Wormy....Wormy Mine!!

Just the other day we were able to take Sammy on his second fishing trip. To him, it might have really been his first since his first was probably overshadowed by all the camping. I have been so excited to get Sammy all ready for fishing, camping and hopefully swimming! I remember doing all this with all the dogs my dad has had (all hunting dogs, more natural for them) and hoped that Sammy would love it as much as I have thought they have.
It was more or less a spur of the moment thing. We drove down to Bellevue

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(we live around the area Northeast of Boys Town, but West of I-680) and went to Hayworth Park which has a little marina on the Missouri River. The Keystone Trail runs right along the side, and actually it runs from fairly North in Omaha, winds through, through LaVista, Papillion, Bellevue and into Council Bluffs I've heard.
When we got to the parking lot at Hayworth we saw two cars we knew! First we saw Erik's sister's car then my mom's van! Quickly after we saw Erik's sister and their dog, Max! Her fiancee was the one who found the fishing hole from their walks with Max.
Both Sammy and Max were way to wound up, so we had to separate because there was way too many other people and things going on to deal with it all. So we got going on the trail, which is somewhat acts as a dike for the farmland around the park. It sits well above the local terrain, which is great because it has been flooded with all of our rain and rain North of Omaha.
Hayworth Park offers some camping spots as well as lots of picnic areas, playground equipment and a marina. In our pictures you can see the water almost to the roof of picnic stuctures, picnic tables floating (the green things), porta pottys floating and overturned (and dumpsters!) and the road flooding over.




After walking past the park area, the farmers field has been completely flooded over on the East side, with large puddles on the West side of the trail.






Sammy immediately went into his little ADD mode. He had to smell all the smells, try to get to the water, follow bugs, want to see every person that walked by, and watch those coming up behind. It is probably no surprise Max and Erik's sister were able to easily catch up to us! We were able to walk alongside them until we made it to our fishing hole. Along the way, Sammy used all his energy up fast, and then tried to trick us into laying down and stopping. At one point we thought we were gonna end up carrying him back! It was about a 20 minute walk, in total, to our destination. Our destination was a normal channel that came through, however it was much higher than usual. Next to our location, there was this dumpster that got washed up!



There was a family there when we got there, all of who were very excited to see a corgi. Sammy was happy to let them. He was doted on until they left about a half hour later. Once we got there, we put Sammy's stake and rope into the ground so he was able to have some room to roam. Only restricting him from going up to the trail. We also brought him a water bowl and water, and we got that set up for him in the shade. Then we started getting our poles set up. This was quite difficult with Sammy and the family all interacting, but we were able to get it done!
Once it came time to cast, Sammy got very interested. He tried to jump up to get the worm and bobber. Unfortunately the worm is attached to a hook, and made me very nervous everytime he found casting and reeling in interesting. As it would cast out, he went so far as to run to the water front chasing it! Silly puppy!
After a little while, I wanted to move in closer to the channel, and that silly puppy nearly lost it! I was out of his area and he couldn't get to me. However, this gave me the most hope, because he took to the water. He walked right in, and stood in the water up to his neck and barked at me! Yay....he might just be a swimming dog afterall!!! And he will be a fisherdog, too! Overall he did just fantastic, he just had too much intrest in the worm!
After being there for about 10 minutes, all of a sudden Sammy had a new visitor he was quite excited about. It was my Mom! She just happened to be walking at the same place we were going fishing! Talk about coincidences! She stayed with us, and that made Sammy quite happy. In fact we have a fishing day set up with her this Saturday, now! Sammy isn't gonna know what hit him, he'll be so excited! We are going to go to a lake rather than a flooded river channel. And I am hoping for a beach I can take him to, and maybe we can go swimming!! :) Keep your toeses crossed!
My mom stayed with us, and she walked Sammy back which allowed me to free up a hand to take all the pictures you have seen thus far, and was able to take this group shot of us:

(see his intrest in the worm and bobber!)







Here they are getting ahead of us.

And also here is Sammy always needing to make sure I am still coming. He can't get very far away, even with family! Isn't he the sweetest!





Since he had to keep stopping for me, we were able to walk together most of the time, and I could answer questions to his demanding public! We were stopped a couple times so kids (or adults) could pet him, or ask what kind of dog he is, to tell us how cute he is, OR the best question ever: "Is that a corgi? It is! He is so cute! Here, buddy..." Yep, we enjoy that. We happened to be having that connection with a couple as a toad came jumping out on the trail! Sammy was all about the toad...when it hopped. But when it stood still, it almost seemed as if he lost it, like he couldn't see it anymore! I got down and picked it up to see if he would have anymore intrest in it, and he didn't. I was surprised myself.



The couple said something about, "he's gonna step on it," or "he's gonna try to bite it." I wish I had a good way of telling her that it's more likely the toad would win in any kind of a confrontation....he didn't get that name Samantha for nothing!
And in true Sammy style, he came back home, passed out and slept the next 11 hours! I sure hope Saturday goes just as well! Tomorrow is the first time that Erik and I will both be gone to work at the same time (for more than 3 hours overlap) in a grand many months. He will definately need something special to help make his transtion into this situation more acceptable!