Ruby's Roamings

Well, it’s been a busy time and I’ve been lax in my blogging duties (I thought things would slow down in retirement…that has not been the case!)! I absolutely loved our time in Door County and was very sad to leave. The view was unbeatable and the town of Sister Bay is quite charming. The fall colors lasted longer than expected and then one day winter came (I was confused by the snow). My favorite was going for a long walk every day and then napping in my friend Bailey’s bed.

My humans went on some adventures without me, including going to Green Bay for the Packers vs. Panthers game. Prime bought a new hat for the occasion and Spare was not amused (especially since she continued to wear it to fit in with the locals). They had a blast at Lambeau Field and saw the most amazing array of cheese hats!

Our friends Tom and Katie spent a week in Sister Bay so I got extra pets! We are so grateful they loaned us their amazing home for our stay and my humans had a blast making new friends while hanging out with dear friends.

Our friends the Wagners and the Worleys also made the trek and spent a weekend with us (so many extra pets and snuggles)! I got to hang out with my pal Cadbury while our humans went out on the town.

With my woodland adventure with Spare in Door Bluff Headlands County Park, lakefront walks with Prime and many other delightful dalliances, I give Door County five stars and can’t wait to go back!

I got to stay with the Floreks again while my humans jetted off to Montreal for Spare’s last work trip to Canada. Prime ended up getting a nasty cold (Spare generously shared his germs with her, she was less than thrilled), so she ended up staying in the hotel for most of the trip. They did go out for dinner with Spare’s coworker Stephane and had a couple of other delicious meals while in Quebec. We got to spend a couple of nights in our Western Springs home before loading up and moving on to our next adventure!

We have now relocated to Lincoln Park in Chicago for the next 6 weeks! My humans are enjoying spending time in the neighborhood where their journey began 26+ years ago and I am enjoying all the new smells and walking routes! I am so grateful that my siblings made it into town for Thanksgiving, I love it when we are all together. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, more to come as I try out being a city dog this holiday season!

Greetings from Sister Bay, Door County, Wisconsin! A lot has happened since my last post, so I’ll start at the beginning…

We moved out of our Union Pier, Michigan pad and I got to stay with the Florek Family while my humans went to Salt Lake City to visit my boy sibling. I was so happy to surprise my friend Jacob, he takes such good care of me and I’m excited that I get to stay with them again in a few weeks (damn humans going to desert me again, but I’ll let it slide)!

My humans had a great time with Spencer in the beautiful state of Utah! Prime was beyond happy that Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes lost to the Utes in spectacular fashion (score was 42-0 going into halftime)! They got to see Spencer’s new home and spend time with my arch nemesis Skitters (his evil cat temperament hasn’t improved since moving back to Utah, just happy I don’t have to deal with his nonsense anymore). A trip to Costco always makes Spare happy, shopping at one with a view of the mountains is his idea of heaven!

Upon their return to Chicago, Prime and Spare picked me up in Norridge and loaded me into the car for our 5 hour drive to Sister Bay. While I prefer to ride on Prime’s lap, she thought it was too long of a trip for me to be drooling all over the front of the car so I was relegated to the back seat. Despite the less than ideal conditions, it was a beautiful trip. The trees are in peak color and our new home for the next few weeks is gorgeous (I really love a water view)! My friend Bailey’s humans are letting us stay at their killer pad and I managed to locate a bone under the couch after being here for less than 5 minutes…I may be getting older, but there is nothing wrong with my sense of smell!

Upon arrival, my humans went in search of sustenance and landed at Husby’s. It’s a great bar/restaurant in town and they enjoyed several Spotted Cows (one of Prime’s favorite beers, only available in Wisconsin). They also felt the age demographic was diverse and they were in the middle (unlike being the youngest at every venue in SW Michigan).

Yesterday was my 11th birthday and our first full day here. We went on a long walk and there were several photo opportunities. I got a little tired of posing, but I am willing to sacrifice for the blog. I most definitely don’t act my age (just like my humans!) and I’m excited for our time up north. Here’s some of the pics I was forced into yesterday…

Spare has decided we need to take at least 2 long walks a day since the local cuisine is not really conducive for maintaining a healthy physique… I’m happy to do whatever it takes to support them (and I get to discover all the new smells)! So far my favorite spot is on the couch with Prime taking in the view. I also like watching sports on the basement couch (I’m very open minded when it comes to couches). I am now inspired to take a nap, need to rest up for our afternoon walk! More to come next week…

The update I know everyone has been waiting for…the euchre tournament results! My humans headed to The Hilltop Bar in Laporte, Indiana where 28 fierce competitors played euchre (there was also a dart tournament happening at the same time, luckily no one asked them to join that one). Spare ending up “winning” last place and got his $7 buy in back! There were some definite card sharks in the group, the 81 year old nicknamed “Ace” was a formidable opponent. My humans had a fun night and those complimentary shots of Fireball helped ease the agony of defeat! They have been invited to play in future tournaments (possibly because they were less than fabulous at euchre, but excelled at being social) and will definitely keep in touch with their new retiree friends.

My Prime human took me to see another beautiful sunset while the Spare worked (he’s not officially retired yet, so that’s annoying). I love having the beach so close and it’s been fun to check out the cute towns here in Southwest Michigan. One of my favorite activities is sitting in the sun with Prime and then refusing to come back inside until a treat is presented. There have been lots of wildlife sightings/chasings (we don’t have squirrels this color in Chicago) and I’ve made friends with a dog named Bailey that I get to sniff when I walk by his house on my way to the beach.

There was a bit of an emergency on Sunday at 4:00p when Prime realized her favorite burger place on the planet was closing for the season at 5:00p…she moved so fast and rushed Spare out the door at record speed to get one last Velveeta burger at Redamak’s! They have also abandoned me to get lunch at The Stray Dog, have a fancy dinner at Bentwood Tavern and watch Monday Night Football at Casey’s (where they brought down the age average in the bar by about 20 years). The humans went to the Grand Mere Inn in Stevensville for their last night in Michigan. They said the food was fabulous and the view is top notch, highly recommend. I feel like they could’ve brought me some leftovers since I was left behind, but no such luck. I’m always quick to forgive them when they return from their outings, but I stay extra close to Prime when they are home to make sure she doesn’t sneak off…behold, my “please don’t leave me” face.

Today we are packing up and moving out of Sunshine Villa #8. My humans are going to fly out to Salt Lake City to visit my boy sibling for the weekend and I get to stay with my favorite Florek family in Norridge! We are moving to Sister Bay, Wisconsin on Monday when Prime and Spare return, onward to our next adventure!!

Well, the Cubbies had a great run and even though my humans are sad it came to an end, they made new friends at the local Cubs bar and were invited to play in a euchre tournament. I don’t have high hopes for their success, but I’m sure they will have a good time. As for the Cubs, there’s always next year!

The Spare celebrated his 52nd birthday, it was nice having Spencer in town to join the festivities! They all went to South Bend to meet up with my grandparents Andy & Kathy and Uncle Todd for dinner at Cascades. While the Spare was working, I enjoyed walking on the beach and Spencer had enough energy to let me run with him through the sand (Prime human was not up for that). I was very sad that he had to go back to Utah after being with him for a week, but thankfully my girl sibling came to visit the next day!

The Spare has a reputation for booking less than stellar hotel rooms for us to stay in (claims they are “character building”, Prime says they are just gross), but I got to stay in a swanky dog friendly Westin while the humans went to dinner with college friends. I was super excited to go into the airport and wait for Fritz to arrive from Rochester (and I got lots of compliments and pets from other travelers)!

My Fritz only got to stay with us for 2 nights, so we packed in as much fun and as many cuddles as we could. My first sunset on the beach was spectacular, highly recommend! They went to a local winery and a fabulous restaurant without me, but I got to snuggle during movie time when they got home. Prime always cries when we drop my siblings back off at the airport, but I think having me there for emotional support was a huge help. Now I have to wait until Thanksgiving to be with the Frechlets, but we have a lot of adventuring to do before they come back to see us!

Now it’s just the 3 of us for the remainder of our time in Michigan…we have plenty of room for visitors if anyone wants to make the trip! I’m off to chomp and stare at Prime until she takes me for a long walk to see the beautiful colors starting to show on the trees around here…until next time!

It’s been a fun first week here in Michigan! The weather has been amazing and warm, definitely doesn’t feel like fall yet. We had our first visitor! Uncle Todd came by for dinner and some wine (and he gave me an appropriate amount of attention)! Prime and Spare found a fun local bar to watch the Cubs beat the Padres to advance to the NLDS. There’s been a lot of cursing since the series with the Brewers began, so hopefully the North Siders get their act together Wednesday or I’m going to have to switch into full comfort dog mode. My boy sibling Spencer flew in from Utah for a visit on his October Break, I was so very excited to see him (promptly licked his face which he most definitely appreciated)! They all abandoned me on Saturday to go to West Lafayette to see the Purdue vs. Illini football game (apparently they hate Taylor Swift now, not sure what that’s all about). On Sunday evening we walked to an amazing Mexican restaurant in Gordon Beach and I was allowed to sit inside with the humans. They didn’t share any food with me, but everyone thought I was adorable and I got lots of pets (and a treat from the host). I had my inaugural trip to the beach yesterday where the first thing I did was stick my whole face in the sand and then (of course) shook it off all over my humans! I also brought home a lot of beach in my Swiffer fur, so that’s the gift that keeps on giving. Last night was BBQ rib night at the Red Arrow Road House…pretty mad I wasn’t invited, but the humans seemed really happy and full when they came home (and they smelled delicious). Signing off for now, but there will be much to report next week!