Road trips and making friendly with my DSLR

I am recently returned from a really wonderful road trip north to see javachikn. It was pouring rain when I headed up...what a blessing to get another spring storm, but wow, mama nature, dude...and pouring again on the drive back. Miraculously (especially for Humboldt County of the Fog, hah) we got a perfect spring day in between, and so spent it exploring a lot of the area's beaches and other natural beauty. Between the two of us, I think we took approximately 30 gazillion pictures. I got some good camera advice and am feeling more comfortable with my DSLR. I think that for the sakes of your dialup and sanity, I will divide them into wildlife and nature shots and dog pictures. These are the dog pictures.

Coba was the only one who came with me; Rogue is coming out of heat, Pryde would fight like crazy with java c's Dodger, and Jez would LOVE Dodger, but I don't want to risk Pryde being upset, hurt and howling misery the whole time we were gone if I took Jez and left him behind. Still, having just one dog on a road trip can be fun, and spending some 1:1 time with Coba strengthened our bond. Creating a strong rapport with a dog is, after all, not unlike any other sort of relationship---you have to put work into it, and it develops slowly over time.

The dogs all had much fun, at any rate. I forget what it's like to have an almost yearling wolfdog. They are so magnificent and so full of pure, constant, non-stop energy, it's hilarious. I don't know which I feel more: missing that age in my own pack or gratitude that they are old and mellow(er) now!

( awww, dogs playing. Nature and Wildlife pics tomorrow )

Oh, and speaking of dogs, WTF economy?

I went to get dog food today, and found that it was priced at $48 a bag. I feed (fed) Sensible Choice. This is up from $41, I think, last month, and somewhere in the high 30's not long before. This time last year, it was $35-ish, which is what it's been for awhile. So obviously, I'm switching foods...start feeding them $50/bag dog food, and I think they may be more expensive to feed per pound than the horses and certainly more so than I am...but is this kind of thing happening across the board, or is it just my feed company in trouble? They also stopped making the cat food last month. I haven't seen this sort of price increase anywhere else yet.

I got some kibble that looked pretty good and was in my price bracket, but all of you dog people, what do you like to feed?