SAM in the MARSH

MOM with DAD'S  SISTER

Hi There, Well it has been a fun and busy week. We had family visiting from Atlanta and New York. Dad's sister and one of his cousins and her husband, sister and brother-in-law. Of course you know what that means, I was left at home while they had a good time shopping and eating out. Hump! I shouldn't complain too much since I still get to swim and have my rides.

Today I am sharing a few pictures from one of their outings. Dad stayed home with me and they all rode in one car. There is a wonderful seafood place to eat that has been mentioned on the travel and food channel as a must see place to visit. It is the Five Island Lobster Co. in Georgetown, ME. Now this is about and hour north of Portland. The day they decided to go was socked in with fog which hung around until late afternoon then fog came back in.

I'm making my weekly therapy dog visit today then I'm going for a weigh in. Oh NO! Mom doesn't know but Dad and I made a McDonald's run when she was out shopping and on her outings. Dad told me to only put 3 paws on the scale. Oops, I just can't say no to TREATS. Catch you all next week if I'm not too weak from Mom taking away my extra food, after all, without it, I may waste away to normal. Love and Hugs, Sam and Family

SAM

MY  BUDDY  WILSON

Hi Everyone,

This is my friend Wilson. He was here for three weeks and we had a great time. Wilson's Mom sent us the pictures she took so I am sharing them with you. Besides taking me to the park, Mom and Dad have been doing a lot of golfing this summer. I still don't know why I can't go along, after all I love riding in a golf cart, not to mention my love of balls!

My visits to the veterans home is so much fun. I have a favorite wing where everyone is excited to see me. I even get to visit the different rooms. Some of the beds are low and they can reach me easily while other beds are high and I put my paws on the edge and stand up so I can be reached. A couple of my new friends even have treats for me. Mom says, years ago they had metal collapsible drinking glasses. Well, Mom has a plastic collapsible bowl for me so I can get a drink of water while we are visiting. (She says the water fountains are off limits. Go figure.)

Last Sunday Dad's sister, Suzanne flew into Portland and is staying in Kennebunkport. Mom loves it since it gives her a reason to go shopping and have lunch in one of her favorite towns in Maine. Tomorrow Suzanne and dads cousin, Marie and her husband and another couple are planning a trip to have  lunch at Five Islands Lobster Co. in Georgetown, ME. Georgetown is north of Portland and south of Bath. Dad says it's crazy to drive that far for lobster when we have the same lobster here in Scarborough, But you know Mom, she's always up for a road trip and new adventures!

I am sure Mom will take a lot of pictures and report on the lunch and area. My next blog will have family pictures and a report on the restaurant since it was written up on the travel network. Here are the pictures of Wilson and I. I'll check in next week, I hope. As always, Sam and family

OCEAN  PARK

WON  TROPHY

Hi Everyone, It's been almost 3 weeks since I've checked in and boy have I been busy. I met a friend in the RV Park who stayed here for 3 weeks. His name was Wilson and he is a yellow lab. We became best buds and got to go on outings together. He loves to swim and run on trails just like me. It was sad when he left on Friday for his home in NY. Every time I pass their site I double check to make sure he hasn't returned. His Mom took lots of pictures and will be sending them to me. So keep a heads up for pictures of the two of us.

Every week, as you know, I get to go visit as a Therapy Dog. Now I hear them call my name when I am coming down the hall. Some even whistle for me to come to them. Now don't tell Dad, but some give me TREATS! (I don't want him giving me less at home! I might waist away to normal.)

Saturday I had the BEST day EVER! Mom and I left home at 6:30 am headed to Ocean Park Beach for a Doggie Breakfast. There we met some of my Therapy Dog Class Mates as well as made new friends. We had swim time, free play, a special blessing and games. They had all sorts of events from largest to smallest dog, youngest to oldest, best tail wagger, best kisser, best vocalist to name a few. Mom entered me in the Sit Down Stay contest and I won a trophy along with 3 others. Then they gave a trophy for the one who came the farthest and I beat everyone out. So I came home with 2 trophies! Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and I look forward to seeing you in the fall. Take care and I will try to do better about writing. I miss you all, Sam and Family

SISTERS  AT  THE  TOP  OF  THE  WORLD
 

Mom and Aunt Sharon took a day trip to visit Mt. Washington in the White Mountains, Presidential Range. This was a trip where they left me home AGAIN! Just because dogs are not allowed on the cog railway, BIG DEAL. I was up for a hike to the summit. Experienced hikers take around 4 hours to make the climb. Mom says it would take her 4 days! Mt. Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern US and the most prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River.

Mount Washington Cog Railway is the world's first mountain-climbing cog railway running from 1868 to the present. The length of the track is 3 miles and takes 45 minutes to travel up to the summit. Attached are wonderful pictures of the trip.

I am making weekly Therapy Dog visits and loving it. Our weather is wonderful. 80's daytime and 60's at night. The green eyed flies are a problem but I have special spray from the vet to keep them off. Enjoy the pics and Ill be back in a week or so. Miss you All, Sam

BIRTHDAY  3 YEARS OLD JULY 7th

I am 3 years old now and boy did I have a wonderful day! It started with mom taking me to Hinckley Park, which is a lease free dog park. I had soooo much fun running the trails and swimming in the ponds. There were a lot of other dogs in all shapes and sizes to play with.

Hinckley Pond is a 40-acre park located in South Portland with 2 small ponds, lots of trails, bridges and plenty to smell. The ponds are fresh water. There is an old ice house located on the property as they used to cut blocks of ice from the ponds.

After leaving the park we went by McDonald's where mom got her diet coke and I got a plain hamburger patty and a glass of water. (She should drink water like me, it's healthier!) After all that exercise, I spent the afternoon napping. My day was not over yet, so after dinner Mom and Dad took me to Bailey's Ice Cream shop where I got a  cup of  "doggie" ice cream with a peanut butter biscuit on the top. Ahhhh, a perfect day! The only thing to make better, would have been to share it with my Florida pals I left back at home.

1st DAY OF WORK

Here is an update on my Therapy Dog visit. Two days after my birthday I made my orientation and first visit at the a Maine Veterans Home. What a cool place and big! They have 4 wings and I visited all of them. The residence were excited to see me and I them. Mom and I are going back again next week and visit some more. We were there for a little over an hour for our first time. Mom was worried I would get stressed out but I didn't. I LOVED IT!  Enjoy the pictures of my birthday and by the way, I included the picture of my first day of work. Notice my working scarf.  Miss you all, love you more, SAM

PARK  LOOP ROAD IN ACADIA

 Well Aunt Sharon has gone home so Mom is attaching more pictures of their trip to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. This National Park should be on everyone's "bucket list."  I put it on mine but they went without me!

JORDAN  POND

A fun place to eat when in the park is Jordan Pond. This is a view you have while eating on the lawn. A must have is the Lobster Stew and Popovers, not to mention the lawn is dog friendly (not that I got to find out). Enjoy the album attached. Till later, Love Sam and family

WINE & LOBSTER

LIFE IS GOOD

Here I am back again. Mom and Aunt Sharon took off and went to Bar Harbor leaving dad and I alone. You can see they were having a wonderful time!
They stayed in Bar Harbor and visited Acadia Nat'l Park as well as explored Mount Desert Island.
Mom and I have not made our first therapy visit yet due to the director at a Maine Veterans Home being on vacation. I beginning to think I will never get to make any therapy calls. I know I just need to be patient. Attached are some pictures of Bar Harbor. I will include more pictures in a couple of days of Acadia Nat'l Park.
Miss you all, Sam and family
 (Don't tell mom and aunt Sharon but dad and I went to McDonald's and I got my own hamburger and french fries! HA! We'll teach her to leave us alone (until I get weighted!)

WHERE  IN  THE  WORLD  IS  SAM?

Hi Everyone........Things have been pretty quiet. Just hanging out and swimming. Mom made several calls to The Maine Veterans Home before we made contact with the person in charge of activities. We went in this week and she and I had an interview. She filled out the application for volunteering and returned them. They will run a back ground check before we can schedule our visits. While we were waiting for our appointment I had a great time visiting with everyone in the lobby area. So many people coming and going.

Mom's sister came in this week on vacation. What FUN. I have been showing her around all the places I like to go. She even went on walks with Mom and I. They are headed to Bar Harbor, ME tomorrow and returning on Thur. Something about a girls trip. She has promised to take a lot of pictures to share when they get back. Little do they know Dad and I have some fun trips planned, especially to McDonald's. After all, we will be bachelors for 4 days. Boy can we get into trouble! Mom says she is going to weigh me when she gets back.

Our weather has turned beautiful, 80's in the daytime with 49% humidity and low 50's at night. I will check in next weekend with pictures and any news about upcoming therapy visits. Bye for now, Sam

 WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SAM?

Hi Everyone,

Mom got my papers from Therapy Dog and registered on line and took another test. There was this wonderful video they included with my papers and she watched it, hence the test. So I am now OFFICIAL! Next week is my first visit......more to follow.

I was back to the vet to get my last shot protecting me from limes disease. I guess there are a lot of ticks in Maine and they love the tall grasses of the Marsh as well as the woods. Mom keeps me protected with some sort of flea and tick protection so they will die if they bite me. (I just don't want to catch anything from their bite.)

Weather has been great and so is swimming! Only problem is Mom insists on cleaning my ears, which doesn't thrill me but I tolerate it. The picture above is me standing in the Marsh. The grasses are starting to grow taller and are a pretty green. Quite a change from when we arrived. We have decorated our camp site with new flowers and a Hummingbird Feeder.

We have had a lot of RVs come and go with most of them having dogs. The problem is they are not allowed off lease to run and play, but at least they are friendly. The other day I was walking with Dad (yes he walks me too) when we spotted this small creature down by the duck pond. I was cautious and crept upon it. All of a sudden its head went back in its body! I jumped (brave as I am), then slowly snuck back upon it again, but his head stayed in. I did a down dog, pawed the ground, and barked, but it just would not PLAY! Hump, not sure what his problem was. I see these same creatures sunning themselves on a log in the duck pond. I guess dad called them turtles.

Nothing much else to report so I will sign off for now. Oh by the way, the pictures below show you a stick I pulled out of the Marsh. (Mom called it a branch.) I worked and worked to bring it to her and then she wouldn't throw it! (Something about it being 6' long and heavy.) WIMP! Love you all...later gator, Sam and Family

JUST  VEGGING

Here I am just vegging out, just waiting for my Therapy Dog Papers to come through. I need those papers so I will be covered by insurance when I make visits. (Believe me I know the importance of insurance!) I overheard Mom talking and it seems that a friend of hers here in Maine works at a Veterans Home. It is located just up the street and they LOVE having visits. So I have a job as soon as my papers get sent back. I hope it is this week. Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could make a visit this Memorial Day Week-end!

I have had a fun week. Mom took me to a new park and I met fun friends to run and play with. The park has 2 ponds for swimming and trails through the woods for tracking. Mom and I covered over 2 miles of trails. It was fun to have friends to play with even though it will be someone different each week. Dad says he will go next time.

I have been swimming 3 times this week in the marsh at our camp ground! On Sunday Mom and I went for a 4 mile walk on the Eastern Trail. There were a lot of people walking, biking and jogging on the trail with us. I even met several dogs. One was even in a stroller.  I don't think I could convince my folks to push me in a stroller. Come to think of it I don't think I would stay still long enough for that. Well that is about all for now. I will hopefully have gotten my papers and made a visit by my next blog. Everyone take care and I'll be back soon. Love, Sam

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SAM?

Well would you look at this! I'm in the WATER. I have only been swimming twice since we arrived in Maine. Now as far as I am concerned this is ridiculous. I should be going in daily.  Now granted, the weather has been a roller coaster, cold one day and warm the next and the Gulf of Maine's water temp is 48. I find this to be no problem, after all my breed is a hearty one with my ancestors coming from Newfoundland. The problem is convincing my parents of this fact. Oh well maybe the weather will warm up fast and I can get in a daily swim.

As I promised here are some spring flowers. Here at the Wild Duck camp ground we have a pond across from the marsh. When we got here there were NO ducks in the pond. What fun is that? As you watch the pictures attached I had to include the first duck couple in the pond. Hope everything is good at home and I'll keep you posted on my activities. Just waiting to hear from Therapy Dog Inc. so I can go to work.


Sam and Family

Hi Everyone. Well we got into Maine on a Tuesday and got settled in having a campfire our second night here. Mom went shopping ( her favorite thing) at Walmart to stock up on items. I think mom knows where every Walmart and McDonald's is located from FL to Maine! (Dad thinks so too.)

Saturday morning I got so excited as Mom was taking me on a road trip. Just the two of us. Little did I know what was in store! We were in a Dog Therapy Workshop from 9 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon! I came home and took a nap before dinner. I am not sure but I suspect Mom did the same. Now if that is not bad enough we went back on Sunday and continued our training. On Sunday, we finished up around 2:30 then came the testing. I PASSED, I PASSED, I PASSED!

Mom was so proud of me. But then, I had to go to the Vet's this week for a physical to pass the health portion. This new vet was great. Every time she probed her assistant gave me a treat. (Not that I am into probing!) I even weighed in 1-1/2 lbs down from a month ago. Bad news, they want me down 7 more lbs. UGH! Just when I thought I could con Dad out of more treats with my "lab look."

Here I am at the Portland Head Lighthouse. This is my favorite place to visit. They have trails for me to run off lease. The trees are just starting to bud and the daffodils and tulips are beautiful. I'll get mom to take some pictures. There are beautiful tulip trees we pass by when we walk.

Today has been cool but warmer weather is coming and I will show you where I swim. Mom is sending in all the paper work to register me as a Therapy Dog and then we can make some visits. I'll keep you posted.

I miss everyone and I'll be back. Didn't that come from a movie?

Later, Sam and Family

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SAM?

OK, OK I know it looks like I'm in the "dog house" but that is not true! This is a play house in the dog park in Natural Bridge, VA. I'm getting a little ahead of myself so let me tell you what all happened up to this point.

We left Jacksonville and traveled up I-95 and stayed at our favorite KOA where dad ordered pizza and wings. I gave him my "lab look" and got pizza crust. Mom fussed, but too late yum. Our next stop was in NC. They had a really big dog park for me to run in. Then the next day we headed up I-81, which parallels some of  the Blue Ridge Parkway, to Natural Bridge, VA.  The mountains are beautiful, steep and the dogwoods are beginning to bloom. We had really strong winds (25 - 35 mph) and dad had to fight to keep the RV on the road as well as handle the mountains. We get to the RV Park and as mom is putting down the jacks to balance the coach dad hears a pop and it seems the jack blew a seal. That was about all dad's Italian patience could handle. If he could have sold the RV on the spot he would have!

It took dad and the service man all the next afternoon to pull out the jack. We put it in one of our storage bins to have the seal rebuilt in Maine. Well this was more excitement than we needed, so the rest of the trip hopefully would be uneventful. WRONG! We leave Natural Bridge and spent the next night in PA. So far so good. They had a nice dog park here too. Sun. morning we head out toward NY when a wild turkey flies in front of the RV. Luckily we are tall enough it did not hit the windshield and no damage was done to us. Just so you know, we DID NOT have smoked road kill turkey for dinner!

Once we got north of VA the trees were just budding and it still looked like winter. The temp. has been very cool. 50's days low 40's nights. When we stop at the RV Parks we always get "full hook-up." That means water, electric, sewer and cable. It seems the KOA mom picked out in NY was located in the middle of nowhere. So we had only water and electric! Not only no cable but no antenna reception. NO TV! It was so isolated mom thought she heard banjo's in the distance. 

Well we actually made it to Maine on schedule. Miracle of miracles. We did our final gas fill on I-95 in Maine right at noon time and there was a McDonald's there. So mom and dad said we should treat ourselves to a Big Mac and fries. Mom even broke down and got me a hamburger patty! Attached are some pictures of our trip up. My next blog will be after my workshop. Wish me luck.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SAM?

Where did my friends go?? Gosh I miss every one. Oh Mom & Dad play with me but that's not the same. I did get to play with a little dog in the rv dog park.  He was about the size of Coco and just as loco, what fun!

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you about the start of our trip. Mom and Dad took 4 hours to load up the RV. (Dad blames Mom, said she packed everything but the kitchen sink!) So we spent the first night at Lazy Days RV Park in Tampa. Around about my afternoon coffee with whipped cream time (4 pm) we lost power. NO COFFEE POT, NO A/C, NO TV! We were not the only ones. It seems a worker cut an electric line and our row (not the park) was without power. They called TECO to come out to repair it. We started our generator so I got my whipped cream!  The power was out over 6 hours.

The next night we stayed in St. Mary's, GA. What a quaint little town. Located on the St Mary's River near Cumberland Island. Mom went shopping and left Dad and I in camp. We had an oops. It seems when Dad hooked up the sewer one section did not get hooked tight. He opened the valve and YUCK awful smelling spray! I fell over with my feet in the air! Dad shut it off quickly the cleaned up the smell.

It seems that after eating one of my new treats from Toby and Jordan I kept passing gas that smelled like Dad's spill. Oops

Well things come in 3's so now it should be smooth sailing. Today we traveled into NC and the scenery is beautiful not to mention the weather. 70's days and 50's nights with low humidity. I'll be back on the weekend to bring you up to date on our travels. Love and Miss You All, SAM (oh Mom and Dad too)

SENDING  FAREWELL  KISSES

Hi Everyone!
Well I thought I had better get busy and let you all know we are getting ready to travel again. I know this because Mom and Dad parked the RV out front and started loading things. I will feel better when I see them load up my food!

My friends parents from the dog park came down to see my summer home but they left my four legged friends at home. Humans are always doing that. You just wail till everything "Goes to the Dogs" and we will see what happens when the shoe is on the other foot. (And we have 4 of them to choose from.)

We have a lot of adventures planned for this summer. I got a little lazy last year so I will do better about writing, I mean blogging. Attached are pictures of some of my friends. I'm going to miss them so much. I hope they don't forget me.

Heading out Sat. arriving in Scarborough, ME in about 10 days. I will keep you posted along the way.
Sam, Mom (Judy) and Dad (Chris)