I watch Cocoa’s eyes and I know she is still not 100 percent but she is getting there for an 11-year old dog that still wants to be active. Anne Shurley graciously allowed us to take the dogs with us yesterday for a hike at DeSoto Falls in northeast Georgia. We hiked two miles total, which was just right for Cocoa. The doctor told me on Friday that the stitches would be inside of her up to 190 days!

She stopped for a quick photo on a picnic table and literally yawned!

Here we are together. Chip wanted his photo taken so badly in this group photo! He’s a lovely little dog that is crazy about Cocoa.

Cocoa thanks Anne for the ride and Sharon Morden agrees. So glad to be home in northeast Georgia. This time last year, I would have had to opt out of any Sunday afternoon hikes so I would have time to pack and rush back to Marietta. Not any more. I love living in Toccoa again. I love being with Sharon and Jim and Anne and everyone else. Truly, God sets us in families.

On the way home we stopped at some place called “Road Kill” BBQ. (Yes, we even got something to eat and it was really good.) Cocoa would not stay in the car. She yells like crazy if you leave her even for a moment not because she is scared but because she doesn’t want to be left out!

I let her get out of the car long enough to hop up on the old miner’s scales to be weighed. Notice the sign says, “Weigh your Gold here.” She is still my “golden” dog.