Bowie’s First Camping Trip
Warning: This post contains many adorable dog photos and gushing about my fur baby.
As you may already know Mike and I adopted Boaz (we like to call him Bowie) about 4 months ago now. He was rescued by Dog Tales in Newmarket, Ontario from a tough situation at an Isreali animal shelter. He lived there for 2 years before we set eyes on him and knew he was the one for us. We were much warned about how Bo’s difficult past has led to his distrust of humans and therefore occasional fear aggression. After earning Bowie’s trust and getting to know him, we know that he is a sweet angel and it is understandable to be scared of humans after years of abuse. We also knew that in adopting a dog, we wouldn’t be able to do the yearly trip that we try to do. Usually, this includes flights so naturally a dog has to be taken care of in your absence. However, Bo is a special case and can’t be trusted with just anybody. It is also much too early in our journey as a family to part for a long period of time.
This was solved by Mike and I’s love for the outdoors. We don’t need to go somewhere far to recharge and have a great time. Therefore, we decided on Algonquin Park, a place both of us had been to before and loved. We were also excited because Bowie absolutely loves walks. When I say this I mean he really, really loves walks and literally nothing else. He doesn’t like toys or playing fetch. So what could be a more perfect place than a beautiful provincial park that is stuffed with hiking trails? We excitedly booked a week at Canisbay Lake and began preparing. I don’t know if it’s weird but I love organizing and pack for camping and trips alike.
It took Mike and I about a day to really set in and start to feel the relaxation coming on. We spent a lot of time on the beach at Canisbay Lake in a stop distant from the busy main section. We basked in the sun, read, drew, chatted and stared at the view. We were hoping that Bowie would like swimming so that we could all swim together but he was not having it. He would put a paw or two in but change his mind pretty soon after, even though daddy was farther away then he’s usually happy with. That’s ok! I was happy with spending most of my time right there on the sand. Funny enough, Bo started to dig a hole in the sand. We were surprised and wondered what he was up to. He had created a hole his size which he plopped into and used the leftover mound as a pillow. We figured he must have spent some time as a street dog sleeping on the Israeli beaches.
Bowie can sleep anywhere and to him, apparently tree roots make the best pillows. We ogled over him everytime he got cozy and just couldn’t help but mention how much of an adorable angel he is.
I also like to give Bowie a little taste of his new life. You might think I am a terrible dog mom for this but life is short. We discovered, just like his cousin Jack, Bo has a sweet tooth. He loves gummy bears, marshmallows and ice cream. Unfortunately, the park was on a complete fire ban when we arrived which is sad because it’s such a big part of camping. We shrugged it off and hardly missed it by the time we left. We couldn’t forget the S’mores though and made a few using our camp stove.
On this trip, I really wanted to focus on exercising my creativity as well as relaxation. Of course, one of the biggest ways that I create is using photography. I had bought a video light for the purpose of using it for night photos at weddings but wanted some practice. Mike was yet again my somewhat reluctant and unenthusiastic model. You can’t blame him though. Even though my light was at the lowest brightness, it is still a shock to the eyes when it’s 11:00 pm at night and completely dark. Nonetheless, he got through it for me and I’m so glad he did because I love the image that we captured, seen below.
We all had a really great trip that was over much too fast. Maybe not for B though, because he wanted nothing but some uninterrupted sleep when we got home. I can’t wait for our next camping trip as a little family <3
Thanks for reading! You can check out more personal stories on my blog.