TRAVEL LOGS 2014/15

[cranelakeont]

September  10th and so it begins.

Ok, I blew up at David and Alisa about the yard sale stuff and the snow blower not being fixed. Must have been a good thing because David got his act together and they got things done! I had told them that I wanted to leave Wednesday but would wait until Thursday as I would, by myself, pull every yard sale box out of the barn and haul it to the curb for the garbage pick up on Thursday! I didn’t have to do that and was able to hit the road for Columbia Station and Jan Harts lovely home on Wednesday. Got here around 2 pm and Jan and I sat down for a good old fashioned gab fest and an ice cold beer. Well, ok, so they weren’t ice cold since I bought them about 20 minutes before I got to Jans.

We went out to a great restaurant for dinner and I had one of my favorites, A blue cheese hamburger, medium rare. Then back to her place for more catching up and finally an early night as I had been up since 4:30 a.m.

Today we went to Kmart to see if I could find the right kind of puppy toy for little Shelby. No luck so back home and lunch time.

Tomorrow I will head for PA. It will be a 5 1/2 hour drive. Shelby will start barking when we are about half a block from our destination for she will recognize where she is.

Sept. 12

After saying good by to Jan and thanking her once again for being a wonderful hostess, I hit the road and after many hours and many pit stops made it to PA safe and sound. Shelby, as usual, traveled like a champ and was a great companion. Of course I did hit the rumble strip once during our drive which sent shelby flying up behind my head and across my shoulders. Poor little thing must think those dumber strips are horrible beasts growling at her. LOL

Sept. 14

Yesterday was a nasty, cold, gray, rainy day all day. And although today was cold, it also had beautiful brilliant blue skies and loads of sunshine. Except for the temperature, It kind of reminded me of Arizona. 

Went to Wilks/Barre to find a new coffee maker and then to Phil’s favorite bakery for some goodies. Took Shelby with us as she enjoys the ride in the car.

Sept. 22

I have had the worst head cold/sinus infection of my life. Wasn’t sure it was a cold but had the worst sore throat, achy muscles and blowing nose. Pain in throat went right to both ears. I am now coughing my head off while this cold takes it’s time working it’s way down to my lungs. Phil is fighting this off also and doing a better job of it than I did. I keep telling him it must be all the blueberries, huckleberries & swamp-beries he eats all summer long. All those anti-oxidents! LOL Hopefully, tomorrow I will feel better and be able to accomplish something, anything, even just going for a walk!

More later.

Travel Log #2

Well, it is now Oct. 8th and we have 19 days left until we leave Pennsylvania. Getting cold here and also rainy.  Phil is getting ready for the Halloween fund raiser at the Miners Village.  Different groups put on skits throughout the village as paying customers take a walk in the evening and hope to be scared by the performers.

Shelby is enjoying her visit with Molly the Pug who lives next door.  Every morning when Molly is out in her yard, Shelby asks out, stands on Phil’s back porch and barks her greeting at Molly, then she turns on her heels and comes back inside  We are not sure yet if her greeting is in friendship or if she is telling Molly to ‘shut up”! LOL

I am keeping busy around the house and yard.  I brought all sorts of Hostas from Michigan and have planted them along the fences in Phil’s back yard.  I also planted some tulips and hyacinths.  Hopefully, these will surprise Phil in the spring.as he does not know that I planted them.  He told me I could do anything I wanted as long as it would not require care or maintenance from him.  I figured Hostas, spring bulbs, Hardy Hibiscus and Rose of Sharon  along with one Hydrangia.  I am amazed at how beautifully they seem to grow up here in coal country.  Apparently Hydrangia’s and white birch love the coal dust in the ground.  They both seem to flourish.  I am tempted to take a 5 gal bucket of coal dirt back to Michigan to see if it will help my gardens any.  Hmmm, maybe in the spring.

LOG #3

Good Morning all. Yesterday I managed to give Shelby her bath so we start out with a clean, non-smelly dog in the car. Tomorrow, Oct 28 is the day we hit the road. Today we drive to Wilkes Barre to the VA so Phil can get his Flu Shot and stay in their system. Then last minute things around his home to get done. Tomorrow morning I will do a final load of laundry (early) and we shall hit the road to Columbia Station Ohio for a night with good friend Jan Hart. After that, our next stop will be House on the Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin. 

Log #4

We left Freeland, PA at 9:30 am. I had been determined to get all the wash done before we left. Nothing taken that was not clean and nothing left behind dirty to come back to. Clean sheets on the bed and all clean towels in the bathroom and kitchen. So after morning showers I started the washing machine. The towels took the longest to dry but fortunately all got done.

Beautiful sunny day and as we drove we saw the price of gas drop from $3.39 to $3.09 to $2.98. We also saw the temperature rise all the way to 75.  I had thought Shelby was coming into season early and had put her sanitary belt on her. At our second rest stop, after removing the belt to allow her to urinate, I saw this horrible bright flesh/pink thing sticking out of her **bleep** like a bubble! It looked like her insides were pushing out. She acted normal but I freaked out. I immediately texted Jan Hart and asked for a vet near her home. She gave me a phone number and I phoned. They couldn’t get me in but gave me the number to another vet and I got an appointment for 5:20 pm that day. We arrived at Jans at 4 pm.  Just enough time to relax with a drink and then hit the vet. Off we went. $90 later I find Shelby has a mass and they don’t know what it is. She needs an ultra sound but they didn’t have one. She probably requires surgery. They felt that since I would be watching her, it would be ok to postpone surgery for a week or so until we reach a place where we can get it done. In the meantime, I am treating her with antibiotics just in case it is an infection. Vet said it won’t hurt. 

 We got back to Jans and she had a beautiful dinner all ready for us.  Once again, she has proven to be a wonderful hostess. We spent a pleasant evening catching up with each others news and all the Crane Lake News.

Needless to say, we all slept well last night since we were totally exhausted.  Shelby ate like there was no tomorrow and drank oodles of water, then went outside and romped and took care of business. She doesn’t seem to be in any pain and is acting normal. The vet told me to watch her urine and make sure she is going, not just attempting to do so.

It is now 7 a.m. and Shelby and I are the only ones up. We are having our morning coffee and computer catch ups. Today we will drive to Spring Green, Wisconsin. It has gotten much colder and that may prove a problem to me. I had hoped to leave Shelby in the car tomorrow while we toured “House on the Rock” but if it is below 60, that won’t be an option and I will have to leave her at the motel. She won’t like that and neither will any neighbors since she will be frightened by any noises and will bark. Maybe, hopefully, it will be warm enough to leave her in the car. She is happiest there without me.

So as Horace Greely said, “Go west young man, go west” and we shall.

Log #5

We made it! Horrible long drive. Garmin took us from Ohio up to Michigan (no, we did not want to go to Michigan) across (got lost) and down to Indiana and then all over Chicago during rush hour traffic! I couldn’t remember how to calibrate my Garmin but I have corrected that problem this morning. Hopefully that will never happen again. We were on the road from 9:30 am until 9:30 pm for a trip that should have only taken 8 1/2 hours.

Our motel is about 25 minutes from House on the Rock but the price was right, they allow dogs without charging for them, we have a very nice room with a frog and a mic and can walk out the door to our car parked for free. YES, some of them are now charging for parking!  We will be here two nights as it takes about 

More after we see the house.

Log #6

We saw House oßn the Rock. Al & I had been there in 1990 shortly after the owner Alex Jordan had died. We got the tour plus the tour of the workshop, which is no longer offered. 

Anyway, Phil enjoyed it thoroughly and that made my day. We left our motel about 10:30 am and got back home about 4 p.m. Shelby was sooooo happy to see us and I to see her. With her problem, I tend to worry a lot. Anyway, Phil was amazed at the size of the place, at all the art work, at all the displays, at all the everything. It was a total success.  

Tomorrow we head for Sioux Falls, S.D.

6 a.m. Oct  31 Happy Halloween and we have SNOW! ! ! About 2” of snow. Boy was that a shock when I took little Shelby out for her morning trip. Temperature was 34 degrees and the skies looked nasty and gray. We left  Mt. Horab, WI at 7:45 a.m. Best start we have gotten so far and headed for Sioux Falls, S. D. The snow meltd fast but the cold stayed with us. 12 noon and the temp had risen and fallen between 32 and 36 degrees. Nasty cold wind out of the north. Stopped for gas and to walk shelby and the wind was so bitter, if I hadn’t been so worried about her, I would have said, “forget it”. 

Finally we reached 41 degrees and it actually felt warm because the wind had died down. We reached our motel 6 about 4 pm and they had goofed our reservations but the young man was really nice and cut the price (because of their goof up, not his) in half. He said, “Don’t worry. I will make it up to you” and handed me a bill for $30! OMG I haven’t seen a motel bill that cheap in years! Not even with a military discount. Oh, by the way, motel 6 does give a military discount but it is the same as a AAA or AARP or senior discount….big deal. This young man mad it a big deal and I was happy with the room.

Once I had Shelby and Phil installed in the room and the two of them sitting outside to enjoy Phils afternoon cigar, I took off in search of a Kmart to buy socks. In our concern to get everything done in Freeland, somehow neither of us packed enough socks for Phil. So, off I went to buy socks, a large beer (for me) and dinner for all of us. I found the Kmart and got 4 pairs of sock (last they had). Wanted KFC pot pie but found out they “only make them on Wed” and ended up at a lovely grocery store that had a great deli. I got Gouloush for Phil and Tomato Bisque for me, then I got a huge plate of rice & noodles and two kinds of chicken along with a spring roll. Then I went to the bakery dept and found a blueberry bread for breakfast this morning. 

Got back to the motel to a very hungry Phil and Shelby. After seeing the vet in Ohio, I was worried about getting the meds into shelby. I have always had a problem with that. For some reason, she is ravenous and with a pil hidden inside of some food, she has been wolfing them down. The pills make her sleepy and that helps keep her away from her problem.  Her problem, I am afraid, is getting worse as she had me up every hour all night to go potty. I still pray she can hold out until Yuma.

Next stop Gilette, WY

[cranelakeont]

DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER ONE. I DID DO IT BUT I SURE CAN'T FIND IT. SO HERE IS ALL 6 UP TO TODAY. SORRY IT IS SUCH A LONG READ. THE REST WILL BE INDIVIDUAL ONES. HAVE A GREAT DAY.

[cranelakeont]

Log 7

Ok, we get up in the morning and it is 27 degrees! What is with that??? So driving on into the day and our temps go up to 57 degrees. Now that’s more my speed. Then the mountains are in front of us. Temp is in the low 50’s but up, up, up we go to 6,300 ft and the temp drops to 36 and there is snow (not a lot but enough to cover the ground but not the road) S.N.O.W! everywhere! Thankfully we go down the mountain side to Butte, Montanna and the temperature raises to all of 46 degrees. Oh well, at least it is too warm for snow!

[cranelakeont]

Log 8

Port Angeles is a beautiful area. We arrived in the midst or rather during an all day rain. They get a lot of that. Stopped raining long enough for us to go down by the water and have a great early supper or late lunch. Phil had crab and I had shrimp. We relaxed at the ‘Crab House’ and looked at the water and big ships. Great food and a beautiful view. As it was about 59 degrees, shelby stayed in the car. She is happier there than being left at the motel. Our motel, Flagstone Motel, is in downtown Port Angeles only one block from the water. It is an older motel and the rooms are on the small size but the price was right and the rooms have all been upgraded. **bleep**, microwave, tv, bedside tables on BOTH sides of the bed and a great mattress. New flooring and lovely decor. All this for $39.99 plus 10.9% TAX! OMG and i thought our taxes were bad. Shelby cost us and extra $15 per night but with the room rate low enough we figured it worked out to be the same as Motel 6.

Off to see Wally and Suzzie today.

We had a wonderful visit with Wally and Suzzie. They have a lovely home overlooking the water. You can sit there and watch the big ships come and go. We drove with them down to pick up their RV as they are getting ready for their trip to Yuma after the holidays.

Both of them worked on a fantastic dinner of Wally caught salmon (fabulous) and tri-tip beef (not sure if that is what it was called). They phoned Tim and Sheri (also Yuma friends) and they joined us for dinner. We had such an enjoyable evening. I am looking forward to repeating it in Yuma with all 4 of them.

Wally and Suzzie are wonderful and gracious host and hostess. They bent over backwards to make us feel comfortable and at home. Wally drove all around the area and showed us some of the sights. Really interesting to see all the logging that is shipped to China. Who would have guessed.

[cranelakeont]

Log 9

Arrived in Salem, Oregon about 4 pm. phoned Phil’s long time friend, Cal and met him and his lady friend, bonnie, for dinner. Had a great visit and Shelby, as usual, was the perfect lady in their home.. After dinner we headed for our motel 6 (no charge for pups) and for a good nights sleep. 

6 a.m. and we are getting ready to hit the road and head to the Giant Redwoods!

We had a beautiful day. Sunshine and great temps in the mid to upper 70’s. We drove the whole length of the Avenue of the Giants and I took pictures of Phil by many differentt trees. We stopped for breakfast at a small cafe ,Enchanted Tree House, (or something like that). The service was horrible. She had a total of 4 adult customers (we were 2 of them) and it took forever to get our breakfast. I had biscuits and gravy and when she brought it (how long does it take to nuke gravy?) it was cold. Phil had French toast. Now, neither of those thing require a lot of time or thought. The bill (and no, we did not have anything else) came to $20! I had to take the bill to the gift shop next door to use my credit card (her husband) and he asked me if I wanted to add a tip to the bill. I just replied “No, thank you” Grrrr.

Drove to King City and found a Motel 6 for the night. Will see the Hearst Castle today and Yuma tomorrow.

[cranelakeont]

We toured the Hearst Castle in San Simion, CA. It was crowded but a beautiful Sunday morning.Although there was solid fog all around, once we got to the top of the Hearst Hill the fog was gone. Of course we couldn’t see any view because of all the fog down below.  We both enjoyed the tour and especially the indoor grecian, cobalt blue and gold swimming pool. Got lots of pictures of Phil at the Castle to prove he had been there.

We made it to San Demas, CA and I found a motel 6 for the night. **bleep** didn’t work but at that point I was too tired to care. We spent a quiet evening watching TV and called it a night at 11 pm. 

Monday, Nov 10th and we arrived at our destination, Hidden Cove Camp Ground, Yuma, AZ at 12 noon. Went to buy propane for my **bleep** and hot water heater to operate and also stopped at my vet to make an appointment for Shelby. The had an opening Tuesday at 4:20 pm. Back to the campground, got everything out of the RV so we could put the slide out. Plugged in to electric, got **bleep** running and hot water heater and hooked up the water. NO water to the bathroom sink? Water in the tub, water in the toilet but nothing to the sink. Finally I removed the screens and aerator from the faucet and Wala! we had water. Up and running and exhausted and ready for bed by 8 pm. Of course, both Phil and I were still running on EST and now we were on MT time. Just a couple of hours difference. LOL

Tuesday took Shelby to vet. My lady vet had moved to another state but the man I had was great. Knew exactly what was wrong with her. Scheduled her for surgery the next day. Wed morning I took her for a run with her favorite frisbee’s and then to the vets office for pre-op. She had surgery Wed night and the phoned me that she was doing well at 8:30 pm and surgery was over. I picked her up today at 10 am. Now the problem is that I can’t leave her alone for at lease 3 days! She has a horrible cone thing on her (and she hates it) and I have to make sure she doesn’t jump up or down off or on furniture. In the meantime, Della got rushed to hospital, Bob Holmes passed away (in Michigan but they were long time Hidden Cove people) and Lowel and Marilyn came to visit in the park next door and wanted to have a jam session. Of course, Phil went but I could not. My Memphis MI neighbors (who showed up Wed.) babysat Shelby while I ran stuff to Della in the hospital, picked up my meds and Shelby’s collar. 

Home again and ready to hit the couch. We can finally relax and enjoy this beautiful weather.