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We got off to an interesting start on this adventure. We were originally supposed to leave on Thursday, April 13th but the universe kept throwing signals to mommy that is just wasn’t the time. Good thing she listened and we didn’t go for two reasons. The first reason is that I had a seizure on Thursday! I hadn’t had one since October when I was diagnosed with a brain tumor but I got treated with the Cyberknife radiation and have been on medications since then. Mommy does not like medications so she has been slowly weening me off of them. I had been off a week and then I had a seizure so needless to say, I am back on the phenobarbital. Darn it!
The second reason is that Lake Pleasant would have not been to “pleasant” of a place to stay over the holiday weekend. Mommy does not like being around a bunch of people when we camp and we could tell when we finally got there on Monday, April 17th that it had been a mad house. There was trash everywhere. It made mommy very sad.
But after spending Easter Sunday at one of our favorite hikes, Chantry Flats and seeing my Uncle Bill and family, mommy and I were off on Monday morning.
Lake Pleasant is north of Phoenix, Arizona. Our friend, Shelley, who we met on our Jack’s Journey USA trip in 2015 met us there when we arrived after our 6-hour drive. We were so happy to see her. She scouted out a site for us on the water. At Lake Pleasant, you can disperse camp for only $12. Anywhere on the lake! It is so cool! There is also plenty of RV camping with and without hookups but we prefer to camp on the water for basically free!
We arrived and went straight to a full hook up site and filled up our water tank then we headed to the lake. I was so excited to go swimming! The spot that was perfect was occupied but that was ok, we got another one and got leveled and stayed there for the night. Mommy was done moving the RV and I just wanted to SWIM!
It was so fun seeing Shelley and meeting her nephew Kayden. Shelley took us 4-wheelin in her jeep! It was my first time and it was so fun!! There are not many more things I can do to check off my bucket list!
After we were done going up crazy hills in the jeep, Kayden and I played in the water while mommy and Shelley blabbed about all the different lakes in Arizona and where we should explore next. We just got here and mommy is already worried about where we are going next! It was a beautiful sunset and we can see why they call this area, Sunset Ridge!
The next morning, we took a little walk and then moved to the spot that was level and right on the water with less rocks so it was a little easier for my feet. You know it is all about me!
As soon as we got there, we inflated the SUP and took off on the lake! It was 9 am and the wind died down so it was a fun paddle. We went and checked out the dam but we weren’t allowed near it.
We paddled over to the marina with boats that people live on. Mommy said they are called house boats. Then we explored a few coves and looked for a sandy beach but never found one so we made due so we could both go swimming!
We explored a few more coves then headed back across the lake to camp. It was an easy 5-mile paddle and we just took our time and enjoyed our first morning on our vacation.
As soon as we got back the trash truck was emptying the dumpster and the county worker was there so mommy asked him for a trash bag and her and I cleaned the entire camping area. Why do people think that it is ok to throw their cigarette butts, beer cans, water bottles and everything else on the ground and just leave it there? It is a pet peeve of mommy’s and her and daddy always pick up trash off of the ground any time they see it when we are out! The area looked so much better now!
Mommy finally sat down and read a little bit of her book and then Shelley came back with her 3 dogs and I played in the water with them. They were super cool dogs! Zippy would not share his toy with me and Dobey kept following me around but I liked them. Especially the big dog. She just stood in the water looking for fish. It was the funniest thing!
It was a hot day so the freezing cold water felt good. Plus, I got to rock dive!
The next day, mommy and I took a walk up the hill and she did her yoga stretches overlooking the lake. There wasn’t anyone out. It was so quiet.
We had breakfast and then off on the SUP we went. It seems that the wind dies down here at 9 a.m. which is cool with us. We went straight across the lake and stopped at an island. We both went swimming and I got to SUP dive!
We island hopped and checked out all the coves. There were some interesting camping situations going on.
We even got to see some trees!
It is kind of weird being on a lake surrounded by cacti!
It was another fun morning and we got 6 miles logged but back to the RV for lunch we went!
When we returned, we had new neighbors. They ended up being really cool and gave us a lot of information about some other lakes. Coco loved the water just as much as I do and he even rides on his daddy’s jet ski with him.
Lake Pleasant is a very cool lake. It is sad that the entire shoreline is littered with trash. I saw two little girls out in a kayak picking up trash in the water so the fish would not suffer. The lake gets super crowded on the weekends and there was a fair amount here during the week but we had plenty of room. It is like our Fiesta Island for dogs but only fresh water which we love!
We are excited to go check out Apache Lake! We hear it is spectacular!
Stay tuned as we have just begun our 2.5 week adventure and we have no idea what is ahead so be surprised with us! Follow our journey on our Leash Your Fitness Facebook and Instagram pages!
