Days 73, 74 - Bishop,  California, and HOME!

I honestly was going to post a short piece to the blog last night, but Geri and I went for a late walk, as it had really been to hot to go earlier, and by the time we got back, Don was getting ready to go to bed!  Without my typist and editor, I was out of luck.  So, let me fill you in on the last days of our journey.

We left the lovely Sparks Marina RV Park a little after ten, and connected with highway 395 heading south.   Every time we take this route, they have completed more of the freeway extension; someday, Don says, it will extend all the way through Carson City!  He also says that we might not be around then.  We passed by Topaz Lake, where we had spent a few pleasant days some years ago, and reentered the State of California.  We had to stop at the inspection station, where they check to see if you're bringing in any foreign fleas, or something.  The lady at the station obviously wanted to meet me, 'cause she came aboard on the pretext of wanting to look in our refrigerator.  She presented me with some very nice treats, and spoke to me in a very complimentary way.  I think she wanted me to  come home with her. 

Shortly after leaving the inspection station, we had another visitor, an Officer of the California Highway Patrol, who was also very pleasant and appreciative of my good disposition and manly good looks.  He spent quite a while with us, looking at documents that Don presented him with, and doing a lot of writing on a pad.  I'm not exactly sure what it was all about, but it was all very amicable.  We bid him goodbye, and continued down the 395, which is quite a beautiful trip with mountains on both sides and lovely wild rivers along the road.   We stopped at a rest stop, and immediately noticed a couple with a dog that had been at the Sparks Marina with us.  The dog was a rather small lady, about the size of my Aussie buddies, and we were told that she was a Swedish Cattle Dog!  She was very sweet, and seemed quite intelligent until we saw her trying to catch flies in her mouth; I think that's a waste of effort, as she rarely caught them, and they couldn't be much of a treat, anyway.

Shortly after the rest stop, we pulled into our stop in Bishop, the Highlands RV Park.  The weather was very hot, and we kind of hibernated in the coach until it cooled off later in the evening.  As I mentioned, Geri took me for a long walk, and we met quite a few people and some nice dogs.  One of them was a really big Goldie, by name of Cody, who must have weighed 120 pounds!  He was really nice and friendly, and we had enough time to exchange quite a bit of personal information.  When we got back to the coach, everyone was pretty tired, and we all went to bed soon.

This morning, Don and I were both up early, though I chose to go back to sleep while he browsed the Net.  Geri got up a little later, and Don asked her if she wanted to have a discussion about where we were going today.  The short answer was NO.  She pointed out (rightly, in my estimation) that we could come to Bishop to visit anytime we wanted to, and that should be at a time of year when the weather was decent.  Our destination today was to be Ventura.  Don was impressed with the logic of her argument, and agreed immediately. 

The ride home was uneventful and not really too scenic after we left the Owens Valley.  We made a brief refueling stop in Mojave, continued down the 14 highway to the I-5, which took us to our homeward highway, the 126.  We pulled off the highway and disconnected the truck near a place where Don and I frequently go for walks, and I was really excited by the familiar smells and sights! 
Geri took me with her to the house in the truck, and I was overjoyed to see my dear friend and Temptress, Debbie, coming over to welcome us.  Don showed up shortly with the coach, and positioned it in the driveway; Geri and I went over the field at the school and met up with our human and canine friends, and I was particularly glad to see Barb and my buddies Alice and Cooper.  Back at the house, there was some effort made at unloading the rig, but tiredness soon set in and it was decided that tomorrow was another day.

Don once told me about one of his favorite movies, about a little girl from Kansas (I've been there!) who is swept away by a tornado with her dog to a strange and far-off land, where she had some amazing adventures.  When she finally found her way back to her home and her family, she could only say, "There's no place like home!" I understand that feeling;  though I really enjoy our travels, meeting new people and reuniting with old friends, seeing new places and just being close to my human partners, I always am overjoyed at returning home to our usual routines and familiar places.  I hope your day was a joyful as mine!

Day 72 – Sparks, Nevada

Hardly an ordinary day for me; after a short and early walk with Don, we all got into the truck and drove just a little up the street to the Desert Hills Animal Hospital.  I did my pop-up dog routine at the counter, and greeted the staff with a big smile and a wagging tail.  I knew why we were there, and had no fear of what they needed to do for me.  The Vet was a very nice guy who talked to me a lot so that I would understand what he was doing; he took a big needle and poked it into the blister on the underside of my right ear flap, and sucked all of the fluid that had built up out of there.  He was very gentle, and it didn’t hurt a bit.  He told us that a Goldie was part of his family, too, and he had great admiration for our breed.  After he put some medication on the deflated blister, he felt it advisable to fit me with an elastic head covering that held my ear flap open with some gauze over the spot where he poked me.  I didn’t much care for it, but if he thought it was needed, I wasn’t going to argue. 

After we left the Animal Hospital, Geri and Don took me for a walk down at the lake, but when I found a nice spot to roll in, they stopped me, ‘cause they didn’t want me to disturb my head covering and get anything nasty in my ear.  Wasn’t really much of a walk.  We went back the coach, and Geri started running around with the vacuum cleaner, which is really noisy.  Don didn’t much care for it either, and he went outside to clean off the front of the coach, which was covered with bug carcasses.  A while later, a car pulled up in front of the rig, and my good friend David (Craig) got out of it!  He was on his way to the Reno airport from his job in Winnemucca, and he stopped by to visit and have lunch with the folks.  I was really glad to see him, ‘cause I wanted a second opinion from a Doctor as to the need for the head covering that was really starting to bug me.  He told me that I should wear it until the blister stopped draining and there was no more stuff coming out of it.  I thought that was reasonable. 

They went to lunch at a BBQ joint not far from the RV Park, and were back fairly soon; they said the food was great, and they had so much that dinner would not be served tonight.  So much for my plates.  After Craig (David) left to catch his plane, they took a hike for the nearest money machine place, and left me to nap in some discomfort from my headdress.  Before they returned, I did an evaluation of the need for continuing to wear the thing, and decided that I could dispense with it.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my paws back far enough on my neck to remove it completely, but I was satisfied to get it rolled back from my head, a much more comfortable situation.  They got back a bit late, with respect to my meal time, and saw that I had made the decision that the thing was no longer necessary; their inspection of the ear verified my evaluation, and Geri got it off my neck.  Regarding their excursion, they told me that Geri had won enough money out of the machines to keep me in food for two months.  I felt pretty good about that. 

Anyway, my dinner was served a bit late, I got my usual treats, and a nice walk with Geri.  A bit of a trying day, in some respects, but I know that my health and welfare is very important to my partners in life, and I love and respect them for the care that they give me.  I’m a very lucky dog in many ways; but they’re very lucky to have me, too!  We’re on the road tomorrow, heading south to the Owens Valley.  We’ve been there before, but we haven’t spent much time in Bishop.  We hope to correct that now, and I’ll tell you about any adventures we have tomorrow!  See ya then!

Day 71 – Sparks, Nevada

Another day, another three hundred or so miles, another RV Park, but this time one of my favorites.  We’re at the Sparks Marina Park, where the grass is phony, but the walks are great.  You’re not even allowed to pee on the phony grass, though I think that rule has been broken a few times.  But when we’re here, we always walk over to the big lake and the beach, where there is a lot of beautiful, real grass, and always some people who want to meet me.  I’m pleased to hear that we plan to stay for a couple of nights.

The trip today was windblown, and Don had to fight to keep a straight course frequently.  It’s really kind of scary what a heavy gust of wind will do to what Don describes as nearly five hundred square feet of motorhome.  We made a flawless fuel stop in Winnemucca, then pulled into a rest stop to let me stretch my legs and get comfortable.  We met a family from Utah there, and talked about travelling with dogs.  Geri and Don assured them that travelling with me was very pleasant and virtually trouble-free, especially if you are doing it in a really big coach.  Geri told them about when Buddy and I used to travel with them in the van, and when we got to a motel that allowed only one dog, we’d have to take turns going out for walks, so that the two of us couldn’t be seen together. 

After our arrival in Sparks, when we had all gotten settled in, and I had my dinner and assorted treats, they left to get their dinner at a local New York style pizza place.  They came back raving about it, said the pizza was great, and were proud that they had almost finished the thing.  That’s something I don’t really understand; if you have food in front of you, you should eat it.  If you don’t, someone else might!  Then, you don’t have any more food until the next meal shows up!  This is something that every dog understands, and I’m really surprised that humans can’t grasp the concept.  Maybe I need some lessons on Human Behavior. 

The thing on my ear has gotten big again, so I guess I get to go the Vet again tomorrow.  Shouldn’t be a big deal, I almost always enjoy it.  Whatever happens, I’ll fill you in tomorrow!  G’Nite!

Day 70 – Elko, Nevada

Short post tonight, as nothing much happened other than putting miles on the coach.  Got another good early start, partly as a result of a rather short walk for me.  But Don was getting gobbled up by mosquitoes, and he got my permission to return to the coach sooner than we would have.  After a well-executed fuel stop in Evanston, we sailed into Utah and crossed it non-stop.  We love Utah, and think that it is one of the most beautiful states in the country, and we go there often; so, we now consider it to be “local”, and subject to being ignored during transcontinental trips.  We did see some territory that we hadn’t experienced before, and, of course, it was really lovely.  I was in my couch resting place, with a big window to look out of, and enjoyed most of it, except when I occasionally nodded off.  After Salt Lake City, unfortunately, the scenery turns to salt and salt water, resulting in good sleep time for me.

We got into Elko in the mid-afternoon, and almost immediately got into another stupid time-change squabble.  Thank Dog it’s the last one we have to go through.  Skillful negotiator that I am, I was able to get my dinner early, so that they could leave to visit the local money machines with a good conscience.  When they returned, I noted a lack of joyous exhilaration in them.  Geri told me later that she had left Don in charge of her machine while she went to the Ladies Room, and when she returned, he presented her with a certificate worth two cents.  She wasn’t pleased with his performance.

Again, warm-ups for dinner, and I got some measly leavings out of it, but that’s the breaks.  At least I continued to win the time-change battle.  Think we’re off to Reno/Sparks tomorrow, hope they have better luck there.  Hope your luck is good, whatever you’re doing!

Day 69 – Lyman, Wyoming

Sorry excuse for an RV Park, sorry excuse for a morning walk.  Couldn’t even find a decent place to roll.  The only excitement was seeing one of those little animals on the other side of the fence, standing on his hind legs and chattering at me, like he was daring me to chase him; if it hadn’t been for the fence, I would have!  Don tells me that they’re called Prairie Dogs!  Somebody went way wrong when they named these critters, ‘cause they don’t have anything in common with dogs at all.  They live in holes in the ground (which smell really grungy), they aren’t even as big as a Yorkie, and they don’t have a proper respect and love for humans.  I think they’re annoying.

We got another early start, not as good as yesterday, but pretty good for us.  The weather was not too hot, so the chassis A/C did a good job of keeping us cool.  Before we got to Laramie, we saw the Lincoln Monument, which was erected many years ago to commemorate the opening of the Lincoln Highway, which Don says was the very first transcontinental highway in the country.  Our I-80 pretty much follows the route of the old highway, and the monument is placed at the highest elevation that the road reaches, over 8,000 feet!  We had visited the monument the last time we were here, so we didn’t stop this time. 

After a couple of hours on the road, Don pulled into a rest stop to wash the bugs off the windshield, and Geri took me over to the grass, where I was finally able to do some big time rolling.  There were some people having lunch at a table nearby, but I didn’t want to bug Geri too much, so I didn’t go running over to them.  We got back on the road, and I napped for the rest of the trip, waking up when we pulled into another KOA.  I looked around and saw that the place was almost all nice green grass; things were looking up.  We got a nice pull-through spot with a view of the Wasatch Mountains out the front windows, and Geri took me out for a stroll while Don got the rig set up.  Yeah, pretty nice, kind of makes up for Cheyenne. 

The weather here does appear to be a little unsettled, with occasional rain squalls and bursts of wind; we may get another thunder/lightning show tonight, which will thrill Don.  Geri’s come to the conclusion that he was deprived of violent weather in his childhood, making him crave it now, in his dotage.  Regardless, I’m sure we’ll be OK whatever the weather is.  Recycled food tonight, minimum plates; oh, well, you can’t have everything!  Catch you tomorrow!

Day 68 – Cheyenne, Wyoming

I think I’m having a flashback.  There it is, the same oppressive heat and humidity, the RV Park paved in the sharpest gravel money can buy, the lack of any place to go and run free in beautiful green grass; I’m back in West Texas!  Fortunately, we’re out of here tomorrow morning, continuing our trek westward.

I wish we were back in the place we started out from this morning, in Nebraska.  That whole park was grass, acres of it, with lots of interesting corners and holes in the ground worthy of investigation.  On our walk this morning, Don and I walked the whole park, and I was busy bounding from place to place, sniffing plants I’d never encountered before, checking holes for the presence of subterranean dwellers, and rolling gloriously in the sweet grassy meadow.  I even got going on a crazy dog routine, until I realized that there was no one there to appreciate it except for Don.  It really was one of the better walks we’ve had recently. 

Our gang set some kind of a record, for us anyway, in our departure time; we sailed out the gate of the park just a little after 8:00 AM, heading west on I-80 once more.  I should point out, though, that our fellow overnighters in the park were all long gone by the time we heaved anchor.  We were happy with what we had achieved.  We were blessed by a relatively cool morning, and the fact that Don had coerced the generator into functioning with the forward air conditioning unit to get some real cooling in the front of the coach.  We were two thirds of the way across the state when Don remembered that the generator will stop getting fuel from the diesel tank when the tank drops below one-quarter full, which we were approaching.  We instituted an emergency fuel stop, but the generator gave up the ghost just as we were pulling into the fueling island, and Don couldn’t convince it to renew its functions once we were filled up again.  Oh, well, it wasn’t that hot up front anyway, and the chassis A/C was still working OK.

Unbeknownst to me, we crossed another time zone before we left Nebraska, and we pulled into the Cheyenne KOA on Mountain Time.  This always messes up my schedule, and my requests for food and treat items is always met with this attitude of “You really don’t know that your request is an hour early due to a time zone change, but we’re here to explain it to you so that you know that your request is not being ignored, but, due to your ignorance of how time zones work, we will delay honoring it we know it is really time for it.”  Stuff it, really.  It’s no sweat off your brow to give me what I’m owed when I say it’s due, and you know that I won’t ask for it again!  So, just do it, and stop trying to convince a dog that he should understand time zones!  OK, I’m glad I got that off my manly chest.

Geri and Don went off on a big foraging trip, and came back with tons of stuff from the stores; you’d think we were going to be on the road for another couple of months.  Don cooked up one of his good chicken dishes, and I enjoyed some succulent plates as a result.  There are thunder clouds on the horizon, and I expect there’ll be some fireworks tonight again.  That’s OK, doesn’t bother me.  We’ll be on the road again tomorrow, even though Geri and Don love Cheyenne, but they’ve spent some time here on a previous trip, and feel the need to keep moving.  We’re going to try for another early start tomorrow; I’ll let you know how well that works!  Sayonara, all!

Day 67 – Henderson, Nebraska

Well, here we are, where Don wanted to wind up tonight after four hundred miles of increasingly insufferable heat and humidity that made me want to dive into the nearest river to cool off.  And you know I’m not a water dog at all, preferring to wade and go for a modest swim in a calm lake or river if in the mood.  But I would have done anything to cool off this afternoon.  When we stopped in Des Moines for fuel, Don got the generator going, but it was up to its old tricks, and wouldn’t take on the electrical load, so he couldn’t run the air conditioning units like he wanted to.  So I laid in front of the chassis AC unit, which wasn’t putting out a whole lot of cool air, and panted a lot. 

When we finally got to Henderson and the Prairie Oasis RV Park, we tied into the park’s electrical system and got all the A/C units going, but they weren’t a whole lot of help, with all the humidity and heat that they had to combat.  But a couple of hours later, the weather changed totally, a nice cool breeze came up, and the temperature started to come down a bit.  Geri helped out by going up to the office and getting us all ice creams, including a beef flavored iced dessert for me, and I didn’t object to the fact that there was no real dinner tonight. 

Don decided to head for the showers, and when he came back to the rig, he saw that there was a thunderstorm moving north of us, with a lot of lightning and some thunder, though it was a long way away from us.  He came and got me out of the rig, and the first thing I saw were a bunch of flickering lights in the grass, moving around in no particular order; Don told me that they were called fireflys, and I shouldn’t try to catch them, because I really wouldn’t be able to.  I was much more interested in the cool breeze and the grass, as it satisfied my need to reduce my bodily temperature.  I did enjoy watching the lightning displays in the distance, and I got to introduce myself to the guy who had just pulled in next door in a very nice looking rig.  Don was asking him how far he had driven today, and was a bit crestfallen to learn that he had trekked about 470 miles from central Missouri today, and seemed not the least bit tired or impressed by his mileage. 

Anyway, it was a pleasant end to a trying day, laying in the grass and watching the lightning displays and the fireflys, and listening to Don cursing the little bugs that were infesting his Scotch.  I can only hope that tomorrow is a bit more pleasant, temperature wise, and that we wind up in a RV Park as nice as this one.  See ya manyana!