After bounding through the snow for an hour, Eko decided to check out the appeal of ice fishing.

Not surprisingly, Eko went straight for the bait, but the minnows were somewhat less interested in being friends than Eko was

Next, Eko tried to discern exactly what all the fuss about these holes was about

"Hey, fish, don't make me come down there!"

"Humans have a very strange definition of fun.  Let's play!"

Eko quickly lost interest in sitting next to some ice holes, and the humans weren't too far behind.  We cleared off some snow and Eko refereed a game of boot hockey.

I only snagged one crummy photo of hockey, but the good news is that I have some fun video of Eko in action that I will post Friday

Eko was having a blast, but I could tell he was freezing his paws off when, in very un-Eko-like fashion, he whined to go INSIDE.  After warming up during lunch, Eko was eager to go back outside with us for a cross-country skiing trek.  It would have been too much of a beating on his paws, but luckily I had our secret weapon!  As many people noticed, there was something missing from yesterday's post...

"C'mon, do I have to wear these boots?"

All our practice with the dog boots in Chicago finally paid off!  Once out the door, Eko happily dashed alongside our expedition.  Not only did the boots keep Eko's paws warm for the long trip, they also protected him from getting cut by the skis when he would run next to me

Eko was so confident in his boots that I spent most of the trip looking at his rear end.  This was my first time ever cross country skiing, so for a change Eko got to watch me struggle in a pair of unfamiliar boots!

I have seen Eko sleep pretty hard before, but after a day of romping, hockey and skiing Eko was absolutely knocked out for about fifteen hours

We didn't catch a single fish all weekend, but thanks to Eko, our trip was a huge success!  Dogs just make everything more fun.  I thought our days of romping in the snow were over, but it looks like winter followed us back from Minnesota.  The snow is coming down hard in Chicago, which can only mean one thing, time to play!

We're off, but can't wait to share the video from the trip on Friday.

This past weekend Eko and I exchanged the bustle of Chicago for the serenity of Northern Minnesota.  After a brief stop in Minneapolis we arrived to the lake on Friday morning.  I expected Eko to take off running after so much time in the car, but as we trudged on to the lake with our fishing gear, Eko quietly trotted beside us.

As we set up, Eko took a panoramic look at the quiet surroundings.  He then took a deep stretch and ripped through the stillness with pure joy.  He truly was bliss in motion.  Ice fishing is not exactly a fast paced activity, so everyone enjoyed watching Eko romp with reckless abandon.  Here are a few of my favorite shots of Eko from that morning:

As always, the fun started with a bow.  After this moment, I don't think Eko's four paws all touched the ground at the same time for the next hour

When sprinting, at least one paw was flying through the air

But more often than not, Eko bounded through the snow like a bunny and had two paws in the ai

And quite frequently, Eko had zero paws on the ground!  I half expected him to take off flying

The snow really brought out Eko's silly side.   When I gave him the command to play dead, he really hot-dogged it and threw himself down into the snow.  I think this might be my favorite photo from the weekend

The only thing tougher than catching fish was catching Eko and getting him to stand still for this photo!

This is what we have been training for with those pesky boots!

Our first stop is Minneapolis, one of the few major cities we missed out on during last year's trip.  The plan is to rendezvous at a friend's house tonight (hence yesterday's spa day to have Eko looking sharp!) and then head up to the lake on Friday.

There is going to be a lot more ice and a lot less beach on the lake where we're headed

Ready to roll out!

It's time for us to hit the road, so we will check back in with everyone tomorrow from Minneapolis.  The city is great, but I'm really looking forward to some fresh air and plenty of room for Eko to run free!