This past week we went on vacation in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. We stayed in Duck – the same town we stayed last year. We rented a larger house this time with several of our friends, including Erin, Dave, and Jax. Zara and Jax had a good time running in circles around the central part of the house.
Zara looks content in this photo but she was actually upset because Jax had the ball.
It was a great week. Unlike last year, I took off the whole week instead of working two days since I needed to use up some of my vacation time. Chris worked a few days but I think he still enjoyed himself. Since Zara was not in heat this year, she had a blast! I don’t think she wanted to come home.
View of the sunrise from the top of the house. Beautiful!
Zara and Jax at sunset.
Morning walk. Zara says, “Throw my ball!”
The house was oceanview and very close to the ocean. We got in a rhythm of taking daily morning runs or walks on the beach with Zara and in the evening before sunset with Zara and Jax. Dogs can be unleashed at all times on the Duck beach but it is easier when the beach is less crowded in the morning and evenings. I was hoping Zara would be less afraid of the ocean this year since last year she was terrified of the waves. She was still scared but did swim out a couple times when we threw a ball into the water.
She also enjoyed hanging out under the umbrella while we were sitting on the beach and occasionally running a few feet away to catch a skittering sand crab. She also had a great time digging massive holes in the wet sand and splashing in the water when the waves filled in the hole.
Umbrella chillin’
Beach puppy
Me on the beach
Chris on the beach
I got creative one day and sculpted a Zara out of sand. The head is a bit off and I forgot to put in two of the legs, but other than that it looked pretty good. The real Zara was not very enthusiastic about having her photo taken next to it and wanted to destroy the sand Zara.
Sand Zara
Hmm, that thing is looking at me weird…
On Wednesday, we went kayaking and stand up paddle boarding on the sound. Erin, Dave, myself, Zara, and Jax were in a triple kayak while Chris, Jesse, and Doreen tried stand up paddle boarding. We were not faring so well in the triple kayak. Despite our best efforts at coordinating our strokes, we kept turning in circles! Everyone on the paddle boards was leaving us in the dust. I think Zara was also throwing us off because she kept shifting her weight from side to side in the kayak. Eventually, I tossed her overboard and had her go swim to Chris on the paddle board. She was able to get up on the board and looked super cute standing on it! (We don’t have any photos unfortunately. No one was willing to risk bringing their phone or camera on the water!) We had not tried paddle boarding with her before but I had been wanting to do so. Toward the end of our adventure, Erin, Dave, and I decided to head back to shore while Zara was still with Chris. She did not like the fact that we were leaving her! So she jumped in the water and started swimming to catch up with us. We had gotten rather far ahead so she probably ended up swimming 500 meters or so! She was wearing her life jacket but she was still working hard. It was impressive; I’ve never seen her swim that long. Everyone on the paddle boards stayed with her to make sure she was okay. Eventually she caught up with us and we hauled her aboard the kayak. She was quite tired later that day!
On Thursday, we met up with another couple and their vizsla, Dixie. They live in the DC area as well and reached out to me when they saw a post I had put on Instagram. They were staying in Nags Head and came up for a playdate that evening. Dixie is a little younger than Zara and the two of them had a great time running around. They didn’t go for as long as vizslas usually do because I think they were both tired from playing on the beach all day!
Zara (right) and Dixie
Looking pretty. Or tired.
Chris and I left on Friday afternoon to go home. Zara slept the entire drive home (4 hours and 45 minutes). We got home, she had dinner and a bully stick, and then passed out again. I think the week had finally caught up with her.
Calm puppy
We had a great time. The weather was great except for one rainy/cloudy day and it was so peaceful down there. We’re already talking about going back next year. :)
Also, a side note on comments. Until recently, I thought that people who wanted to post a comment had to have a WordPress account. Needless to say, no one ever left comments, because who really wants to create another account and have to remember yet another password? But I realized that I could change my settings so that you can just fill out the simple form below if you want to leave a comment. Hopefully this is less intimidating. I’d love to hear from you!
