NOTE: From time to time, we get requests to write about our camping adventures from the eye-view of Service Dog Charlie. While, I can’t really speak for Charlie, the following Chronicle is an attempt to relay a part of Charlie’s life on the trail. In his own words…
Whenever we are going somewhere, there is a great sense of anticipation. I can tell when Chris and Bill are up to something. They are moving stuff into the RV, making sure my bed is put under the table and my favorite toy, my stuffed lamb is there, too. I make sure I go with them at least to the door every time because I don’t want to be left behind. And no matter what, I want to be the first one in the RV, taking no chances.
This time, I heard them say we are going to some place called the Shenandoah National Park. They were talking about going on a drive along the skyline and doing some hiking. I’m really not sure what all that means, but hey, I’m game just so long as I get to go. We stopped at what they call the Fox Hollow Trail Head. I sure hope there are foxes along this trail. This looks like an interesting place to go, but I don’t see a fox yet. C’mon guys let’s get on with this. Along down the trail, it came to a split. Now Chris and Bill are usually pretty fun when they are in “camping mode,” but sometimes they need a little help deciding which path to take. That’s where I come in—we are going this way. In the backwoods of the Shenandoah Valley, it’s hard to imagine that people actually lived here. But there are signs of civilization out in the middle of nowhere. We found a spring well and a small cemetery, one of more than 100 in the valley. Life was hard for humans.
Even deeper in the wilderness there are signs of civilization lost. We came across this concrete frame with water in it. Heard Bill say something about it being “fed” by a nearby spring. All I really heard was “fed.” If someone’s getting fed on this hike, I want a piece of it. But that must not be what he meant, because we kept on walking and found the source of that well. I didn’t really want to cross over this running stream, but with a little coaching from Chris, I traversed it like the champ I am. I see my job as making sure Bill doesn’t stumble around on the trail. Last year, he had a bad fall coming out of a friend’s house. He says I pulled him down the brick steps. I think he was just clumsy—three stitches in the forehead clumsy. So now I kind of pick my way through the paths, just to not give him another excuse.
Finally, the end of the trail. That was a pretty steep one on the way back. But speaking of champs—Chris and Bill put me up on this stump overlooking the valley. Kind of an Olympic triumph for me. I don’t know what that’s all about. I was just walking, well really dragging them along—you know they’re not as young as they used to be. And I was thirsty. We loaded up and went to a local coffee and ice cream shop. Got some water and a taste of a chocolate milkshake. Yum! Even met a new friend. All in all, it was a great day on the trail. I hear Chris and Bill talking about creation is so wonderful that people have no excuse to understand that there is a God. Even as a dog, I believe this, especially when I get to eat so many different types of food and see so many new places. It’s a big world out there. I wonder what’s next.
