Snowmachining, Sledding and the Missing Dog

Last Sunday afternoon we had a fun adventure with a sad, and then happy, ending...

We were invited out on our snowmachine to go to a great sledding hill aptly named "Hospital Hill" because of its storied history. As Will Chesley put it, "It's a really fast hill." So we packed hotdogs to roast for lunch, piled the kids on top of some sleeping bags in our "Otter" sled, hooked it up to the snowmachine, and Cinder our dog followed us out of the driveway. We got stuck a few times on the way out, which is not abnormal, were careful near a moose (captured below) that was hanging around the trail, but Cinder wouldn't stay in the sled with the kids and couldn't keep up with us while sinking into pretty "punchy" snow on the trail. We decided she'd either find us at our destination or turn around and make her way home.We all had a great time at the hill. The kids whooped and hollered as they enjoyed the rush of sledding. They walked up part of the hill and sled down from there most of the time, and learned how to drag their feet behind if they needed to slow down.After a warm fire and enjoyable lunch, we all rode up to near the half-way point on our machines, and Rob, the kids and myself sled down to the bottom. Will and Joanna Chesley helped by driving our machine back down the hill. :) The ride back was beautiful and warm. Here is a shot of the trail through the trees...At the end of the day we were all tuckered out. This is Samantha sprawled out in her and Connor's pretty plush ride on the inflatable sled and sleeping bags! So now I have to tell you The Rest of the Story:
Cinder was not at home waiting for us as we were hoping, and she did not return home that night either, or the next day. To be honest, we thought she had met her demise either by getting injured, or being attacked, or (you get the picture)... Tuesday morning I was very glad to recieve a phone call from a friend of ours asking if Cinder was missing. She saw a dog that resembled her on their property and had fed her that morning. (She was very hungry!) The punchline is that they live about 4 miles north of town, about 6 miles from where we had been and across the Jack River, which was still frozen over in parts. Needless to say, we rushed over and picked her up, thanking God for keeping her safe. We can only guess what kind of adventure she had.