Tag Archives: Max

Mudbay Park

Today (Monday) we took Max over to Mudbay Park, an important part of the Pacific Flyway, the aerial highway migratory birds use to make their way from South America all the way to Alaska. It’s a pit stop of sorts, for birds on their way to and from mating/breeding grounds.

Mudbay ParkThis was our first time there; there are paths running along the sea shore, over dykes and through the estuary. The marsh grasses hide lots of birds, but most of the up to 1200 species are not here at this time of the year. We saw only the usual ducks, crows, seagulls etc. The tide was not too low, so the flats are not that visible in the pictures.

Mudbay Park - Panorama

Mudbay Park DriftwoodIt has a nice flat course for easier running. There are several well-paved trails, used also by cyclists. It was overcast, so a touch cool, but nice for a walk/run. The first loop was a 1.5 km trail, that had no hills what so ever. The only incline was down hill, and that was about 5 steps worth! Max liked to look over at the ocean, but had no inclination to try to get there.

Mudbay Park - LupinsIt’s certainly a park that’s worth a second look. Pam has already declared it her favorite park. For a runner, it has some nicely maintained trails, in a relatively flat setting. The ocean is a welcome diversion, but the plant life is nice too. Lupins were just beginning to bloom all over the trail.

Surrey Lake

Surrey Lake, May 15 2009It’s been a while since we’ve made a post on the blog. Not sure why that is – just lazy I guess. We’ve been doing a lot of running, Max and I. We usually head down to the watershed on the weekends, and I usually don’t take a camera. Yesterday was a day off for me, so Max and I headed over to Surrey Lake.

Surrey Lake, May 15 2009It’s a man-made lake, and wetlands, designed to protect the farmlands. It’s got a trail around and up a fairly steep hill. On top of the hill horses graze. The run down the backside of the hill is nicely lined with trees, then you break out over the flats of the wetlands.

Max really gets excited when we get close to the parks where we run. He sits up and starts whining eagerly, prancing on his seat. All the little creatures get him scampering all over.

Max at Surrey LakeHe’s much better around people when we’re on a leash. He used to react to people who got too close. But we’ve managed to calm that down a bit. Still working on his in-home behaviour when visitors arrive – I’d like him to be a bit calmer when he sees we are ok with whoever has arrived. We had a technician from the cable company and he was better. Not great, but getting there.

I tell you tho, he has the most hysterical habit of playing with his stuffed toys. I’ve seen dogs take toys and shake them and rough house them, but Max takes them and TOSSES them WAY into the air. They even wind up on the table! It’s so funny, and he stands there with his mouth wide open in a big smile! It’s really too funny.

The mind wanders

Canucks LogoStream of consciousness post this evening… We’ve had time to reflect on the Vancouver Canucks four game sweep of the St. Louis Blues and people got more than just a little carried away! They were out blocking intersections, and honking horns and fighting – and finally a cop got his leg broken. I mean, come on people! It’s the first round, we’ve won nothing.

Not that I’m not glad we won! Sure, I’m excited, but there are three more rounds to go. No point in getting carried away over nothing.

Tulips bloomWhat happened to spring? Usually the cherry tree in the backyard has finished blooming already. So far, it’s not giving much sign of anything. If this is happening to our usually very productive tree, how are things going with farmers? I sense that food is going to be pricey this summer, rather than cheaper.

The early tulips we got in February are toast; they grew four or five inches then got snowed on, and they never recovered. The ones that were later coming up are finally giving a bit of a show.

Max had some dental work done this week, and had his nails clipped. He’s not great with strangers to say the least! When my folks stayed for a few days last week, he barked at them each morning. sigh. Not behaviour we want – I wish I knew what he felt… how can these people in the house be a threat? They’ve been there all day, all night…

I’m confused. He’s such a goofy friendly guy in general. It’s just this stress of seeing some one new sets him barking.

My official Sun Run time was 1:13:35. Darned slow I know, but I see in retrospect that I needed to train differently than I did. I’ll do better next year. It’s fun to be running again, especially now that it’s finally warming up. Although it wasn’t really very warm this morning!

(So what did happen to spring? Isn’t this the time of year it gets warmer?)

Thought for the Day: If I can remember when an application was for employment, a program was a TV show, a hard drive was a long road trip, and a keyboard was an electronic piano, does that make me old?

Shedding Max

March 01 2009 in the Watershed When we first got Max, I was amazed at how much he did NOT shed. Well, I guess there are two cycles for him to shed, and he’s pretty much finishing up shedding for this spring.

And wow – that was a shed! Just TONS of hair came out of that little guy!

Max - lighter colorHis color is so much lighter now! He’s almost blonde! It’s quite remarkable actually. I’m hoping you get a sense of the difference from this recent picture. The bigger one I took today in the front yard.

He is a really lovable dog. Just loves to be with us, and in physial contact with us, if possible! I’m just so glad to have him in my life.

He makes us laugh with his quirky silliness. You should see him “make his bed.” Just hysterical – we have a nice sheepskin plush bed, with a nice plush bed under that. We keep it nice and neat for him… so he can jump on it, squish it around, dig at it with both front paws, get both pieces all scrunched into a ball, then toss it aside, so he can lay on the carpet BESIDE the beds to sleep!! lol

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!

St. Patrick's DayHope you all had a great St. Patty’s day, cuz I sure did! Here is a picture of Max and I posing for a green photo before heading off to work.

Nice hat!Pam found some swell four leaf clover lights – like a string of Christmas lights, but with lucky clover leaf. I took them into work and strung ’em around the desk.

And it worked! The Canucks won last night, setting a team record in the process. (A good team record too, ten victories in a row. Much better than the 9 losses in a row that preceded this record!)

Anyway – hope you all had a Lucky day!

Back to the Watershed

March 01 2009 in the Watershed Well today Max and I went back to the Watershed Park in south Surrey.

It’s a great park. I’ve done some running around the Lower Mainland, and I really like this park. The trails are not paved, so it’s easier on the knees and ankles. We spent nearly two hours here today, switching from the upper to lower trails.

Watershed parkIt’s a wonderful experience. Old growth forest, so peaceful…. walk about 30 seconds into the park and the traffic noise fades away and you’re alone in the forest.

I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed running as much as I have through this park. It’s really a lot of fun. Even better than Stanley Park – the grounds here are more natural. The park is so large. It seems like you are alone in the park.

March 01 2009. Watershed Park.We’re going to take in a different park each week, so stay tuned for more!

The watershed is part of Surrey’s park system, which is the best and largest in Canada. We have more park space than any city in Canada. And Max and I are going to explore every one of them! hah

Watershed wilderness walking

Max at the watershedMax and I took off for the watershed park this morning. Pam is working a string of nights (sleeping days) so it’s up to us guys to keep ourselves amused.

The watershed park is quite a cool area of South Surrey. Lots of people walking their dogs, riding bikes, jogging, whatever people do in parks! I can let Max off the lead, so it’s nice that way as well.

You can feel quite isolated sometimes, but you are really not far from everything. I spent most of the walk alone, only occasionally running into people.

Max at the watershedThe forest around is peaceful and cool, with natural walking paths, instead of pavement. It’s well signed, with lots of complex paths, so you can have a unique route through the park each time. Max just scooted around, taking 37 paths to my one! He couldn’t get enough of the soft earth to run on!

The pics are terrible – I only had my cell with me. What a putz I am! Tomorrow, tho, we’ll head back and I’ll take a nice camera and get some nicer shots of the place.