Walter’s Day in the Sun by Ree

So we opened The Mercantile last fall. It’s been an amazing experience.

But I might not have mentioned that beginning this spring, we started opening up the Lodge to visitors who come to the Merc. It was initially Marlboro Man’s idea, and it has turned out to be really fun! Folks go to the Merc to eat or shop around, then when they’re ready to go, they pick up their (free) tickets/directions to the Lodge, where they can walk through the place that we film our show AND…

…pet the dogs.

My dogs can usually sense when people are at the Lodge, and they make a beeline up there for one reason: Because they know they will get an endless stream of ear scratches and sweet nothings for hours on end.

And none of them is more excited than Walter.

I won’t caption these photos. All I will say is that old Walter is in complete Heaven. Finally, he has taken his rightful place in the sun. Haha.

These are photos that visitors have taken with Walter (and maybe a Duke thrown in. And maybe a Todd and Bryce thrown in.)

These make me smile.

Thank God for dog lovers.