TX meeting - when & where?

[micki76]

Ok, we've pretty much all agreed on April, right? Now we need to choose a Saturday for the meeting and an area.

After we get that narrowed down, we can decide on a park. I know there's one here in Plano and several in Austin. We went to a nice one there last time. :)

For me, this is my busy time at work, so Dallas really is best for me, though I could make a day trip to Austin. Houston is just too far for me right now. :(

[guster girl]

Yeah, Houston is kindof far for me, too. I'd go there, but, I'd prefer Austin or Dallas. I'm really not too picky on the dates or the place, other than that, though. I just need to know enough in advance so that I can switch days with someone here at work. I work Saturdays. But, yeah, this is going to be cool! Finn will be finishing up the last few weeks of his puppy training at that time, too, so, maybe he will be able to knock your socks off with how smart he is! ;) Hoping that'll be the case, and, he won't turn out to be the dunce of the puppy head start class. ha ha, I doubt that! I'll love him no matter what, though!

[aly]

April 3rd or 10th would be best for me. Seems like most want April 24th and I could *probably* make that one also, but it is closer to the end of the semester which tends to be BUSY!

I will definately try my hardest to make whichever time and place is decided!

[guster girl]

I'm actually planning to attend a training course for Pet Partners (I'm going to check into therapy dog work) in Denton on the third of April, but, I'm not 100% sure yet. But, the tenth would be alright by me. :) I'm pretty lenient. Unless something major comes up between now and then, I'm making the meeting with you all a priority! :)

[aly]

Ok - take my vote off of that first weekend :) I'm petsitting for a good friend. She'll never go out of town unless I'm the one watching her animals, so I want to be here so she can go. No one else voted for that weekend anyway, so hopefully that won't be the one!

[molucass]

I really would like to come, but the only way I could would be if it was in Houston.... I live about and hr. and 45 minutes from Houston, and about 5-6 hrs. from Dallas... and thats too far for me to go... especially in my crummy car.

My birthday is on April 21st, so I'm not real sure what we are doing on that day, or a few days afterwards, but I should be able to come any time in April.

[aly]

Originally posted by molucass
I really would like to come, but the only way I could would be if it was in Houston.... I live about and hr. and 45 minutes from Houston, and about 5-6 hrs. from Dallas... and thats too far for me to go... especially in my crummy car.

My birthday is on April 21st, so I'm not real sure what we are doing on that day, or a few days afterwards, but I should be able to come any time in April.

I would really like to meet you and your dogs so I hope it works out!

[PJ's Mom]

Welcome, molucass. :) (from another Texan, of course.) ;)

[countrycowgirl]

Originally posted by molucass
I really would like to come, but the only way I could would be if it was in Houston.... I live about and hr. and 45 minutes from Houston, and about 5-6 hrs. from Dallas... and thats too far for me to go... especially in my crummy car.

My birthday is on April 21st, so I'm not real sure what we are doing on that day, or a few days afterwards, but I should be able to come any time in April.

BASICLY THE SAME HERE BUT MY BIRTHDA IS THE 22ND....AND MY MOM OR DAD WOULD BE DRIVING ME..... WELCOME TO PET TALK MOLUCASS ALWAYS NICE TO MEET A ANOTHER FELLO TEXAN AND APRIL BABY :D

[guster girl]

Any ideas when this is going to happen yet? It's sneaking up on us pretty quickly! :)

[Rottieluver45]

So far it looks like the 24th of april. :confused:
I think I have school that day. :o

[PJ's Mom]

No you don't. :p

[guster girl]

Has it changed to the 25th? That's a Sunday! That would actually be better for me, though, cuz I already have Sundays off! But, I'm all for the 24th, too, if that was just a typo. :)

[Rottieluver45]

yeah it was a typo! :D Oops! Sorry! I`ll fix it! :o

[guster girl]

So, who's in charge of this endeavor anyway? :) Have we decided on a place to meet? A date? I really want this to happen! Can I help?

[micki76]

Originally posted by guster girl
So, who's in charge of this endeavor anyway? :) Have we decided on a place to meet? A date? I really want this to happen! Can I help?

Don't think anyone's in charge. Are you volunteering to be in charge? I second that motion! :p I'm utterly swamped at work right now (even bringing tons of it home) or I'd research parks and stuff for us. I don't know what kind of dog parks we have here. I know there's one in Plano.

Aly - when is the best time for you to come up?

Christina, Dawn? Y'all's best time?

Anyone else?

[micki76]

Ok. Here's the site for the Plano park
http://www.planoparks.org/sub_parks/dog_park.htm

I'm afraid I can't bring any of mine. They are all fear aggressive adnd though Chester warms up rather quickly, he wouldn't be welcome because of his initial attitude.

[Cincy'sMom]

I know my sister isn't on PT much right now, but if everything goes according to plan, Brian may be home by then. If he is, maybe they would be interested. I let her kow to check it out!

[Rottieluver45]

It`s kinda strict, isn`t it? What if I wanna run w/ bailey(if we even take her.) :D

I can look up some parks! I`ll look for some in Dallas and Plano.

BTW:The 24th is great cause it`s a Saturday.

[Rottieluver45]

I found this park called Bachman Lake Park.It`s in Dallas. here`s a link to a web site. you have to open acrobat.

Bachman Lake Park (http://www.dallascityhall.com/dallas/eng/pdf/park_and_rec/Bachman.pdf)

and here`s another site:
Bachman lake park..again(the 1st one!) (http://discoverourtown.com/TownPage.php?Town=832&Cat=Recreation)

I like it!

uhhhh...I`ll look up more parks later if you guys want me to!

[micki76]

Originally posted by Rottieluver45
I found this park called Bachman Lake Park.It`s in Dallas. here`s a link to a web site. you have to open acrobat.

Bachman Lake Park (http://www.dallascityhall.com/dallas/eng/pdf/park_and_rec/Bachman.pdf)

and here`s another site:
Bachman lake park..again(the 1st one!) (http://discoverourtown.com/TownPage.php?Town=832&Cat=Recreation)

I like it!

uhhhh...I`ll look up more parks later if you guys want me to!

Very bad area. :eek:

[Rottieluver45]

Really? Why? :confused:

[micki76]

Strip clubs, crime, murder, prostitution, drug dealers. Shall I go on? :eek:

It's off of Northwest Highway and it's just gross, gross, gross there.

[Rottieluver45]

Ohhhh....gross!

So are we having the meet in Plano or Dallas?(plano and dallas are by eachother, right?)

[micki76]

Originally posted by Rottieluver45
Ohhhh....gross!

So are we having the meet in Plano or Dallas?(plano and dallas are by eachother, right?)

Plano is a suburb of Dallas, probably about 30 minutes from downtown.

Yeah, Bachman is yuuuuucky!!! We have a nice lake here in Wylie. I'll try to remember to call this week and see if dogs are allowed in the lake parks. It may be like the park in Austin where they'd have to be on leashes.

We also have a really cool Big Cat Rescue righ here in town. I've never been there, but that could be a really cool outing for us to go to. Maybe leave the dogs somewhere like my house (yes, I volunteer, as long as everyone has a crate) for those bringing dogs.

Here's the link to In-Sync Exotics (http://www.insyncexotics.com/intro.htm)

It's a $10 admission, but that goes to the cats care and food. They are very well taken care of, from what I've heard.

[aly]

We went to a Big Cat santuary at the PT meeting a few years ago. It wasn't called In-Sync though. Hmm, maybe they changed the name.

Anyway, if the 24th is good for everyone else, then I can make it work for me too. I will probably get Josh to drive down with me on the Friday evening and we'll spend one night and leave Saturday evening.

I'm not sure that I could join you guys if you go to the sanctuary. I feel uncomfortable leaving Lolly in an unfamiliar place. She's not real used to crates and will probably have a heart attack if she has to be in one in a strange place. Of course Josh could stay at the hotel and babysit them, but we'd probably have to be checked out of there by noon.

ANGIE - are you coming???? My dogs would love to see you again!!!!

[Rottieluver45]

PJ and Bailey have never been in a crate. So if we were to go to the sanctuary, we can`t bring the pups!

[aly]

Josh just reminded me his parents will be in town that weekend. So I'd just drive down on Saturday morning and leave Saturday evening.

Amy, tell your sister I hope she comes! If her husband isn't back yet, she's very welcome to drive with me or follow me. I can help her managing the dogs because my little two aren't that big of a deal to manage.

[aly]

Here are some suggestions of places in the Dallas area (taken from The Texas Dog Lover's Companion by Larry D. Hodge)

Cedar Hill State Park (3.5 paws rating)
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/cedarhil/
- dog accessible beaches (shores slope gently to the water and the beaches are generally free of rocks and grass in the sand)
- hiking trails
- scenic views
- dogs must be on leash
- the park has the Penn Farm Agricultural History Center in it which sounds very interesting
- located 15 miles south of Dallas on FM 1382
- entrance fee: $5 per person

Dallas Nature Center (3 paws rating)
http://dir.gardenweb.com/directory/dnc
pictures: http://www.walktx.org/DNatureCtr.html
- $3 per car donation to enter
- 9 trails with biological diversity
- located 2 miles south of Interstate 20 at 7171 Mountain Creek Parkway

There are some others listed in the book, but they have lower ratings. I can read more about them and post more later.

I also have a list of restaurants, hotels, festivals, and other diversions that are dog friendly.

Eep, I just noticed that was just one section. They have a ton of other sections for Ft. Worth and other Dallas suburbs. Maybe we should pinpoint the location first, then I can look up some places for that area.

I think I may prefer something in Ft. Worth since this will just be a day trip for me. But I'll go with the masses :)

[micki76]

Why Ft Worth? What about something south of Dallas? Cedar Hill State Park sounds nice. :)

[aly]

Ummm stupid me, cause I thought it was closer. Can I blame the cold meds I'm on? I think Cedar Hill would be cool because of the beaches.

[Rottieluver45]

I`d stick w/Dallas.

But like Aly says I`ll go wit the masses.

Edit: Where`s Cedar Hill? I like the 1st park you posted Aly.

[aly]

Here are the directionis from their site:

Directions: Cedar Hill is located 10 miles southwest of Dallas, 4 miles southeast of Grand Prairie, and 3 miles west of Cedar Hill and is accessible via FM 1382. From US Highway 67 exit FM 1382, 2 1/2 miles north on the left. From Interstate 20 exit FM 1382, 4 miles south on the right (on the Joe Pool Reservoir). The park is skirted by FM 1382 and Mansfield Road.

[Rottieluver45]

So it`s right by everywhere!?

[guster girl]

I'm definitely interested in the Cedar Hill Park! I'd be ok with leaving Finn in his crate at someone's house in order to go to the sanctuary, too. But, I'm cool with not going to the sanctuary. The park with the beaches sounds perfect, though. I'm hoping to have Finn introduced to water before then, but, if it doesn't work out that way, that may be his first introduction to water! I'll be sure to wear my swimsuit just in case he digs the water. :) I'll have to post something in dog general to see how everyone introduced their pups to water! Anyone know what time we're meeting? What should I bring to the park? This will be my first outing like that, with a group and everything. So, suggestions will be cool.

[aly]

We haven't discussed yet if we want to bring human food or not. I'll bring some bowls, water for the dogs, and treats for the dogs.

If you guys do want the humans to eat there too, we can decide who brings what and whether we just want snacks and drinks or a picnic lunch or something.

You also might want to bring your camera if you have one. But I'm sure most of us will have cameras so it won't be a huge deal if you forget yours - you'll still get tons of pics!

It may be getting hot so we might want to wear sunscreen.

A few big blankets are nice to sit on - hopefully we'll have some shade to put them under.

[micki76]

I think this time everyone should bring food EXCEPT Aly. Poor thing, she was the only one who brought food the last time. :( I can definitely bring tons of food this time! Last time I got lost everytime I left the hotel, so I never found a grocery store! :o

I think we should meet early again. What time would people like to meet? I personally think fairly early, but Aly's driving it all in one day.

I do have one request - could we wait maybe one more weekend? I need one more week to be able to leave Abby home alone all day. She'll just be out of her crate at that time. If not, I'll have to miss this meeting. :(

[Rottieluver45]

Well hmmmm Aly brought ALOT of food last time! :D ALOT!! Thanks Aly! :D


Last time we brought some water for the pups. That`s all we brought. I think we should figure out the place 1st!

I don`t have a problem with pushing it back a weekend! Plus you can`t miss this meeting!!

[aly]

Waiting another week is fine with me. Actually it will be MUCH better because that is the weekend after all my finals.

Is it okay if my dorky boyfriend tags along? He's an animal lover too!

I can bring food this time too - just probably not nearly as much as last time, hehehehehe! We can plan who brings what better this time around.

[Rottieluver45]

How long is everyone`s drive to the first park that aly posted?(Cedar Hill)

I looked on map quest and it said the aproximate time it would take us is 3 hrs. and 13 min. It`s 179.37 miles away. Yikes!

Bring whoever ya want!! :D

Edit: Is 'Josh' you dorky boyfriend or is he someone else?

[aly]

Yeah it said it'd be about 3 and a half hours for me, but thats okay. If its pushed to the next weekend, I might make a two day trip out of it afterall.

I agree that we should meet semi-early.

[aly]

Originally posted by Rottieluver45

Edit: Is 'Josh' you dorky boyfriend or is he someone else?

Josh would be the dork!

And you guys better not tell him I said that!!! :eek: :p

[Rottieluver45]

Meeting early is ok but that means we`d have to get up even earlier and leave earlier. That`s really early! :) :o

[Rottieluver45]

Originally posted by aly
Josh would be the dork!

And you guys better not tell him I said that!!! :eek: :p

muahahaha!!! I won`t! :D :p

Does he volunteer at the shelter too?



MICKI!!!!

Are you gonna get shelter pictures taken...by any chance?

[micki76]

Originally posted by aly
Waiting another week is fine with me. Actually it will be MUCH better because that is the weekend after all my finals.

Is it okay if my dorky boyfriend tags along? He's an animal lover too!

I can bring food this time too - just probably not nearly as much as last time, hehehehehe! We can plan who brings what better this time around.

LOL, as long as my dorky husband can tag along, too! :)

Christina, are y'all driving it one day, too or will you be staying over night?

Hey guster girl, what's your real name? LOL :D

I'm SOOOO glad y'all are ok waiting a weekend (hope it's ok with you, too guster girl). I wish Abby could come! But by then I think we'll be ok to leave her loose in the house and she'll be ok, don't you think so, Aly?

[micki76]

Originally posted by Rottieluver45

MICKI!!!!

Are you gonna get shelter pictures taken...by any chance?

What shelter pics?:confused:

[Rottieluver45]

uhhhh...IF we go we`ll be doing it in one day...i think. It`s such a long drive for one day though!

[Rottieluver45]

Originally posted by micki76
What shelter pics?:confused:

Easter pictures!!! @ the humane society(here in Austin).


Do you think we should make a new, not so confusing thread. We have the place and what to bring. Now we time and....:confused:

[molucass]

I really wish I could come... :( But, theres just no way I can drive about 5 1/2 hrs in my car... It would probably blow up or something... Lol... It's a piece of junk.

I have driven to Houston by myself before, so if it was going to be there, I would have been able to come.

Anyways, I hope you guys have fun!


BTW, Aly, where are you located?? I'm just trying to see if theres anyone even remotely near me that is going, and I could hitch a ride with...


I know Annie and Bailee would loveeee to come... Molly is not well-behaved enough to go... She would bark the whole entire time.

[PJ's Mom]

Originally posted by micki76
Christina, are y'all driving it one day, too or will you be staying over night?

Since I don't have the cooperation of a nice hubby (or boyfriend) like some of you, it'll have to be done in one day. :( It'll add up to 6 - 6 1/2 hours, but at least we can be there. :)

[molucass]

I just checked on Mapquest and I am 5 hrs. and 39 min. from Cedar Hill. :(

[aly]

Originally posted by molucass

BTW, Aly, where are you located?? I'm just trying to see if theres anyone even remotely near me that is going, and I could hitch a ride with...


I'm in Austin. Do you think your car would make it here or is that too far too?

[guster girl]

I'm cool with waiting til May 1. Is that final? I just need to make sure I can either switch with someone or take vacation. I usually work on Saturdays. But, yeah, I'm alright with waiting. :) And, my name is Kari (pronounced like carry, not CAR, like the auto). :) And, another thread would be a good idea. :) Start from scratch!