Monique's Mo'Fun, Mo'Money, Mo'Fiend, Mo'Punch, Mo'Doggy, Mo'Dole Whip Trip Report!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

So as promised, here was how we started our first full day at the Fort...

Gingerbread pancakes with real NH maple syrup and local NH bacon.

Now THAT's how you start a vacation!!

We tried to keep up the tradition of a nice breakfast each morning, but we soon discovered that late nights in the parks led to sleeping in a bit, followed by dog duties, led to ....well.... something more like brunch.

But this was a darned fine breakfast (if I do say so myself) eaten on our picnic table OUTSIDE.

Why is it that virtually all food tastes better outside?

So here's where the days start to blend together a bit (my feeble memory fails me regularly it seems).

What I do know is that during one of our first few days at the Fort we had our very first Fiend encounter with none other than Karla (Bibbidi, Bobbidi Boo), her husband Paul and the even-more-adorable-in-person Aiden - aka the official Snarky Greeter! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera handy for this particular meeting, but in addition to stopping by to say hi, Karla also brought me the items I'd won as part of the FortFiends.net raffle she had.

Yay! Now I can officially decorate! :jumpforjoy

Ok so I didn't go anywhere near as elaborate as most, but I did manage to pull off this...

As an added bonus, the wreath was battery operated with PURPLE lights on it!

Now properly identified as a proud Fort Fiend (and for the record - in case others are reading along - that sign stayed out for the duration of our stay), we set about relaxing a bit with the pups .

That generally involved a lot of this...

We all fell back into our typical Fort doggie routine pretty much on the first day.

I set out with Brady for the 300 canal dog walk with his frisbee while Brian walked the girls around the loop in preparation for a trip to the dog park.

This is Brady showing how he feels about his morning jaunts...

And yes, he's on a 6' or less leash. There's nothing in the rules that says someone needs to be holding onto it! :rofl2:

Before anyone has a conniption... we were at the very far end of the dog walk and not a soul was around. Brady also has a turn-on-a-dime recall and I also had an insurance policy - the frisbee.

You see, Brady is not a dog park dog. He doesn't greet strange dogs appropriately. In fact he can be quite a butthead about it. Early on it was all fear based stuff - the result of a dog that was completely UNsocialized as a pup. We worked really hard on this over the years (and yes, I mean YEARS) and the result is now that he doesn't have a complete meltdown 100 yards from every dog he sees. In fact with dogs he's introduced to properly (off leash) and has a chance to hang out with, he is the perfect dog.

But he still can be an ass to dogs he doesn't know. Nothing violent - just some unnecessary snarking and snapping. Still, this is not something that anyone else's poor canine should be subjected to, and certainly not a behavior I want him practicing.

So dog walk it is! We've been doing this every year for the past 5 years. We walk all the way out to the end of the dog walk - make sure no one is around (more on that in a bit) and I drop the leash. We then "play frisbee" - which for Brady means racing large circles around me while I toss the frisbee at this head. He catches it and flings it back in my general direction as he goes around me in his loop. We do this for about 10-15 minutes (depending on the heat) and Brady is done for the day.

I let him drag the leash off his harness just in case I need to step on it to retrieve him quickly, but honestly I've never had to. The only time we ever had an "issue" was the first year when he desperately wanted to launch himself in the canal to cool off. I had a long (20') line on him then and immediately reeled him in before he became a lovely snack for some passing gator.

Here is the view down the dog walk, taken from about halfway down from the entrance...

See that shady spot on the right? That spot became shady about 10:30-11am each day. It came in handy on those mornings when it was particularly hot. The thing about herding dogs is that you can exercise them in a pretty darned small space since they mostly just race circles around you! :rofl2:

Here is the far end of the dog walk where it takes a sharp right over towards the playground/dog park.

Since they opened the dog park, there is hardly ever anyone on the 300 dog walk. In fact during our entire trip (going out there nearly every morning) we ran across only 2 other dogs - both very close to the entrance to the dog walk. Never anyone anywhere close to where we play frisbee.

In fact the only thing we've ever encountered down there was a deer 2 years ago - and this is where having a crazy, frisbee-obsessed herding dog REALLY comes in handy. On one pass, I picked up the frisbee and turned around to toss it to Brady on his orbit by. As I turned I found myself looking straight into the eyes of a decent sized deer standing about 12 feet from me - which means as Brady was about to race around, the deer would be only about 6 or 7 feet from him. :eek:

Brady was on a long line and I immediately dove to step on it, sure that Brady would freak out at best, and chase the deer at worst. His recall is pretty stellar, but stellar enough not to be trumped by a deer??

Brady never left his orbit, never once glanced at the deer, caught the frisbee and continued on around behind me. The deer looked and I swear shrugged and said "hmph" then walked away.

On other trips we've also seen deer on the other side of the canal, and once a coyote shadowed us from the other side before wandering into the woods.

This trip all we saw was some ducks, which Brady couldn't give a hoot about. I did however find evidence of turkeys and picked up several really cool feathers.

Once we returned from our jaunt, Brian and I took the girls for their daily trip to the dog park on the golf cart. The girls love riding on the golf cart. In fact Bz can't pass a golf cart - ANY golf cart- without hopping on it and waiting for someone to take her for a ride. I ride in back with Lyn while Bz rides up front with Brian.

Some random dog park pics...

We bring the Jolly Ball to the dog park with us. Some others like to throw tennis balls for their dogs. We prefer to kick giant horse balls for ours (yes Stef, I said "horse balls"!)

I gotta say that our lunatics entering the dog park completely changes the dyamic of whatever was going on in there before. It might have something to do with them shooting in like 2 little rocket ships when we open the gate; or the fact that Bz races at lightening speed pretty much the entire time; or the part where she grabs the JB by the handle and shakes so much that you'd swear her head is going to just fly right off!

The nonstop running takes place for about 20 minutes (depending on the temperature), then girls get a drink, get hosed off if they're particularly hot, and we take the "cool down lap."

The cool down lap consists of heading left from the dog park to the intersection, taking a right back down to the entrance to the Settlement, then right again and back around to the 300 loop. I think the girls love this part almost as much as the dog park part!

Once everyone is good and tired, we put the gang up in their luxury suites (aka kennels), I give them their peanut butter kongs to keep them busy, turn on their TV (yes THEIR TV) and off we go.

For those that haven't seen the pics before, this is the "doggie dorm" setup...

That photo was actually taken right after installing everything the FIRST time around, but the new setup looks exactly the same and includes their pillows, bones, water bowls, and of course the TV mounted on the left.

It's all about the dogs!! :)

So... once we've had a hardy breakfast and made sure that the canine crew is taken care of, what shall we do next... hmmmmm???

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Yay an update. And it's about the dogs. I love your dogs, Mo!! My morning tends to be a little more leisurely, I kick the dogs out of bed and then they fall asleep on my lap while I drink my coffee. :rofl2:

Can't wait to see what comes next!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

I kick the dogs out of bed too - then they proceed to race around the camper until it sounds like it's thundering and I have no choice but to get up before they start moving the furniture around! :rofl2:

As for coffee.... my dogs are clearly ANTI-caffeine as they are forever trying to spill my coffee by jumping in my lap the second I pick up the cup.

[SCTigerCock 171]

Since we are talking pups, does ya'lls go after alcohol? Savannah is a lush, she takes after Tony. Dosen't matter if it is beer, wine or hard stuff she wants it.

Now we don't give it to her, can't imagine her drunk or after alcohol. Plus Tony is cheap that way.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Since we are talking pups, does ya'lls go after alcohol? Savannah is a lush, she takes after Tony. Dosen't matter if it is beer, wine or hard stuff she wants it.

Now we don't give it to her, can't imagine her drunk or after alcohol. Plus Tony is cheap that way.

I try and set a good example and don't drink in front of mine. Maybe I should of had them with me when the punch was being served. :rofl2:

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Your dogs have more fun at the Fort than I do! :rofl3:

Great update, Monique!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Since we are talking pups, does ya'lls go after alcohol? Savannah is a lush, she takes after Tony. Dosen't matter if it is beer, wine or hard stuff she wants it.

Now we don't give it to her, can't imagine her drunk or after alcohol. Plus Tony is cheap that way.

Our gang generally wants whatever the humans are having. We don't give them any alcohol either - last thing anyone wants to see is a crazy border collie drunk. I take that back... the last thing anyone wants to see if a crazy border collie all hopped up on caffeine and sugar!

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Thanks for the update, Monique!

[Total Joker ... TJ 203]

With those picture :mademyday: . And the puppies are cute too. :rofl2:

[stefa70 205]

Puppy pictures!! :jumpforjoy Love Bz on Brians lap. :heart:

And....horse balls? What more could I ask for? Great update Mo!!

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

That almost makes me want to adopt a border collie ... almost!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

WooHoo!! I've caught up!!! Great report Monique!! Love the pictures of your pups!! As I said earlier, I reaaaaaaallly wanted to go over to the dog park one morning and watch your pups have fun, but never made it!!!

[Lil Lisa 53]

Tessy loved the doggy park too. Bruce got really upset with one guy who's dog kept following her around and jumping on her. All he would do is insist that his dog wanted to "play". Bruce finally had to leave that day, but otherwise it was great.

[FtWildernessFamily...Holly 25]

Just saw the words DOLE WHIP and it got my attention.

Haha.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Thanks for the update, Monique!

My pleasure!

With those picture :mademyday: . And the puppies are cute too. :rofl2:

Had to get at least one puppy post in there. After all, they're the ones that demand we take them to WDW every year! :rofl2:

Puppy pictures!! :jumpforjoy Love Bz on Brians lap. :heart:

And....horse balls? What more could I ask for? Great update Mo!!

I figured you'd like that. :rofl3:

That almost makes me want to adopt a border collie ... almost!

Smart man!! Only the truly insane would choose to live with creatures that are far smarter and far faster than they are... much less *3* of them.

WooHoo!! I've caught up!!! Great report Monique!! Love the pictures of your pups!! As I said earlier, I reaaaaaaallly wanted to go over to the dog park one morning and watch your pups have fun, but never made it!!!

No worries - there's always next time! :)

..Bruce got really upset with one guy who's dog kept following her around and jumping on her. All he would do is insist that his dog wanted to "play". Bruce finally had to leave that day, but otherwise it was great.

Thankfully I don't have to worry about those pesty dogs with my girls - especially Bz. They'll both pretty much ignore all other dogs in favor of the ball, but if any dogs do get a bit too "friendly" little Miss Bz will tell them in no uncertain terms where to go. Don't let her size and wee puppy face fool you!

Last year there was an intact male bulldog that we ran into a few times that was a little too rude for the girls. Not only did Bz back him off and put him in a sit with her little snappy face, but Lyn jumped in for good measure to make sure he stayed put. 90lb "Rocko" was much better behaved after that.

Just saw the words DOLE WHIP and it got my attention.

Haha.

Those words ALWAYS get my attention! And I promise there will be a DOLE WHIP OF EPIC PROPORTIONS in this trip report.

You'll just have to stay tuned!

Since it's getting late, a few more random photos until next time...

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Love the pictures, Monique! Especially this one

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Oh my is that place dangerous!

I finally broke down and bought these...

On the left is a caramel square covered in dark chocolate with sea salt on top.

On the left is a 4" x 1/2" thick slab of caramel with a sort of shortbread crumbly topping.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

On the left is a caramel square covered in dark chocolate with sea salt on top.

On the left is a 4" x 1/2" thick slab of caramel with a sort of shortbread crumbly topping.

They're both on the left? :rofl2:

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

I'm clearly still woozy from all that caramel!

I'd give a pinky toe for either of them right about now. :)

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

And on your other left.... :rofl3:

Great update Mo.

[Brent... Just Brent 83]

Really enjoying following along. I was hoping to run into you guys this year since I couldn't catch up with you last year, but looks like I missed you by a couple of days. And I'm jealous of the dole whips and eats!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Love the pictures, Monique! Especially this one

I totally agree...

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

Oh my is that place dangerous!

I finally broke down and bought these...

On the YOUR left is a caramel square covered in dark chocolate with sea salt on top.

On the MY left is a 4" x 1/2" thick slab of caramel with a sort of shortbread crumbly topping.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

OK Mo, it's been a few days now? Update Please!!!!!!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Sorry - was traipsing through the wilds of Maine all weekend, and scrambling to get some Christmas stuff done.

Making rum balls tonite - will try and at least squeeze in some more pics. :)