Just Relax.

Both of us were (over)due for a little bit of relaxation. With nice weather playing in our favor we made sure to catch up on a little bit lazy, friend, outdoors times.

Saturday we decided to get the dog (and ourselves) out for a little exercise. Knowing it was going to be a bit roasty we didn't want to do anything too ambitious. We picked out a nice 5 mile hike near Sequim/Diamond Point (about 30 min away) that ended out on a beach on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Excellent choice. The hike was pretty flat and very easy. We were absolutely astonished to get to the beautiful beach and have NOBODY else there. Can't beat that on an 85 degree day!

Up and over the hill to be greeted by this view -

Looking down the beach with Mt Baker in the distance. It was a little hazy from the forest fires in Olympic National Park -

LOTS of swimming for Bear -

My two favorite boys after lunch -

After the hike we headed home (with one exhausted dog in the back). Unfortunately it was just our luck to get stuck on the Hood Canal Bridge. At least it was pretty and the breeze off the water felt great.

Saturday night we had a campfire in our yard. We sat by the fire and relaxed with friends for hours. We even caught a bit of the meteor shower!

Sunday we went swimming out on Foul Weather Bluff in Hansville (20 min from home). The water is really, really shallow so it stays a perfect swimming temperature for dogs and people. Our friends have a dog that Bear gets along with real well. Those two just swam and swam. Bear could keep up with me out in the water, not bad for a German Shepherd. When we got back to the car we tried to get Bear to jump up in the back of the Escape, normally not a problem. He was so exhausted that he tried to get up in the car but couldn't, Chris had to lift him up. That poor dog is still sleeping off the weekend.

Hope you guys found some ways to beat the heat. If we didn't live so close to the water I don't know what we'd do!