Nearly one hundred apartments and rental houses said they wouldn't accept that many animals until we finally found a place on 209th and TV highway. It was a small two room townhouse for almost 1,800 dollars a month, about 1,600 in monthly rent and something like a 45 dollar fee per dog, per month. We applied, and even qualified but the cost and the fact that it was that far out seemed pretty steep(not that there's cheap rent anywhere in the metro area anymore) but nonetheless we wanted to do anything to keep our pack together. A few years before my dad passed he adopted an old racing greyhound along with the two jack russels we already had. Not long after that my grandma moved in with us as she required a lot of care and assistance in her everyday life. Along with her came her little shitzu and before we knew it we were the crazy dog people, living in a house with three generations of people and four male dogs Starting in September of 2014 and in the span of just 6 months my grandma, father and even my only coworker passed away(he died the same night my grandma did to make things even stranger). I felt like my whole world crashed when my dad died, not to mention the struggle of finding a new place to live considering we weren't able to keep the house. I felt I was only to blame and carried a lot of guilt for not creating more of a life for myself so to speak and spent much of the time after his death beating myself up and putting myself down. And as that goes negativity breeds more negativity and I truly felt like I was in a downward spiral that I couldn't control. That's when things started to turn for the better, a hiker, and former legend of this forum named payslee reached out to us and offered us a place to live in her home. It will forever stand as one of the kindest and most compassionate acts I have ever witnessed and long story short, we moved in early last summer and have enjoyed some great times together already. I truly feel her kindness and willingness allowed us to keep our little family together, as the thought of losing them too was heartbreaking to think about. Anyway, enough with the overly emotional sentiment, you came to see wolves right? 
It has been quite an adventure with the wolf pack in the last few months, no more are the days of only beach trips and dog parks, it was time to get them into the great outdoors like they'd never seen before. Here we are just below Burley Mountain last Friday on the way to the old firelookout:
I think the greatest lesson i'm learning from the dogs is to not be so destination driven, as they don't care "where we go as long as we go". They live in the moment like no person I have ever known and just enjoy being out, no matter where or how far:
Err my gawd, snow!!?!
Even our oldest guy who just turned 12 in October is still going strong although he hitches a free ride or two when he can
(and yes, thats a 12 dollar yolo hat from the gas station in randle 
Actually scratch that, they're all shameless when it comes to looking for a free ride, as evidenced in me getting dog piled in seconds after flopping down for a snow angel:
On this day we werent able to make the lookout due to a frozen crust over the recent snowfall that made it very difficult for them to walk. So we stopped below the summit with a great view of Adams and the dark divide:
Bert was sporting a little snowy Novembeard before it was all over
Another highlight of our recent escapades with the wolf pack involved buying a six person tent so we could all go camping together
Our first trip was a blast as we car camped at the Lower Lewis River on a rainy weekend in October:
My best buds!
We spent some time enjoying the Lower Falls during an early fall storm:
I think Jack liked the upper falls the most
Here is Jojo on the bridge with the two jrt's:
Another great adventure took us to Placid and Chenamus Lakes in the Indian Heaven Wilderness. Here we are posing for a group selfie at Placid:
And Jo giving some much needed treats on the way to Chenamus Lake:
We decided to take the long way home going up FR 88 to reach 90 and then out to the Lewis River again. We stopped at Langfield Falls on the way:
Then it was back to the Lower Falls
Yet another adventure took us to the summit of Observation Peak on a cloudy day:
No views but the dogs don't care
There was also a trip to see some waterfalls in the gorge:
We hiked to the base of Elowah Falls:
A couple of days later we took them up to the Dry Creek Trail(near Trapper Creek) in SW Washington:
The creek lived up to its name!
They even helped me retrieve an aid bag I'd stashed for the Oregon Trail attempt so we took them to the appropriately named Dog River Trail afterwards:
There were rainy days at Herman Creek:
And at Wyeth too, where Nemo took on the job of camp host for a small fee of a few beggin strips:
I guess being tall has its advantages
Bert enjoying the view at Government Cove:
I think most impressive has been little Bert, who has really come out of his shell in the last few months and now takes on the roll of hike leader, constantly pushing ahead like the mayhem of our pack. Here he is leading the way on a small hike in the Ecola Creek Forest Preserve:
Most of all though, I think they still love the beach the best and some of my fondest life memories involve taking them to run wild on the sands of the north coast:
Bert is more of a "check stuff out" type of guy although he likes to chase the greyhound and bark at him for the 5 or 10 feet that he can keep up
He even found a sand dollar:
He also found a washed up octopus on crescent beach
Still most amazing of all is watching the old retired racer run circles on the sand. People will stop whatever they're doing just to watch him run for a few minutes:
But most of the time he just lazes around like the rest of us
In fact I'm still amazed at how well they pose for pictures(although shouting "treat" from the behind the lens might have something to do with that
Lots of sunny days at Chapman Beach:
And a few rainy ones too:
We even went to the Arcadia Cedar, I still wonder if Condor is the only greyhound to have ever visited the tree. In total, all 6 of us add up to about 80 years, which accounts for just about a tenth of the trees age! A good reminder about how short(and precious) our lives truly are. You can see my head to the right of the tree:
Turns out were a pretty tight-knit group
Most of all I've learned how much both Joie and I love and care for them, and just how much closer it has brought us together. And on this day of thanks, I feel truly grateful for all that I have:
And a big heartfelt thanks to all those on this forum who continue to inspire not just myself, but all of the readers and posters here to be better people, whether it be in the confines of our daily routines etc or out in the great outdoors that we all love so much. It has been a pleasure writing and sharing about my life with you all and I hope to continue doing it for many years to come. Life's a beach, live it in a way that makes you happy
