pond — Moose in a pond in Denali National Park

Black Bear fishing for salmon in Hyder, Alaska

I can’t end this post without including our beloved yellow Labrador Retriever, Blondie. She was happiest when she was all wet. No matter where we were, if there was water around, she wanted to swim in it. She’s been in doggie heaven for over two years now and I still miss her every day.

20120519Doggie-Ladder-(28) — Our Labrador Retriever loved to share her wetness with us

Many thanks to Tina for this weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – All Wet

Photo Challenge: Lens-Artists #61 – Precious Pets

September 1, 2019Posted in PhotographyTagged Labrador Retriever, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, Photography, Precious Pets19 Comments

For this week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge Tina has challenged us to show Precious Pets.

We lost our precious dog Blondie almost 2 years ago. She lived a full life and traveled over 200,000 miles on her bed in the back seat of our truck as she accompanied us in our RV travels through the U. S and Canada. She loved to swim, chase tennis balls, and go for a boat ride. During our travels she swam in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, all the Great Lakes, Cook’s Inlet in Alaska, and even the Yukon River in Canada.

Blondie returns with the tennis ball — Blondie was happiest when she was in the water

Blondie and the salmon at the fish hatchery in Valdez, Alaska

Blondie in Cook Inlet in Ninilchik, Alaska

Going for a boat ride — Blondie loved going for a boat ride

We don’t have a pet these days but we have a grand dog and two grand cats.

20181201-Jack-(2) — Grand Dog Jack the Dachshund

20190707-Sandbar-with-Bela-(36) — Grand Dog Jack studies a crab at the beach

20190418-Tubbles-(4) — Grand Cat Tubbles

20171123Thanksgiving-at-the-Badgley-(16) — Our grand cats Tubbles and Tootsie anxiously await Thanksgiving dinner

This post is dedicated to the memory of all the pets who have made our lives so much richer – FD, FD2, Shadow, Howard, Blue, and especially Blondie.

Thanks to Tina at Travels and Trifles for the Lens Artists Challenge – Precious Pets this week

Blondie’s Happy Face

May 16, 2016Posted in PhotographyTagged buddy, Daily Prompt, face, Labrador Retriever, Weekly Photo Challenge11 Comments

Blondie’s happy face always makes me smile!

Our eleven year old Labrador Retriever Blondie

This is my contribution to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Face

and to WordPress Daily Prompt:Buddy

Wandering around Ridgeway, South Carolina

September 11, 2015July 9, 2017Posted in Restaurants, Road Trip, RV Parks, RVing, South CarolinaTagged Fifth Wheel, Labrador Retriever, Little Cedar Creek Campground, Old Town Hall Restaurant, Ridgeway SC9 Comments

We’ve had a wonderful summer at home in Georgia but the fifth wheel hasn’t moved in four months. It’s time to hit the road and do a little wandering in the RV.

We are heading to Virginia to spend a few days visiting our daughter’s family. We’ve made this trip several times before and although we could make it in one day we like to stop somewhere in North or South Carolina to break up the trip.

We enjoyed taking a walk around the pond in the campground

I love staying in new places so after I read a good review of the Little Cedar Creek Campground I decided we would check it out. The campground is clean and well maintained with friendly and helpful camp hosts. The sites are wooded, spacious and quiet. There are trails through the woods and at the bottom of a hill is a little pond and a creek. We decided to stay two nights so we could explore the nearby town of Ridgeway.

Downtown Ridgeway has some interesting old buildings, shops and a wonderful restaurant in the old town hall. We strolled around downtown and enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Old Town Hall Restaurant.