(One of) my favorite hike(s)

This past weekend was a last blast of warm, sunny weather before we're back to insulated-jackets-for- the-pitbulls conditions here in Maryland, so we made the most of it with a couple of nice hikes.

On Saturday we went south in Maryland to the area we went almost exactly a year ago with that trail I loved along the river.

We discovered that there are actually a bunch of trails there, and this time we took the Chiles Homesite trail.






This was a  nice long trail through the woods to the water,

with some weird ruins and interpretive signage along the way.










  

No one was there, so we had the woods to ourselves and the pups could enjoy some off leash time.










I remember from last year how magical this place was.

How when you come down the trail and look over the water, you feel like you're on the edge of the ocean.

We couldn't walk far along the beach this time, because the water was higher than it was a year ago for some reason.

The dogs didn't mind getting nice and wet though 

and we enjoyed being in such a peaceful place surrounded by radiant sky and water.

 
Star had a great time pulling on her leash and sniffing everything in sight. 


When we let her off the leash, as I predicted, she stayed right with us like the little family dog and herding dog she is.





She was not as eager to get in the water as the other two, 

but once she tried it out she seemed to like it. 

Who knows when or whether she got a chance to be in the water in her past life?







That's what's so much fun about rescue dogs, you just don't know what they've been through. You get to just watch them as they experience nature and hikes and water and woods for what may be the first time, and rejoice all the more in their wonder and excitement.

What if we could all be that spontaneous and appreciative of simple things?