A-Hiking We Will Go!

My friend Laura and I are going on an epic hiking trip in May. Apparently, we’re all going to die. As if that weren’t bad enough, I’ve been informed that you need Very Special Supplies when you go to Hell (what, you thought I was going to Heaven? Have we met?), and so off we went to the Hiking-Boot-and-Assorted-Other-Supplies-Half-of-Which-I-Had-No-Idea-Even-Existed Store.

The store we went to, Midwest Mountaineering (which is awesome and employs some very cute staff, just sayin’), is dog-friendly, and since we went right after a dog training class in which Maisy was the neutral dog (a brag in and of itself!), she went shopping with us. We spent around two hours in the store- hey, it takes a long time to find the right boots (and ogle the aforementioned cute employees)!

Maisy was a rock star, not that it surprised me in the least. She barked precisely once, when she saw someone hoisting a huge pack on their back, but other than that, she had a great time. She was a huge flirt, circle-wagging at everyone that walked past. Seriously, she was ridiculous. She was even ambused by a woman who found her adorable; Maisy wasn’t thrilled by this, but she didn’t look put-out, either.

In short? She acted like a normal dog. That is SO weird to me, even if it has become, well, normal. It’s pretty awesome to have a dog that you can take places without worrying about her the whole time, or being embarrassed by her. This has been a long, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes exhilarating journey, and every moment has been worth it.