Tuesday, September 21, 2010

weekend trips

The last couple of nice weekends I've spent out of the city with my roommates. One day Carey and I went to Sky Meadows State park for a little hike. It was the first day the temperature wasn't unbearable. Afterward we took a back way home and ended up in a little town for lunch and shopping. It was bizarre that this little town was home to many cute boutiques and cafes. We finally figured out we were in the middle of wine country - everyone was really rich!

Then last weekend Chloe and I went out to Annapolis. We were planning on a trip to the beach, but the 3 hours there and 3 hours back seemed a little daunting. Annapolis is only 45 mins away and really laid back. We walked around, sat in the marina and ate crab cakes. While we were there the Navy had a football game. we saw the cadets going to the stadium in their dress whites. It was really impressive.


the Maryland state building

Ruby and the ROUS

ruby pondering the world

Ruby really likes living in the city. She likes walking the neighborhood, talking to the people and other dogs. She likes that we live a couple blocks from the dog park. She likes barking at our neighbor's dog and the pigeons in the trees every day. But she really loves the city rats. Or Rodents of Unusual Size (ROUS) if you happen to be a fan of The Princess Bride. I swear they are 2 feet long from snout to tail.

The other day I looked out the window and ruby is dancing around something in the backyard. I never thought she'd actually *catch* an ROUS. I run out yelling at her to back up, a command we've been working on. She actually listens to me, backs up 3 steps and sits down. I grab her collar and we stand there staring at the rat. He's dragging he hide legs and is clearly injured, although I'm not so sure Ruby was the cause. He didn't have any marks on him and Ruby was just kind of poking it with her nose and pawing at him. Well, as we are standing there the rat hisses and lunges towards us. I scream, jump back and rush ruby back into the house. The rat won, and dragged himself into the alley, where I can only hope he was run over by a car or eaten by the hawk.