More St. Croix-tastic Pictures

Here are the rest of the pictures from our St. Croix Labor Day Weekend, including the promised Fredo pictures.
Here you see the Fredo retrieving a stick. Once upon a time, Fredo didn't like to swim. He would wade out and drink a little, but very rarely would he swim, even with his life jacket on. Then my parents got two black labs who love to run, chase tennis balls, and swim, especially when they can retrieve sticks. When we would go to the river in Montana, Fredo would hang out on the shore while the labs chased sticks and received lots of praise for their efforts. One day, Fredo decided that if Huck (the senior lab) could do it, so could he. He took off after a stick and brought it back, and ever since he has loved to swim. He has especially enjoyed his swimming here in Minnesota. He has gotten to swim in lakes and lazy rivers like the St. Croix where there isn't much current. In western Montana, our rivers generally move pretty fast, making it really tough for a little Fredo with his little Fredo legs!

Aside from chasing sticks, Fredo's efforts when he goes swimming are largely devoted to the Fredo Beachfront Restoration Project (FBRP). It all started when Fredo noticed that lots of debris floating in the water took away from the beauty and enjoyability of the shoreline. He has devoted countless hours ever since to spotting debris, swimming out to it, and removing the eyesore by snapping it up with his mouth. The debris he has cleared in the past include waterlilies, floating leaves, underwater plants, and other plant material. Fredo is devoted to beautifying your beachfront, one leaf at a time. At the St. Croix River, Fredo chased down many leaves floating downstream. We kept him on his leash while swimming, just in case he got out too far so we could "reel" him in. He kept seeing leaves that were really far out and going for them, so I rolled up my pant legs and waded in with him so that his leash would allow him to swim out far enough. I might as well have not even bothered, because as you can see, I had to wad out far enough that I got soaked anyways. I didn't want my desire to stay dry to keep Fredo from being able to swim out to his leaves. The water actually felt really good.
Fredo in the process of switching from "panic ears" to normal ears.


Pete took this picture of a mussel and a little minnow in the St. Croix River. Apparently there's a problem there with something called a zebra mussel. I don't know if this is one or not...but good camera work, Peter!

So to conclude, here I am with Fred-olf the Gray enjoying our campfire. Pete took some great movies of Fredo barking at rocks in the river, but I don't know how to post them, so I will leave that to him. The trip was a great time, and I look forward to more camping action next summer.