Mountain Biking and Jackson Update

Hey y'all!

This weekend was pretty relaxed around Casa de Pattison.  Friday, we were able to help Sam and Jenna out with some Subaru/Leave No Trace business (which meant I got to take some behind the scenes shots!). Ben then went mountain biking on Saturday, which meant that Jackson and I got to shuttle him to the very top of Mt. Lemmon and then pick him up at the end of his ride. One thing that I have not gotten used to is that when we are planning on going up the mountain, I need to plan for it to be at least 20 degrees cooler on the mountain (this should be common sense and should not be difficult for me seeing as we go up about 6000 feet in elevation...). Alas, I still do not dress properly each time and Saturday we got to see some snow on the ground! We're getting very excited about the possibility of being an hour away from snow and skiing this winter!

Now for the important part: Jackson's medical update! He's been limping quite a bit but shows absolutely no sign of pain when we manipulate his paw and leg. He has full range of motion but just doesn't seem to want to put any weight on one foot. Well, Thursday night he basically didn't at night so we decided to not wait for his normal vet appointment and took him in. Again, when the vet moved his paw and leg all over the place he showed no signs of pain or of even noticing that his paw was being moved about. So, we're going with the conservative route of giving him some pain meds and making sure he doesn't move around too much for the next few weeks. The struggle...he is definitely feeling better now and, although still limps, wants to play and run and jump. Telling a 7 month old puppy that you can't play is a bit heartbreaking. But of course we are thankful for a report of no swelling or broken bones and will do our best to keep him calm for the time being!

 

 

 

(Ben got to experience fall at almost 9000'!)

(all he wants to do is chase houseflies, play fetch, and run around barking)

And just because I like to leave y'all with amazing Tucson sunsets occasionally....

(tempted to come visit??)

Until next time!

Slow Week for the Pup

Hey everyone!

This week has been pretty slow for Jackson. Over the weekend, he was able to go rock climbing with our guests (we found out he may not be a rock climbing pup) but other than that he has taken a relaxing week off due to his injury. We are no longer certain that the injury is  the paw and think it could be more of a shoulder issue. Whatever it is, he has a vet appointment soon and is on strict relaxation regimen until then. We're hoping, of course, that it is something simple which will heal on it's own so he can get back to his days of playing fetch and going to the dog park. So, he's enjoyed sleeping in late, being totally spoiled with love and hugs, and sleeping in sun spots outside with the recent glorious weather that has graced southern AZ. 

(after much crying and complaining about not being able to run around the mountain, he finally settled down)

(yoda pup)

We'll, of course, keep everyone updated as we find out more about his paw/leg/shoulder. It's quite sad to have him moving at a slower pace these past few days.

Friends and Rock Climbing

Hey everyone!

The past few days we have had the honor of having some great friends, Sam and Jenna, come stay with us! (Sam is a old friend from undergrad, he helped me pass chemistry and competed in an adventure race with Ben!) Sam and Jenna work for Subaru/Leave No Trace and have had the super awesome opportunity to travel the western most portion of the US teaching folks about Leave No Trace and proper outdoor ethics. We were pumped when we found out that their adventures would bring them to southern Arizona and knew that no matter what great adventures would be in store!

So we headed outdoors and up the mountain (seeing as it's what we know best around here) and went rock climbing (correction, they went rock climbing and I chickened out due to not having climbed in a hot minute..so I offered to be the trip photographer)! It was an amazing day full of tough climbs, general catching up on life, and amazing views. Tucson does not disappoint when it comes to that.

(even though he has an injured paw, Jackson still comes along on all the adventures and Ben just gets a super awesome workout from carrying him around. Someone is spoiled...)

You can keep up with Sam and Jenna's adventures (along with the rest of the traveling teams) at the Leave No Trace Blog and on instagram @leavenotracecenter.

Until next time!

The Pattison Pueblo (or Casa de Pattison) has guests! We are so so excited to be putting folks down on the calendar in the upcoming weeks and months. It makes my heart swell! So you should come stay with us also! I promise to clean up the guest bedroom and whip out the fine china!

The other update out here is that Jackson seems to have injured his paw somehow. He limps around during the day and is up most of the night crying, but shows absolutely no pain when we try to figure out what part of his paw/leg/shoulder is hurting. Here's to hoping we can resolve this issue promptly!

Hey everyone!

You all know that Jackson went on quite the adventure this weekend which was honestly the biggest adventure of his week.  Camping with Jackson was great because he is always super amped about being outside, but it also came with its own struggles, which I'm sure we will learn to conquer in time.  The biggest struggle that we came across was the cold.  Now, this may surprise you, but Jackson is quite spoiled.  He lives a good life and has not been subjected to hard times since becoming a Pattison.  But this past weekend, Jackson experienced the cold.  Well, Jackson being cold meant that he and Ben got to snuggle in the sleeping bag together..sealing the deal of who the favorite parent is.  The second night outside Jackson seemed to do better (he also had his own blanket, his jacket on, and all of our jackets/warm clothes piled on top of him.  In true spoiled pup fashion, we have looked into getting Jackson proper camping things so Ben doesn't have to share his sleeping bag anymore and we can take Mr. Brown wherever we go!

Another highlight (or lowlight if you ask him) was Halloween. Now, if you remember, Jackson is quite terrified of small children these days and Halloween decorations.  The night began with adorable children asking for candy as Jackson barked ferociously in the background, moved to Ben taking Jackson into the backyard to play fetch, then moved to the driveway where Jackson brought his favorite toy in attempts to really include him in the festivities and encourage him that children are okay (trying to work on the whole socialization thing..still), moved to more barking, and ended with Jackson hanging out inside while we finished passing out candy.  Being a massive baby dog is apparently tough work.

(concerned he might be left behind)

(Jackson and I were wildly unprepared for the snow but we did love it!)

(Jackson loved the snow and romping around in it, but he refused to sit in it)

(thank goodness for any and all warmth that camo jacket brought!)

(a little skeptical over hearing "we're going to drive 20-something miles on an awesome dirt road!)

(slightly cooler weather and sun spots are things Jackson loves)

BIG NEWS! As I write this, Ben has informed me that there are emus on the loose here in Tucson. Hot diggity!

The Grand Tour of Arizona

So, some of you who are friends with Ben on Facebook may have seen that we got an unexpected long weekend and were looking for cool things to do. Well, cool things were done by the Pattisons and let me tell you, being a Pattison has been non-stop adventure since day one.

The weekend began by searching for neat places to camp and hike that would be cooler than Tucson and would throw us into fall. Consider it the search for fall. After a few hours looking at national parks/forests and state parks, we decided to go up near Flagstaff to Coconino National Forest. The weather, we were told, would be highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s..aka perfect. So we fulfilled our obligations in Tucson, packed our bags, and headed north. We pulled into the campsite around midnight and it was starting to look like snow was falling. We both expected this to stop since..you know..lows in the 40s. The next morning, I woke up to Ben hitting the roof of the tent and the sound of something sliding off of the tent. That something? Snow. Six-eight inches of snow. Beautiful, amazing, wonderful, cold snow. It was awesome. Jackson didn't want to go outside of the tent (this was his first snow experience..and cold weather experience for that matter) and once outside he didn't want to sit down in the snow. But he also loved it and ran around like a wildman dog. (Now, keep in mind that when we packed for the weekend we packed for minimum of 40s.)  So, our search for fall led us directly into winter. 

This was the winter wonderland that we woke up to. We truthfully wanted to stay, but had no idea how much more snow would be falling and we were woefully unprepared. Plus, Jackson has gotten used to Georgia and Tucson heat and had no idea of what to do in the cold. We therefore decided to head south.

The decision to move south was probably the best idea, but it meant that we had to forget all of the plans we had for the weekend and improvise some new ones. But, as we were determined to spend some nights outside, we found the nearest McDonalds (thanks for all day breakfast and free wifi!) and planned our next night. This led us somewhat closer to Phoenix to the Tonto National Forest. There, we found the weather that we were expecting, some fall colors, a pretty sweet campsite, and signs warning of bear activity recently. We stayed the night, made some chili in the dutch oven, and found out that Jackson is getting more protective in his teenage years. Ben walked away from campsite for a minute to properly dispose of canned corn juice and, when he started walking back, was welcomed by ferocious barks/growls from Jackson! So we felt quite safe, but after reading about the bears and seeing a couple of signs of bear, we decided to move on again after one night.

(finding bear scat)

(morning #2 with weather we were expecting)

After leaving the campsite, we decided to check out the local lake, Lake Roosevelt, and allow Jackson to swim for a bit. We then realized that the Apache Trail started/ended at the lake so we decided to take the scenic way back to Tucson. The Apache Trail is amazing and has some of the best views of the desert mountains that a camera can never fully capture. It was perfect. 

The Apache Trail

So, now you have a readers digest version of our Grand Tour of Arizona! We started the weekend wishing we had significantly more warm clothes and ended wishing we had bathing suits. Arizona is weird.

Until next time!