Petpalooza May 30, 2009

I had been looking forward to this day since Mother's day when I saw the flyer at Sunbreak Cafe announcing it. Petpalooza on May 30, 2009 at Auburn's Game Farm Park. I was so excited! Finally, an event that can be spent with our beloved dogs. I always jump at the chance to take them somewhere if they can go. Savvy and Kaylee were excited as well because they knew they were getting to go somewhere. It was the perfect day too. The sun was out and it was hot. I filled my Camelback pack with water and grabbed some toys for the dogs and their fold up water dish.

We were off! I think my dogs are in love with my car. Not really in love, but I put the seats down so it is completely flat in the back (I have a 5 door) and they have plenty of room to move around and lay down. I rolled the windows down just enough so they could stick their heads outside and they actually had never done this before. On this day, Savvy realized the greatness of sticking her head out the window just before we reached a stop light. With a huge smile on her face, wind was rushing at her head, and her ears flapping in the breeze. She absolutely thought this was the greatest thing until it stopped. She got this very disappointed look on her face. We started going again and she did not immediately stick her head out the window, but about 5 minutes later she figured it out that when a car moves this is the time to stick her head out the window.

We arrived! Lots of dogs and vendors. We started walking by some of the vendors booths. There was a PetSmart booth and they put bandanas on our dogs and gave us a goody bag with a few toys and treats. Almost all the booths had some kind of treat to give the dogs. They were having a blast. The Humane Society was there with pets to adopt. There were some adorable kittens and a cute small older dog that I was interested in. I walked away before I got too interested. They had some entertainment going on, such as dog agility events, costume contests, etc.

We did half the booths and Evan had been bugging me because he was hungry and he had seen someone with a gyro. So we went on a hunt for the gyro. I bought him his food and a bottle of water and we went and found nice little shady spot behind some booths to eat. I was noticing that I was slightly wet on my back when I was walking, but when I took my backpack off I was much wetter than I thought. I thought my hydration pack might not be fully closed, but alas it had a small hole. I could hear the hole, but couldn't find it. Must be time for a new one. At least it was hot out and I could dry off. I gave the dogs most of the bottle of water. They were already very thirsty. They actually really like bottled water for some reason, but of course I do too.

While watching Evan eat I started to get hungry. So after Evan finished eating I made him get me a cheeseburger. So it gave us time to sit and relax a little. A guy walked by and he had this backpack/pet carrier that had a small dog in it. I think my dogs thought that was obsurd because they started barking at the guy (or maybe they didn't like the guy). They had never seen a dog in a backpack before though. So who knows.

Done eating! Time to walk around some more. We looked at the rest of the booths and I bought Savvy a new collar and leash. They were hand made, cotton material, and had a red bandana type pattern to it. Very decently priced.

One booth we saw was for Reber Ranch, which is a place really close to our house. They have a tiny off-leash area our landlord told us about and we had been meaning to check out. I didn't realize they had a store there, which perked my ears up. I really like to go to pet stores. Mainly because I like to spoil my dogs.

We walked down the trail by the river. Savvy always wants to swim, but the river was so swift that it was unsafe. We found a tiny little inlet of water and she got her feet wet. We relaxed down by the river for a little bit and walked back up. We gave the dogs some fresh water and then bought ourselves some ice cream. We found a nice little shady spot and relaxed for a little bit.

Another booth we saw was trying to get donations for a new off-leash dog park that will be located in Renton near the Cedar River. This will be nice to have since Marymoor and Magneson are so far away from us since we moved to Kent. They have a lot of money that still needs to be raised to keep this project on track. If you would like to support this dog park you can donate at the website http://www.rentonoffleash.org/ or you can watch for fundraising events that they put on. Please show your doggy support.

Our dogs were worn out after this excursion, but they had a lot of fun. I hope they do the Petpalooza every year. It's a great idea and also great for socialization for the dogs.