Hipster Hills

This past weekend, we celebrated Andy’s birthday by finally doing something we’ve been talking about for years: renting a pet-friendly cabin and taking Riley on vacation with us.

This was our “Honeybee Hideaway,” complete with (fake) well and (real) hot tub.

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We spent several hours hiking in Hocking Hills, which was shaded and lovely.

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We also got to do a little shopping — mostly crafts and antiques — as well as some nature-watching.

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Truth be told, we had fun, but it wasn’t exactly a relaxing weekend. See, Riley is a high-energy, anxious pup to begin with, and then you put him in a car. Add in several hours of winding, bumpy country roads, and you have the perfect recipe for a panting, whiny mess. For his sanity (and ours) we probably will not be repeating this experiment, but it was worth doing once.

Note: The hipster look of these photos was brought to you by this set of Photoshop actions that mimic Instagram. A very neat find that I had way too much fun playing with last night…


14 responses to “Hipster Hills”

  1. Aisha Avatar

    Cute pics!

  2. Joy Avatar

    Looks like a fun time!

  3. Sonje Avatar

    Yeah, bringing dogs–or even worse, kids–to new places is not relaxing. They are creatures of habit, and they like to be familiar with the four walls surrounding them and what’s coming next.

    But you took a lot of pictures and discovered that cool filter!

  4. kaye (paper reader) Avatar

    What a lovely spot for a vacation. I used to live near a gorgeous spot for hiking near the Catskills, but not so much here. It’s just so *nice* to get outside and be in the sun and woods. I’m glad that you guys had a good time. :)

    Hopefully Riley’s happy to be home and is cutely sleeping off his anxiety so you can relax!

  5. T. S. Bazelli Avatar

    Looks like a lovely place for a vacation! That deer looks like its not real hee hee…

  6. Sherrie Petersen Avatar

    That cabin looks wonderful! I’m hope Riley appreciates the sacrifices you’ve made to provide this fabulous vacation :P

  7. Juliann Avatar

    That’s so funny! We just took our dog camping and learned the same lesson. I’m in the process of writing a post almost identical to yours!

  8. linda Avatar

    Whoa, awesome! Great photos! :)

  9. gingermandy Avatar

    That looks like such a nice place! I just want to go to a cabin for a weekend and relax (without a dog, lol).

    Last summer we brought my mom’s dog to my stepdad’s cabin and you’re right, that long in a car is a nightmare.

  10. Kristan Avatar

    Thanks, everyone!

    Juliann-
    AH that is such a funny coincidence. But too bad that neither of our dogs (or families) got to fully enjoy their weekend vacation…

  11. Rachele Alpine Avatar

    A pet friendly vacation…I love it! I also love Hocking Hills. I went to OU, so we visited there often!

  12. Jon Avatar

    This looks like fun. I love the pictures, very retro.

  13. Meghan Ward Avatar

    Now you know what it feels like to go on vacation with kids! Nothing relaxing about my life, ever! And insanely, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about getting a dog. We’ll probably hold off for a couple more years, but I want the kids to have one eventually.

  14. Kristan Avatar

    Meghan-
    Yep, dog = permanent toddler. :P I think waiting until the kids are older and can sort of pitch in (or at least understand how to not mess up training, if not actually contribute to it) is probably a good idea.