Keeping You Afoot

I haven't much new to add for now, except that we are getting ready to get ready.

Autumn has definitely landed, and the full timers are cleaning, and prepping for their departure, and us with them.

Midnight is recovering well from his dislocated shoulder, Glory continues to do occasional break outs, but reassures us with constant return to home base no matter where it may be. (The last one was in Bellevue, and she wandered into the yard as we were packing as if to say, "I'm back, is it time to go?") We are trying to discourage the outings, but it does comfort us to know that she knows all the home base vehicles and trailers.

I have 2 shifts left at the hotel, and then I have to go to Victoria to attend the funerals of 2 beloved people who died from the same malady, with completely different situations.

I am still pulling my thoughts together about my Uncle. I will tell you about the man he was in a later post. Suffice it to say (for now) that he will be greatly missed and although I didn't see him too much in recent years, I remember his influence and his presence with fondness.

When I return, we will relocate the roving acre to Bellevue area for a short while before we head south.

That sums my spinning thoughts for now, so I bid you,

Adieu

For Facebook Readers of this blog...

My facebook account has been requesting id confirmation, and it wants me to give my birthdate. I remember only that I didn't give it my real one, so I am hung. I will try to figure it out, but any comments you put on my facebook link to these posts I can't access.

Please come directly to the blog by clicking this link to LIFEONOURARK.BLOGSPOT.COM and leave your comments there. Otherwise, I am without access to your thoughts.

Thanks folks. I now bid you,

Adieu

(Editor note: I finally got in.)

Meandering Thoughts

There have been a few goings on in my personal world that are definitely high on the sadness scale, and the season has provided its share of downs.

As noted, my Grandmother passed away late this summer, and a dear friend / maternal mentor who was also mentioned as ailing has now departed.

I also have a beloved uncle now counting his days and I am still trying to formulate all my thoughts and memories of him as I prepare to loose his presence too.

On top of that, another person I know is counting days on her father-in law's time here. Fortunately, surgery has slowed the cancer's progress, but not so fortunately, it hasn't completely removed the threat, just postponed the end. It does, however provide the chance to do a not so glorious version of The Bucket List.

I just am amazed how much can land at one time. It seems I will need to go to Victoria when my shifts are finished here in Three Hills, as that is the vicinity where my two beloved people are found. One funeral is tentatively on Oct 2, and if I am really fortunate, I will be able to say good bye to the other. That is what I would like most. I didn't get that opportunity with the others I have lost this year.

Outside of the sorrowful vein my life is currently tracking, things are continuing in a progressive direction. We are finalizing our health insurance, getting the critters' shots up to date, making plans about the vehicles and sundry to store the ones staying behind from the southward journey, ensured all plates, insurances, stickers, and information is up to date and covered for the duration of our time out of country.

We had a really good visit with Ken's father, and friends in the area. We are needing to go to Bellevue again, and look forward to time with our friend there.

When we arrived in Cereal, Midnight - eager to not be left in the truck, leaped out from the seat, and landed hard. Shortly after that I noticed that he wouldn't weight-bear on the right front leg, - not even put the paw down. Then he started panting when the temperature wasn't that hot - a sure sign of shock.

I decided it was best to take him to the vet just for safety sake. They were very accommodating, and I was able to bring him in almost right away.

It took some effort to diagnose his injury as he didn't whine or whimper when they palpated and manipulated the injured limb (The vet said if it was him, he surely would have bitten someone over the forced movement). The vet did detect a bit or inappropriate movement of the humorous at the shoulder, and observed that the right front leg was slightly shorter than the left.

He was given a muscle relaxant, but later upgraded to a mild sedative - not enough to knock him out like for surgery, but enough to really make him groggy and relaxed.

Once that was accomplished they reset the shoulder joint which he has dislocated. They kept him overnight to ensure the the bone stayed in the socket.

Midnight is only mildly limping now but has an oral anti-inflammatory drug to get him over it. He should completely recover.

Now we are noticing that his muzzle is bothering him as he is constantly rubbing on the carpet/lawn, and sometimes licking his lips with a focus that indicates irritation. I took a look at his mouth, and a few of the stitches have not dissolved, one with a particularly bulky knot right where he is licking most.

I carefully clipped the bulk of the knot off to reduce the irritation, but tomorrow while I am sleeping off the night shift, Ken is going to take him back to the Three Hills vet to have them remove any residual stitching that remains.

Glory has spent the last couple weeks trying to explore the great outdoors. She broke away one night when we were taking Midnight for a last constitutional, and spent the whole night outside. (Leaving me inside-out with worry).

She came home feeling like an adventurous wild cat, and proceeded to request for the next 2 nights at 9 pm precisely, that she should not be denied her right to explore. I disagreed, and as I can operate the door and she can't, .... I won.

She did it again about a week later, and this time, actively avoided capture so as to accomplish full night exploration. I think that with a combination of attention when behaving, and squirts with a spray bottle when the door is even remotely a focal point, we are making great progress in curtailing the intent to explore.

The up side is that when she does go for a leave of absence (or should I say she is Away Without Leave), she definitely knows where home is, and is solidly certain that she belongs to it. We will be watching her closely as we change her scenery!!

Anyway, night duties call so I will bid you,

Adieu

Survey Says.....

Well, feedback was minimal, but I did work with it, and the surrounding areas and we are going to try Mojave Valley, Moon River RV Resort, and possibly Castle Rock Shores Resort in Parker.

They have reasonable rates, and Moon River is advertising coverage of half your electrical bill.

I still am working on the logistics of medical and vehicular insurance. I was strongly advised to add underinsured to the policy as apparently, in some states, insurance is optional, and being hit by one of those increases the chaos of accidents to nightmarish levels.

We have an excellent place to store the utility trailer, and are still hoping to thin the truck fleet by 1 before departure, but failing that, it will stay with Ken's Three Hills daughter.

Before I go, I promised some shots of Midnight's new found activities :-)

Resting while guarding the treasure Bringing treasure home triumphantly :-)

Modelling my new sweater from Silvia ......... What is she doing in my sweater??!!!

Casual in my condo

The sun is shining and for now, I will bid you

Adieu.

Inquiring minds....

Okay, I know there are a some followers of this blog, so in a manner of speaking, this is kind of a test probe.

We are now 1/4 through September (how that happened, I am still puzzling over, but I digress....).

I am committed to my job until the end of this month, but we are still pondering the options of where to winter. (I had one vote for Campbell River, but I am thinking a bit south of there. The island isn't totally off the list though)

We are seriously looking at Arizona, but have absolutely no personal experience with the journey or options. I have been looking at Mojave Valley, Parker, Yuma, Salome, and have come up utterly overwhelmed with my inability to truly get down deep into meeting the criteria we are considering of value.

And so I come to you wonderful folks, and am seeking any thoughts you might have to influence or warn, or what have you.

We basically are looking for warm, snowless, friendly, near water, as much included in hook-up as possible (We expect to be paying for power, but would be pleasantly pleased if not). Wi-fi is critical as we currently use a Canada only aircard (It would work in the States, but the roaming charges would be outrageous).

We still would like to launch and become familiar with our kayaks. Walking paths would be nice, and a lap friendly pool would be delightful. We are hoping to have a pad fee in the low to mid $300 monthly range, and we might bring the camper/truck so we can do small scale overnight explorations, so parking for 2 vehicles might be a consideration. (And of course, pet friendly is critical)

We don't want a big city, but something that is big enough for Walmart style shopping within 20 minute drive would be appreciated.

On the other hand, if we stay in Canada, we want Not Oliver(bad memories), reasonably warm, and priced in an affordable range, so not directly in the lower mainland or Victoria area.

So hey, let's have fun with this. What do you suggest??

Awaiting your replies, and at this time bidding you

Adieu

Fun Little Happy Sideline

This afternoon, I was taking it easy and doing some reading. I am on day 2 of a 4 stretch of night audits (which followed 2 on, 1 off) and day sleeping is never easy - even when everyone including the camp host goes out of their way to accommodate it.

So I was sitting in the living room and glance over as I hear a critter initiated noise.

Up until now, we thought that Midnight was one of those dogs who never learned to play. I had bought him some teddy tug toys and a bag of ping pong ball sized squeaky tennis balls, but never got much attention from him over them.

I figured the noise must have been Glory as she sometimes gets hyper bursts of energy. To my surprise, Midnight had found one of the tennis balls and was knocking it about a bit. He then grabbed it and jumped to the back of the couch, released it, and chased it down before it hit the ground.

So apparently not playing was on account of an uncomfortable mouth. He is nearly healed now, but a bit of the stitches haven't fully dissolved yet, so he is still a bit careful.

It is such a delight to see the amount of enthusiasm he exhibits. He was always a +++ on the greeter scale, but now if it is possible, he is so much happier and energetic. Never under estimate the affect of good oral health on the well being of the whole animal!! :-)

With that and the promise to try to capture the moment on digital imagery, I bid you

Adieu.

Progressions in the Utility Trailer

There hasn't been a whole lot of goings on lately, but it has been a nice calm stretch. Sometimes, that is as good as an adventure.

Ken has finally put up enough shelving to get the bins off the floor, and he is very pleased to finally have floor space, and the ability to use the tools that line the walls. Up until now, there has been so much clutter in the centre isle that it was impossible to use them, and you couldn't find anything.

As September steps into the limelight, we are still pondering our destination this winter. Due to the sadness and bitter taste left with the departure and means thereof of our former crewpup, Max, Oliver is not on the list of considerations. That and most of our fellow snowbirds of last year are not going, so there is no familiarity of that place.

The part that went unposted due to the hurt it caused was the means of "disposal". We had to leave for Nelson the day after he departed, and so came back a week later to settle the bill. As we live in an RV, we didn't feel we could keep or give due respect to him, so we asked for them to deal with his final placement.

When Ken asked what they did, he was shocked and sickened to hear that they froze him for 3 days to ensure he was gone, then sent him to the landfill site with the regular garbage. Needless to say we can't easily consider returning to a place that has so little respect for a family member! :-(

Sorry for the digression. It still boils the blood a bit, but back on track,....

If we venture across the border, we are considering a number of locations. We have heard good and bad about just about every potential site, and are a bit overwhelmed with all the options.

There have been several suggestions like Yuma, Phoenix, Salome, but the one that is most intriguing right now is Lake Havasue.

On the other hand, if we stay in Canada, the quandary still falls under where is warm enough, but still not as expensive as the lower mainland? Last year, the heating cost was quite high, and that alone might be enough consideration to drive us to the deep south.

There still is time, but it is getting closer all the time to a final decision being required, especially since we need to get the extended health, and bump the insurance to include under insured accident coverage as many states have insurance as optional.

It is often the little incidents that can break the bank when going south. We don't want to be unprepared if we do go.

Anyway, I must get on with the day, so I bid you

Adieu