Raleigh, NC

Wally

I was in Raleigh for a month sitting for Wally the Wonder dog! Wallinator, Wallsenberger, Walliford, many names, one awesome dog. Wally’s human has done an amazing job training him, he is very well behaved, sweet, silly and very handsome. Wally lives in a very tight knit community where everyone seems to know everyone else. People knew who I was because a) I think everyone here knows Wally, and b) his human introduced me to everyone before I even got there. People came up to me on the street to say Hello and see if I needed anything and ask how I was doing. Everyone has been very welcoming. This little community is very dog friendly, and Wally is well known and well liked, and often get compliments about how handsome he is. Several neighbors leave out water, and this cute little water ‘garden’ was my favorite stop on my walking route. Lots of fun yard art in the area, along with real turtles, ducks and even a turkey!

I was walking Wally down the block one day when some guy came cruising by in his fancy car with the top down, and he slowed down as he got closer and said “Hey gorgeous, you’re beautiful! I want to take you home!”. Then he looked at me and said, Oh Hi. Damn dog!

Wally and his best friend, Too-Cool Teddy get together every week to go to nose class. They meet in different areas and sniff around get to find different scents. The instructor hides little vials, and the dogs sniff it out and then communicate to you that they found it. Its very fun to watch!

Wally has been an awesome companion during my time here, I will really miss him when I leave. I have about 1000 Wally pictures .. so here are just a few of my favorites …

Raleigh-Durham

Raleigh-Durham is not a city, (as I read online), its an airport between two cities, Raleigh and Durham. There are actually several cities in this area all kinda melding into each other. I did not even realize that Chapel Hill and Wake Forest are here too.

I tried to do some sightseeing, but here’s the deal with the east coast. There are trees. Lots of them! They’re very tall and very dense and you cant see through them. In the west, things (like trees, and people, and cities) are much more spread out. If you want to check out an area, you can go drive around and see all the things there are to see. But out here, all you can see is trees. I’m driving down the street looking for the grocery store and my GPS (Clare) tells me to turn right on this small street that goes into some trees, and I’m thinking that’s not right. But lo and behold, behind those trees, is a HUGE shopping area. You cant see it from the street. So its hard to wander aimlessly here, you kinda need to know where you’re going. Its also hard to get your bearings, there are no mountains or oceans to let you know which is east or west. And, there are a TON of freeways, highways, and interstates. I tried to go check out the American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham, home of the Durham Bulls baseball team. There was a special event going on, so instead I tried to go check out Duke University, but all I saw were trees. The chapel & gardens were closed. I did see Coach K Highway which was the highlight of my outing!

I got lost again on all the freeways, highways & interstates. My GPS is not so accurate out here, I think (guess) its just because there are so many more freeways, highways and interstates! It did navigate me, but it wasn’t so great about warning me I had to be in the 2nd lane from the left until I had just passed it. At the end of my very unsuccessful outing, I went back home, had a beer & some ramen and watched Bull Durham! Great movie, but I’m still partial to Major League.

I did see some beautiful lakes & scenery. In North Carolina, most of the state parks are free for day use. Kirk enjoyed William B. Umstead State Park, and I liked the view structure over at Shelley Lake

I met some great people on this trip, and I’m sure I’ll be going back. My neighbor and family cooked up an amazing meal, starting with steamed clams on the grill! I’ve never seem clams cooked this way, they were awesome !! She invited me over several times to sit on her beautiful patio and drink wine & talk to the neighbors as they passed by.

Random fun fact : There is a bar in the grocery store!!!

Also included in this Raleigh-Durham area is Cary, where my cousin & his wife live. The same family that have been such generous hosts during my stay here. We spent an afternoon at the new Cary Downtown park, which is probably the best ‘sight seeing’ I got in the entire trip. Its a beautiful park right next to a library, and a brewery! What more could you ask for!