The Dogs and In-Laws at Phon D Sutton

I promise not to post photos from every Phon D Sutton visit with the dogs. However, this time, in addition to our dogs, we brought Keith's brother, Chris, and Chris' husband, Alex—plus their dogs! Plus, this was a different spot than last week, so the pics are (ever-so-slightly) different.

Ella (the Golden), like last time, kept challenging the river current. She's a very strong swimmer, but this time she couldn't quite make it back against the current (and, like many humans, didn't realize that the answer was to head for shore rather than to continue to fight the current) so I had to swim to her and assist her back. (This was possible because, while the water was over her head, it wasn't quite to my waist.)

Anyway, here are the photos from the day.

Central Arizona's monsoon season has finally begun, though we haven't yet gotten any rain. So we felt fairly safe planning a river trip for today. Still, it was encouraging when I was up walking the dogs at 5:20 in the morning to see a beautiful pre-sunrise lighting up[ the clouds.

Lilly (on the left) and Ella hopped into the car the moment I leashed them. (I walk them separately for potty breaks because otherwise they play the whole time and never get down to business. So when I leash them both, they know they are going for a ride in the car!

Now if only they could learn which car is ours…

Keith and I had intended to use the same seculded spot as last time. Unfortunately, someone else had already grabbed it. So I hunted for other water access (that isn't too steep from the trail). There were, in fact, a couple of spots with what looked like trails to the water's edge; but either there was no room for our group at the bottom, or the trail itself was too steep and slippery to be of use.

However, we did find and settle at a nice little hidden beach. Ella and Lilly, familiar with the place from last week, hurled themselves into the water. Onyx and Blackie (Chris' and Alex's dogs) wouldn't go near it.

Here's Chris with the dogs.

And here's Alex trying to convince Onyx the river won't kill him instantly.

L2R: Chris, Keith, Alex

Today's adventure occurred while the air temperature was 108°F. So soaking in the cool water was pretty much essential to survival, let alone enjoyment.

Onyx and Blackie wouldn't swim but they did drink once they became certain the water wasn't going to suddenly rise up and engulf them.

Between the dogs and all the people moving around, it was too tricky to try and get a group photo. So I took a selfie, just to prove I was there.