A steep climb, and a new best friend!

What an exciting weekend! On Friday, Mom took me to an obscure part of the Blue Hills. We'd been there before, but Mom forgot to bring her map. She had planned out a route, but we got turned around trying to avoid a small child. He was a very nice small child, but Mom didn't think that it was the safest thing around under the circumstances. Anyway, we couldn't completely avoid the kid but we got lost, and did a lot of climbing.
Lady, this is the only pose you're getting from me. Be happy with it!
There's something under this pile of leaves.
This is the path? You've got to be kidding me!

I'm part mountain goat, despite the tag that says I am officially a dog.
Come on, Mom! What's the hold up?
Down.
This is the view from the top of the steep steep hill.
It's a beautiful view. Not worth the stress of the climb, but a beautiful view.

Yes, we really did climb this. Mom was worried that I'd accidentally knock the little kid down the hill.
It goes higher?
Mom did not write this grafitti.
But a Golden Retriever really is the incarnation of Love, so it seemed appropriate.
What do you mean we have to go up again?

Whatever you say, lady!

After that, Mom stopped taking pictures and started concentrating on getting us home.

On Sunday, my Auntie Carol brought me a surprise: a new best friend.
This is Eden.
She's an 8 1/2 year old Doberman, and such a sweet and good dog! She was so much fun. She was very patient with me and let me chase her around all day. I love Eden.
This is me and Eden begging for a treat.
See how happy I am? I smile.
I learned how to be a Good Dog from Eden.
She was a very good teacher!
We both begged.
When we begged, we got treats.
Aren't we cute?

A special treat for me

Yesterday Mom and I went back to the original part of the Blue Hills that we'd been to, the part by Houghton's Pond. I don't think that we'd been there since she got the new camera! Anyway, we had a great time. Mom had originally planned to take me on a much longer loop to tire me out, but as it turns out it's just as well that she didn't. There was a wonderful surprise waiting for me!
This is me not long after we arrived.
This is a mess. I like a mess!

There's a dragonfly here somewhere.
There he is!
Here he is at another angle. He's very pretty. Not pretty enough for three pictures in my opinion, but mom likes pictures of bugs.
This is the trail marker that tells Mom that we've gone on the wrong trail.
These are pebbles scattered about the middle of the trail.

I don't know what this is, but it sure does stand out!
This is the source of the pebbles.
This is me being enthusiastic about something, I've forgotten what.
This is me licking my nose at a crossroads. We went right.
This was my wonderful surprise! We met a seven month old sheepdog named Dora. She's absolutely beautiful, with great markings and the most stunning blue eyes. She's so good that her mom can let her off leash! She wanted to play, and we played for a while on leash and then Mom actually dropped the leash for me so I could run around with Dora. We were so happy to run and wrestle together! I love Dora.

After Dora and I parted ways, I found some muck to splash in and some water to drink.
Drink!
You can see the primordial ooze on my leg. It smelled like sulphur.
This is the path before us.
It took us someplace we already knew - one of the picnic areas near the pond! Yesterday must have been the best day ever.

Bird Street Conservation Area

Yesterday Mom and I had an adventure. It was more of an adventure than we bargained for! However, first we had something to do. They had to give me my flea and tick medication. I don't like getting the Flea Goo.
When I saw them both coming outside with the goo in Dad's hand, I ran to the other side of the yard and refused to come when called.
You can't make me come!

Oh, well, if we're going to play soccer, I'll come back for that.
I love soccer!
My way of soccer playing is kind of special...
I don't dribble. I just take the ball and sit there with it.
Those weasels! They lured me in with the soccer ball and gave me the goo!

If I roll and roll, maybe I can get rid of it.
It's worth a try, anyway.

Not long after this, we went to the Bird Street Conservation Area in Stoughton.
There is a park inside the conservation area dedicated to the memory of "all the deceased veterans of Stoughton." Of course, you can only get to the park through the Conservation Area, which has no maps, no parking of its own and nothing to indicate that the park is there. This seems like a silly way to commemorate the veterans who didn't make it home, but what do I know? I'm just a dog.
I love this place already!
See how happy I am?
This is a helpful sign, isn't it?
Dragonfly.
This is the same dragonfly. He decided to pose for Mom's camera.
This is a water tower. On our way here we met a man, his two daughters (we assume) and a very playful Boxer mix named Caesar. The man told us all about sassafrass, and that there was a lot of it growing by the water tower.
He was right!
We can't get any closer to the tower.
I guess this is the end of this trail.
One positive aspect of our soggy summer is the plethora of pretty fungi.
Mom wants hair this color, but suspects she may be too old and pudgy to pull it off.
This is an historic stone wall. We know it is historic because the Stoughton Historical Society put up an 8 1/2 x 11" flyer about it, but the rain washed away most of the words. So we don't know why it's historic, but it's historic.
I love exploring. I didn't stop pulling Mom the entire time!
I got a little wet.
We don't know what this is supposed to signify.
I rolled in the pine needles.
This is the lake.

This is a box. It indicates zombie activity. It's been a while!
This is the inside of the box.
This is the lake again.
This is something in the lake. It might be a turtle.
These are lily pads.
This is across the lake.
This looks ominous....
I'm smiling!
This is a trail marker. This is important...
We're still on the trail. A trail, anyway.
Guess we shouldn't go this way!
Here I am being King of the Hill.
This is the view from the top of the hill.
Mom said not to jump in, but I did it anyway.
These are odd trail markers...
Mom didn't know what had been in these buckets, but she didn't let me drink any more of the water we found that day.
This is a birdhouse.
This is a gun range. We had somehow gotten so lost that we strayed onto the property of the Stoughton Rod and Gun Club or some such thing. The book had said that we should expect to get lost, but not this lost! Mom called Dad, who looked for a map online and told us how to get back to our car. Fortunately, the shooting range was deserted. Maybe no one goes shooting in the middle of the weekday. Either way, we probably won't be going back, because Mom prefers that neither of us ingests that much lead. But it was a very pretty site, with lots of sassafrass, and we had a great time.