Happy B-day Frito

Stop the presses!

We interrupt this vacation photo series (and Frito's nap) to make this special announcement:

Frito is actually not a dog ... he is actually a pigmy deer fawn.

No, no, that's not it.  The announcement is ...

Frito's very tired and he's having a hard time standing up.

Oh, that's right ... that's because he's so OLD!

Yep, Frito turns 12 (or 84 in dog years) today.

Woo-hoo.  Happy Birthday Frito.

And don't listen to that announcer.  You're still a young pup to us.

Made it to the top

Well, we finally made it to the top.

It was an enjoyable, if somewhat tiring hike.

But check out our reward.

What a great view of Riomaggiore.

And you can see Lover's Lane cut into the cliff just beyond the village.

Someone's a little tired

I'm not sure if you can tell in this photo, but my eyes are closed, and my head is slowly falling to Alpha's shoulder.

I am very tired by our hike up to Sanctuary.

Yo, Alpha.  

I am not an offering, so put me down.

That's not exactly what I had in mind.

Heading up to Sanctuary

There's a walk up the hillside to a church high above the ocean.  

We decided to give it a go.

I'm not entirely sure I'm up for this much hiking, but let's go.

That's a lot of steps.

And they just keep going and going.

And here are some cool little side steps that go into the terraced vineyards.

It appears you can also get caught up on your religion as you make your way up.

Or in my case, maybe take a well deserved nap ;-)

BTW Alpha, good job using two hands to hold me.  I appreciate it.

Sneaking in

Now this is certainly better than dangling.

I'm catching some air!  Woo-hoo.

Apparently I need to be a little more circumspect.

Time to lie down and enjoy the ride.

Ah, I see.  

Alpha's being sneaky.

And sneaking me into another church.  

Way to go Alpha, 'cause I've never seen one of these before ;-)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

You are the center of my universe, Mom.

Just like this cool mosaic in the center of Vernazza.

See how everything radiates outward from you (OK, and me too ;-)

Thanks for being such a great Mom, and making me that really cool bag.

And you can take me on vacation again.  

I will try to be a very good boy, really.

Dangling warning

Hey Alpha!

Didn't you get my previous "dangling warning'?

Two hands, sir -- the camera can "dangle' around your neck.

Jeez.

Doin' a little window shopping

Here we are strolling around Manarola, checking out some local shops.

I say 'strolling', but in this case one of us is riding in luxury (thanks Mom!)

Alpha, stop slacking.  I want to see more of the town.  Mush, mush.

See, now this is a window.  

All the better so I can do some "window shopping".

And that's a wrap.

Now it appears to be lunch time ;-)

Hazards along the trail

There were quite a few "free range" doggies.

They were all quite friendly, but that doesn't really make me any happier.

My job is to bark ferociously just in case they get any nefarious ideas.

Oh yes, and there there are the "free range" children.

Anyone hear about leashes?  Great idea for kids if you ask me.

Everyone just wants to pet my cuteness, and I understand that.

But then I'm the bad guy if I decide to snack on those tender fingers.

And then we have "Frito dangling".

Alpha, how many times have we talked about this.

Two hands are required when carrying moi.

And finally, we have the perennial hazard of "too many photos".

Can you tell just how thrilled I am?

In fact, I think this is the photo Mom was taking of me from yesterday's post.

Windy in Manarola

The wind is whipping up the ocean today.  None of the fisherman are out, and the ferry service has been closed.

But it does makes for some great waves breaking on the rocky shores.

OMG, so now everyone is a photographer!

Maybe you can see the wet walkway.  That's from ocean spray from the waves.

Here we are taking a respite.  Soaking up some of the intermittent rays of the day.

That's what I'm talkin' about.

OMG, they're at it again

Guys, do you really need to do this ritual again?

And Mom, why are you laughing?  Is that really appropriate for the occasion?

What is with these humans?  

Look at me, I can't even get a decent meal around here without being bombarded by little love notes.

Jeez.

Walking around Riomaggiero again

So here we are taking in some of the local sites in the town where we stayed.

This is the corner of an old castle, and take a look what years and years of running water does to the corner of the building.  Yikes, these guys need some gutters ;-)

You can see the weather was little chilly, and really quite windy at times, during the beginning of our vacation.

I call this one "smiling at the stairmaster."  This is one hilly place, and when you get into town, that means lots and lots of stairs.

Of course, perhaps Mom is smiling because in this case we are going down to the ocean.

And here we are once again on Lover's Lane.  It's a really nice gentle (and level) stroll along the edge of the cliffs as they meet the sea.

In the background there you can see another colorful village tucked away in the crevice of rock.

Thanks for bringing me on this cool vacation guys.

Pretty flowers and moi

We're back in our little town now of Riomaggiore.

It was a very nice town to stay in.

Enough places to eat and neat things to see, but not too touristy.

And lots of people adored me.

Well, how could they not.  Just look how much I brighten up the flowers.

Look who's still smiling

So after checking out Manarola, we decided to take a local bus up the hill and see where that would take us.

Turns out, no place in particular.  But we found another trail that headed over to the next town, Corniglia.

You can see it in the background of this picture.

It was quite a good hike (read, longer than expected).

But hey, Mom is still smiling so that's good!  (And very lucky for Alpha.)

And moi?  I'm still walking.

At least on the downhills ;-)

Told you I fit

Here we are in Manarola (the next town over).  

It's another quaint fishing village, as you can see by the boats stored right along the street.

Oh, and maybe you can see that I've decided it's time for a rest.

So check out how comfy this bag looks for carrying me.

Way to go Mom.

I still get to see everything going on outside, but lie comfy on my fleece blanket.

That's what I'm talking about!

This carry bag is just the best.

Say bye-bye running jacket

Someone is looking very handsome sitting on the rocks.

And Alpha is also there (hee, hee).  Wearing his nice, lightweight, portable running jacket.

Well time to say "bye, bye" to the running jacket.

Because it seems someone who shall remain nameless (OK, Alpha) left his waist pack on the local train, and inside was this running jacket along with a few other goodies.

Oops.  Lucky for Alpha, the weather just kept getting warmer so he didn't need the jacket for the rest of the vacation.  And also, that he didn't have his wallet or iphone in the waist pack.

C'est la vie.  Or as they would say here:  Questa è la vita.

Lover's Lane

So here I am in Cinque Terre (pronounced cheen-kway tayrr-rray, and remember to roll those r's ;-)

This beautiful ocean-side walk is from the town where we stayed -- Riomaggiore -- the southern most of the "five lands" to the next town Manarola.

The walk is also known as Lover's Lane.

O jeez, let me outta  here.  Just look at what the 'rents are up to.

See all that stuff on the fence in the background.  That's where people put locks to show there love for each other.

Can someone gag me with a spoon, please.

Oh no, not "spoon" as in cuddling, oh jeez.

Getting ready for vacation

This is my new carry bag that Mom made for me.  Pretty snazzy, don't you think?

She took a previous handbag pattern and then changed just about everything to make it work for moi.

It's what you call a custom job, because hey, I'm special.

So special, in fact, that my parents figured my legs and my energy level might not be up for all the walking needed where we were going on vacation.

So Mom made sure I could fit inside, and lie down and be all comfortable while Alpha schleps me around the terraced hillsides of Cinque Terre, Italy.

So stand by -- you'll be in for a treat for some of my vacation photos.  You guys are almost as lucky as I am.  I say "almost," because I'm the only one with my custom carry bag ;-)

Sleeping Cutey

And now a close-up of my sleeping cuteness.


Alpha says I'm irresistibly soft and pettable.

Just too darn cute

Awww geee.

Now aren't I the cutie pie.

All cuddled up and warm in my minkie blanket.

At least that was true before Alpha decided he needed yet another photo of moi.

OK Alpha, put the covers back now.

Yoga dog

Check out that supple spine.

I'm almost 12 years old (84 dog years) and look at that flexibility.

You guys should really take up yoga.


Here I'll give you instruction.

OK, butt up in the air, and take your chest all the way down to the floor.

Oooh, that's a good stretch.


I'm not quite so supple on the upward doggie.

I think artificial ligaments may limit some of my reverse stretch.

But that's still pretty good for an ol' dog ;-)

Eating some yummy lunch

You caught me Alpha.

Yes, it is a somewhat rare event these days.

I'm actually eating my lunch.


You can see how trim and fit I am.

My appetite has not been so great. So I'm down to somewhere around 9 lbs.

The skinniest I've ever been as an adult.

But I'm looking pretty darn healthy.

Hey Alpha, maybe you ought to try dropping a pound or 20 ;-)