Fitbitting with "Man's Best Friend" (upload dog photos here)

[rightdx]

We live in "Steinbeck country" (Salinas Valley/Monterey County), named after the famous author John Steinbeck. And just as Steinbeck documented his journeys with his beloved dog in "Travels with Charlie", I'm going to photojournal in this thread my "Travels with Melody".

A lot has changed in Salinas since the days of Steinbeck. But some things haven't changed that much. Today we visited the childhood home of Steinbeck, which has been restored to its original beauty.

Down the street from the Steinbeck House is the Steinbeck Public Library, with a bronze statue of the author at the front entrance. I don't think Melody's ever seen a statue before. At first she was puzzled that he didn't greet her - or even flinch one little bit.

Then she surprised me and became downright ornery!

So I took her back to to dog training school for some proper obedience training. Of course, she passed with flying colors.

Please share photos of your fitbitting friends here!

　

　

[WendyB]

Thansk for sharing! Great Pics!

[Nicou]

That is so cool! I love the idea of sharing a little history along the way. I love the pictures and  beautiful  dog by the way

[HelenaFitbit]

Melody may be the only dog keeping me from being a 100% Cat lady. 

[KarlaFitbit]

Wow! I really like what you're doing @rightdx I totally see myself doing that as well. Very nice pictures. And I recommend you all to read John Steinbeck's novel called "Of Mice and Men". 

Good luck! 

[VivisFitbit]

@rightdx  Welcome to the Fitbit Family!   WOW!  I'm pretty sure this is only the beginning of this fantastic adventure! Steinbeck country seems to be a beautiful place, thanks for sharing this photojournal with us. We can't wait to know more about "Travels with Melody". By the way, Melody is super cute!

"Ideas are like rabbits

learn how to handle them,
and pretty soon
you have a dozen" 

John Steinbeck. 

[rightdx]

Thanks, I'm glad you guys (gals) enjoyed the photos form my visit to the Steinbeck House and Steinbeck Library.  I'm planning another excursion soon. 

What I'd really like is for other dogwalking fitbitters to post photos of their adventures here.  It's fun, and motivating too!

[Mcore]

OMG, I love her! @rightdx Thank you so much for sharing those pictures and your journey with Melody. I remember your first post sharing that she ate your shoe 

Keep us posted and give a big hug to beautiful Melody on my behalf. Have an awesome weekend!

[EmersonFitbit]

Don't tell the rest of the Fitbit moderators, but I put my Flex on my sidekick, Petr, on almost every lazy Sunday. 

I've always liked the formula 'Twice the legs, twice the steps.'

[HelenaFitbit]

I've been known to put the Flex on my cat Marshmellow 

[rightdx]

Emerson, thanks for posting Petr's photo.  Soo cute!

[loveabull]

Beautiful pictures!!!!! I'll have to post some pics of my babies too. Not much scenic around here however, a few parks and a nature reserve surrounded by urban sprawl.

[Mcore]

Please do @loveabull! 

[rightdx]

Spring is a great time of year to get outdoors.  Bring your dogs and camera (or phone), snap some photos and share with the group!

One of our favorite trails is overgrown with wildflowers, but melody doesn't seem to mind.

[HelenaFitbit]

That is one very happy dog @rightdx! 

[sbauer77]

Great idea for a discussion! My family and I attend a monthly "Bully Walk" where we gather and let our dogs socialize and take a walk together. It also helps to educate the public on the true loveable nature of our bully breed dogs. Here are some of the pics...

Our little Cinnamon (Cinnamomma). She's our current foster dog.

Ace

Dodger

The group at Christmas time:

Summer walks by the river:

[Mcore]

Beautiful! I love this breed and when I get the chance, I will adopt one. They are so cute! 

Thanks for sharing @sbauer77.

[rightdx]

Melody and I continued our history tour of Steinbeck recently by visiting Cannery Row, the beachfront street that was once the home of a bustling sardine industry and which was immortalized by Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row. Since the bust of the sardines, Cannery Row is now a tourist destination with hotels, restaurants, shops and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Melody was more interested in running on the beach behind Cannery Row than getting a history lesson. She found a friend to run with. I think they provided some entertainment to the people on the pier above eating lunch at the Fish Hopper.

Next, we visited the Pacific Biologic Laboratories (PBL), the lab owned and operated by the renowned marine biologist Ed ("Doc") Ricketts. It was a biological supply house that provided specimens to schools, museums and research instititutions.

　

Sadly, Ricketts' life was cut short when the car he was driving was struck by the local train in 1948. We visited that site where a memorial now stands. Melody's not afraid of statues anymore!

Across the street from PBL is the Wing Chong Building, which once housed Lee Chong's grocery.

　

"Lee Chong's grocery, while not a model of neatness, was a miracle of supply. It was small and crowded but within its single room a man could find everything he needed or wanted to live and to be happy--clothes, food, both fresh and canned, liquor, tobacco, fishing equipment, machinery, boats, cordage, caps pork chops. You could buy at Lee Chong's a pair of slippers, a silk kimono, a quarter pint of whisky and a cigar. You could work out combinations to fit almost any mood. The one commodity Lee Chong did not keep could be had across the lot at Dora's".

-- John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row"--the opening of Chapter 1.

Finally, it was back to the beach for one more run. I took this photo from the Monterey Boat Works. The aquarium can be seen in the background. A nice man came out and told me that dogs must always be kept on leashes. Where is that dog, anyway?

[EmersonFitbit]

Nice @rightdx! How many steps did you clock while running around that day(s)?

[rightdx]

Emerson, that day I clocked 12,393 steps, but I'm sure Melody got way more than me!