Loosing a Great Friend

Today I lost a very good friend, someone with a heart as big as he was, always watching over us, "Charlie" our Golden Pyrenees. Charlie had Osteosarcomas, it generally affects older large or giant breed dogs. The giant breeds at greatest risk for developing osteosarcoma include Great Danes, Saint Bernards, Great Pyrenees, Newfoundlands, Bernese Mountain Dogs, and Irish Wolfhounds. Large breeds such as Rottweilers, Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Shepherds, Dobermans, Weimaraners, and Boxers are also at an increased risk. Dogs that weigh over 80 pounds have been shown to be at least 60 times more likely to develop an osteosarcoma than dogs weighing less than 75 pounds. While older dogs more commonly develop osteosarcomas, there does appear to be an increased incidence in one to two year old dogs as well. Male dogs have an increased incidence of osteosarcomas.

Charlie was a great friend and he will always be remembered by those who loved him and there are many.

Here's an earlier post about "Charlie".

On a Sunday morning about six years ago "Charlie" decided he'd had enough of living life out of the neighborhood trash cans and begging for hand outs. Charlie chose us to adopt and he wasn't leaving and that's all there was to it. My wife had gone up to the store to get the Sunday paper and coffee. When she returned there was this big dog laying by her car door waiting to greet her, she wasn't getting out and Charlie wasn't leaving. Did I mention my wife is afraid of big dogs? My cell phone rings and it's Cherrie, I answer the phone and she said "I'm in the driveway" and I said "Soooo come on in." Then she told me about the dog, I went out to see this so called "Big" dog, expecting to see a thirty pound dog. Well she was right, it was a "Big" dog, about 125 pounds.

He was the one that had been hanging around the neighborhood for the past week. We live in a rural area and people dump their pets out here when they want to get rid of them and let them fend for themselves. I got Cherrie out of the car and we spent some time with the dog and talked about what we should do. Cherrie took to him right away and in my mind I already knew how this was going to play out. Cherrie got him some food and water and we went in to drink our coffee and read the paper.

We decided at that time to just leave him be and hopefully the owner would come looking or someone would take him in. He hung around for about a week in the neighborhood, later learning there were a few people feeding him and considering taking him in. The following Saturday I was at work and Cherrie and my son David saw the dog in the front yard, so they went out to feed him and spend some time with him and plotting how they were going to convince me it would be a great idea to take him in. I got home from work and they both began telling me about the dog. Then they put their plan into motion, "the good guy bad guy plan", David being the good guy wanting the dog and promising to take care of it blah, blah, blah. Cherri being the bad guy challenging David's argument, uh huh.

Cherrie and I left to do some grocery shopping, all the while talking about the dog. Almost finished shopping I decided to throw a bag a dog food in the cart. Cherrie asked what was that for, uh huh. I said it was for the dog because we can't keep feeding him leftovers when he shows up. When we got home, there was the dog a few houses up sniffing everything as usual. Cherrie looked at me and before she could say anything, I said go up and get him. David and Cherrie went to bring the dog home and after he was home, Cherrie said, "I'm going to call him Charlie." I asked her why "Charlie", and she said "He's just a Charlie." "I don't know why but it just seems he's a Charlie." Charlie moved in and fit right in, you could tell he was happy to be home. The three cat's didn't know what to make of him but Charlie immediately made them park of his flock. Charlie is a beautiful dog. He's a Great Pyrenees and Golden Retriever mix. Obviously he gets his size from the Great Pyrenees and his color from the Golden Retriever. His characteristics are more of the Great Pyrenees, he's a guardian dog and also very headstrong, if Charlie doesn't want to do something and there's no benefit to him, he won't do it. For his size he is extremely gentle and the Grand kids love visiting Charlie, even when he's bigger than they are and a hello kiss involves a complete face wash with one lick. Charlie is very protective of Cherrie and since the first night claimed his spot next to our bed.

Charlie has been good for Cherrie and I since David has since married and has his own family. Charlie goes almost everywhere with us, he loves to go camping and hiking and there's plenty of room for him in the 5th wheel. If you camp in Texas you probably will see Charlie.

This has been extremely difficult for Cherrie and I to have seen Charlie go through this, but I know he's in a better place.

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

"Happy Trails" Charlie

Porcupine Mountains

It was another beautiful day in the U.P., a great day for exploring and adventure. Where to today? Cherrie had found information at the Visitor Center for Bond Falls and other area water falls. So....we were off to Bond Falls, if we saw something interesting along the way, we of course stop and check it out. Once on Highway 2, we headed towards Watersmeet, the scenery is beautiful in the U.P. and we found ourselves finding back roads to explore.

We did make it to Watersmeet and found the Ottawa National Forest Visitor Center, its located at the intersection of Highway 2 and 45.  The Center had exhibits of native animals, tools and other artifacts, which made it an interesting stop.  After spending some time at the Visitor Center, we continued up Highway 45 to explore Bond Falls, twenty minutes later we were there.

There weren't too many people there, mainly some motorcyclist touring the area. Bond Falls is probably one of the most beautiful cascading falls. Cherrie and I explored the areas around the falls and were fascinated by the areas beauty. There is a small store along the road at the falls entrance that we stopped in before heading down the road.

We headed out from the falls and found some back roads to explore, even before making it to the highway.  We found other rivers and lakes along these back roads and also primitive camping with RVer's enjoying the peace and quiet.

After we made our way back to Highway 45, we headed north towards Bruce Crossing.  After arriving at Bruce Crossing we headed west on Highway 28, toward Lake Gogebic.  I knew there was a state campground on the west side of the lake, so we took a little tour of the campground and returned to Highway 28 to head back to camp.

It was another great day in the north woods. 

In the video there are pictures of damage on trails from the bad storm we experienced and you can see how muddy Lake Superior is because of the storm.

"Happy Trails"

Cedar Breaks Park

This was a Saturday in October 2009, David, Heather and family drove up for the day.  The weather wasn't the greatest, but when my son and family come to visit it's always a sunny day.  Cedar Breaks is a Army Corps. of Engineers park on Georgetown Lake in Georgetown, Texas.  It is a nice park.







"Happy Trails"

No Room At The Inn

As we arrived at Wakefield we started looking for a motel, we traveled west along highway 2.  We didn't pass any motels in Wakefield so we continued to Bessemer.  Bessemer had a good number of motels but all were full, we could tell by now people from campgrounds were all doing as we were, trying to find a room.

We passed motels where there were motorcycle groups filling the motel and all in front drying off.  Cars were going from one motel to another trying to get there before the next guy, but what they ignored was the "No Vacancy"  signs at all the motels.  Our plan was to push on to Ironwood which was a larger city and for sure they would have a room.  "Right?"

The rain had subsided by now and wasn't as heavy, but the roads in Bessemer were flooded, so we crept along trying not to get water in the engine.  Ironwood was less than 10 miles and it wasn't bad after we got out of Bessemer.   When we came into Ironwood we made an unexpected discovery, all the motels were full, at this point we didn't know how far we'd have to drive.

We came to the last motel in town and we drove up to the front door, Cherrie jumped out and ran to the front desk, I followed after I parked the car.  There was one person in front of us that got the last room, we offered to pay him twice as much for his room, we were kidding, but he declined, smart man.  At this point Cherrie and the desk person were trying to find us a room, by this time a family with small children had come in and they had also been looking all night for a room.

The next motel was 50 miles away and that was just too far to go, so we along with the other people were resigned to fact we would have to sleep in our cars.  Just as we were going to leave the desk person and another employee remembered a place back toward Bessemer, it was a small resort with little A-frame chalets.  The man called and they had two chalets open, WOW!  They gave us directions, we thanked them and we were off back to Bessemer, the other family right behind us.

We followed the directions and eventually found it and pulled up to the office and hurried inside, expecting them to say "Sorry your too late", but no, they indeed had two openings, GREAT!  At this point we weren't taking any chances and took the chalet for the rest of the week, we weren't much in the mood of camping in the tent for awhile.

We took care of paying and they told us where to go.  We parked the car in front of the chalet and went inside, it was actually pretty nice.  It had a living room, fully furnished kitchen, full bath two bedrooms, a loft and it also had a nice gas fireplace.

After we got all our things out of the car, cleaned up and changed our clothes, it was time to relax.  We sat on the couch, Cherrie was laying against me as we were watching t.v. and listening to the rain and then it happened, a big drop of water landed on Cherrie's forehead.  No it couldn't be, but yes it was, the damn roof was leaking.  We just looked at each other and started laughing...... and laughing .....and laughing, what are you going to do, it's an adventure.


We moved the couch over a bit and put a pot down to catch the water, problem solved.  We had something to eat, watched a little t.v. and it was time for bed.  We made our way to the bedroom in the back and as we were getting the bed ready we noticed the floor was wet by the bed, now what.  Someone had left the window open a few inches and got the floor and part of the bed wet, no worries, it was Cherrie's side.

After we got the carpet and bed dried up the best we could we climbed into bed.  We were just laying there and Cherrie beat me to it and said.  "Doesn't it feel like we're going down hill?"  "No S#@T" we were, all the blood was going to our heads.  What was going on now, the whole damn place sinking into the ground?  I didn't want to get up, I told Cherrie to just try and go to sleep, but the ringing in my ears started again.  "Know what I mean?"

I got out of bed and looked under it to see what was going on, yup it was screwed up.  It appeared the frame was connected to the headboard too low, I wasn't going to redo that, so I took the casters off the frame, problem solved.  We did mange to get a good nights sleep, which made for two happy campers in the morning.

The next morning things didn't start out any better, all was fine until it was time to take a shower.  I got in the shower which was a challenge because this place was an A-frame and the shower was on the sloping wall and if you were over four feet tall your head was hitting the ceiling......... wall......... whatever.  Once in the shower standing at a 45 degree angle I tried to adjust the shower head and it fell apart in my hands.  Now I'm standing there at a 45 with a stream of water coming out of this pipe in the wall, hitting me in the chest, because this place was designed for midgets, good water pressure though....uh-huh.

We did manage to shower and get out of there before something else happened.  We went to talk to the managers and we were able to change chalets.  Right now we were headed back to the campground to get the tent and get a refund for the rest of the week so we can continue our "North woods adventure." 


"Happy Trails"

Luck or Intervention

Cherrie and I were on an adventure in Michigan's Porcupine Mountains.  The Porkies  are a group of small mountains spanning across the northwestern Upper Peninsula of Michigan in Ontonagon and Gogebic counties, near the shore of Lake Superior. We were camping at Presque Isle Campground, those were the days we were camping in a backpacking tent.

It was an unplanned destination, we were going to be camping in Wisconsin but since the campgrounds were full in the area we planned, we decided to head to the Upper Peninsula.  I'll cover that part of the adventure some other time.  We arrived at the campground early afternoon, we set up camp and did some exploring of the campground.  The campground was a primitive campground, meaning there were no electric or water hookups.  That never bothered us because we were tent camping, we didn't need hookups.

The campground is located on Lake Superior and has great hiking and waterfalls in the area.  Our first night we built a campfire as we usually do and as we were sitting by the campfire, the wind kept blowing smoke and embers toward the tent.  Cherrie was poking at the fire and I decided to move the tent up wind of the fire, not a big deal with a backpacking tent.  The rest of the night was relaxing and we later turned in for the night.

The next day we set off to do some exploring, Cherrie being the planner as she is, had some suggestions and we were off.  Later in the afternoon we returned to camp and relaxed until dinner.  The skies were getting dark and it started to rain, so we secured the tent and headed to the picnic area to cook and eat dinner under the shelters that were there.

We never got a chance to get out of the car when the skies opened up and just poured.  We sat in the car hoping it would let up, it didn't, so we decided to make a run for the shelter.  The shelter was probably 50 feet from the car, sooo.... we ran for it and got soaked in the process.

At the time it seemed like a good idea, because it was getting hot in the car and where else were we going to go, back to camp and try and get in the tent, maybe.....  The wind started blowing and the rain was horizontal now and we were getting wet again, we were standing on a picnic table in the center of the shelter looking like we were on this tiny island.  By now it was a full fledged bad ass storm with thunder and lightning strikes close, too close.  While standing there we heard this loud crack that came from the direction of our camp.  Cherrie said, "Did you hear that?"  We thought it was just thunder that was close.

We realized there wasn't going to be any dinner and we needed to do something besides holed up under a picnic shelter.  The plan was to go back to camp and wait out the storm in the tent, so back to the car.  We got back to camp and all was not good, the whole camp was flooded and the tent sat in six inches of water.  We then noticed the source of that loud crack we had heard, as we looked at a huge tree branch that had snapped and landed right where our tent had originally been pitched and where we had been parking the car.

If we wouldn't have moved the tent the night before and we had been in it during the storm, well..... I wouldn't be telling you about it now and at the very least that would have been the end of the car.  That definitely would have been a bad thing.  After seeing all this, Cherrie was scared and I sure the hell was just a bit anxious, So we grabbed our things from the tent and got the hell out of Dodge.

By this time the sky was black as if it were midnight and the rain continued to pour along with the thunder and lightning, that seemed to be right above us.  We headed out of the campground and stated down county road 519 toward Wakefield, luckily we've been down this road a few times so I knew the lay of the road and landmarks to know where I was.  Wakefield was 18 miles in front of us, the windshield wipers didn't make a difference, we could only see a few feet in front of the car, the windows kept steaming up because we both soaked and the defroster had little affect.

The sky to the west was a haze gray and where we were it was pitch black, it looked as if someone had painted half the sky black, it was a sharp separation, straight and sharp.  Cherrie was scared spit-less and was bracing herself for the inevitable accident, I was trying to concentrate on proving her wrong, but I was having difficulty doing that because of the ringing in my ears and my head throbbing, but that went away after I told Cherrie, "Sit back and shut up."  If you know Cherrie the ringing in my ears returned shortly.

We made it safely to Wakefield and the plan was to find a motel for the night, that shouldn't too hard.  Right?  I'll let you know in my next post.   

TO BE CONTINUED.......................


"Happy Trails"

How would you like to run into this?

A man who works for the US Forest Service in Alaska was out deer hunting last week
when a large grizzly bear charged him from about 50 yards away. The guy emptied his
7mm Magnum semi-automatic rifle into the bear and it dropped a few feet from him.
The big bear was still alive so he reloaded and shot it several times in the head.















The bear was just over one thousand six hundred pounds. It stood 12' 6" high at the shoulder,
14' to the top of his head. It's the largest grizzly bear ever recorded in the world.
Of course, the Alaska Fish and Wildlife Commission did not let him keep it as a trophy,
but the bear will be stuffed and mounted, and placed on display at the Anchorage airport
to remind tourists of the risks involved when in the wild.

Based on the contents of the bears stomach, the Fish and Wildlife
Commission established the bear had killed at least two humans in the
past 72 hours including a missing hiker.

The US Forest Service, backtracking from where the bear had originated,
found the hiker's 38-caliber pistol emptied. Not far from the pistol
were the remains of the hiker. The other body has not been found.

Although the hiker fired six shots and managed to hit the grizzly with
four shots (the Service ultimately found four 38 caliber slugs along
with twelve 7mm slugs inside the bear's dead body), it only wounded the
bear and probably angered it immensely.

The bear killed the hiker an estimated two days prior to the bear's own
death by the gun of the Forest Service worker.

Think about this:
If you are an average size man; You would be level with the bear's navel
when he stood upright. The bear would look you in the eye when it
walked on all fours! To give additional perspective, consider that this
particular bear, standing on its hind legs, could walk up to an average
single story house and look over the roof, or walk up to a two story
house and look in the bedroom windows

"Happy Trails"

The Creature at Lake Whitney

 I found this story published by Carla Hinsey when I was looking for camping spots around Lake Whitney.  We'll probably go sometime this summer, maybe we'll see the creature.

"The following article is reprinted with permission by Carla Hinsey at  http://carlahinsey.com"

 Please check out Cala's blog, she has some wonderful stories and information.

The Creature at Lake Whitney

The first thing I would like to say is although this story might sound like fiction, it is a real account of an actual event that happened to my husband and I.  This story is probable not something that a lot of people will believe, but for me it doesn’t really matter.  Part of me decided to write this story any way, just for the benefit of myself.  Sometimes when you are wrapped up in something strange it is hard to maintain an objective point of view.

My husband and I had volunteered for a winter caretaker job on a really beautiful lake in Central Texas.  This part of Texas boasts a usually mild winter, with temperatures ranging from high fifties and sixties in the day to high thirties at night.  On occasions during the dead of winter a small ice or snowstorm might find its way into Central Texas.  Even if this is the case it doesn’t last for more than a day or two at best.
Lake Whitney is a beautiful lake and a large lake for Texas.  It is one that spans to counties with the center of the lake marking the county boundaries.  This part of Texas has hardwood trees mixed in with spruce and juniper.  There are lots of limestone cliffs that border the lake and surrounding area.  Lake Whitney is also home to many a deer and other wildlife such as armadillos, opossum, rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, skunks, snakes, fox, coyote, and various birds, which include hawks, owls, vultures, and we have seen some golden eagles, and not to mention a few sightings of cougars.

Whitney is a small rural community consisting mostly of Mom and Pop businesses; a basic lake community that thrives in peak seasons and struggles during the off times of the year.  During the summer months it is a hopping place filled with tourists seeking the sun and water.  There are many campgrounds providing tourists with accommodations and family recreation.  My husband and I have been on this lake during both off and on seasons.

It is during our first off season on the lake that my story takes place.

You see, at this point in our lives, my husband and I had been living in an RV (motor home) for a few years.  We traveled from place to place as our fancy took us.  We had met an older couple while traveling in Missouri and they had told us about being volunteers for the Army Corp of Engineers in Texas; Lake Whitney to be exact.  They gave us a 1-800 number to call, which we did and secured a winter caretaker position on the lake.  This particular caretaker job consisted of opening and closing a gate for a day use facility on the lake.  We were responsible for opening the gate at 6am and closing the gate at 10pm and keeping an eye on the park itself.  In exchange, we received our site and full RV hookups, and for full time RV’ers that was picture perfect. 

Full hookups mean water, electric, and sewer  connections.  The part that interested us was the complete seclusion on a beautiful lake with no one around except the bountiful wildlife.  Some people need hustle and bustle in their lives, my husband and I need quiet solitude.  This winter job was perfect for us.  We took the position October 1st and settled in quite nicely.  The weather was wonderful, lots of sun and 75 to 80 degree temperatures during the day and 50’s at night.  Winter comes late in Central Texas, although the light of the sun has changed and the shadows had become long and skinny, it was hard to see winter just around the corner.

Our site with the dog Nicki

On the day we arrived to our new winter home, which was named Walling Bend Day Use Area, we noticed a medium sized dog lying in the grass of our new campsite.  She watched as we backed into our site and from time to time wagged her tail, but gave no hint as to moving on.  After getting the RV set up and hooked up, we broke out the lawn chairs and folding table and set around our new site.  It provided us with a view of the lake in front of us with forest on three sides.  Who could ask for more?  We were at the end of the line, because in front of us was the lake and behind us was a small two-block community of lake houses.  Where we were was the end of the line of electricity and telephone service.  My husband acquired phone service for us so that he could have his Internet connection.  It didn’t matter to me either way, but I understood how he felt.

We settled into a routine pretty much from the beginning, my husband would open the gate in the morning at 6am and I would close the gate at 10pm.  He was an early riser and I like to stay up later with my campfire, so the arrangement worked out great for both of us.

The dog stayed with us and we decided to call her Nicki.  She loved the lake and took a daily swim no matter what the weather.  On sever weather nights with big storms and thunder and lightning we were able to coax Nicki into the motor-home to ride out the storm.  She always wanted out after the storm had passed; I feel she really loved being out doors and only came in on these miserable nights.  She did however love to ride to town with us to check our mail at the post office. 

A week or so after our arrival another dog showed up and she seemed really friendly with Nicki.  My husband tried to run her off at first, but after seeing how close her and Nicki were, we let her stay.  Later we found out she lived in the neighborhood behind us.  Her owners tried everything they could to keep her at home, but failed miserably at doing it so just let her run as she liked.

The dogs and I would take daily walks along the lake shores and up and down the park road.  Sometimes on mild nights we would take a late night walk along the lake.  I was always happy to have the dogs with me as sometimes at night your not sure what you might run into critter wise.  I felt that they kept me safe.

It seemed like it happened all at once, maybe it did but we hadn’t noticed before.  Vultures started showing up in large numbers hanging out in the trees all around us and then started to gather as far down as the lake as the days passed.  There were a few small camping sites down at one of the boat launches not far from our site.  The vultures were thick down there.  All the trees were usually covered with them as well as along the electrical lines and towers.  It was about that time my husband and I started to notice a lot of dead animals around.  A farmer about 1/2 mile from the park had lost a calf as well.

This is where my story starts to get strange.  One night while I went out at 10pm to close the gate something really weird happened.  The kind of thing that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up
. 

At the gate looking towards the RV

The dogs always went with me to shut the gate.  It was about 30 yards from the motor-home, surrounded by woods.  The dogs stood watch as I was busy shutting the big metal gate; it always made me feel better with them there.  On this particular night while walking back from shutting the gate, something happened just as I got back onto the patio around the motor-home.

In the woods not far away something was making a sound, moving around in the brush.  Instantly the dogs were at my side, one at each leg, pushing against me hard.  I use to tease them when we would hear something in the brush and they would take of like a shot and chase what ever it was away.  Not tonight though.  They both hugged my legs and started trembling, making very low growling sounds deep in their throats.

It gave me the real creeps.  I told the dogs, “Get it, get it!”  Neither moved.  I keep staring into the dark woods trying to see something as the dogs had never acted like this before.  I wanted to run inside the motor-home and lock the door, but I couldn’t.  Something made me stay there, I needed to see.
The rustling in the brush stopped, and finally a shape came out of the darkness.  There was a small rail fence about two feet high that ran around the outside edge of our site, separating the woods from us.

This thing, whatever it was, stayed just outside the glow of the huge vapor light that was out by the gate.  There was just enough light to see the rail, but not past it.  As I was staring at what ever it was, just trying to get a glimpse of it.  I still don’t know what it was as I couldn’t tell from what I saw.  I’ll try to describe it as best I can though.  It was about the size of a medium dog, skinny looking and darkish.  The head was dog shaped except for it was longer and thinner.  Erect ears but small I think.  Somehow, I still to this day don’t understand this, but it seemed to illuminate it’s self.  I know that doesn’t make sense, but that’s what I saw.

From the patio looking towards where I saw the creature 

After just a few seconds, it bolted.  It was there and then it wasn’t.  It leaped straight up and backwards into the trees behind it.  I could hear the limbs of the tree creak and with another sound of creaking limbs it was gone.  It was so very strange.  Both dogs took off like a shot to where the creature had been, but didn’t go past the rail into the woods.  

They stood there barking their heads off.  I hurried into the motor home and told my husband what had happened, but the look in his eyes told me he wasn’t so sure he believed me.  The next morning I tried to draw him a picture of what I had seen.  All he could say was he thought it looked like Jabba the Hut from the movie Star Wars.  The next morning I went outside to where the creature had been standing, but couldn’t really tell if anything was out of whack, although the tall grass was sort of trampled down in a couple of spots as if something had been standing there.

A few nights later, I was sitting in the motor home watching TV and my husband was at the dinette table on the Internet.
Suddenly something large jumped on the roof of the motor home making a loud thud as if it had dropped straight down from the tree above us.  The motor home began to jerk and rock violently from side to side almost knocking both of us into the floor.  After a few seconds my husband said he had also been kicked off the Internet. 

We both looked at each other wide-eyed, I grabbed the flashlight that we kept behind the chair I was sitting in and we rushed out side. We looked around but didn’t see anything.  My husband took the flash light and shined it around the yard and over the motor home but we still didn’t see anything.  We went around to the other side, where the sewer and water connections were, also where the cable and phone connections are.  The phone cord was yanked out of the phone plug on the side of the motor home and strung out across the yard.  

My husband told me to go get one of the guns.  I hurried inside and returned with my husbands 9mm.  I was really spooked and although my husband didn’t show it I could tell he was a little anxious.  We examined the phone cord and found that it had indeed been ripped out of the box, and the other end had literally been pulled apart.  One end of the chord was gone and we couldn’t see it anywhere.  The weird thing about the chord is the way it had been stretched apart with the plastic insulation and copper wires exposed.  My husband tried to duplicate the strength it took to do that with a phone chord but he couldn’t stretch it apart like this one had been.

                     Claw prints around MH

The next morning we looked around outside and found tracks all over by the RV hookups.  They were really strange looking.  They were about the size around of a softball.  Each had three claw/toe marks in front and two straight down hole mark in the back; no pad marks.  I’ve never seen anything that looked like that before.  In the first photo there are three prints.  One in the top left, a smudged one below and to the right, then at the bottom center.  Next to the bottom center is one of the dog’s prints. The second photo is a close up of one of the top left print.

Again, a few nights later, we were watching TV and my husband decided to go outside for some fresh air.  The motor home was parked under several large old trees; beautiful giants.  He wasn’t outside very long when he hollered at me to bring the flash light; something was in the tree above the rear of RV.  I grabbed the flashlight and hurried outside.

We heard something stirring in the trees above us and my husband shined the light up into the darkness.  Far above us, something sat high on one of the limbs.  It was a dark figure and appeared to be crouched over looking at us.  Just as the light hit it, it sprang off the branch and landed on the ground just in front of us.  Then it leaped up in the air again and took off to a tree at the edge of the site.  It happened so fast we couldn’t get a good beam on it with the flashlight. 

In a jump of a bout 50 feet it made it to a stand of huge old cedar trees behind the motor home.  My husband ran after it with the flashlight in hand.  I was right behind him.  Apparently, after jumping to the trees it jumped again and went up one of them all the while growling and making flapping sounds.  My husband was standing underneath the tree where it went up.  He was shinning the flashlight up there.  We couldn’t see anything, but what where heard gave me chills all through my body.  Whatever it was, it was flapping, growling, and snarling as it went up the tree.  This thing was really either scared or pissed off.

You could hear branches snapping and cracking as this creature made its way to the top;  large branches were falling to the ground around us.  We don’t know for sure what happened next, but we heard massive wings flapping and the creature was gone.

The tree that the creature went up, and branches laying on the ground.

Both of us didn’t know what to think about all of this that had been going.  One thing I find strange, except for that first encounter with the creature, the dogs were always mysteriously gone when the creature showed up.  I think they were afraid of it and they would leave when it came around.  During the rest of the time we were there, things cooled off and that was the last big event we had with the creature.   One time it did pull out our metal awning supports that were buried in the ground and carried off the rope attached to them.  More tracks that day, as well


I don’t have a clue as to what happened to us that season at the lake.  I can’t say what it was that we saw and heard, all I can say is I have never seen anything like it before.  I don’t know that I want too either.  If you ever make it down to Lake Whitney and happen to stay at Walling Bend Park, I wouldn’t go wandering around late at night by yourself.  That’s all I have to say about this.

"The following article is reprinted with permission by Carla Hinsey at  http://carlahinsey.com"

South Dakota

Here's a slide show of some of the things we saw in South Dakota and Wyoming.  I hope you enjoy it.



We've got a case of "Hitch Itch" and need to drag our trailer down the road soon to scratch that itch.

"Happy Trails" 

Devils Tower

It was another great day in South Dakota and we were off to find adventure along the road to Devils Tower.  We headed up highway 385 through the Black Hills.  Normally it would take about an hour to get to Deadwood, but we were in no hurry and we were enjoying the sights.  When we arrived in Deadwood, it looked like a city that was frozen in time.  The city has a great western feel as soon as you get there.

We decided to take a look through town and get a bite to eat at one of the saloons.  Before we got into the saloon, there was a gunfight on the street, which was cool.  When we got into the saloon, the employees were dressed in period costumes also.  The saloon we happened to be in, was Saloon No. 10, where Wild Bill Hickok played cards.
 
Wild Bill was having a run of bad luck that day and was forced to borrow a poker stake from the bartender. That run of bad luck worsened when an ex-buffalo hunter called John (“Broken Nose Jack”) McCall walked in unnoticed. Jack McCall walked to within a few feet of Wild Bill and then suddenly drew a pistol and shouted, “Take that!” before firing.

The bullet hit Hickok in the back of the head, killing him instantly. The bullet emerged through Wild Bill’s right cheek striking Captain Massie in the left wrist. Legend has it that Hickok had lost his stake and had just borrowed $50 from the house to continue playing. When shot, he was holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights, all black. The fifth card is debated, or, as some say, had been discarded and its replacement had not 

yet been dealt.

It was time for us to hit the road again.  Deadwood is a place I would like to see again someday.  We headed toward Devils Tower on I90 West and before you knew it we were crossing into Wyoming.  The ride from the border to Sundance will take you about 25 minutes.


When you get to Sundance you need to be looking for Hwy. 14 because you'll be heading up that road to the Tower.  It'll take you about 45 minutes to get up there.  Once there, they have a information office, vending machines and restrooms.


After we found as much adventure as we were going to we headed out.  We stopped at a place on the road up to Tower that had all kinds of cool things.  We packed up our purchases and headed back to camp.  Russ and David took I90 to 16, which brought them back to camp.


Cherrie and I on the other hand couldn't go with the flow, so we took Hwy 585 out of Sundance.  It was well worth it because it took us through some beautiful parts of the forest.  Russ and David may have beat us back to camp but we had enjoyed our way much better.

Thus ends another day on the trail to adventure.

 
"Happy Trails"

Grand Canyon Skywalk

I came across "The Grand Canyon Skywalk" awhile back and thought it would be something Cherrie and I would like to see.    The prices are pretty steep and you can't bring cameras on the walkway.  All personal belongings have to be put in a locker.  I still think it would be nice to see.

What are your ticket prices?
There are two fees you will encounter when visiting the Skywalk. Visitors will be required to purchase an entry fee into Grand Canyon West and if visitors choose to experience the Skywalk, an additional fee will be required:

• Skywalk Admission fee (Admission onto the Skywalk): Admission onto the Skywalk is $29.95 per person (Taxes apply)
• Grand Canyon West "Legacy", (Entrance fee to Grand Canyon West): The adult rate for the Legacy Pass is $40.95 per person. This gives you access to any of the points of interest listed below as well as a hop-on / hop-off shuttle that travels to each location daily every 10-15 minutes.

"Happy Trails"

Mt Rushmore

Early on July 4th we drove through the "Black Hills" on the way to Mt Rushmore.  The views were spectacular.  We arrived at Mt Rushmore early in the afternoon and staked our claim to our area that we would watch the performance and fireworks from.  As would be expected there were a lot of people but not as bad as I thought it would be.

They were having plumbing problems so all the restrooms were closed.  They had brought in a bunch of Porta-Potties and lined them up in the parking lot.  The lines to use the toilet was long and you could expect to wait over an hour to use them.  They were being used so much the pumper truck had to regularly pump them out.

You could purchase food and drinks at the restaurants that are there.  There's places to purchase gifts and souvenirs, we had purchased a blanket to sit on the ground.  There was plenty to see and learn while there.

Later in the afternoon the was a fly over of the  F-117 Nighthawk and the B-2 Bomber, that was a spectacular sight.  Lee Greenwoodwas one of the performers and he had sung "God Bless the USA".

 The fireworks were "great".  We all enjoyed the day and what we had seen and learned.  After the fireworks it was time to head back to camp.  We all climbed into Russ' SUV and headed back to camp.  When we got back to camp we discussed the day at Mount Rushmore and where we were tomorrow in search of another adventure.

"Happy Trails" 

Journey To South Dakota

A few years ago we took a vacation to the Black Hills, first trip with our shiny new truck and 5th wheel.  We were coming from Wisconsin, taking a family vacation in the Black Hills and continuing to Texas where we had purchased a home.  After the vacation I flew back to Wisconsin to load up our stuff and drag it down to Texas. 

We planned on staying in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for two nights to meet my son and brother in-law who were leaving later from Wisconsin and to see some of the sights in the area.  We all went to "Falls Park" which was a nice place to see.  Cherrie and I drove to Watertown South Dakota to visit Redlin Art Center since we both enjoy his work. 

"Falls Park"

                    

"Redlin Art Center"

We left Sioux Falls on a cold and rainy Monday morning headed toward the Black Hills. Heading down I90 we exited and took the 240 loop through the Badlands.  When we first stopped after going through the gate it was overcast and colder than a "well diggers ass", and this was July!  We spent some time exploring the sites along the loop on our way to Wall, South Dakota.






We stopped for lunch at the famous Wall Drug Store, the food and atmosphere was great.  After lunch we did some shopping, took pictures and enjoyed the attractions.  We crawled back in the truck and headed toward Rapid City

We arrived at the Rafter J Bar Ranch in Hill City, South Dakota on Monday afternoon.  After we set up we noticed some of the other RV's and cars looked like someone took a baseball bat to them, really bad shape.  We talked to some people and they told us there was a bad hail storm the day before and a lot of the cars and RV's were total losses, I'm glad we didn't push it or we would have arrived Saturday and we would of been one of those unfortunate campers.

Remember this was a vacation, 50 things to do in five days, no relaxing, go, go, go.  We didn't spent much time at camp because we were trying to fit in as much as possible.  I'll write more later about our adventures in South Dakota.

"The following are for my Grand kids"

"Happy Trails"

"Ole Red" Retires

Friday night Cherrie convinced me to buy a new lawnmower since "Ole Red" is feeling a little sick.  I've had this mower since David was born and my father had it before me.  He bought this mower new in 1977 and I probably bought it from him about four years later, which makes it 33 years old.


I've used it all those years with very little trouble.  Except now it has a stripped head bolt and I think it's time to give it a rest, when I get bored I'll probably fix it.  I'm probably going to write to Toro and tell them the story.


Well "Ole Red" was replace by a brand new shiny "Red", with a 7 HP engine.  If this mower lasts 33 years...well I'd be a little older.  David would be near retirement, Chloe would be 41, Austin would be 37 and Jordan a young 35 years old.  "Man-o-man!"

Anniversary Surprise

"Happy Trails"

Just a Little Further

It was a beautiful summer evening and we had just finished another great dinner.  We were on another camping adventure at "Firefly Lake Campground" in the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest.

Cherrie and I decided to go for a bike ride.  We were only going for a short ride, until we wondered if the trail went around the lake.  Lets see! How long could it take to bike around the lake?  Sooooo we started out on our adventure to bike around the lake and be back at camp before the sun went down, uh huh.

At first it was a normal mountain biking ride, occasionally passing people along the way. Then we noticed we weren't seeing any other people and the sounds of the campground had disappeared and we were gone longer than we wanted.  We could still see the lake and we were on the opposite side from where we had started, no problem, just keep following the trail, uh huh.  We came upon some signs in the woods for snowmobilers that pointed in one direction 8 miles and in the other direction 5 miles.

We decided to stick with our trail.  The trail started to become very ugly, fast, so we had to walk our bikes and push them through slippery mud, often along a steep slope.  It was getting dark in the forest and we were getting a little concerned, okay maybe more than a little.  Will we have to spend the night in this muddy miserable place?

The mosquitoes were thick and buzzing all around, Cherrie was having trouble seeing and getting through the mud. The mosquitoes were getting to her and she could hardly see anything because she left her glasses at camp, it was only going to be a short ride, "right".  I told her if I spread mud all over her the mosquitoes wouldn't bite her.  She said #%$#, to that, so she continued to get bit up.  We were getting bit up pretty bad and what made it worse, we had no water.  This sure was turning into a full blown adventure.  Cherrie wasn't as enthusiastic as when we had started, especially when I wanted to smear mud all over her.  Maybe she thought we would come upon a bear or worse.  I don't know what would be worse but give us enough time and we'll find it.

We finally came to an area that wasn't as dense with trees and the trail improved so we could hop on our bikes and ride again.  We could hear kids and see campfires in the distance from neighboring campgrounds.  There was very little light by now, but we pushed on.

We could hear an occasional car on a highway in front of us and eventually we made it to that highway.  Well now what?  We were on this highway but didn't know what highway and there was nothing around.  Do we go this way or that way?  We thought about it and made a decision to go north, a ways down the road we came upon a sign that said "CO HWY M".  Now we knew where we were, but we didn't know if we were going in the right direction.  Our sense of direction was messed up from being in the forest for so long.

We continued down the highway hoping to see a familiar landmark soon.  Finally we did, it was a sign for "CO HWY N" which is the road our campground is off of.  We turned onto "HWY N" and continued our adventure down the moon lit road and turned into the campground to coast into camp 5 hours later, where Russ and David were waiting impatiently. 

Cherrie and I were tired and thirsty.  David and Russ were just getting ready to go to the ranger station to report us missing because it was now 11:00 and we've been gone since 6:00.  We got the lecture from both of them as Cherrie gulped her water and I sipped my cold beer wondering what the mud adventure would of been like.




It sure would have made it a lot easier if we had a cell phone, or maybe just turned around and went back.  Cherrie and I never go anywhere without our water.  If we're hiking we take our Camelbak and other things we may need.  We're a little more prepared for adventure these days then back then.

This is the route we took around the lake, "the long way".


View Firefly Lake in a larger map

The Attack of The Racoons

Back in our tent camping days my brother in-law, Russ, would join us for camping adventures.  After dinner we would sit around the campfire and enjoy a drink, or two, or more.  This particular time we were camping in Wyalusing State Park in Wisconsin, you camp 500 feet above the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers.

So picture campers camped next to a cliff drinking alcohol, normally that would make for some great redneck times.  That night Russ was drinking with an old friend, “Jack Daniels”.  “Jack” and his friend “Bud” Wiser were always a hit around our campfire and made for some great memories and headaches.

Raccoons’ are always looking to raid our cooler and make off with what they can.  Even if you have a latching lid they will just turn it and “jackpot” there goes tomorrow’s lunch.  One of the campers came up to me and asked if we were missing anything out of our cooler.  He said “someone is stealing food out of the coolers and they stole a package of hotdogs from me”.

For one thing if I’m going to steal from someone’s cooler, I’m going straight for the beer, the hell with hotdogs.  Obviously he was an amateur and didn’t know about keeping your cooler in your trunk or secured so the lid couldn’t be opened.  He was a victim of the “masked bandits”.  That night there were a lot of raccoons around and some were so bold as to come into your camp while you were there.

That night there was more talk about raccoons than normal which set the stage for what would happen later.  It was late, the campfire died down and we made our final trip to the toilet.  We turned in and minutes later you could hear the raccoons trying to get into the cooler.  After giving it their best shot and coming up empty they moved on to the next camp.

After some talking Russ fell asleep, Cherrie, David and I were just getting ready to dose off when Russ yells “they’re biting my feet”.  We asked what was biting his feet and he said “the raccoons”!  We tried to tell him that there were no raccoons in the tent, but it was too late, “Jack” and “Bud” had got to him.  There was no hope for Russ, he was drunk.  My son being the smart ass as he is antagonized Russ by pinching his foot, putting Russ into an almost hysteric state.

By this time we were all laughing so hard our stomachs hurt and you probably could hear us throughout the campground.  Eventually things settled down and we managed to keep the raccoons of f of Russ so we all could get some sleep.  The next morning we had fun telling Russ about all the raccoons in his sleeping bag.

Always know your trailer height

Tire Safety

This is one area we all should take seriously and make it part of our trip checks along with checking the wheel nuts (lug nuts). On my trailer they are 100 ft. lbs., my truck is 140 ft. lbs. The picture at the left is the rear drivers side trailer tire that blew out on a Friday night on our way to a state park. All I saw in the mirrors was smoke bellowing out of the RV, I've seen RV's burn to the ground from this or damage the trailer skirt or wheel well. Mine was a Goodyear tire that came with the RV, you can see where the tread had separated.

Most people don't weigh their rigs so they have no idea of the weight on the steers, drives or trailer axles. The next time your filling up with fuel, spend a few bucks and take a few minutes to drive your rig across the scales at the truck stop, you may be surprised. Most folks just keep their tires inflated to the max pressure on all their tires and feel that's all they need to do, that's where knowing your rigs weight comes in. For example your tow vehicle axle weights are a lot less that when your big ole shiny rig's behind you, so that tires inflation pressure should correspond to the manufacturers recommendation for a given weight. A easy way to double check this is to chalk your tire tread and drive forward and see how much chalk was transferred to the ground, you may need to use a piece of plywood to drive on to get a good reading. What you should see is the complete tread pattern, if you only get the center of the tread your tires are over inflated, if you're getting the outer edges only, they're under inflated. Get a good tire pressure gauge and keep it in your truck, make sure it goes high enough for your truck tires max pressure. I've included a few links for manufacturers tire inflation charts, they're easy to understand, find your tires size, find the weight on the tire, go up and that's your inflation pressure.

http://www.goodyear.com/rv/pdf/rv_inflation.pdf
http://www.michelintruck.com/michelintruck/tires-retreads/load-inflation-tables.jsp
http://marktg.toyotires.com/file/loadinflationtable.pdf

There are also aftermarket tire pressure monitors that can help you monitor the state of you tires and you immediately know when you have a low tire or a blowout.
"Happy Trails"

Case of Wonderlust

Cherrie and I have always enjoyed traveling the back-roads and searching for adventure. As long as I can remember I've been infected by "Wanderlust" and in my case it's sweeter because Cherrie has the same bug.

The problem has been, as with most people, we have limited time, maybe a weekend here or there, take an occasional vacation and have an itinerary of things to do at certain times, on specific days and rush back home to go to work and continue the same life sucking routine. Watch the video to the right and tell me if that doesn't look like a typical vacation.

When Cherrie and I were lucky enough to get away, that's what we looked like. We never "really" got to explore the area or find those special places, or just plain relax. So several years back I started researching full timing and found a wealth of information and have talked to many people that are part of this lifestyle.

One thing we have discovered is that most people base their success on the amount of crap they accumulate, the more crap, the more successful you are, right. For us, we had the big house, new cars, new this, new that, but were we happier because of this "success", NO, because we were too busy working to pay for all that crap, maintaining the big yard and big house.

I am not putting down success and nice things, everybody likes nice things, but I think few want to be owned by those same things. I look back and some of the best times Cherrie and I had were when we first got married and didn't have a pot to pee in. If we wanted to go some place for the weekend, we went, no problem. So what I'm trying to say is, if what possessions you have don't serve "you" than you serve them or if you don't need it pitch it.

Right now I'm in the process of eliminating things I've had for years that have no purpose to me except to take up space, maybe someone else would need it. This is a necessary step in my plan and not easy because things will become more difficult to get rid of as time goes on There's always the money concern, which is a whole other story and I'll write something later about that.

A lot of people use a variety of vehicles for full time RVing; motor home; 5th wheel; and travel trailers, they all have their advantages and disadvantages. Our goal is to be on the road in three to four years. We've had our 5th wheel for ten years and have had no problems and we've really enjoyed it. But next year she will be gone to make way for a bus. NO, not like the Partridge family; a motor coach like Greyhound uses. I'll take the next couple of years converting

We prefer to boondock so we'll be thinking of that when we build it and will probably be adding a nice motorcycle to hang on the back. Did I mention we love to ride? If I can figure all this out we may have a chance at success, if not we're still going to give it a good shot. If the bus doesn't happen, you'll see us pulling our 5th wheel down the road, but we will be searching for adventure.

Here are some nice bus conversion examples. These were built by the owners.










I also want to give Brian Gore credit for inspiring me to write this blog.  Check out Brian's blog Brian's blog

 
"Happy Trails"

Charlie Moves In

On a Sunday morning about six years ago "Charlie" decided he'd had enough of living life out of the neighborhood trash cans and begging for hand outs.  Charlie chose us to adopt and he wasn't leaving and that's all there was to it.  My wife had gone up to the store to get the Sunday paper and coffee.  When she returned there was this big dog laying by her car door waiting to greet her, she wasn't getting out and Charlie wasn't leaving.  Did I mention my wife is afraid of big dogs?  My cell phone rings and it's Cherrie, I answer the phone and she said "I'm in the driveway" and I said "Soooo come on in."  Then she told me about the dog, I went out to see this so called "Big" dog, expecting to see a thirty pound dog.  Well she was right, it was a "Big" dog, about 125 pounds.


He was the one that had been hanging around the neighborhood for the past week.  We live in a rural area and people dump their pets out here when they want to get rid of them and let them fend for themselves. I got Cherrie out of the car and we spent some time with the dog and talked about what we should do.  Cherrie took to him right away and in my mind I already knew how this was going to play out.  Cherrie got him some food and water and we went in to drink our coffee and read the paper.


We decided at that time to just leave him be and hopefully the owner would come looking or someone would take him in.  He hung around for about a week in the neighborhood, later learning there were a few people feeding him and considering taking him in.  The following Saturday I was at work and Cherrie and my son David saw the dog in the front yard, so they went out to feed him and spend some time with him and plotting how they were going to convince me it would be a great idea to take him in.  I got home from work and they both began telling me about the dog.  Then they put their plan into motion, "the good guy bad guy plan", David being the good guy wanting the dog and promising to take care of it blah, blah, blah.  Cherri being the bad guy challenging David's argument, uh huh.


Cherrie and I left to do some grocery shopping, all the while talking about the dog.  Almost finished shopping I decided to throw a bag a dog food in the cart.  Cherrie asked what was that for, uh huh.  I said it was for the dog because we can't keep feeding him leftovers when he shows up. When we got home, there was the dog a few houses up sniffing everything as usual.  Cherrie looked at me and before she could say anything, I said go up and get him.  David and Cherrie went to bring the dog home and after he was home, Cherrie said, "I'm going to call him Charlie."  I asked her why "Charlie", and she said "He's just a Charlie."   "I don't know why but it just seems he's a Charlie."

Charlie moved in and fit right in, you could tell he was happy to be home.  The three cat's didn't know what to make of him but Charlie immediately made them park of his flock.  Charlie is a beautiful dog.  He's a Great Pyrenees and Golden Retriever mix.  Obviously he gets his size from the Great Pyrenees and his color from the Golden Retriever.  His characteristics are more of  the Great Pyrenees, he's a guardian dog and also very headstrong, if Charlie doesn't want to do something and there's no benefit to him, he won't do it.  For his size he is extremely gentle and the Grand kids love visiting Charlie, even when he's bigger than they are and a hello kiss involves a complete face wash with one lick.  Charlie is very protective of Cherrie and since the first night claimed his spot next to our bed.


Charlie has been good for Cherrie and I since David has since married and has his own family.  Charlie goes almost everywhere with us, he loves to go camping and hiking and there's plenty of room for him in the 5th wheel.  If you camp in Texas you probably will see Charlie.   
"Happy Trails"