Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and you must see Cumberland Falls, KY Lovers….OMDawg.  Words were very hard to come by this morning but the smell wasn’t!

Early this morning I was shockingly awakened to the worst smell of tinkle I have ever smelled.  It was about 5:15ish.  It hit me like a ton of stank.   This is about the time that darling Emma goes out the dog door at home.  Poor girl was looking for her dog door and just could not hold it:(

I cannot thank her enough.  As I was mopping up the room and doing a bit of make shift laundry in the bath tub I glanced out my window.

My mop and jaw dropped.

I called my Mom and told her to come right out with her camera.

It was time to be awe inspired!

The patio that we are on is right outside of our windows.  If you turn around there is my room with the light on and the little sunrise stink sprinkler is waiting for me.

LOOK!  The Cumberland River turns orange for autumn.  Howl delicious….

This river runs down and goes over the falls.  I cannot wait to show you those pictures…

Now the sun says hello and mist rolls over the mountains and starts one of the best days the 4 of us have ever had.

I cannot wait to share it with the bassethoundtown residents.

Mornin’ Glory!

More sharing this must seen wonder of the world later….Love, Cat, Chaps and little sunrise sprinkler!

PS – Not one single bit of photo correction was done to any of these photos.

All of these pictures were taken with the new IPhone4S.

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and exploring another Kentucky Park Lovers…..

Today we visited a park that is literally right in our backyard.  Devou Park is only about 15 minutes from our home and Dog knows why we have waited this long to enjoy it.  Back when my Mom was a little girl she would enjoy Devou Park all summer long.  Thousands of folks would head for the cool hills of Devou and actually spend the night under the stars.  I can certainly see why.  The hills are high above the city of Cincinnati and the breezes blow cool.  It is very cool!

This is the area where families, including Grandmas would gather and enjoy the night air.

There is a huge lawn that over looks the city. Grandma said it was like a twinkling jewel.

This shell was built in 1939 when Grandma was a young girl.  Today, a bluegrass festival was setting up.  It was so much fun.  I love Bluegrass Music!

One summer night the shell had a concert in 1939 that hosted 40,000 folks!  Can you believe that? Howl totally cool is that?

I loved hearing all about Grandma’s memories.  It was so much fun.

Then we went and had our picnic.  We found the perfect spot! We were over looking the golf course and that cute little lake.

This is the side view…

And the rear view;)

More loving Devou Park later…..Cat, Grandma, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and “really old one” lovers?  Well, today we took a mini car trip to an Ohio State park called Hueston Woods.  It is about an 1.5 hours from our home.  It was a really hard drive.  Two lanes and lots of dump trucks.  We will not go back.  Why would we risk our lives?

After we spent an hour looking for a picnic area we did find one.  We even had entertainment.  A couple showed up with their twin white German Shepherds that loved to jump into the water and chase a stick.  They were really magnificent and so well behaved.

If they jumped in the lake once, they jumped in 200 times!

We all looked on (Emma smelled) with joy!

If you look down by the lake there is a group of ROTC practicing.  They walked back and forth by our picnic table taking small sail boats to the lake.

One of the guys said, “You got a really old one there”… as he looked at Chaps.

He added…Very nice looking hounds.

Our Mayor would never jump in the lake to chase a stick but he sure enjoyed his day.  Emma loved all of the smells.

As we were loading the hounds up the ramp into the basset hauling vehicle an elderly couple pulled up.  Turns out the wife’s family raised and sold basset hounds 40 years ago.  She was attacked by Emma with licks.  I saw a little tear in her eye.

That made our day…..

More knowing that Chaps is getting old but it is hard to hear it later…..Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and getting a slight break lovers….Today we had about a 10 degree break in the weather and the humidity.  I jumped on this day to take the kids to the vet for their nail clippings.  My Mom and I always love to incorporate a nice outing after the vet so the kids don’t get too depressed.  So, we planned a picnic at Mount Airy Forest in Ohio.  We have been before and liked it.

So we took off early…..See the kids up on the porch?

It has been way too long since we have been out.  We are all like shut ins.

In our neck of the woods we have had good rain.  Our flowers and the one tomato plant are doing great.

Of course Emma leads the way as usual.  She is such a good little blind girl!  I always pull the basset hauling vehicle out to the same spot and she goes right up the ramp.

We went to the vet and then headed off to Mount Airy Forest in Ohio to have our picnic.  This park has a tree house that is built for everyone including the disabled.  The ramps are wide enough for many wheel chairs as well as a blind basset hound;)

Chaps and I ventured out to the balcony area and he did not like it one bit.  He likes the pack to stay together.

It was now time to leave.

Not because we wanted to but because the parade of police cars made us uneasy.  Something was going on. It made me sad.  I know parks are not all safe.

But a park with a tree house for disabled kids and disabled dogs?

It was just sad.  I googled it when I got home. Turns out a magic tree house does not a safe park make.  I am not sure why all the police were there today but the internet searches turned up many a reason not to go back.

We will being doing google searches before visiting parks instead of after in the future.

More being sad later….Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and taking a day trip lovers! We were so excited that today was going to be in the 70s! We packed a lunch and packed the kids and took off.

We wound up at the Boone County, KY Arboretum.

Folks, if you are near this park you must go! We cannot wait to go back when all of the plants and trees are in bloom. The walking trails are massive!

We walked, walked and walked some more!

The Mayor was with Grandma. Emma and I tried to keep up!

Then we found a place to rest….

Then we got lost! We roamed for about an hour! We were kind of freaked out! It was clouding up and misting. We were all really tired.

We were all on our last legs. It was kind of scary! We flagged down a park employee asking for help. He was so funny. He said, “are you the car with the huge pictures of basset hounds?” “Keep walking north and you will see your car”. Finally we found the basset hauling vehicle! The kids had a huge drink and seats in the BHV never felt so good!

OMD we all were dragging!

Howl ever, we can’t wait to come back. We want to take the Dogwood trail! Howl cool will that be?

More making sure we keep track of where we are parked later…Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and vacationing with your hounds lovers!

Howl do you stack up? Chaps and Emma’s Grandma sent us this clipping from USA Today!

I would have to say that we fall into the 12% category.

I shutter to think who falls into the not sure category????

Probably best that category not have dogs!

More loving Grandma’s clippings later….Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Cabin Fever Haters! Well, most of my dear readers know howl Grandma and I love to get out and explore! We have been house bound due to this winter season. It is just so boring!

So, I just found out that this weekend is a HUGE RV show near Dayton, OH! We really want to go!

It has been my dream goal to buy a mini RV! This is my dream fantasy. When I get stressed sometimes I google mini RVs and just look at them. I think they are called Class C.

This is me back in 2008 dreaming! My Mom, Dad and I took Wendel Flopbottom, a stuffed basset hound that was doing a fundraiser back then. I took him to an RV show with me! hehehe

This is the outside picture of a class C RV!

My dream is to have one similar to this but totally black so I can put my magnets on it. I hate that swirl/line paint job. YUCK

More excited about the dream later…..Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and historic walking tour lovers…..Oh My Dog, we are certainly one of those. This tour is so fantastic and totally dog friendly. We had a blast!

One city over from where we live now, is where my Mom was raised, Covington, KY. Today we were looking for a last day of Indian Summer Walk. We had to get out and enjoy the day with the kids…..

Get this, Covington, KY is about 8 minutes from our home. In 8 minutes we were here!

This is part of a multi faceted walking tour that is right under our noses. We started the tour at the memorial of Mr. John A. Roebling designer of the Suspension Bridge.

This bridge was the prototype Mr. Robeling did for the Brooklyn Bridge. Crazy beautiful isn’t it? The walking tour is 13 blocks long but we made it longer. We headed out to be amazed by the beauty of this civil war settlement.

The beginning of our walk took us right along the Ohio River on the Kentucky side. It was a beautiful fall day reaching 70 degrees. Then, we turned the corner and walked up a side street to view some of the historic home. Howl ever, the Mayor got way laid in some of the historic landscaping….hehehe

Just feast your eyes on this mansion. It is called Mimosa and has 22 rooms. It is now a museum. We did not go in but we will come back and linger around.

It was such a glorious day and then we heard….clip clop, clip clop….

Chaps was totally fascinated…….

The carriage owner was gushing over the hounds. I was gushing over his horse. He told me she was his life. “Her name is Ginger puddin’!” We love Ginger puddin’!

Then we took off all the way down the lane and took a rest here….

These charming row homes are just so sweet and so well cared for. What a wonderful neighborhood. We were charmed! Then get this. After you reach the end of this quaint and charming street you can view this non-quaint structure!

LOL! Really, this building overlooks this riverside quaint neighborhood! Actually I really love it. The color of the windows match the paint on the Roebling bridge. It is really stunning. Rumor also has it that George Clooney has one of the pent houses. Again, only a rumor. At this point you make a right and go back to the river to view some fantastic murals that line the river. Really breath taking.

Time for treat….

We had such a perfect time. We cannot wait to come back. There are several tours yet to explore….

COVINGTON KY, WALKING TOURS

More loving Kentucky later…..Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Indian Summer Day Lovers…..What better way to spend a day like today than near an ancient Indian burial ground surrounded by a 1000 acre park.

Basset Hound Town gives Woodland Mound Park 4 paws up. (That is our highest rating). We decided to spend this 70 degree Indian Summer Day welcoming Grandma home from FL. The kids go wild as Grandma packs up some scraps of rye bread for our adventure! Of course they got an appetizer!

You know me…I had to throw this one in……

All ready and raring to go we set out to explore
Woodland Mound Park in Hamilton County OH!

There are stunning over looks of the OH River. Lazy and easy walking paths surround the entire park. Off of these level 1 paths are level 2, 3, and 4 paths as well. We stuck to the level 1 areas!

Can you believe howl cool this place is? 70 degree weather and curves included!

Some of these overlooks rival the Blue Ridge Parkway. Incredible!

Something else that was fun to look at….SHADOWS!

I adore shadows….

Especially when they are the Mayor’s shadows!

Hey, keep you head up! There is a foot bridge ahead! Grandma, hang on tight to our Princess over the foot bridge!

Careful…….

What a fun park! We will be back!

There was nothing better than spending an Indian Summer Day at an ancient Indian burial ground. They say it is unlikely that you will see the burial ground. The mound is protected by being unmarked and hidden. I would like to think we cast our long, fall shadows over the site with much respect.

More Indian Summer adventures later…..Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and do you see what I see lovers….

OK, this morning I woke up and could not get those dang skeleton aprons off my mind. I thought it would be cute if I bought 3 more and then Chaps, Emma, Grandma and I could be the 4 bony musketeers next year! hehehe

So, I decided to hop in the BHV and go see if there were any left at Krogers! More about that later….

I looked on a the dash board as I was pulling out and saw a piece of wood/mulch I had picked up from the parking lot of Antler Village which is part of the Biltmore, which by the way is totally dog friendly.

As I was walking to the BHV in the village I glanced down and saw this. It is either a piece of wood or a piece of mulch. When I glanced down I saw a heart shape. It was a fleeting glance and a fleeting thought as I passed by but I turned on my heel and went back for it. I picked it up and felt it was a good luck heart. I saw it as plain as day. Grandma saw it too after I showed it to her.

It does not show up quite as good as it does in real life but I tired to photograph it when I got home for you to view. Do you see what I see?

The picture of Emma in the background is attached to a lanyard I wear a lot. It has both Chaps and Emma’s pictures on it.

Some folks wear them for work, I wear this one for love. I also left it for the airbrush artist to make my tee shirts. It really came in handy that day!

So, can you see the heart? I keep it in my car as a good luck charm. I am so glad I went back and picked it up.

I am also glad I went to check on the glow in the dark skeleton aprons. As I reached the sale table the clerk was marking all the Halloween stuff down again! The aprons were originally 20 dollars marked down to 8.00. Today they were marked down to 5.00! YES!

4 bony musketeers here we come next year! Howl cool will we be? hehehe

More pawsome finds later…Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

P.S. We wood heart you!

P.P.S. here is the sunset we viewed at Antler Village while eating dinner that night…

This is me eating dinner with the kids outside at Cedrics. Can you even imagine howl beautiful it was? After I jumped up and started photographing the sunset about everyone outside did the same thing. It was amazing. I sharpened the image but did not add any color. This is a Blue Ridge sun set folks!

That heart was meant to be…..

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