Another update:
Here's a tentative schedule.
SATURDAY
12 noon - off-leash meetup at the semiprivate dog park in Ames. This will give everyone time to get to town and get checked in to hotels. The dogs can have a nice romp for awhile.
Next item on the agenda will happen sometime after the dog park. Lunchtime at Hickory Park! We'll give everyone time to get dogs back to the hotel, etc.
Sometime after lunch, we'll head out to either McCarthy Park or the Peterson Pits - there are very nice prairelands, with creek access so we can have a nice ON-leash dog walk. This will be a LONG outing, so the dogs that have been cooped up all day can get some exercise.
Dinner - not sure what we should do for this one. We can either go cheap and get Flying Burritos or sub sandwiches and Coldstone Creamery ice cream (I KNOW Jennifer would be game for that!).... or we can have another big meal at Dublin Bay or La Fuente (or somewhere else that's more "sit-down"... Ames people help me out here!)
SUNDAY
We can either have a nice morning walk at one of the prairieland trails, or we can go down to Ankeny (20 minutes south) and/or Des Moines (about 40 mintesw south) for some shopping.
If we end up going down to Des Moines, there is a very nice dog park that does require permits, but I believe they only require shot records... I'll check into that.
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So it's obvious we have some planning to do - what I need from you guys is comments and suggestions on what YOU want to do - do we want to be hoofing it around all the time, or do we want to have a more relaxing, less active time... or a little of both? We could have a picnic in Brookside Park, do some shopping.... speak up and share your ideas!
Next week I'm going to call hotels in town, see what the pet policies and costs are.