Day Two

I woke up this morning, after little to no sleep, feeling like I had gone 10 rounds with no gloves against Mike Tyson. My hands were bruised and stiff and almost frozen into a claw like position and my left shoulder felt dislocated - all courtesy of my dog-walking yesterday with Porter. Although he does relatively well at heeling, he still needs to be controlled and I've already developed a blister on my left hand between my thumb and first finger where the leash rubs when I'm walking him. By the end of the week, I'll probably have biceps the size of Popeye's.

After breakfast (kibble for Porter, Trader Joe's Maple Almond Cluster cereal for me) we headed up to Alston Park. The sky was starting to clear and I could see more blue sky than I could see clouds, so I was very encouraged. We hit the trail at Alston and took the long route which takes you very close to the vineyard that borders the area. I saw a couple of dogs/owners from yesterday and we all said hello (in our own individual canine and human fashion). It was a relatively problem-free walk, with the exception of the Husky who insisted on asserting himself and pinning poor Porter to the ground. Porter promptly complied and let out a little yip when the Husky starting grabbing his ear. The owner finally came along and whisked the dog away in the opposite direction of us and Porter appeared to be unscathed from the whole experience.
It was funny and kind of sweet when two or three people who passed us recognized Porter and asked how he was doing after his little "procedure" two weeks ago. He was neutered and I personally think he's still trying to figure out who he is at this point. He just doesn't know his own strength - kinda like the big, fat kid in gym class who wore the dumb glasses but didn't realize he could kick the crap out of just about anyone if he wanted to because of his sheer size.
By the time we got home the sun was out full force and we went out into the backyard where I could indulge in some Vitamin D therapy. Porter is apparently lacking some essential vitamins too (despite his daily multi-vitamin) because he insisted on digging in the dirt and eating whatever it was that he thinks he needs from the soil. He also seems to have a Vitamin C deficiency because I caught him yanking unripe lemons off the tree in the corner. Or perhaps he's self-conscious about his hideous breath and it's his form of mouth wash.
Since the weather was so beautiful (70 and sunny) I didn't want to squander the day away being a slug in the back yard since tomorrow duty calls and I have to do some work. I Googled "dog friendly wineries in Napa" and ended up with more than five pages of results. I just didn't know if I was quite ready to expose Porter to the public in a controlled setting so instead I decided to head to downtown Napa and just go for a walk. After placing a big towel on the back seat of my rental car to hopefully catch whatever dirt and crud lurked in his fur, we hit the highway. Porter, of course, ignored the towel and insisted on putting his big paws on the console and acted as my co-pilot and canine GPS. We found the Riverfront area with no problem although I was a bit nervous about parking because my parallel parking skills are definitely lacking, even more so in a rental car. Fortunately, I found a nice spot I could just pull into in front of the Napa General Store. Porter and I followed the Riverfront sidewalk and passed Morimoto's new restaurant (I hear from my son that Morimoto is quite the Karaoke animal). There have been quite a few changes to the Riverfront since my visit last year and it's Napa's new up and coming location.
Feeling the need for a little refreshment, Porter and I headed to Downtown Joe's Brewery, which is very dog-friendly. Porter and I sat on the patio and I ordered a nice Tail Waggin' Pale Ale, while Porter had some water, thoughtfully provided in a take out box by our server. Unfortunately Porter was more interested in eating the cardboard box than he was drinking the water and he spilled it all over the ground and then, of course, decided he had to lay in it. I was mentally adding up the rental car cleaning fee as I watched him wallow on the ground.
We headed back to the car and I managed to towel him off a little bit before he climbed inside so there wasn't much of a mess.
I have to say, I'm just so impressed with Napa and all it's dog-friendliness. Boise and Payette, please take some lessons from Napa.