It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. - Mark Twain
I had plans to grab my vacation scrapbook from our first trip, steal some of the pictures, and write about our trip to Wyoming. However, the universe had a different plan for me today.
I was scrolling through Facebook - as us millennials sometimes do - and came across a post on one of my “Dog Mom” Facebook groups I’m a part of. It immediately caught my eye because there were multiple pictures of runners with their dogs. I read through the post, and it mentioned a “canicross” event. Well, I thought, what the heck is canicross?
That was the question that threw me directly into a Google-hunting rabbit hole. According to Canicross USA, canicross is “a mashup of the words “canine” and “cross country” and is a team sport consisting of a person and dog who run together.”
I know that this is a travel blog - and I promise, I’m getting to the travel piece, but let’s just take a moment to appreciate that I have been participating in a sport for over a year and had absolutely no idea.
As I fell deeper and deeper into the canicross rabbit hole, I also found that they have events - like here and here - which are all races specifically designed for human-doggo running duos. I absolutely cannot get over the fact that I didn’t realize this was a thing, and that I have been missing out on these awesome events for well over a year.
Now, the first site I came across was Canicross USA, which had the majority of their racing locations in Wisconsin. Of course, I looked up where the next few races will be, and they’re both near Lake Geneva, which is about five hours away.
Alright, I said I would get to the travel piece. With this astounding revelation, I decided I absolutely had to look into a weekend trip to Lake Geneva. We have never been to Wisconsin, and although the majority of our trips are much longer than a weekend, I had to take a look at what the area had to offer.
First of all, Lake Geneva looks like this in the fall:
They even have a fall color tracking tool that allows potential visitors to see when fall colors will be at their peak. According to the tool, Lake Geneva’s peak is just past (late October), but I imagine if we were to make a trip soon - say, in late November, we would still see some of the beautiful colors.
To highlight a few of the cool things about Lake Geneva, they have an Adventure Center, complete with miles and miles of trails for mountain biking and hiking. They also have disc golf, sand volleyball, slacklining, archery, picnicking, and other fun stuff (although some of their activities might not make the most sense in the fall). In addition, they have places to zipline over the beautiful fall leaves. They also have scooter tours, which seems like a pretty fun way to explore a new town. If horseback riding is a hobby, they have that too.
Hiking and adventuring isn’t everyone’s favorite vacation hobby. If adventure for the mind is a better option (or maybe if the weather is too cold to spend much time outside), there are many museums to visit, including the Geneva Lake Museum, the Lake Geneva Art Museum, Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum, and more.
Wineries and breweries are always interesting places to visit as well, and Lake Geneva is no stranger to those. From Topsy Turvy Brewery to Aeppeltreow Winery, they have a lot of different options.
Basically, it seems to be a great place to spend a weekend adventure. I went from a quick Facebook check this morning to researching a “new” sport, looking through events, and checking into things to do in Lake Geneva. I think 2022 is going to be Buzz’s best running year yet - the Buzz Run 2022 is already in the works, he now knows he can join in the Canicross Community, and the possibilities seem to be endless.
Next up, more research on canicross and - unless I come up with something different before then - the next blog post will delve into our first vacation ever, our trip to Wyoming. It'll be a wild ride of purchasing clothes because I didn't know how to pack, government shutdowns, and jackelopes. Be sure to come back and check it out.