Grapehounds New York 2010

It was a long drive up to Upstate New York for this year’s Grapehounds. After so long in the car, the first thing we did was register and stand in line for tastings. Stanley and Cali share the blanket, while Stella and Jaime stand behind me refusing to stand on the gravel.The weather was nice, so we took the kids to dinner at WildFire in downtown Ithaca. Cali wants to know why no one wants to lay their head on her rump.The next day, we hit the first winery, Pompous Ass, at opening time. The kids are still alert and standing.By lunch time in Watkins Glen, they are ready for a serious nap.Many wineries had beautiful views of Seneca Lake.The Finger Lakes Distillery had treats for the dogs and liquor shots for the people.By the end of day one, the kids are like, ‘go without me, I’ll stay right here, I promise’.Sidney has never seen a pool he did not want to lay down in. So refreshing!We try to find some shade under a tent at the main headquarters for the event at Silver Springs Winery.At dinner that night at Fine Line Bistro a kid passing by with his family decided he needed a picture taken with the Stanley. Stella keeps drinking her water and does not even acknowledge that this is happening.After a busy day, we are ready for a relaxing dinner.Trina approves the wine choice for the table. I was ready for a change. The pint of beer on the table is mine.Had too much to drink? No problem. Just call a taxi.Our waitress had a ‘Stella’ tattoo. Stella says she has a tattoo too, just inside her ears.A group shot at Leidenfrost. Our first winery of day 2. Trina and Jason with Cali. Kris and I with Jaime, Stanley, and Stella. Doreen and Allen with Sydney and Tempest.Second winery on day two. Guess who is already done with all this wine-tasting hoopla? Oh, Stella!We stopped back off at Hazlitt for a quick lunch and a nap for the kids.Shalestone vineyards had a very dog-friendly sign and great red wines.Our last winery was Damiani. The girls posing.This is how they felt.We laid blankets on the front lawn at Damiani and took a little break. Half our group was taking naps. Not sure who the guy next to the barrel is.Jaime telling her mommy to hand that treat over!

Month in Review

It’s been so long since my last entry that some of my boarders have come back for a second or third stay. Not only have I not updated my blog, I haven’t kept up with any one else’s. Trina has already updated about our trip to Grapehounds, but I will save that for the next entry.
We’ve had a couple of adoptions at the house. Our kids and boarders help Flirt’s (now Danica) new parents during the adoption process.The haul arrives, and it’s meet and sniff time.One of our boarders is Manny. He’s very cute, but kinda funny looking. He is an unusual combo of fawn and white.The second adoption was for ‘Lovin’, now known as Ally. What a pretty girl.Both Parker and Stanley celebrated their birthdays this past month. Parker turned 11, and Stanley turned 8. Instead of a cake, they got braised beef heart with their dinner.An average weekend at the Park household this past month.It was a hot and humid day, and they were dropping like flies.When we have 10-12 dogs in the house, it’s easier to blow up the airbed and sleep downstairs.Stanley and Stella can’t decide if they want to be on the airbed or not.One of our previous adopters has a restaurant in Staunton, VA, which is a couple of hours away. After making dinner reservations, we decided to make a day of it. Of course that consisted of hitting a few wineries on the way there.
Pollak Vineyards is fairly new. They had good wine and a great view of the mountains.Flying Fox Vineyard was our favorite of the day.On the way back, we passed Blue Mountain microbrewery. Of course we had to stop and have a tasting. The mountain view enhanced the awesome brew!We finally made it to the Staunton Grocery for dinner. This was almost like a warmup for the upcoming Grapehounds.This most recent shot summarizes it well. Starting in the bottome left corner is Manny, Dusty and Stanley on the couch, Stella, Chaska, Sunny, Fern and Jaime, with Parker and Buck in the middle. I can’t believe there is still so much room left on the couch.