Fergusons in Cheonan.

After spending three hot busy days in bustling Seoul, we headed to Cheonan, which Koreans say is the "slow life".  Even though it still is a good sized city, it does not even come close to jam-packed Seoul that attracts tourists from all over the world.  One thing that Doug and I really wanted to show them was the Big Buddha statue on Mt. Taejosan, which is the mountain that we can see from the view in our apartment.  The area around the statue and temple is so peaceful and serene.  It is definitely a must see when you are in Cheonan. Plus, we could bring Pippa along on this outing, which is always a bonus :)

 Tons of steps to the top didn't stop this pup.

Pippa chilling with Buddha.

 Doug got some great photos of the temple's intricate artwork.  And, of course, he took a picture of a dragon.

Pippa eating an apple.

I realized that my video I posted of Pippa eating an apple wasn't playing, so this time it should work.  Here she is enjoying an apple after a long hike.  Hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend!

Pippa's first hike.

Last weekend, we took Pippa to Mt. Taejosan for her very first hike.  At first, I was worried that the hike would be too strenuous for her.  I mean, it's not the hardest hike in the world, but it is very steep at some areas.  Well, we found out hiking is no problem for the Pippsta.  Maybe some parts of the hike were too strenuous for me (like when I had to practically crawl down a section due to it's steepness so I didn't tumble right on down the mountainside), but she bounced around that mountain like she'd been doing it her whole life.  Here are some of the highlights from our hike:

The bus driver wouldn't let us on without Pippa in a carrier, so we quickly tucked her inside our backpack.  I think she liked hanging out in there and she definitely had some admirers on the bus. 

Since the celebration for Buddha's birthday is next weekend, the lake and area around the temple on Mt. Taejosan was decoration with paper lanterns.

Everything is so green in Korea right now! I love it.

Here she is trying to steal a kiss from Doug.

These are some of the rock formations that are so common when hiking in Korea.  A friend told me that her co-worker said that they do it to be part of a journey together.  As you add your rock to the stack, you add your story to the journey, connecting yourself to the others who have passed that way.

After the hike we relaxed and enjoyed the temple decorations.  More people than usual were at the temple this weekend due to the holiday festivities.  Usually, it's pretty peaceful.

 If she isn't a model dog, than I don't know what is.  I'm  mean this amount of adorableness takes it to the next level.

This picture is way too cute for words.

We saw some of the very last remains of the cherry blossoms.  They have all completely fallen off the trees in Korea now and I haven't seen any blossoms scattered on the ground for a while.  Maybe a month ago, these pretty pink blossoms were everywhere.

We also discovered that Pippa loves apples.  She enjoyed taking a little apple snack break with us halfway through the hike.