What we got to see off the water too…

While cooking dinner at a trailhead last night, a big white truck pulled up with lots of barking coming from the back. A man got out and warned us he had 6 dogs in the back, 3 were puppies, but that they were friendly and he would try to get in between them and us. We were slightly apprehensive when he opened the boot, and certainly hadn't expected the flurry of black and white, and a little bit of brown, furry bodies that jumped out. “You didn't tell us they were collies!” For those who don't know, border collies are my favourite dogs and I have two at my mum's. Waiting very patiently till they finished their walk, I got to pet the brown and white one which was as soft as you could imagine – a lovely treat!

We stayed at the trailhead and on the recommendation of some friendly locals, took a walk in the morning which led round several different ecosystems and was very pretty. However I did have to avoid the plentiful but nasty poison oak which can cause itchy bite like rashes that seem to last forever…

From here, we followed another recommendation and went to Wildlife Images which is a sanctuary/hospital for injured wild animals. We hadn't realised we should have booked on a tour, but was lucky enough to catch one leaving within half an hour. Here we saw a massive grizzly bear (I'd be glad never to get this close to one again, but the electric fence was reassuring), a few black bears (including one taking a shower), bald eagles, a golden eagle, grey wolves and a rather cute American badger that apparently is one of the few animals a black bear will stand down from! There were lots of other animals too, lots that we had seen in the wild which was great, and the tour was pretty educational. Definitely worth a visit.

We're going to Grants Pass now where we hope to treat Macy to a little oil change. I'm sure we'll be back on the water soon though!