Day by Day

I’m sure you’ve noticed, some weeks just aren’t as exciting as others. I just had one like that because my best buddy, Mike, had eye surgery. Most of the time he feeds me, holds my leash, does poop duty, lays on the floor with me, brushes me - well, you name it, he does it. Dana knows how to do that stuff, it’s just that he likes to do it - well, maybe not the poop part.

So, when Mike is down, I rely on Dana but she makes me do more work. When it’s time to eat, Mike comes in, mixes my dry with either carrots or string beans and, once in awhile, adds a dollop of whip cream. When Dana feeds me, it’s a big production. I get all excited about a meal but when she sets the food down, I have to sit and wait by my dish holder until she tells me, “OK!”. What kind of deal is that? Mike gives me treats all the time; to get one from Dana, I actually have to do something - roll over, high five, chase my tail, shake, etc., etc.

Mike had radiation in his eye last week, which meant I couldn’t get close to him and neither could any other living thing so no walks for him. Dana would put on my leash, we would walk out the gate and I would turn around to wait for Mike to catch up … but he didn’t come. I should’ve caught on, but I did that every day he had to stay inside. So Dana would give me a little tug and off we went. When I'm with Dana, I have to stay close to her, no stopping to sniff and see who else has been on the sidewalk. Once I get to the park, though, she relaxes and I get to smell - Ahhh.

One other thing I can tell you about Dana, she is a very good poop picker-upper, tries to get every last bit. She tells the grandkids, “If you can’t pick up poop, you shouldn’t get a dog.” She tries to be tough but I have seen her gag a couple of times.

With that radiation in his eye, that meant no hug-times for me from Mike. He finally got the plaque out so we are working our way back to normal. He has been going for our walks again, but he is a little off-balance so Dana usually holds his arm and/or my leash. Dana is doing all the driving, which she isn’t that fond of but since Mike can’t see, she doesn’t have a choice unless we just stay home.

So our family is in transition, each of us learning new ways to cope with Mike not being quite himself and helping him get back into the swing of things. Of course, that’s what families are for!   

Have a great week!

Finding Our Way

Isn’t it funny, humans use gadgets to get from one place to another. Take my pair.

Used to be, if we were going on a trip, Dana would get out the road atlas and by using a mileage wheel, comparing distances on the “Driving Distance in Miles” chart, and the mileage scale (1” = 50 miles) with the help of a flexible tape measure, she would plan where we would end up at the end of each traveling day. Then out would come the campground books to find the location of the closest campgrounds.

Then came a cool internet tool, Mapquest - just put in where you wanted to end up and print out the turn-by-turn directions. You could use that to break down the trip into manageable daily drives.

When GPS got into the “affordable” range that became our next gadget. While trip planning can be down through Good Sam Club, Mike and Dana rely on the GPS for back up, especially in detour situations, and to see what is local (restaurants, attractions, grocery stores, etc.) once we’re at our destination.

As nice as all these gadgets are, however, you can still have some exciting moments. Like when we were on our way to a KOA in Hill City, close to Mount Rushmore. We followed our lady GPS, turned right, turned left and …ended up at a gate with a sign on it, “This is not the entrance to the KOA.” When we checked in, heard other RVers had the same experience.

Mapquest isn’t infallible, either. On another trip we followed our print-out, turned right as instructed and noticed the addresses were going in the wrong direction. We turned around, passed where we had originally turned right, then drove to our destination in the opposite direction.

At times, it’s not the fault of the GPS, sometimes it’s because the driver’s brain has a delayed reaction to the instruction. When you hear the irritating, “Recalculating” it brings the driver out of his stupor.

Even with GPS and Mapquest, Dana keeps maps handy because sometimes she just wants to see where we’re at. The “Take This Exit” book comes in handy, too - it’s easy to see what’s available at the exit number.

Once we get somewhere, I’m their GPS because I just know which way to go. They try to trick me by parking in a different site every time we return to an RV park but I can’t be fooled - I always remember. One time we took a hike and on our way back, they wanted to walk back a different way than we had come. I had none of that - I knew which way to go and no matter how hard they pulled and tugged on my leash, I would not budge until they went my way. I don’t know why they thought that was so funny.

But I’ll let you in on a secret - it was because my paws were tired and I didn’t know where they were headed next!

Hanging Out in Buellton

Every once in awhile, a dog needs a change of scenery, so we went to Buellton/Solvang.

We stayed at Flying Flags RV Park. It is close to the Chumash Indian Casino, Solvang, a lot of "Sideways" was filmed around there (so lots of wineries to visit as well as the restaurants, etc., that were in the movie), Monty Roberts (Horse Whisperer) has a ranch on the road between Buellton and Solvang, there's the ostrich farm and, of course, Andersen's Split Pea Soup Restaurant.

The RV park itself is pretty nice. The spaces are fairly nice size (especially for California) and the grounds are clean. Besides a lot of RV and tent spots, there are five rental cabins and good-sized rental tents in season. They have a nice size pool with an indoor and an outdoor jacuzzi - a waterfall for ambiance. Mike and Dana ate the BBQ the park put on Friday night and were surprised at how much food you got for $12 and it tasted good! (I can actually attest to that because Mike kept slipping me bits of his.) There's a nice playground for kids as well as an arcade and a nicely equipped work-out room.

But the best part for me - the dog park. They have two small ones, one that's split in half with a roof for cats (can you imagine) and a nice big off-leash area. (I made some new friends in that one.)

These were Golden Retrievers, too, but they sure were pale! (English Cream) The two pups were 10 months old and the "oldster" was 15!

Then I met Mojo - she was my kind of gal!

(Don't tell my Wednesday night girlfriends!)

We had a wonderful time but one of my favorite things about staying in the motorhome is how close everything is:

(You can't tell in this picture, but that last Little Smokie was trembling on the plate...)

We had a wonderful time last week - hope your week was fun, too!

It's a slow week for Archie...

Slow week - travel wise. We were in Santa Barbara for Mike’s medical appointment but that was it. I did get to go on a nice walk along the beach sidewalk. J

On the way home, Mike got himself a shake and I got to lick the cup! C

Later that evening, everybody paid for that one! N

Dana tried to warn him… L

We stayed home for Christmas and some of my other family came to see us. One morning, they took me to our park. I was sitting there, enjoying the nice day when, suddenly, Mark got a great idea.

  







He notices the other kids like it, so maybe I will, too.

                                                   

Mark took me to the top of the slide.
                                                                            
                                                                                           

and then down we went!

I liked it!  I liked it!

I wanted to go again. Peyton tried to hold me back...

                                                        

but I was raring to go - so ran around, up the ramp and then down all by myself!

        

       Notice my tail is still wagging!

                                                                      

I went so fast, Genie couldn't even get a good picture.

Then, I was off to find another adventure - like I'm going to do right now!

Happy 2012!

2011 went so fast! People say time does that as you get older...

Practiced clean habits.

Enjoyed the beach.

Made new friends.

Took time to smell the roses.

Enjoyed doing things I love with people who are fun to be with..

Always remembered my old friends.

Visited some interesting places with interesting people.

Enjoyed myself wherever I was.

Made sure to get plenty of rest.

Never took myself too seriously.

Welcomed new family members!

Saw some strange sights.

And had a great time celebrating the holidays!

Hope your year was as much fun. Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!

Merry Christmas!

From our house to yours!

I'm all dressed up in my jingle bell collar - can you see one bell peeking out from my fur? Hope this Christmas each of you is able to find a way to grant a special wish for someone you love.