Weekend of 7/26/09 - The Great Allegheny Passage

The weeks of summer are flying by and the days go by in a blur and seem to overlap each other. This must have been "dog week" at Jolico, as we had 3 wonderful dogs visiting with us, as well as a few humans. We started the week off with the end of Mike and Connie Mazerov's visit and a trip with them, Dick Diamondstone and Mike and Barb DeMarco to District Court 16-3-03 on Tuesday 7/21. For that period and for most of the previous week, Mimi McClintock was our houseguest.
Mimi is a black Standard French Poodle. Mo thinks she's quite a looker and Art calls her "Frenchy"! We love her dearly and Jolico Farm has become her second home. Here she is free to lounge on the couches, play with Mo's toys, wade in the lake and run like the wind. She and Mo compete for sticks and frisbee's and they spend all their time together, side by side, even when they are sleeping. Mimi spent a week with us from 7/16 to 7/22 and came back for a playdate on 7/23 because she missed us so much! She came for the afternoon and stayed for supper as she eats much better after lots of exercise and when she's eating beside Mo.

On Saturday we picked up Luke Robinson and his 2 Great Pyrenees dogs, Hudson and Murphy from the trailhead at Ohiopyle, PA on the Great Allegheny Passage. Luke and the boys are walking 2,400 miles over 2 years from Austin to Boston, to raise funds that will finance the first ever nationwide epidemiological canine cancer study. Their website, http://2dogs2000miles.org explains their mission, is where they post their blog and Twitter feed, and where donations can be made and items can be purchased in support of their walk. I have been following them on Twitter for some time now, and when they came through Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago and then literally into our backyard here in the Laurel Highlands, I knew I just had to offer them a night's rest in a real bed and a couple of good, home-cooked meals along with a shower for Luke and an opportunity to get his gear and clothes cleaned up. The weather over the last few weeks has been rainy and stormy and they all appreciated a roof over their heads, a soft bed and, for Murphy and Hudson, some time off-leash with the opportunity to run free here on the farm. We enjoyed having them with us and making a fuss over them. We returned them to the trailhead at Confluence PA this afternoon and saw them off on their way east.

They are hoping to make it to Meyersdale PA by Wednesday, at which time they will meet their ride back to Pittsburgh for some more events where they are scheduled to appear, before heading back to the trail and on to Leesburg, VA around September 1. They plan to be in Washington DC on September 18th. Future stops include Baltimore, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Allentown, NYC for Christmas, Hartford, Providence and Boston by May, 2010. We wish them Godspeed, and our prayers for a safe and gratifying mission. They are very special guys.