"Eagle,Alaska 2002 Posting this on the 100 anniversary of Amundsen reaching the South Pole. Amundsen passed this way while sailing the Northwest Passage"
Likes: His wonderful new life and adventures across Rainbow Bridge! Pet-Peeves: thunderstorms Favorite Toy: several stuffed animals Favorite Food: He`ll eat ANYTHING!! Favorite Walk: Backpacking on the Appalacian Trail. He carries his food in his dogpack. Best Tricks: Carrying his dogpack,locating hidden geocaches! Arrival Story: Smiley was a wonderful dog who entered my life by accident in Oct 2000 when my dog,Butch,was hit by a car in Montana as we were coming home from Alaska. I couldn`t face the long drive home alone and stopped at the first animal shelter that I could find in Helena,MT. Smiley helped me through a difficult time in my life losing Butch and went on in the years following to become a loyal companion on hiking trips on the Appalacian Trail,Alaska,and the Grand Canyon. I thank you for all the good times we shared together,Smiley,and eagerly await our eventual reunion. Until then,run happy across Rainbow Bridge with all your pals. SMILEY WAS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF ALL THE FINE DOGS AWAITING ADOPTION AT ANIMAL SHELTERS! Bio: Smiley was a fine travelling companion. He went to Alaska with me in Sept 2001 ,2002,2005,and most recently 2007. He hiked with me in the Grand Canyon in 2003 ,2004,and most recently 2006. He loved hiking and rafting. You can check out more photos of Smiley and Butch on Webshots. http://community.webshots.com/user /jpamusher. More photos are always being added here,come visit!!
Smiley also has a page on MySpace. His MySpace name is smileygolden.
Due to age and advancing arthritus, Smiley is now "retired" from long distance hiking. He is staying temporarily at my sister`s place in Florida until Wesley and I get back from our upcoming Alaska trip. Photos of him in Florida are on my Webshots page in a separate album titled "Smiley on vacation in Florida". See the webshots link on this page. Smiley wound up staying down in Florida as life there was better for him since he could no longer hike long distances with me. I went down to visit him in his "retirement" home in May 2009 and had planned another visit in Sept but it was not to be as he crossed the Bridge on Aug 8,2009. GOD BLESS YOU SMILEY!!!
RAINBOW BRIDGE
I explained to St Peter,
I`d rather stay here,
Outside the pearly gate.
I won`t be a nuisance,
I won`t even bark,
I`ll be very patient and wait.
I`ll be here,chewing on a celestial bone,
No matter how long you may be.
I`d miss you so much if I went in alone,
It wouldn`t be heaven for me.
I`ll wait for you,Dad,with all my love!
Smiley Forums Motto: SMILEY--K-9 HIKER The Groups I'm In: ♥ Sandy and Smiley's Wedding ♥, *~*JoyRiders*~*, Animal Lovers Of Alaska, Appalachian Mountain Dogs, Backpackin' Pups United, Beach Dogs!!, Camping Dogs, D/C MAGIC, Geocaching Geo Pups Unite!, Golden Graces, Philly baby's, Rainbow Bridge Angel Babies, Rugged Outdoorsy Doggers, The Pound Puppy Project, Trail Dawgs, ~~~*♥Dog Park USA♥*~~~ The Last Forum I Posted In: Valentine ball
In 2002,Dad and I took a trip to Alaska. It was my 2nd trip there with him and we hiked the Chilkoot Trail---used by gold seekers in the Klondike Gold Rush---as well as the Kesugi Ridge trail in Denali Park. As we were leaving the state,we drove the Taylor Highway from Tok to Eagle Alaska. Eagle is a small town on the Yukon River and most of the buildings there are log cabins! Dad came upon a statue of Roald Amundsen here and a plaque which read that he had stopped here on his discovery of the Northwest Passage. This was a few years before his famous polar journey of 1911. I thought it appropriate to post this as well as a photo of me in Eagle on this day which is the 100th anniversary of the South Pole journey. I am still having many grand adventures here across the Bridge!
Smiley
On this 10th anniversary of the tragic events of Sept 11,2001 I thought that I would share my story on where I was on that fateful day.
Dad and I were on our first Alaska trip together---he had adopted me the year before as a result of my brother Butch`s accident as they were headed home from Alaska in the fall of 2000. We had left home on the night of Sept 6 and after a few days traveling,had just reached the Alaska Highway on Sept 10. We camped that night at the Charlie Lake campground about 60 miles from the start of the Alaska Hwy in Dawson Creek,British Columbia. Dad and I awoke early the next morning and he took me on a walk along the trail that leads from the campground down to Charlie Lake. We returned to the tent,broke camp,and backtracked a short distance to the town of Fort St John where Dad wanted to stop for breakfast at a McDonalds. We were listening to a tape casette and didn`t have live radio on thus we were ignorant of the unfolding events of Sept 11,01. He left me in the car (promising to bring me back a hash brown) and went inside. As he was sitting down,he overheard a woman at a nearby table comment that a plane had crashed in Pennsylvania. Dad didn`t think too much of it at the time,as planes do after all crash now and then. He went out to his car and turned on the radio just as the 2nd tower was collapsing. Dad was in shock as he couldn`t visualize something that massive coming down! Then we learned that the US/Canada border was closed. Dad was wondering just how long we might be stuck in Canada. For the next few days,we followed the news whenever we could as radio reception can be sporadic along the remote towns of the Alaska Hwy. Fortunately the border was quickly reopened. As we were crossing into Skagway,Alaska a few days after Sept 11,Dad observed that the poor lady at the customs booth seemed rather nervous! Probably as a US government official,she felt herself to be somewhat of a target. Dad gave me my first hike along the Chilkoot Trail in Skagway(this trail was used during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898)then we returned back into Canada and journeyed up to the Alaska mainland. Traveling throughout Canada Dad was heartened by commentators on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)who professed their solidarity with the US at this difficult time. In the small town of Dawson City in Canada`s remote Yukon Territory a local resident even had an American flag in the window of their log cabin! As we neared the border of the lower 48 on the way home,we passed a fuel truck in Alberta that had a US flag on the back!
We were thus not in the US when the events of Sept 11,2001 unfolded,but this is how we experienced them. Dad and I were to travel to Alaska again in 02,05,and 07 but this trip remains special to us both.
I am living life to the fullest here across the Rainbow Bridge. There are many new adventures to be had,good food,warm sunshine---what`s not a pup to like about this place? Still in spite of everything,I do miss my Dad very much. Recently he took a trip out West with my brother Wesley and visited Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab Utah. There is a lovely memorial garden here known as ANGEL`S REST and Dad had a wind chime placed in it in my memory. It reads "I Love you Smiley,you were a good trail dog. Love John" It will make a melodious tinkling sound along with the hundreds of other chimes here. In this way,we Bridge Angels can sing a song to our loved ones left behind. Thanks Dad for remembering me in this special way! I will NEVER forget you!
♥ Smiley ♥
P.S. There is a photo of the wind chime on my page!
