Alabama, the Salt Dog and Us

Oh yeah, baby I'm a real salt dog

So, we’ve left the land of sunshine and snowbirds and landed ourselves in Alabama, and thanks to a bit of paw-friendly planning we’ve discovered another fabulous beach here on Dauphin Island. We deliberately skirted the popular Gulf Shores area precisely because we wanted a paw-friendly experience, and I have to admit this place delivers. It doesn’t have quite the pristine or remote feel of St. Joseph in FL and the view is spotted with oil-rigs off the coast, but we played for an hour and a half in the sand and surf with pooch this AM and only met 2 people so it goes into the “pretty darn nice” pile for us.

Afternoon play on the beach at Dauphin Island, AL

Now, this is the Deep South and it’s bursting with interesting history, but before I run off and talk about it I thought I would share a little story of how our pooch became such a beach-lover. You see, Polly was a very skittish puppy who  approached water with a well-grounded mistrust and considered stick-chasing a fruitless pastime rather beneath her dignity. It took many months of daily visits to the beach in San Diego before she overcame fear to put her paw in the water, and even more months of coaxing and play before she decided retrieving was worth her time. We were already on the road by this time, Polly was over 7 months old and she’d never been for a proper swim.

The beach in my paws and a stick for play. Life is good!

But….we persisted. Approaching the problem with style Polly decided to have her first swim at stunning Cathedral Rock in Sedona, her first retrieving dips in spectacular Lake Powell and finally did the surf and beach full and dog-happy justice when we reached the Eastern Shores of Hunting Island, SC. From a scared and reserved dry-land pup, after 4,000 miles and many good doses of positive play and training she turned into an unabashedly exuberant water-dog. She now loves her sticks, will happily spend a full hour of retrieving in the surf and considers swims with dad the best of treats. So, the story has turned into one of the salt dog and us, and although it doesn’t quite have the flair of Ernest Hemingway, it’ll be a tale we’ll enjoy for the rest of our lives.

Here’s to playtime in the sand (Click the video link)
Play on the Beach at Daupin Island, AL from Paul Novell on Vimeo.

Finding Pet-Friendly Spots On the Road

Dog-beach at Fort de Soto, FL...wet and wonderful!

In our house you could say camping has gone to the dogs…or the cats. Either way, camping is ALL about the pets for us. After all, what’s the point of being somewhere if you can’t share it with your furry friends, both the human and the animal version? So, when we’re on the road we do our prep work to make sure the places we go are pet-friendly, and our pets nod their approval with kitty-purrs and sloppy kisses. Here’s our favourite resources:

1. General Dog-Friendly Spots - http://dogfriendly.com/ and http://www.bringfido.com/ are our two of our all-time favorite online doggie sites.  A newer website which is growing and looks very promising is http://gopetfriendly.com/. These 3 sites list almost everything that’s dog-friendly everywhere, including city guides, parks, hiking, beaches etc. When we’re in a spot and looking for a place to take pooch, we go here.

2. Private Campgrounds – Although we tend to avoid them these days, most private campgrounds do accept pets, but some will have either size, breed or number restrictions. If you do your research you can find exceptional dog-loving spots, for example Four Paws Kingdom in NC and Winding River RV Park in CO (a Polly-approved spot), but unfortunately we haven’t found a good guide that sorts through all the choices. The sites from #1 have listings, plus there’s a couple of other websites out there (e.g. petswelcome.com and petfriendlytravel.com), but they’re generally spotty/incomplete. Of the big three GoPetFriendly.com seems to have the most promising listing directory. Given the trouble and our need for more open space and hiking we’ve ditched this option for #3, 4 and 5 below.

Taggart takes time to sniff the flowers at Curt Gowdy State Park, WY

3. National Forest & State Parks – If you asked Polly she’d likely wonder why we EVER stay in a private park, and I have to admit we’ve come around to her point of view. As opposed to private campgrounds, National Forest and State Parks rarely have any pet restrictions. In addition they tend to have plenty of space, dog-friendly hiking trails and (often) open spots/fields where one can go a little dog-nutty (as one does, on occasion). In fact we consider these areas 12 paws better than the real thing and haven’t stayed elsewhere in months. For National Forest check out http://www.forestcamping.com/, and http://www.recreation.gov/. For State Parks, go to the State webpage for your area.

4. Army Corps of Engineers - The Army Corps of Engineers is another pet-friendly group that manages over 2,500 recreation areas. We’ve tried quite a few of their campgrounds and find them right up our alley. They’re often centered around lake areas that’ll have an “unofficial” spot where you and doggie can enjoy the water together. The Corps publishes a book and also runs a website with their locations: http://corpslakes.usace.army.mil/visitors/

5. Bureau of Land Management - In addition to the official camping spots, our government manages a ton of other public land which is open to everyone, including our furry friends. Your home-grown RVer can easily find a nice, primitive campground here, while the more adventurous boondocker can search for completely-off-the-beaten-track camping spots. http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en.html

6. Hiking Trails – We are big paw-fans of the trails on National Forest and  State Parks, but if you’re looking for something more specific “Best Hikes with Dogs“ has created a website and guide books dedicated to the art of getting out in the wild with doggie. Check them out: http://www.besthikeswithdogs.com/

Hiking into the sunset at Cumberland Mountain State Park, TN

And that, as they say, is how you do it. You’ll notice National Parks are not on this list and for good reason. Despite the nature and open space, National Parks are rather dog-unfriendly and most won’t allow pooch on any of the trails (with very, very few exceptions). We’re quite happy with our somewhat off-the-track spots and are likely to go even more off-beat as time goes on.

So, on that note, may the rivers be plentiful, the squirrels abound and the paws be with you on all your travels….

National Forest – 12 paws better than the real thing

Most people in life want the original masterpiece, the real McCoy so to speak. I have to admit I’ve never been one of those people. Put it down to my naturally frugal nature, or just the fact that I’m a bit of an odd-ball, but I’ve always been more attracted to going off the beaten track and finding the hidden gem. As we’ve been travelling round in the RV this tendency has only grown stronger and it’s supported, in large part, by our doggie Polly.

Now I love our National Parks, don’t get me wrong. Many of them are stunning treasures and deserve all the preservation they get. But, and here’s the big black pen coming out, they’re all very unfriendly to man’s best friend. You can ride a horse into Bryce, take a donkey into the Grand Canyon, ATV in Capitol Reef or bike all around Moab, but for some asinine reason you can’t take your dog on a single trail (with very, very few exceptions). For those of us who are responsible dog owners and travel the road with our pooch’s this is a real negative. So, what’s a dog-gone-lover to do?

As it turns out there’s an excellent alternative that speaks directly to my inner nature. Bordering almost every one of the grand National Parks are areas of National Forest. They tend to be just as pretty, are practically unvisited with pristine trails and, here’s the kicker, they’re all completely dog-friendly. So, you can stay ~15 miles from the rim of the Grand Canyon in dog-friendly  Kaibab National Forest or ~10 miles from Bryce in pooch-happy Red Canyon. Then, while all the tourists sheep-herd to the popular trails you can go for a quiet 3-hour hike in your own little paradise, the whole family in tow. On top of this most of the campsites are awesome. For a mere $10-$15/night you’ll get plenty of space, a grill, fire pit, toilets and maybe even a shower. There won’t be any electrical hook-ups, but there’s plenty of space between sites and most places offer water and a dump area. Who needs the TV in a place like this anyway?

National forests are fast becoming a favorite of ours and I can see us frequenting them even more as we travel. So, if you fancy a trip off the beaten track, and you love your pets as much as we do, skip the real thing and stay in the forest.

View from one of the isolated trails in Red Canyon National Forest

Paul relaxes at our gorgeous $15/night campground in Red Canyon