Day 38
I had a little problem this morning. I woke up kind of late, and I had to go doo-doo really badly; but the bedroom door was closed. I didn’t want to start pounding on the door to get Don’s attention, because that might wake Geri up. So, instead, I sent a mental message to Don; I concentrated really hard to let him know I needed to go out. In just a minute or two, he was opening the door out to the living room for me! He knew what I needed, and let me out of the coach immediately. Oh, what a relief! I am so thankful that he is so closely attuned to my needs and thoughts. After Don got dressed, he took me out for a final woodsy walk; I think I’m going to miss this place, it’s got everything I like. Maybe the new place will be just as good, but I’m sure it will be different. That’s part of the fun of these trips, every place you stay is different from the last. When we got back, Don asked me to help him do a dump, which is not one of my favorite tasks. My job is to make sure that no innocent little animals, like squirrels, come close to where Don is working, so that they don’t become contaminated if he makes a mistake and loses some effluent on the ground. He says this has never happened, but who knows when it might. Well, today he pulled his transfer line out of the storage bay and tossed it on the ground; part of it broke. Don doesn’t ordinarily use a lot of bad language, but this morning was kind of an exception. It took him awhile to fix the broken part, but he got it done and got the tanks dumped.
By noon, we were on the road toward Charleston, by way of highway 17, which is kind of a slow two lane road. I got bored and took a nap. When I woke up, Geri and Don were in destination approach mode, meaning that they were discussing which way to go to get to the new RV Park. We made it with no problems, and got assigned a back-in site. Like I said before, this is always fun to watch. Once we got positioned, Geri brought up the subject of the satellite antenna; we had some trees next to us in the direction the antenna has to point, and she was concerned that this might block the signal. Don said that he would try to capture the satellite transmission before he planted the rig. So, he started the TV, the receiver and the antenna, and tried to get satellite reception. After a half hour of trying, he moved the coach forward a few feet and started again. Geri got tired of watching these efforts, and took me for a walk around the new park. We hadn’t gone too far before we met some nice people who were partnered with another Goldie, by name of JoJo. They had rescued JoJo from a shelter, where he had been taken after being abandoned by some people, locked up in a house with no food or water. When Geri told Don about this, after we got back, he said that that’s why capital punishment was invented. Anyway, JoJo was about two years old, and a nice, but very playful guy. While we were talking to his people, some other folks came along who were Goldie people, and they stopped to talk. Later in our walk, we met their dogs, both girls, who were quite well-mannered. We found a grassy field, and I got some good rolling in, but somewhere I picked up a load of charcoal or something in my tail, giving it a big black spot. Geri wasn’t pleased. We went back to the coach, and Geri tried to brush the stuff out of my tail, while Don went out on a shopping expedition. We were pleased to find that he had the satellite antenna working perfectly. When he came back, he warmed up some leftovers for dinner, and I got to clean up plates and the containers they were in. I guess tomorrow we explore Charleston. I’m always up for adventure, as long as it’s not dangerous. I’m ready for bed; see you tomorrow!

Day 37
Don took me on a little different route for our walk this morning, we went first to a big grassy area which was entirely suitable for running and rolling. Which I did, repeatedly. By the time we reached our usual woodsy walking route, I was almost worn out. But squirrel activity kept me alert and chasing, and there were some things to sniff that I had overlooked previously. A very good walk. Don stopped at the office and arranged for us to stay another night, which was definitely not a problem because the park was almost empty. A little while later, Les and his friend Robert showed up; I got my lunch early, and laid down to nap, while Geri and Don took off with them. I had a really good nap, and they came back before my dinner time. They told me about the beach at Hunting Island, which was covered with shells and very fine sand. They said it didn’t really have any surf, and I might have liked it. I dunno. I’ve never been a very gung-ho water dog, and the ocean makes me really nervous. I remember my old mentor Buddy, and how crazy he got when we got near the ocean. He’d be so excited that he would bark at Don until he threw something into the ocean for Buddy to retrieve. The further Don would throw it, the better Buddy liked it. If Don threw it out beyond the surf line, Buddy would battle his way through the breakers, grab the dummy in his mouth, then catch a wave and ride it back to the shore, paddling furiously. When he reached the beach, he’d shake himself off, drop the dummy at Don’s feet, and start barking wildly until Don threw it again. I can’t say that I understood this behavior. From my experience, the water was cold, the waves were rough and I might breathe or swallow some water, and it just plain looked dangerous. So, I can easily pass on beach activity. They also went to some other places that I might have enjoyed walking, like a pier that went quite a ways out into a bay and the ruins of a massive old church that had burned down just at the beginning of the Civil War. Yeah, that I would have liked, except it would have interfered with my nap.
So, Geri made me dinner and then took me for a walk in the woods, and then over to the grassy area. We all got into the truck then, and we went into Beaufort so that Geri and Don could have dinner with Les and Robert. They must have had a lot of food, because they were there for a long time. When they got back to the truck, they were talking about how great the dinner was and what a good time they had with Les and Robert. Funny, I’ve never seen mealtime as a social activity; it’s something that you have to do in order to live, and it’s enjoyable because it tastes good and gives you sustenance. It’s never an occasion for good fellowship; really, if another dog shows up while you’re eating, your first reaction is to growl at him. But that’s the way dogs think. Anyway, I don’t need to understand them, I just need to enjoy their care and companionship, as they do mine. So, we went back to the rig, worked on the blog, and went to bed. Tomorrow’s a travel day, always interesting. See ya then!

Day 36
Good news! Geri’s feeling better this morning! The combination of her medicine and a day of bed rest seems to have really helped. She was even feeling good enough to complain about the level of Don’s housekeeping during her day off. Don and I went for a nice long walk through the woods, and I was off leash most of the time, allowing me to do a lot of exploring and harassing squirrels. The funny thing is, I don’t really want to catch one, even though it’s in my nature to do so. What would I do with it? I wouldn’t want to eat it, because it’s mostly fur, which isn’t proper food. I could take it to Don, but I don’t think that he would want to eat it either, and I’m sure he wouldn’t want to make a pet of it. At least, I hope so. I remember the only time that I caught something that I was chasing. It was a pigeon, at a park in Las Vegas, many years ago. I remember the feel of feathers in my mouth, and the bird wiggling like crazy; I thought, “What am I going to do with this thing?” I dropped it almost immediately, and ran back to where Don was. Then I got chewed out royally because I had run into the street to catch the stupid bird. I was sorry I even chased it. Buddy was with me then, and he looked at me like I was a total fool. So, now I chase, but I don’t have any real desire to catch.
When we got back to the rig, I had to rest a little bit, then Don and I went out and started wiping some of the dust and junk off the coach. A little while later, Geri and Don’s friend Les drove up. I gave him a good welcome, and got some pets. He had never seen our coach before, and Geri gave him a tour of the rig. Then Geri and Don got in Les’s car and took off, after seeing that I had everything I needed for my comfort. Understand, I’m always a little sad to see them go off without me, because I love them dearly and miss their company. But I also need my sleep. Don’t forget, I’m a dog. Dogs need a lot of sleep. When they take me out in the truck in the afternoon, what do I do in my comfortable, spacious compartment? I sleep! When we stop to visit something, I wake up, take my walk with them, get back in the truck, and go back to sleep. So, when I’m left alone in the coach, I get my sleep time in. When they return, I really let them know that I’m glad to see them by doing big tail wags and getting a toy to offer them.
Today, when they got back to the rig, they told me about going to lunch at Palmetto Bluff, a big resort near Hilton Head. They said the place was very beautiful, and it was located right on a river where they saw porpoises in the water. Then Les took them to Parris Island, where our US Marines get trained. They really enjoyed that, because Gary, my original owner and trainer, was a Marine, and I was trained to be a Marine dog. Les took them to look at some of the beautiful old homes in Beaufort, the ones Don and I saw yesterday. After that they came back to the rig, and I got my dinner (finally), and another good walk in the woods with Don. Their lunch was pretty big, so they didn’t cook dinner; no plates for me. Don and I worked on the blog, then off to bed early. Sounds like another touring day tomorrow. OK with me.

Day 35
Geri’s in bad shape this morning. Must have overdone it yesterday. Her cough is worse, and she has aches and pains from the coughing. She’s staying in bed today, taking her medicine. Don and I did our morning routine, including a walk with a lot of time off leash, which gave me some opportunities for squirrel chasing. Don didn’t let me get too far from him, though, because he didn’t want me to encounter an alligator. This is a pretty big park, but there aren’t a lot of rigs here. Guess it’s too hard for most people to find. After our walk, Don wanted me to go for a ride with him, but I felt more like a nap, so he went without me. When he came back, he told me that I hadn’t missed much. He had gone down the island to Fort Fremont, which is a coastal fort built during the Spanish-American War. We had a war with Spain? Wow, who else, Italy, maybe? Oh, we did? Well, whatever. He had thought that there wouldn’t be anybody there, and we could have had a nice quiet walk in the ruins of the fort. When he got there, the place was overrun with people, there was no place to park, and some big event was going on. So much for peaceful walks. He drove around St. Helena Island for awhile, getting a kick out of some of the street names. His favorite was “Steady Getting’ It Lane”. He did stop to look at an old church or chapel, which had been originally built around 1740, but had been destroyed by fire so many times they finally gave up on it. He’ll probably post some pictures of it.
When he came back, Geri was sleeping, so we had lunch and watched The Weather Channel. They were forecasting bad thunderstorms for this evening. It turned out they were right. Geri woke up for a little while, and didn’t want to eat. Don asked if it was OK if he took me for a ride, and she said she was just going to sleep some more, so we got in the truck and took off. We went into downtown Beaufort, and took a walk along the waterfront where they keep all the boats. It was very pretty, but I really enjoyed the walk back through the shopping area of the town, where a number of people remarked on my friendliness, good manners, and handsome appearance. I got a lot of petting. I think Don was getting a little jealous. We got back in the truck and drove through one of the residential districts where the houses all were enormous and beautiful, with big porches and verandahs. You wouldn’t think I’d know that word, but Don has taught me a lot about architecture. We found a little park, and Don let me out to run for a bit and have a few rolls in the grass. Then we went to another National Cemetery, like the one we visited in Natchez, where all the soldiers are buried. We saw some that had served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam! That’s real dedication to duty!
When we came back to the rig, Geri was feeling better and had some soup. But the thunderstorms that they had forecasted were finally upon us. It rained really hard, and there was a lot of thunder. But I wasn’t scared, or at least I didn’t show it. I had dinner, and Don and I played tug of war for awhile, and we put the blog together. The rain has let up, and I’m heading for my bed. We’re hoping that Geri feels well enough to go out with us tomorrow.

Day 34
Well, we got off to kind of a slow start this morning, because we had to do some maintenance work, some laundry, and some walking the dog. But it was OK, because we didn’t have very far to go once we got on the road. I have to take this opportunity, though, to say one thing about this place; it is just loaded with squirrels! Every time we go out walking, the place is just littered with them! And, because I’m generally on a leash, I can’t chase them like I’m supposed to! But this morning, at the end of our walk, Don let me off leash near our rig where some of the little varmints were just running wild, and I put the fear of Dog into them; they were up the nearest trees in record time, with their little hearts pumping like crazy. I felt very pleased.
So, just about noon, we revved up the big diesel and headed north on 95 toward South Carolina. We crossed the state line about a half hour later, and came to a stop. The traffic northbound was barely crawling. This continued until we reached the Welcome Center, about four miles up the road. It seemed like everyone was peeling off to go to the Welcome Center, which looked like it was overloaded with cars, trucks and RV’s. Don thought it was very strange. We soon turned off the 95, and headed northeast to Beaufort. There were a lot of different highways to switch off to, and it seemed to be a long way, but we finally made it to our RV Park on St. Helena Island. It’s very peaceful and woodsy, and, again, overrun with squirrels. Don and I checked out the restrooms and showers, which looked good to him. We went for a walk on their nature trail, which was a boardwalk over a swamp with a sign on the gate warning us not to feed the alligators.
We all got in the truck and headed into Beaufort to go to Les’s house. When we got there, Geri and Don got a tour of Les’s home, which is really nice, they say. Then we all went for a really fun walk down to the water near Les’s home, and I found some grass that was really good to roll in. I rolled for so long that Don thought that I was having some kind of a fit. I got a lot of grass in my coat, and Don told me to shake it off. Well, Duh! I did a good shake and got rid of almost all of it. When we got back to Les’s house, Geri made me dinner and fed me in the truck; it was kind of fun to eat there. I even got my cookies after dinner. Then we went to a restaurant in a town called Port Royal, where Geri, Don and Les had their dinner. They stayed there a long time, and said that the food was outstanding when they got back to the truck. We went back to the coach then, and Don and I worked on the blog. Geri took her cough medicine and went to bed. I understand that we’ll be doing some touring tomorrow, should be interesting. See ya then!

Day 33
Well, my day was kind of a bust. Yeah, I got my breakfast and a nice walk down to the river with Don. But then it was back in the rig, while they got ready to go on an excursion, and several hours of napping while waiting for them to return. I was pleased to see that Geri’s medicine had done some good, and her coughing was much lessened. And I was happy that they returned well before my dinner time. And, if I were determined to live up to my billing as The Best Dog in the World, I should be very pleased that they enjoyed their outing so much. They told me about the lunch they had, oyster sandwiches with a baked potato, all for $5.99! I guess that’s pretty good, but it’s a lot more than my lunch costs. Then they went into Savannah and got on a trolley tour of the city. They were agreed that Savannah is the prettiest city in the country, and they want to come back and spend several weeks here. Swell. But if they’re going to do that, they’d better find some dog-friendly venues to visit, or I’ll start feeling unloved by the populace of the city. I’m sure they don’t want that to happen.
I got my dinner, a pleasant walk with Don, then another good walk with Geri, resulting in getting some well-deserved attention from a few other Park residents. Don was cooking his famous meatball soup, and I got some very nice plates after dinner. Tomorrow, on the road again, to a place call Beaufort, in another state, South Carolina. I didn’t know there were so many states! Geri and Don have a friend in Beaufort, a man called Les. I hope he likes me!

Day 32
Things are not so good aboard our coach; Geri’s coughing is not getting any better, and she feels like doo-doo. So, after our morning routine, we got in the truck and headed for a nearby walk-in clinic. Geri went in, and Don stayed with me in the truck. After about a half hour, Geri came out and said that she had finally finished filling out all the forms, and the Doctor would see her in another half hour. Don said that was enough time for him to go to an ATM that Garmie said was nearby, a credit union ATM that doesn’t take more money from you than it gives you. We took off, and eventually wound up at a hospital. Don went into the hospital, and came out grumbling about Garmie losing her mind. It turned out the she had led him there by the long way around, and the ATM snagged him for two dollars, because it wasn’t a credit union ATM. I’m glad he never gets that mad at me. So, we went back to the clinic and parked, waiting for Geri. I noticed that there was a big grassy area next to the clinic that looked very inviting. It was obvious that Don was not considering my desires, so I banged on the window between my area and the cab with my paw. That got his attention, and he let me out of the truck to do some running and rolling on the grass. I finally got tired of running, and Don put me back in the truck. Soon after, Geri came out of the clinic and we headed for WalMart to get her prescriptions filled and do some shopping. It took awhile. Don came out with the groceries, loaded them in the truck, and came back to talk to me. We had quite a long conversation, which was private, so I won’t tell you about it. Some time later, Geri showed up with her prescriptions and we went back to the rig.
When the groceries were all put away, Don invited me to go out in the truck again to go shopping for some Scotch and maybe a little exploration. Again, Don found fault with Garmie for guiding him to a store that didn’t exist; I’m glad I didn’t do it. On our way back to the RV Park, we stopped at a nearby museum that was devoted to the “S & O Canal”. Don had no idea what this was, so he went into the museum and talked the volunteer there. It turns out that back in the 1820’s, right after the Erie Canal was built, a man in Georgia got some of the people who built it to come down and build another canal connecting the Savannah and Ogeechee Rivers, to allow barge traffic coming down the Ogeechee to get to Savannah easily. The canal was very busy until the railroads put it out of business. So, Don and I explored the canal, walking down the path alongside it all the way down to the Ogeechee River, which is very big. There were a lot of interesting things along the way, like the remnants of the locks they used to lift and lower the barges. Don explained it all to me in terms I could easily understand, and I sincerely appreciated it. I was off leash, and led the way across all the bridges, and got to sniff a lot of strange plants. It was a really fun walk. When we got back to the rig, Don and Geri decided not to leave tomorrow, but to extend our stay for another night so that they could really visit Savannah. Don and I walked up to the office, and they told us that another coach was coming in to take our spot, but they decided to move it to another site so we could stay in our site for another night. Don was happy about that. Everyone’s food schedule was messed up, so Don didn’t cook, and I got a little soup and a bit of cottage cheese in my plates. Well, not such a bad day after all. See you tomorrow!

Day 31
Well, pretty much a typical travel day, if there is such a thing. Up early, get the morning routine done, and hit the road around eleven. We hadn’t been underway for long before we stopped for fuel, which is usually some kind of adventure. Today was no exception. We pulled into the truck fueling area at a truck stop and Geri went into the building to give them our credit card. When she came back, she said that the cashier had asked her how much fuel we were buying. She said she didn’t know. The cashier said that they had to have a maximum sale value, or they couldn’t start the pump. So, Geri said $100. She came back to the pump, where Don was waiting to pump the fuel, and told him what had happened. He said we were going to need more that $100 worth of fuel, but he started the pump and started fueling. When the pump reached $100, it stopped. So, Geri had to go back into the cashier and tell her we wanted another $100 worth of fuel. Don started the pump again, and we finished filling the tank. Then Geri had to go back in to the cashier and get the credit card. She wasn’t really happy about this.
After the fun of fueling, we headed north again on I-95, through Jacksonville and into Georgia. Don said that Georgia must have gotten some early stimulus money, because they were rebuilding the highway for almost the entirety of its route through the state. It was a little windy, and the combination of wind gusts, traffic diversion cones, and ditzy drivers kept Don mumbling the whole time. We got to our new RV Park around the middle of the afternoon, and Geri got us checked in. We could only get part of the way to our site, though, because they were digging a trench across the road to where we had to go. We had to wait for a long time before they had the trench covered up and we could get across it. When we got to our site, Don got us set up quickly, and we got into the truck to go into Savannah. We made it to the Visitor Center just a few minutes before it closed, but they managed to grab the maps and brochures they were interested in. Then we took a quick ride down the cobblestone street alongside the river, which is very pretty, and headed back to the RV Park. When we got there, Geri made my dinner, then took me for a nice walk around the Park. It’s very pleasant here, with lots of trees and some very nice people that like dogs. Don had dinner almost ready when we got back, some chicken with rice and wax beans and capers. Got some very good plates and pots. Don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but you can be sure I’ll let you know!

Day 30
Wow, what a day! This was one of the best days of the trip so far, in my dogged opinion! We all got up pretty early, and Don took me for a walk around the KOA. Again, no chasing the ducks. I got a little wet, because it was drizzling. We all got dressed (well, I was already dressed) and got into the truck. We drove into St. Augustine and went to a place called The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. The great thing was that I got to go everywhere in the Park that they did! First we went to a building where water was bubbling up out of the ground, and everyone there was given a little cup of the water to drink; Geri gave me some of hers. They say that if you keep drinking this water every day, you’ll never get any white in your muzzle; too late for me, unfortunately. The best part, though, was that all the people there liked me; they really liked me! Everyone wanted to pet me and talk to me, and I had to keep moving around to make sure that all the people who wanted to pet me got a chance to do it! This kept happening everywhere we went in the Park, and I was almost delirious with pleasure from it. And the birds! They had a really big bird called a Rhea in a pen, and I had to do Pop-Up Dog to see it properly; I didn’t want to get in the pen, though, it was too big to mess with. There were lots of peacocks, really pretty birds; for some reason, I’ve never had a real desire to chase them, I just like to look at them. When we got way out near the water, I was let off leash, and did some really good running before I found a proper PoopenPlatz. When I was properly pooped out (from running, ha ha), Don put me back on the leash and we went back toward the Park. We were just meandering along, when suddenly I found myself face to face with a squirrel! He had been eating something with his back to me, and I hadn’t noticed him until I was just a few feet away. When he saw me, he absolutely levitated, I mean straight up! Because I was on leash, I knew I couldn’t chase him, so I just watched him as he clawed the air, trying to get traction to get away from me. It was really funny! When he hit the ground, he was off like a shot, and up the closest tree. I smiled. And I got more pets and compliments from people. This is the way it’s supposed to be. When we finally left the park, we got into the truck and went for a ride up the beach road north of St. Augustine. I was tired from all the excitement, so I took a nap. When I woke up, we were back in town, and we went to a place near the Fountain of Youth where the early settlers had built a church. We went for another walk in a beautiful park, and I got to go for another run. I did make one mistake; there was a squirrel just a few feet away when I saw him, and I forgot that I was on leash. I almost pulled Don off his feet before I recognized my error, and I was really sorry (that I hadn’t caught the squirrel). We drove around the town a little while, then went back to the coach. Dinner was fend-for-yourself tonight, and the plates were a little sparse. Oh, well, it was a great day anyway. Hear we’re on the road tomorrow; I’ll let you know how it goes.

Day 29
Good grief! I didn’t think anyone was ever going to get up this morning! Don finally arose about 7:30, while Geri was whining about it being too early to get up. Anyway, I finally got breakfast, which is the important thing, and Don headed for the showers. He came back complaining about a pain in his foot, which meant that he couldn’t take me for my morning outing. Geri had been hacking and coughing since she got up, and things were looking a little bleak. She got her act together, though, and we headed out into KOA land. It’s a pretty nice place here, with a little lake and good walking areas. While we were out, Don went off to Petco to find me some more food, which I sincerely appreciated. They got me situated with some good sounds on the radio, and left me to nap.
Geri and Don got back well before dinner time, and talked about the things they had seen in Saint Augustine. They had first visited a miniature Moorish Castle that had been built by a man who had visited a castle in Spain, and had designed and furnished his home to look like it. They said it was very colorful and exotic, with many beautiful furnishings. Then they went to a museum that had a collection of all kinds of things, from dolls and shaving mugs to old musical machines and very fine furniture. There was a lot of very odd stuff, like a stuffed lion that had been presented to a Prime Minister of enjoyed it. Geri took me for a walk around the RV Park, and I saw a lot of ducks, though I didn’t get to chase any. Don made some pasta with sun-dried tomato sauce, one of my favorites; great plates. Then he had to do some big maintenance work on the computer that took a long time, so we didn’t get to work on the blog. We all went to bed early.

My apologies to friends and followers; Don informs me that due to major computer maintenance, the blog will not be posted tonight. He promises that we will get up to date tomorrow.
Love, Deebee.

Day 28
Geri didn’t feel too good this morning; she moved out onto my couch in the living room during the night to get warm, and I went out to join her, though she didn’t leave any room for me on the couch. When Don got up, the sounds of coffee making woke her, and she went back to the bedroom. When she got up again, she was croaking grievously and had many complaints. Don recommended heavy doses of antibiotics, but she didn’t have any. He didn’t have any other recommendations, so he shut up and made me some breakfast. He got his clothes on, and we went out for a walk down to Raccoon Court; I made my deposit, he bagged it, and we headed back to the main road. A man working in his yard at the corner yelled at us about picking up after our pets; Don pulled out his full poop bag, and I thought he was going to throw it at the guy! But he just waved it at him, and told him that we were always prepared. The guy didn’t seem to know what to say. We went back up the street and turned down Twin Lakes Drive (I know all the roads around here now). Ahead of us, walking down the street together, were two blue herons, just strolling down the road honking at each other. A couple on bicycles passed us, and rode up behind and past the herons; didn’t bother them a bit, they just kept on walking. Then one of the birds turned around and saw me; he started honking excitedly, and the other bird turned around and saw me. He (or she) started honking too, and they both decided to go airborne, still honking like crazy. I think I was being criticized. We kept the walk a lot shorter than yesterday’s, for which I was thankful.
When we got back, Don went into full make ready for departure mode; stowed the outdoor furniture, dumped the tanks, moved Garmie, pulled in the slides, and made sure all doors were secured. We disconnected, pulled out, hooked up the truck, and we were off! We headed north on our new mother road, highway 95, for about two hours, and then veered east toward the ocean. We wound up in the Saint Augustine KOA (Kampgrounds of America), which looks very nice. There’s a little lake, and we’re not far from the beach. We got in the truck and did a tour of Saint Augustine, which is the oldest city in the United States. We saw a big old Spanish Fort, and a lot of interesting old homes and other buildings. Don says it kind of reminds him of old San Juan, in Puerto Rico. We walked around downtown for a little while, and I got a few compliments and pets. When we got back to the rig, Geri took me for a good long walk around the RV park, and we went to the doggy playground, where there were some nice dogs, and some even nicer people. I think I’ll like it here. Don had dinner made when we got back, salmon, spinach and tortelloni. Makes for great plates. Some blog work, a little TV and off to bed. See ya!

Day 27
I have to depart from my usual description of our daily activities tonight, because I’ve had an experience that I need to tell you about. I finally met an armadillo. Don has said that he’s been in armadillo mode since the last election, but I really didn’t understand what an armadillo was. Geri had me out for a walk this evening, and we were down at Raccoon Court, near the sewage plant, where I normally make my deposits. This strange looking animal, who resembled a big rat with armor, was slowly walking out of the jungle, coming towards us. Geri told me to Stay, which I was glad to do, as I didn’t have the slightest idea of how to attack it. Besides, I really don’t like to chase creatures who are obviously slower than I am. The armadillo finally became aware of us, slowly turned around, and headed back into the jungle. Geri told me that if he had really been afraid of us, he would have curled up in an armored ball, and I would have broken a tooth if I tried to bite him. I was glad to get this information, as I need to be better informed about other species that I may have to deal with in the future. There, I had to tell you about that.
The notable thing about this morning was the walk that Don and I took. After our usual visit to Raccoon Court, we headed up the hill and kept walking past where we usually turn around. We came to a road that led to the golf course, and we went over to a beautiful grassy area, where Don let me off leash. I immediately found the wettest, dirtiest spot in the area, and threw myself down to roll and wallow in complete abandon. I probably shouldn’t have done this. We got back to the street, and continued our walk. Boy, did we walk. I started looking up at Don, asking how much further we were going, and he kept saying that I needed a good, long walk because I hadn’t been getting enough exercise. I think we walked on every street of The Great Indoors. When we got back to the rig, I was huffing and puffing, and ran into the coach to cool down and have some water. Geri saw me and shrieked about how dirty I was, and Don caught, well, a lot of trouble about my condition. He went outside to do some work.
After Geri cleaned me up, they got in the truck and went out, and left me to nap, which I really needed. They got back a few (I don’t know how many) hours later, and put me in the truck to go for a ride. We were looking for a park where I could do some running, not that I really needed to, but all the parks we found had signs that said “No Pets”. We finally wound up at a track field at a Middle School just east of Orlando; I did a couple of runs just to keep them happy, and we went home. They had leftovers for dinner, but I got some really great plates.
Don says that he needs to report where they went while I was napping. OK, they went back to the Kennedy Space Center, saw a bunch of exhibits about space flight, watched an IMAX movie about the moon, looked at old rockets, and toured a space shuttle. Yeah, sounds like fun. I hear we’re out of here tomorrow, off to a place called Saint Augustine. Just as I was getting used to this place. Oh, well.

Day 26
I was asleep on the couch when Don got up; I knew he was there in the living room, but I kept my eyes shut and tried to sleep some more. I think I was still tired from the long walk that Geri and I took last night. He got the coffee going and started his morning computer browsing. Geri got up maybe a half hour later, and made me wake up and have breakfast. The morning walk with Don was no big deal, just down to the sewage plant for me to make my contribution, then back up the road aways to look at motorhomes in their open air garages. When we got back, Geri had taken off for the showers, so Don started a little housekeeping work. Maybe this is a good time to point out that this thing we live and travel in is a house on wheels, and needs the same kind of care that our wheelless house does. Like, Don was working this morning on raking up some of my discarded hair from the carpets; it was a surprising amount, causing me a bit of concern over possible excessive hair loss. I don’t want to be a Balding Retriever. They have to do this regularly, plus vacuuming the floor, washing the windows, cleaning the mirrors, and dusting. And Don has to clean the bugs off the front of the coach at every stop, so that we look halfway decent. So, there’s some work involved in this kind of travel.
When Geri came back from the showers, Don and I got in the truck and went out for a little exploring. We drove out toward the Space Center, and found a County Park that had a RV Park in it. It was called Manatee Hammock. Don told me that manatees are creatures who live in the water, and have two flippers up front and a tail flipper in back. They are pretty big, and have nice personalities. But Don didn’t think they slept in hammocks, whatever they are. There were a lot of RV’s there, but not many the size of ours. It was pretty woodsy, and the roads were real narrow. We parked and walked around for awhile, and it was very pretty and fun to walk in. Lots of good sniffs. We didn’t see any manatees. When we got back to the rig, Geri was ready to go out shopping, so I took a nap (after lunch) and Don did some more cleaning work.
When Geri got back, we all got in the truck and went for a drive into Titusville. The weather here has been very pleasant, and we’re not at all worried about me getting overly warm in the truck, so I get to go with them more often, unless they are going to be away from the truck for a long time. We saw some really beautiful old homes along the riverfront in town. They must have a really good view of the shuttle launches, which happen right on the other side of the river. We found a park along the river, and had a good walk, with a few good grassy rolls. Don took a lot of pictures, so some of them might show up on the blog. We went back to the coach, and Don cooked steaks for dinner on the grill. I got some great plates. We worked on the blog, watched some TV, and went to bed.

Day 25
Don and I got a late start this morning; Geri was up before us, which is a little unusual. We got breakfast done quickly, and Don got dressed and took me out for a nice walk through the Village. I can’t really call it an RV park, because it looks like Ventura with a lot of RV’s. The people are really nice, and the grass is beautiful. Oh, there are a lot of snotty little yap-dogs who think they could chew my head off if they were just off the leash, but I don’t pay much attention to them. I understand their inferiority complex, and I just feel sorry for them. I feel sorry for their humans, too. Maybe someday they’ll discover that a larger dog, like a Golden Retriever, is no harder to care for than a goofy little yapper, is a lot quieter, and a much better friend. Well, enough sermonizing from me. When we got back, Geri was putting her stuff on her face, which she does when they are going somewhere. Don was moving Garmie from the coach to the truck, which is another sign that they are going out. Who’s Garmie, you ask? Well, Garmie is like a tiny little TV screen that they mount on the windshield of the truck or the dashboard of the coach; it’s like a seeing-eye dog, because it tells them where they are, where they’re going, and what’s ahead of them. They like Garmie, because it helps keep them from getting lost, which they hate. Garmie used to talk to them, to tell them where to go, in a nice soft feminine voice. Don often argued with her, telling her she didn’t know what the #@%! she was talking about! Geri got really tired of that, and told Don to shut her up, which he was glad to do. So, that’s Garmie’s story.
Anyway, I got my lunch, and they took off. I got on the couch for a good nap. They got back just in time for my dinner, which was great. They told me about the things they had seen at the Kennedy Space Center, where they put people on top of a big firecracker thing, set it on fire, and shoot them up into space. Wow, sounds like fun. They did this just a few nights ago, while we were eating, so we didn’t see it. But today they saw the place that they shot them up from, and they were strangely happy about it. I have been told that other countries have done this to dogs; I can only hope that it was reported to the SPCA. They also saw a huge firecracker thing like the ones that they used many years ago to send people to the Moon! The Moon! My ancestors used to howl at the Moon, but we’d be howling even louder if we had to go there. Personally, I’m glad I didn’t go with them; I don’t really like fireworks or other noisy things, and I don’t want them to get any ideas about going to the Moon.
After dinner, Geri took me out for a really long walk through the Village. I don’t think she intended that the walk be as long as it was, but this place is really huge, and you have to go a long way to find a road that leads back to where you live. But we finally made it home, I got my Yummy Chummys and my Going to Bed cookies, and we turned in after watching a little TV. See you tomorrow!

Day 24
Don and I got up about six, both of us resolved to get our morning routine done quickly and get on the road. I had breakfast, Don got dressed, and we went for an early morning walk around the RV Park. I got a chance to roust a white heron in the storage lot, and we followed a great blue around part of the park, while Don restrained me from chasing him. He kept about fifty feet in front of us, honking defiantly. I wish Don would have let me at him. We stopped at the office and picked up a newspaper, which I volunteered to carry back to the rig. When we got home, Don looked through the paper and was disappointed to find that his letter to the editor had not been published. Geri said they wouldn’t publish it because it sounded like it was written by a crazy person. Don thought that they couldn’t stand any mockery of political correctness. Who knows, who cares. We got the coach put together to travel, hooked up the truck, and took off. We headed down the 75 Highway until we hit the 4, and headed up toward Orlando and Disney World. No, we weren’t going to Disney World. Instead, we headed east on highway 528 toward the Kennedy Space Center. Don didn’t realize that 528 was a toll road, but he found out quick; the first toll booth was encountered before we had gone three miles on the highway. He grumped about it, but paid up. We hadn’t gone another five miles before we hit another toll booth. This didn’t sit well with Don. It was even worse ten miles later, when we went through a third bunch of bandits. Fortunately, that was the last of the highway robberies, as he called them.
It didn’t take long for us to get to our new RV Park, which is called The Great Outdoors. Geri got us checked in, and they gave her a map that showed that our site was about two miles away from the office. This place is huge! Most of the sites have houses built on them, though they have a big garage for their RV. They have big buildings for meetings and recreation, hairdressers, manicurists, a post office, an RV parts and repair shop, and a church. I think they should call it The Great Indoors. All the sites are back-in, which is always fun to watch. Geri gets in back of the rig and waves her arms at Don to direct him in backing in; it always looks to me like she’s directing a choir, which I’ve seen on TV. After a while, they got the coach where they wanted it, and I got to get out. This place has really nice grass on the site, and I immediately marked off my boundaries. It kind of reminds me of the place we used to go in Las Vegas, Outdoor Resorts, but that place didn’t have houses.
Geri wanted to take a nap, so Don and I went out exploring in the truck. We went to the post office and bought some stamps, then went to the recreation facility and checked out the swimming pool and spa. We found the “Doggy Playground”, which was about twice the size of our coach, but was filled with yappy little dogs; not my style. After we got back, Geri took me out for a walk out by the water treatment plant, where they warn you not to feed the alligators. Believe me, I had no desire to feed them anything. When we got back to the rig, Don had dinner ready; pulled pork and beans, yummy! I got some good plates, for a change. We were all kind of tired, for some reason, and we went to bed early. Maybe a big day tomorrow!

Day 23
A slugabed morning for all of us; Don didn’t get up until after seven, me a half hour later, and then Geri, later still. It was some time after my breakfast, quite a while, it seemed, before Don got ready to go for our walk. But, when he did, he put me in the truck and took me back to the great field where we went yesterday. He knows how I like big, grassy open fields, where I can run as long and as far as I want. I saw a bunny, but he was on the other side of a barbed wire fence, and I knew Don would yell at me if I tried to chase him. I did get a chance to scatter some ducks that were in a pond by running right down to the edge of the water, like I was going to run into the pond and go after them. Don knew I had no intention of doing any such thing, so he didn’t yell at me. I had a really good time running, sniffing and rolling in the grass.
When we got back to the coach, Geri was vacuuming the floor and wouldn’t let us come in. I was a little wet and had some grass and leaves in my coat from rolling in the wet grass, so I understood her concern. We stayed out and Don picked some of the crud off me so that I would be acceptable to go into the rig. When we were finally allowed back on board, I tried to lay down for a nap, but I overheard them talking about going to Tarpon Springs for lunch. Lunch is a word that always gets my attention, so I got up and asked Don if it was really time for lunch. He told me that it wasn’t quite time yet, but he assured me that I would get my lunch before they left. True to his word (as he almost always is), he gave me my lunch just before they left, and I laid down for an overdue nap. They left some nice music on the radio for me, and, of course, the air conditioner was running.
They got back from their outing just in time for my dinner, which worked out well. They had a big Greek meal in Tarpon Springs, and weren’t going to cook dinner; no plates for me. After my dinner, Geri took me out for a walk around the park, and we met some nice people and even some nice dogs. I could get used to this place. But the talk I hear is that we’re hitting the road again tomorrow, going to the East Coast. That’s funny; I’m just a dog, and don’t know geography very well, but I thought that that’s where we already were! Well, we’ll see what happens.

Day 22
We’re still in this RV park in Lutz, Florida, which is north of Tampa, so I hear. This is not my favorite place in all the world, but it’s not all bad. Lack of grass is a problem. When I go out to lay down and watch the world go by, I have to lay in the dirt. Yeah, I could lay on the rug that Geri put out for me, but it clashes with my coat. When I feel the need for a roll, I roll in the dirt and dried leaves, and I become a Dirty Dog. The places we go for walks aren’t big enough for a good run. But today was different. After breakfast, Don put me in the truck and took me to a huge, grassy field, that had ponds around it. Right out of the truck I got to chase a Great Blue Heron, who had made the mistake of landing a few yards away from me. Boy, did he take off fast. On the field, I ran so far that I couldn’t hear Don yelling at me. But I know that he yells at me whenever I get too far from him. That’s OK, I know that he’s just looking out for me. I let him catch up, then I rolled in the grass, got up, and ran some more. I must have done five or six rolls, and ran after each one. I was getting tired, but I didn’t want to show it, so I found a young girl and let her pet me while I rested. When we got back to the truck, it was good to lay down and take it easy. When we got back to the coach, Geri and Don decided to defrost the freezer in the refrigerator. They took everything out of the freezer and put it in a ice chest, then took a hair dryer and melted all the ice out of the freezer. It looked like a big job, something I wouldn’t want to do. When it was done, and everything was loaded back into the freezer, Don said it wasn’t working any better. I guess sometimes even humans can’t figure out what’s going on.
After lunch, Geri and Don took off in the truck, and I took a nap. They were back just in time for my dinner, and told me about going to Tarpon Springs, Dunedin and Clearwater. They said the traffic was worse than Los Angeles, which I know is very bad. They had clam sauce pasta for dinner, resulting in good plates. We were supposed to watch the Space Shuttle launch, but we missed it be[GY1] cause we were still eating.
Don has asked me if he could use my blog to publish a letter that[GY2] he wrote to the local newspaper. I really can’t turn his request down, as he is very useful in getting my blog published. So, here it is:
March 15, 2009
Editor, Tampa Tribune
As a visiting Californian, I was gratified to read your Sunday Baylife article on vegetable gardening, with emphasis on the use of Green principles and practices. It was very well organized and full of good suggestions on keeping your garden Green, which many of us on the West Coast take very seriously.
I have to say that I was, however, disturbed and disappointed in the approach that the article took toward garden insects. The endorsement of a “Good Bug, Bad Bug” policy is obviously extremely judgmental, and fails to recognize the concept that all insects, regardless of the level or nature of their contribution to the welfare of the garden, are entitled to nourishment. Further, identification of types of insects as “bad” constitutes insect profiling, which we consider abhorrent.
You might be interested in following the progress of a Bill which a large number of us are supporting, AB 1086, through the California Legislature. It is entitled the “Dignity of All Insect Species Act”, and, when enacted and signed by our Governator, who is an Enlightened Republican, will require that all growers, both backyard and commercial, provide sufficient crops in their gardens and fields for the sustenance of all insect species, in order to ensure that we do not suffer the tragedy of the loss of a single aphid. We are hoping that Florida’s Enlightened Legislature will soon follow suit.
Otherwise, a great article!
Don Yokum
Ventura, CA
I hope that this all makes sense to you. G’Night!



[GY1]

[GY2]

Day 21
Everyone but Don slept in today, though I got up a little before Geri. After breakfast, Don took me over to the RV storage area, which has some grass, and I got to do a little exploring. There were some other dogs there, but none of them were really too friendly. We wandered around in there for awhile, Don was looking at the stored motorhomes; he didn’t really seem to like any of them. He put me on the extension leash, and we walked around the streets of the RV park, saying Hi to people. We were getting close to our coach when I saw it; a squirrel on the ground. Now, understand, as a retriever, part of my job is chasing squirrels and rabbits, catching them and bringing them back to my human. Can’t help it, it’s bred into me. So, I was off like a shot, forgetting that I was on a leash. The leash unreeled rapidly and jerked right out of Don’s hand. I kept going after that squirrel, which was heading quickly for a tree. I was really pouring it on, but the squirrel had too much of a head start and he was up the tree before I could get there. I could hear Don yelling something at me; it didn’t sound really nice. When he caught up with me, he was laughing and yelling at the same time. When we got back to the rig, Geri gave him my bed and told him to brush the hair off of it. I don’t know why she wanted him to do that; I’ll just shed some more hair to replace it, and nothing will be any different. Oh, well, humans are very smart and they have reasons for doing things that dogs don’t understand.
After lunch, Geri and Don got into the truck and left me in the coach to nap. They didn’t come back until way, way, way after my dinner time, maybe about 7:30. They had gone to see Geri’s cousin Bob and his wife Eileen, and had dinner there. Geri had brought the sheets off their bed to wash in their machines, but the drying machine wasn’t working right and it took a long time for the sheets to dry. At least, that’s her story for why they were so late coming back. She made a nice dinner for me and took me for a walk, so all was well.
I got a real shock this morning when Don told me that I had some new followers of my blog. They are Buddy and Bailey! Buddy, you’ll remember, was my housemate, friend and mentor for many years before he graduated to Doggy Heaven. I didn’t know Bailey, as she had graduated before I was born, but I understand that she was incredibly smart and capable, as well as loving and friendly. I believe that they are channeling their reading of my blog through Gary, who trained all three of us, and did a fine job of it.
Before I hang it up for the night, I want to tell my friends Alice and Cooper, back home in Ventura, how much I miss my afternoon visits with them and their bounteous purveyor of treats, long tall Barb. I hope they’re well, and I’ll have lots of stories for them when I get back; you know, stuff I couldn’t put in the blog. See you tomorrow!

Day 20

Drag race enthusiasts sleep late, at least by our standards. Don was up at six, and I followed him shortly. We went out and took a look around the park, and not a creature was stirring. I had my breakfast, and Don got dressed and took me for a good walk through a field next to the park and then over to see the horses and donkeys. I wagged my tail at them, but they ignored me. Then I saw the peacocks in their cage, and I had to run down to see them. They really are beautiful, and I’ll bet they’d taste great, if you got rid of all the feathers. When we got back to the coach, Don cleaned the windshield while I supervised. Geri was on the phone making reservations for our next RV park, and had trouble finding one in the Tampa area; something about too many #%*@# snowbirds, whatever they are. She finally got one, though, and Don got us disconnected and underway. It only took us a little more than two hours to get to our new home, where we moved into what the management called a “premium” site. You could tell it was a premium site because it had a tree that prevented the antenna from seeing the satellite and it didn’t have a picnic table. The regular sites have picnic tables, but they take them away from the premium sites to give you lots more room. I guess it’s ok, cause the premium sites only cost a dollar a day more than the regular sites.

Well, it turns out that Geri has relatives here near Tampa, like Don did in Vicksburg. Not littermates, but cousins. Geri and Don are going to go see them tomorrow, and Geri had to go to a groomer and get her coat shaved, like they threatened to do to me. She wanted to get her paws done, too. So, Don took her over to the groomers and went to do some shopping. He went to Petco to get me some food, and talked to one of the ladies in the store, who turned out to be an RV’er. He mentioned to her the trouble we had getting a site in a local RV park. She said that most of the nudist RV parks had plenty of room; Don said he’d talk to his wife about it, but found it doubtful. When they came home, I saw that Geri had a new short summer coat, and it looked good. Made me think the idea wasn’t so bad. Her paws didn’t look any better than mine, which, I must admit, are spectacular. Geri took me for a walk around the new park while Don started dinner. Nothing really fancy about this place, but we met some nice people. Don made some lamb chops and mashed potatoes, with gravy. I really like gravy. The plates were excellent. I laid down for a nap after dinner, and I had a dream that made me start twitching and whining in my sleep. It was a dream about my temptress, Debby, who lives across the street from us. She always has the best treats, and she’s very good about sharing them with me. I have been known to do foolish things, like running across the street when I see her, even though I know it’s dangerous and wrong. But it made me remember that I wanted to say HI to her and her mate Joe; they have been good friends to us for a long time. Think I’ll really go to bed now. G’night!

Day 19
Well, I knew we were moving on today, I just didn’t know how far! We got the coach ready to go pretty early, but Don had to add some air to some of the tires, and that took a little while. So, we got underway (a seagoing term I learned from Don) about 10:30, and headed east on our beloved highway 10. We soon crossed into Florida, but the view along the highway didn’t look any different. An hour, two hours, three hours, and it didn’t look any different. Scraggly looking trees on both sides, and an occasional green field. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop, but got going again quickly. After about five hours of this, most of which I slept through, we reached highway 75, and turned south. About a half hour later, we pulled into a RV that was full of people, dogs and other animals. Geri took me to meet a donkey, who was really interesting until he looked at me; I didn’t like the look in his eye, and he was very big. I sort of backed off and stopped wagging my tail, and Geri took the hint and moved me along to see the peacocks. They were very exciting! They are big birds with very bright feathers and very loud voices. I really wanted to get into the pen with them and maybe do a crazy dog run, but Geri restrained me. There are a lot of people here, mostly for the drag races (whatever they are) this weekend. We won’t be here, we’re moving down to Tampa tomorrow, according to Geri. Dinner, blogging and bed. See you tomorrow!

Day 18
Day 18? Wow, is that all? Seems more like day 80! No kidding, it seems like we’ve been living like this for a dog year! Well, there’s a lot more to go. Geri says three months total, Don says maybe more. We’ll see. Don’t get me wrong, I’m mostly enjoying this trip a lot; my grumping and griping earlier was not about the travel, but was related to the accommodations in that part of the country. No, I’m having a great time, savoring new smells, meeting new people, seeing new sights. And Geri and Don have done their best to keep my daily schedule intact, even coming up with the phony paper. So, I’m not complaining.

Actually, I’m kind of enjoying varying my schedule a little bit. Like this morning; Don got up at his normal 6 o’clock, but I didn’t really feel like getting up then. About 7, he opened the bedroom door and gestured to me, and I went to the living room. I did the paper bit, had breakfast, and went back to sleep on the living room floor. Geri didn’t get up until about 8, but it didn’t matter; everyone was happy doing what they were doing. Well, like I heard yesterday, today was a work day. Geri was busy doing laundry, Don did some minor repairs on the coach, then worked on a “sponge bath” on the outside of the rig. I laid on the grass near the coach, greeting people as they walked by and getting a lot of pets and compliments. Geri and Don’s friend Buddy, who was here yesterday, said that this park was a cow pasture with roads. I think that he was making fun of the park. I don’t care, I like it here; the people are friendly, there’s lots of grass, and the walking trails are fun. I guess the work was finished in the middle of the afternoon, because Geri and Don got in the truck and went somewhere. That was fine with me, as I hadn’t gotten much nap time in so far today. I woke up about 5:30, my normal dinner time, and they still weren’t back. I was starting to get a little concerned, but they finally showed up around 6:30, and Don fed me immediately. They told me they had gone into Pensacola, which is in Florida, and went to the Navy Aviation Museum, a place where they have a lot of airplanes, some of them very old. I don’t know much about airplanes, as I have never been on one. But my old friend and mentor Buddy had been on one, and he didn’t have anything good to say about it. So I didn’t mind missing this side trip. Geri took me for my afternoon walk, well, an evening walk, while Don fixed dinner. They had some of cousin Ken’s pulled pork on buns, with some baked beans; they really enjoyed it, and the plates were great.

Before I sign off tonight, I want to mention how much I appreciate the people who are letting me know that they are reading my blog and enjoying it. I know that my friends Cassandra and Tristan in Spanaway, Washington, are keeping up with me, and so are my friends Buzz and Joanne in Rhode Island. Geri’s old pals Steve and Laura on Long Island are reading with their kids, and my human brother Dave and his wife Jane are following the blog. Abby, my gracious hostess in Vicksburg, her kind humans Ken and Cathey, and Gus, a handsome basset who has visited me at home, are also keeping track of me. A couple of days ago I actually had a comment on the blog from, of all non-people, a cat! I was very pleased to have this kind of inter-species acknowledgement, and I want Nimrod the Magnificent to know that I greatly appreciate his dinner invitation, though I must warn him that I am partial to cat food. My people will contact his people next time we’re near Houston. And, yes, my paws are not really suited to typing, but with Don’s help, I get by. Meow, and see you tomorrow, when we’ll be on the move again.

Day 17
I think we were all pretty tired from all the revelry in Vicksburg and the drive down here to Mobile. We all slept in, till seven or so. Don was up and around when I got up, and he sent me out for the phony paper right away. While I was out on the grass, he called my attention to what was happening on a field on the back side of the park. Horses! Maybe a dozen of them! I didn’t know what they were doing there, but I knew that we would have to go over to find out later. Sure enough, after I had breakfast, Geri and Don and I walked over to see the horses and find out what they were doing there. I didn’t try to get too close to them, as they are really big and powerful, and I might get stepped on by mistake. Don and Geri found out that they were a cross-country racing team, coming home from a race meet in south Florida. They were on their way home to Houston, Texas. We had never heard of cross-country horse racing before, so Don looked it up on the computer when we got back to the rig. It turns out that it is an Olympic event, and a very tough one. And it is the only Olympic event where male and female humans compete as equals! So, we all learned something. Not something I’ll ever use, but it was interesting.

Don went out to work on cleaning all the bugs off the front of the coach, and I went along to supervise. There were an awful lot of them. It’s a big job, because the front end of the rig is very big, and the windshield has to be cleaned really well. After that job was finished, we went back in the coach and rested. The phone rang. It was Geri and Don’s friend Buddy, who lives in Mobile. This is the guy who just got back from Australia (wherever that is) and is leaving tomorrow to go back there. It has something to do with his work. I thought about this, and I decided that I was glad that Geri and Don don’t work, because I wouldn’t want them going to Australia and leaving me alone. Anyway, Buddy was calling because he was coming over to see us, and he was lost. He just lives here. Geri gave him directions on how to get here, and he finally arrived. Don said that Buddy shouldn’t leave the house without a GPS (I know what that is, we have one). Geri said that it wouldn’t do any good, the last time Buddy used a GPS to meet us somewhere, we were in Big Bear and he wound up in Victorville. Buddy finally arrived, and he was very happy to see me (and Geri and Don). Geri gave me my lunch, and they left in Buddy’s truck. They all came back a few hours later, interrupting my nap. They had been to a place called Gulf Shores, where they ate a lot of things called oysters. I’ve never had one, but they sounded really good. Buddy had to leave then to get ready to go back to Australia. I hope he uses his GPS. Geri and Don went out and did some shopping, and came back with some new chew bones for me. They gave me one, and it was really good, though it didn’t last too long. They didn’t have a real dinner, because they were still full from the oyster things, so I didn’t get any plates. We watched a little TV (with the satellite antenna!), did the blog, and went to bed. I understand it’s a work day tomorrow; oh, well.

Day 16
I had overheard Ken last night asking Don what time we were planning to hit the road today. Don answered that he had found it totally unreasonable to set a scheduled time for almost anything. When it happened, it happened. Thinking about it, I could understand his reasoning, except for essential things like feedings, treats and walks, which really should happen on a fixed schedule. So, this morning, Don slept in and Geri did my phony paper routine and made my breakfast. We got ready to leave, and Geri took me for my morning walk while Don did the disconnecting of water and electricity and (ugh!) sanitation lines and hooked up the truck. It was drizzling a little bit, but I didn’t mind. We finally left about 10:30 and headed east toward Jackson, Mississippi. At Jackson, we turned southeast on highway 49 toward Hattiesburg, where we turned on to highway 98 to go to Mobile, Alabama. We drove non-stop across Mississippi, which was very pretty country, without seeing a single rest area. About four hours after we left Vicksburg, we crossed into Alabama. Still no rest areas. I was beginning to get worried. No, not so much about me, but about Don. He says I have a bladder with the capacity of Lake Powell (I’m not sure where that is), but I know that his capacity is somewhat smaller, like maybe a poopie bag. But he kept driving. We finally made it into and through Mobile, passing what Don called a “really beautiful Battleship”, after having rejoined our beloved highway 10. We kept going until we got to a turnoff and went a little way to the RV park they had chosen to stop at. I was glad to be able to get out and walk around a little bit, and to mark some territory that was near the coach. Geri and I went for a walk, and met the park hostess, who was riding around in a golf cart. She was nice enough to point out that our headlights were still on. When we came back, Don was stewing over not finding a cable connection for the TV. Geri informed him that there was no cable service, and he had better put up the antenna. He did, but the results were not satisfactory to either him or Geri. There was more discussion about the satellite antenna, with the use of words that dogs really don’t know about; the result was that Don broke out the computer and printed an email that he had gotten several days ago after he had a conversation with the antenna manufacturer. He started fooling with the TV again, like he had done so many times in the last few days. In a few minutes, he had obtained the satellite signal and got us totally back in the menu. Don was dumbfounded, Geri was elated, and I was happy that they were happy. In reality, I couldn’t have cared less.
Don and Geri had leftovers for dinner, and I got some good plates and bowls; see, I get not only the plates that they eat from, but I get the containers that the food was in while it was in the refrigerator. It’s a really good deal for me. Don went over to the bathrooms and showers to take a shower after dinner. He came right back, because they were all in use, except one, and a young lady had shown up at the same time as he did, and he let her use it first. He told Geri that she had offered to share the shower with him, but Geri didn’t believe him. A while later, he went back to the showers and came right back again; they were all being used. Geri suggested he use the shower in the coach, though I had heard her tell him awhile ago that he probably wouldn’t fit in there. I guess he needed a bath and grooming enough to agree with her, and he went into the shower. When he came out, he said that it was better than the cold salt water showers that he had when he was a midshipman on the training ship. That doesn’t sound good to me. I went over and sniffed him, and he smelled OK. I guess it worked. I don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow, but I certainly will let you know tomorrow night!

Day 15

Whoa, talk about a late morning! That party last night really wiped us all out. Don and I got up about 7:15, at least that’s what I thought it was. Then Don tells me it’s really 8:15, my internal clock is an hour off! I was really worried until I found out that it was a silly thing humans do twice a year, called Daylight Savings Time. How can you save Daylight? There’s only so much every day, and you can’t take some of it and put it in an Alpo can and use it later. Sometimes I think humans are so stupid. But they make the rules, and we dogs just have to make do with them. Don and I had another good walk around the RV Park, and we met an eight week old Scotty named Wally. His human lady was very nice, they were from Michigan and were down here to get away from the cold weather. They were heading to Natchez today, and they were going to stay in the same RV Park that we had stayed in. We told them about the really nice walking areas along the levee, even though we noticed that Wally didn’t walk very much and wanted to be carried a lot. I’m afraid Wally might turn out to be a less than useful dog. Geri was doing some cleaning in the rig when we got back, so I stayed out on the grass while Don ran an errand in the truck. When he returned, he gave me my lunch and they left me in the rig to go to the National Military Park in Vicksburg. They turned on the air conditioning before they left, so that I wouldn’t get too hot. I had a really good nap, as I was still a bit tired from last night.

When they got back, they told me about all the monuments and statues that they saw in the Military Park. Sounds like everyone who was in the neighborhood during the Civil War got a statue or bronze plaque made to commemorate them. Anyway, they said it was a very impressive place; Don particularly enjoyed seeing the remains of a Federal gunboat that had been sunk in the river during the War, and had been found, removed from the riverbottom, and put on display in the Military Park. Geri said that Don was the only person she knew of who could find a ship in the middle of a landlocked National Park. A little while after they got back, Ken and Cathey came over to spend some time with us at the RV Park. Don cooked some hamburgers, which smelled heavenly, though he didn’t cook one for me. They talked and laughed a lot, and I listened in on some of what they were talking about. I think I understand now how Don and Ken are related; they are not from the same litter, or even from the same mother. But Don’s mother and Ken’s father had the same mother and father, though they were not littermates. So they are called Cousins. I don’t know why, but there it is. I have to say that I was pleased at the number of plates that I got to clean up, and the variety of tastes that were available on them. We really should have people over for dinner more often. I like Ken and Cathey a lot, they are very appreciative of well-behaved dogs, as they have one themselves, a very nice Rotweiler named Abby. She seems very intelligent, and treated me quite politely when I was at their house. Well, it sounds like we are moving on again in the morning, to some place called Mobile. I’d better get a good nights sleep. Bye for now.

Day 14
Everything went right on schedule this morning, which is the way I like it. I really think that life goes better when things get done at the proper time, like feedings, treat times, walks, etc. Don took me for a walk all the way around the RV park, and I found a lot of interesting things to investigate. We got into the truck then, and took a tour of Vicksburg. It’s another really old town, like Natchez, but seems to be in better shape. It has a very grand old courthouse, which is now a museum. There are a lot of very beautiful old mansions that have been converted to bed and breakfast places. I’ll bet none of them allow dogs. Come to think of it, that has to be discriminatory; I think my civil rights have been violated. I’m making a note to talk to Don about filing a suit, maybe class action. Anyway, we went down by the river where there are a bunch of pictures painted on the side of the concrete levee. The town is very proud of these pictures, called murals, which show the history of Vicksburg. Except for one really crazy one, which doesn’t show anything that I could understand. Geri and Don agreed with me. The pictures are all really beautifully done (except for the crazy one), and Don took pictures of some of them. We toured around town some more, and found some areas where Barak and Jimmy needed to show up and build some new houses. We went back to the rig so I could have lunch and take a nap. When I woke up, we got back in the truck and went back out to Ken and Cathey’s house, where they were having a party for their daughter Taffy and her new husband, Curt. There were a lot of people there, and lots of kids. I love kids, they almost always smell good and they always treat me nicely. Two little girls sat down next to me and petted me for the longest time, and everyone was very nice to me. The people at the party had catfish and hushpuppies for dinner. I had never heard of hushpuppies before, but Don told me that originally they were made to feed to the dogs to keep them quiet while the humans had dinner. He got one for me, and I ate it; it was OK, but nothing special, though I must say that if I were the constantly barking type, like that little Dachsy ninny Murphy, it would keep me quiet for awhile. Ken built and lit a bonfire down in the valley behind the house, and all the kids and the other dogs went down there. I don’t much care for fire, as my long hairy coat is very flammable. Everyone sat around and talked, and I made the rounds to get petting from all the adults. We finally went back to the RV Park, I had my going to bed treats, and I crashed. See you tomorrow!

Day 13
About four in the morning, Don rolled out of bed and stepped all over me. I got up to get out of the way, but his feet were in the way. I pushed through them, a little irritated. I went into the living room and got up on my couch; it’s funny, but Geri, particularly, fails to recognize my right to the couch. Just last night I had to grump at her severely to get her off of it. Anyway, Don didn’t go back to bed. Instead, he fired up the computer and began reading some stuff. I went back to sleep. When Geri got up, we went to normal morning routine, phony paper, breakfast, another very nice walk on the levee. Then we got the rig ready to go and headed across the bridge to Mississippi. We drove up a beautiful two-lane road called the Natchez Trace Parkway for quite a ways. It was so pretty, I curled up on the floor and napped. It wasn’t long before we got to a town called Vicksburg. Geri asked Don if he knew how Vicksburg got its name. Don said that of course, he knew; this is where Vicks Vapo-Rub was invented. Geri shouldn’t throw things at Don while he’s driving, even I know that.

We pulled into an RV Park in Vicksburg, and got a space. When I got out of the coach, I was pleased to see that we had nice green grass, good enough for some wild rolling. We got into the truck, and went to a Veterinary Office. I knew I wasn’t sick, so there was something else going on. Surprise! I got a bath and a good grooming, even getting my paws trimmed. It felt really good to be clean and beautiful again. Geri and Don picked me up and complimented me on my appearance. Then we drove to the house where Don’s Cousins Ken and Cathey live. There were a lot of people there, and I got a lot of petting and compliments. A snippy little Dachsy tried to pick a fight with me, but I pretended I was going to bite him in two, and he backed off. Geri had brought my dinner with her, and I ate out in the driveway to keep my food away from the Dachsy. We finally got back to the coach, and I had my GTB cookies and laid down. I was tired, this was a very exhausting day.

Day 12
When Don sent me out for the phony paper this morning, something caught my eye; Don thought it was a pushboat shoving a barge down the river, and he was pleased with my interest in boats. It was actually a family of squirrels across the street, but I didn’t tell him. He got his act together pretty quickly, and took me on a really good walk along the riverbank. I had some good grass to roll in, and I got so excited that I did a spectacular crazy dog routine. Don was very appreciative. A little later, we got in the truck and went across the river to Natchez. It’s a very old town, and it looks it. There are some big beautiful mansions, mostly along the river, but most of the town is pretty rundown. Don says that President Obama will probably team up with President Carter and come down here and build new homes for everyone. We took a walk through the downtown area. It didn’t seem to be very busy, I only got petted twice. Geri and Don had lunch at a BBQ place, and said it was very good. It didn’t do me much good, no leftovers. We drove up a road called the Natchez Trace Parkway, which was very pretty. Don says we’ll drive further up it tomorrow. When we were coming back from the Parkway, I heard Geri calling my name. Since the window between the back of the truck and the cab was closed, I couldn’t go to her, so I didn’t move from my position, which was right up in back of the cab. Then I heard her screaming that I was missing; I knew I wasn’t, so I didn’t do anything. Don pulled off the road, and Geri jumped out of the truck. I stood up to see what all the excitement was about, and Geri said some bad things to me. I don’t know why, I wasn’t doing anything different from what I normally do. We finished the day’s tour at the Natchez National Cemetery. Don told me that the people buried there were all soldiers, sailors and airmen who had died in the service of our country. There were a lot of them, some of them soldiers whose name no one knew who died in The War Between the States, which was a long time ago. Others had died in Germany, Korea, Viet Nam, and the Persian Gulf. I carefully avoided desecrating any graves, and they both said I was a good boy. We went back to the rig, and they had some leftovers for dinner. Not much in the way of plates for me. We went to bed early, we were all tired from all the touring we did, and Don says tomorrow will be a big day. I’ll let you know what happens!

Day 11
Another day, another change of address. After the phony paper bit and breakfast, Don got dressed and took me for a very good walk into the field next the RV park. The place was littered with the little castles that the crawdads build. There were thousands of them! It was like a crawdad farm! Some of them were six or eight inches tall. I sniffed several of them, but they just smelled like dirt. Anyway, it was new and different and non-threatening, and I like that. After our walk, we got the rig ready to go and headed east again. When we got to Lafayette, we headed north. This was our first departure from Highway 10 since California, except by mistake. We took a nice freeway, Highway 49, up to Alexandria and then headed east again on Highways 28 and 84, until we reached Vidalia, Louisiana. We pulled into a RV park there, called the Riverview. They call it that because it has a view of a river. What a river! This is the biggest river I’ve ever seen! I wouldn’t want to have to swim across it, because I hate to swim, and the river is way too wide. Don says it’s the Mississippi River, the biggest in the country. I can’t dispute that, because my knowledge of geography is somewhat limited. But it looks like a great place to go for walks, and Geri took me for one down to the path alongside the river. There are a lot of squirrels around, and they like to be chased, so I obliged them. Don stayed in the coach to fight with the TV again, and I think he lost. The people in the office told Geri that their TV system was working really well until they had to shift to high definition (whatever that means), and then it went pit bull. That’s an expression I use to describe things that are not good. So, without our satellite TV, our antenna barely pulls in a PBS station. We went shopping at a WalMart, went back to the rig, and Don fixed some stirfry veggies and chicken, which I thought was very good. We turned off the TV’s and listened to music on XM radio, which I thought was a nice change. I got all of my evening treats, helped Don with the blog, and went to bed. Geri and Don soon followed.

Day 10
Everything started out well this morning, except Geri was grumpy again about not sleeping well and feeling cold. I got the phony paper as soon as I got up, got my breakfast, and Don took me for an early walk down to the river. I found a great stick, and chewed up most of it. I spied a pair of white geese in a pen, and I decided to put a little scare into them; I charged at the pen, and they honked and flapped their wings, like I was about to eat them. Ha Ha! When we got back to the rig, Geri and Don started to get us ready to move. Don did another tank dump, which I stayed away from, but I helped him hook up the truck. We headed out pretty early, and turned east on Highway 10 again. Pretty soon, there was some highway construction and we had to take a detour. Somehow, we got on the wrong road and started wandering around in a town called Bay City. We stopped at a Fire and Rescue Department station, because Geri said we needed rescuing. She went in and got some directions from the rescue people, and came back and told Don where to go. We were on our way again, but when Don got to the onramp for Highway 147 North, he went by it, saying we wanted 147 South. We made a U-turn and headed down 147 South. Geri was really telling Don where to go. After a few miles, Don got off the highway and pulled into a small service station, which we almost completely filled. We were low on fuel, he said. Geri said he was low on something else. While he was filling the tank, he talked to a guy at the next pump about how to get back to Highway 10. The guy told him to take 147 North to connect directly with 10. When Don finished fueling, he got back aboard and said something I don’t think I ever heard before. “Geri, I’m sorry, you were right.” Geri made him repeat it. I smiled. We got back on 147 North, and soon we were back on the 10, breezing east again.
We made a stop when we entered Louisiana at a rest area and tourist information office. It was really pretty, with lots of grass and a lake. I got some business taken care of, and had a couple of nice rolls in the grass. About ninety miles later, we pulled into an RV Park called Frog City. I didn’t see any frogs, but Geri and I found out about crawdads; they don’t really live in the water, they build little houses out of mud near where the water is. We didn’t see any, but we did see their houses. We had to get into the truck and go into Lafayette to find the Verizon store, because Don said that their cheap doo-doo modem was non-functional, which is why we haven’t been able to post the blog for a couple of days. We had to wait for almost two hours while they worked on it, well past my meal time. Anyway, they fixed it and Don was happy. We went home had dinner, posted the blog, and went to bed.

Day Nine
I was the last one up this morning; I dunno why, I slept well, guess I was just tired. Anyway, Don petted me and took me to the door of the rig and opened it. There was the phony paper, laying there in the grass. I was glad to see it, phony or not. I brought it in, got my cookies, and Don fixed me breakfast immediately. He took off for the showers, and came back just a few minutes later, grumbling about no hot water. I understood that, cause when Ivy bathes me (she’s my regular groomer) she always uses nice warm water that feels really good. Don got dressed and took me for a really good walk down to the edge of the river, where there was a big grassy area with a lot of new smells. I did some running and rolling, and we stayed out there quite a while. On the way back, we met a very pretty Border Collie who was leashed next to her rig. She wanted me meet me very badly, so we went over so she could do an inspection. Her lady human said that she was the smartest dog she ever knew, and the best traveler. Well, she didn’t know me, so that’s OK. The collie obviously liked me, cause she peed right in front of me for me to smell and cover. That’s a little ritual that humans don’t seem to understand; it’s sort of like when humans make eye contact, smile, and wink at each other. We can’t wink, so we do something else. We had to leave my new friend, as Don was still looking for a groomer for me. We got in the truck and went down the road to a place we had seen yesterday on the way in. It had a sign in the window that said it was open, but the door was locked. Another signed said that they had a doggie day care center down at the end of the side road. We drove down there, and saw a house in a fenced enclosure. There was a gate in the fence, but Don decided not to go to the house. Maybe it was the two German Shepherds in the yard who were barking at us. We went back to the rig, and waited while Geri took a shower onboard. Don read a Houston Chronicle, which he said was the same as reading the San Francisco Chronicle. We had some lunch and got into the truck. We drove to a ferry landing, where the lady in the car next to us asked if she could pet me. She petted me real hard, and I had to break it off. We got on the ferry, and went across a river, then drove to a parking lot next to a big ship painted dark grey. Geri and Don went to the ship, and were gone for awhile. When they came back, they told me that the ship was the USS Texas, a very old battleship that had served in both World Wars. It’s the oldest battleship in the world. Yadayadayada. They let me out of the truck, and I roamed around what looked like a cemetery. Lots of headstones. Don told me that they were men who had either died in the battle of San Jacinto, or had fought there and had been buried there later. I was careful not to pee on any headstones. We got back in the truck and headed down to Galveston. When we got there, we drove around looking at the damage caused by the last hurricane that hit the city; still pretty bad. We saw a hotel that one of the walls had fallen off of, exposing some rooms that still had furniture in them. We found the house that Geri’s former mother-in-law had lived in, many years ago when she was married to a manly, glamorous airline pilot who could handle two burning and two turning in his sleep. Geri and Don went to the house, which had been made into a Bed and Breakfast place, and talked to the owner. She told them to come back in an hour or so, and she would show them the place. They went to a fish place and had dinner, no plates for me. Then we went back to the B&B, and they spent a lot of time looking at the place. My meal time came and went, and they were still in there. They finally showed up, and we headed back to Houston. It was a long drive, and it was getting a bit cool. I snuggled up close to the cab, where I don’t get hardly any wind, and took a nap. When we got home, I got my dinner immediately, then made it known that it was time for my Yummy Chummys, which were promptly administered. We watched “24”, which was very exciting. I got my Going to Bed Cookies, and went to bed.
Day Eight
Everyone got up this morning in a good mood; well, maybe except Geri, who had woken up about 4:30 and not gotten back to sleep. She was a little grumpy. I was excited, because I knew that we were moving today to another place, and there was a good chance that it might have nice grass to roll in. I was so excited that I had to go out to lift my leg almost immediately, and I let Don know. He accommodated me immediately, and I went out and did my thing. In a few minutes, Don opened the door to the rig; he had a newspaper in his hand, rolled up like they are for delivery. He tossed it down to the bottom of the steps. I just stood there with my mouth open. I couldn’t believe it. He had been fooling me every day with a phony paper, just to make me work. I thought about this for a second, and decided it was in my best interests to go along with this farce; after all, cookies are involved. I went for the paper, picked it up, and bounded up the steps with it. He praised me and gave me my usual two cookie payment for delivery. Oh, well, what you have to do to make a living. After breakfast, Don loaded me into the truck and we went back into Boerne to the city park, where I had my accident yesterday. There weren’t any geese to chase, but I ran anyway. I ran down to the pond area, next to the pavilion; there was a man there with a big net, and he was cleaning out the leaves from the pond, so that dogs would be able to know that there was water there. I wanted to tell him that he was a little bit late, but Don was yelling at me to get away from the water. Phoo, like I wanted to do that again. I did a little run through the bushes, and found a good stick to chew on. Don kept telling me not to swallow the stick, but I already knew better. I was disappointed that there weren’t any other people in the park, but we had a nice walk.
We went back to the RV park, and got the rig ready to go. I always try to supervise this effort, to make sure it’s done correctly, but this time Don had done a tank dump. It always smells awful when he does this, much worse than my dumps, and I had to retreat to the other side of the coach. He got everything ready to go without my help, and we headed east again on Highway 10. We went through San Antonio, and headed for Houston. I took a nap. When I woke up, we were pulling into a new RV Park; Geri went in to register us, and I looked around at the Park. It was all green; green grass! When we had parked the rig, I went out to help Don do the hookups, but the grass got to me. All I could do was roll, and roll and roll in the beautiful grass. Geri took me for a walk, and we went down to a river. There was grass every where, and I had to roll in it several times. We went back to the rig, and we all had dinner. Don and Geri had pasta with Don’s homemade sauce, which I love. The plates were wonderful. We didn’t have internet service, so Don and I had to do the blog in a separate file for future posting. I hope that the late posting doesn’t disappoint my readers. Today, I am a really happy dog.