Back on the Roads Again and Again

The last blog entry was back in July and I promise you I have not sat home all these months.   There were dog shows here and there, a GTG in Kansas back in September and a trip to Charlotte and Savannah around Thanksgiving.  And now the pups and I have completed our winter escape of Ohio and have found warmer temperatures here in Florida.  From the temperatures my friends and RV acquaintances are posting from the Southwest I think my decision to travel to Florida this winter was a sound one...so far anyway.

Here are some pictures from this past summer. Some came from my iPhone and some from my camera so I am not worrying over much about chronological order.  

There was that weekend that both Audrey and Daisy collected majors at an AKC show.

In August the girls hit the UKC show in Lexington and picked up wins towards their UKC Grand Champion titles.  Along the way out of the 6 shows, Audrey took one Reserve BIS while Daisy, not to be out done, took one Reserve BIS and one BIS.    By November the girls had both completed their UKC Grand Championships. They both also appear to be ranked #3 in the Top Ten of their breed for 2014, which actually is more reflective of how few English Cockers Spaniels were shown in UKC shows this year than the great number of dogs they beat.   But they don't know the difference.

Daisy was not above borrowing other talented handlers to help her collect her wins in AKC.

Stuart stayed out of the limelight most of the time by concentrated on his volunteer work listening to the children read to him at the library.

Stuart also tried be pretend that he was above the riff raff and opportunists that circled in the kitchen at the thought of "something" being dropped during "dog camp" when Izzy came back to visit us for a month along with Daisy.  Izzy's Pappa Bill and Mamma Lyn worked on getting moved into their new house and the girls concentrated on attending a clutch of dog shows.

Izzy often wanted to  remind Audrey and Daisy that they better appreciate the fact that she gave up her retirement on the couch and had to put up with all this grooming fuss so that she could attend the UKC shows and assist their run for points.  Her daughters may have beat her every show but she still had the wiggliest butt in the ring.

In September I headed off to spend a week in Kansas with friends from the WomenRV.com group. This is just one of the pictures.  The dogs saying things like, "Hey, didn't I meet you last year in Southern California?"   Crazy ladies traveled from both coasts to attend.

Sometime soon I really do need to update the rig picture here on the blog......She has finally decided to call herself Beatrix....the Wanderer.....    And aren't these COE sites fabulous and all for the $10 "Old People" prices.

There were gatherings for visiting and food.

There was time for kayaking and checking in with children who wonder where their mothers go when they say they are going to Kansas.   

Just so happens that the city of Council Grove had a bunch of "Lady Night Out" shirts left over and sitting around the Chamber of Commerce office.   For $10 the theme seemed to suit most of us.  It also helped the locals keep track of us.....not that they should have worried. Much.

Several of us had opportunities to share with Catherine the mental health benefits of planning for retirement.....

When back at home Stuart found time to take his sister for a walk around Lebanon so she could observe any changes in the couple years since she left to become a Kentucky dog.

Blondie and her daughter Izzy position themselves on top of the dog crates.  (That much closer to the tubs of dog food....) "Who us? We wouldn't try to get that lid off, promise. It must have been one of those pesky young girls."

At Thanksgiving there was a quick trip to Savannah, but since I have taken bunches of Savannah pictures before I didn't bother with many this time.   

I also did not take pictures of Thanksgiving dinner at Kate's and Lucas' new home in Charlotte, NC.  Enough to say the food and company was great and their new home has what all of my RV friends wish for....the flat driveway with electric available.

Leaving Ohio on Christmas day, Stuart, Audrey and Remi spent a day visiting Lexington and walking around the Kentucky Horse Park.  From Lexington we landed in our friend Mitch's drive way in NE TN, for two nights and a chance for Stuart and I to see if we had the stamina to keep up with Mitch on her walking routines.   We did.

From there we took two days to travel on down to the Escapees park outside Mobile, AL. After one night there we drove closer to the coast to our wonderful piece of heaven, Arnett's Gulfside Trail Rides, Stables and Campground.  It is a Passport America park with only a small handful of full hook ups sites in the back.  Not fancy back there but very quiet and the management is wonderful. If the smell of barns and hay and horses are a pleasant thing for you, I recommend the place.  The campsites are right next to the edge of the state park and hiking trails run right out the back into the piney woods.   The beach is only 3/4 of a mile down the highway. No excuses for not walking dogs.

Audrey has learned to be a pretty good hiker with her Uncle Stuart.  If Remi walks with us he usually walks immediately behind me.   On deserted trails he can follow off lead.

"Don't worry about the  Panthers out there, Remi, the Bobcats will probably take you down first" 

This picture is for my daughter, Kate, who appreciates smaller tracks over the broad trails that I like..... The coated dogs collect less "baggage" on the wider trails.   But Stuart will take me down all of them. He doesn't care about coat issues.

Unfortunately there have been wild animals in this part of the park.....leaving their trash behind.

Beatrix and the little white thing that follows her everywhere.

And the beach....

"Wait. I remember this stuff!" woofs Audrey,  "Didn't I decide that I like it last winter?  Remind me."

This one is available if you what to spend some additional money working on protecting the supports.

Or we could just go in and share expenses for this one. I am thinking coffee over looking the ocean in the morning might be meditative and I don't usually even drink coffee.

New Year's Day crowd beginning to gather for the Annual Plunge.  Many thought to come in costumes.  I am sure that helped keep them warmer.  We left before the crowd got too deep.

And, yes, I took a trail ride.   I later came back and took a two hour ride Saturday with just the guide. It was a lot more fun and the trails were much more interesting because she didn't have to worry about the general public and the children.

I ditched the puppers for one evening and met up with a friend from RVing and Facebook. Alice has taken up the Christmas decorating hobby.  Really you can get this far in only three years of collecting!  Retired folks have to keep busy.   It is especially fun if you like glitter! 

 Coming back after dinner, you realize what draws all the neighbors and the children to come past Miss Alice's Christmas House.    What you all missed are the stories over dinner of where all the reindeer fly off to in the windy Florida storms and the visual of Alice collecting errant decorations from the neighbor's yards.  There were also a stories about undependable and useless helper elves.  

So tomorrow we hook up the Honda and take to the road again and head towards Ocala where I have been warned that temperatures were in the 80's today.   I have enjoyed the beach walks and am now ready to go find some kayaking lakes/rivers.

West Virginia, It's not all Mountains

So the last post was March 17th!  That is what happens when one is working instead of exploring.  But my work season has ended.  Audrey has seen fit to let me drive her to several other dog shows in spite of work. It is a useful excuse to explore a few more areas and try out the new rig.  But now we can take in dog shows and adventures!

The week of the 4th, after Audrey's show outside of Pittsburgh I headed over to West Virginia for a week to visit with a bunch of my cousins.  They were staying at Stonewall Jackson Resort in cabins. The dogs and I stayed at a Corp of Engineer campground a few miles down the road.   I got to kayak a few times, the dogs got to take long walks around the campground and then I would head over to visit with the family for a few hours while the dogs held down the rig by themselves.  

"Look, I like kayaking now, as long as I don't have to get wet," say Remi.

 West Virginia isn't all mountains.  The lake in long and not to wide.  It makes for nice paddling.

Quiet coves. Good for fishing.

 

Several areas along the shore have barriers to protect them from...?   Maybe the wakes of the boats or high water during spring rains?

You know there are fish here.

 
"I know you brought me some water to drink but I could use a tree break," explains my passenger.

So we head back towards the campground for today.

Bulltown Campground gets its name from a Civil War battle on the ground next door to us.

A small church near the grounds. Love those longs. 

These were where the lower trenches were.  The camp was near property that was being farmed so it may have actually been a pasture of cornfield.

Up the trail to the top of the hill you can see what remains of the trenches that ring the hill.  

The top of the hill provided space for the buildings for the troops and the horses, etc.

This is the farm house that suddenly had soldiers come in 1861 and tell them that they are taking over the hill next door to protect the toll road.    Confederates over run the hill twice but the Union always won it back and was able to keep the supply road open until the end of the war.  You read about the big battlefields but Bulltown reminded me that the Civil War had many small outposts that were each important in their own way.  In this case they had to keep the supply routes open. If they hadn't been successful who knows what would have happened in other areas of Virginia.

Can you hear the horses coming up to the house?

Another day another chance to paddle.  The campground was full of families enjoying their holiday.  Lots of boat, bikes and kayaks...also large inflatable swimming docks.  I so could have played with one of those in my childhood.  But then my childhood was before the world of plastic explored. (Reminds me of the movie, The Graduate.)

 

Today we head up the other direction and hope that the cloud cover stays to help keep us cool but not drop rain on us.

We get to see wildlife as we float quietly by.

 

And then we get to see why momma is watching us so closely.  Notice the little head directly to her left?

Really, it isn't even that warm today? Someone must have stayed up to late last night.

Like found poetry, logs wait to be discovered.

Some wait longer than others.

Another thirsty visitor to the shore.  When I was cropping the pictures I could see what looks like ticks all over the deer.  Made my skin itch just to see them.

Not everyone likes wind chimes anyway, but nobody needs to run out and make me one of these.  This might be a West Virginia wind chime.

Here we are on our corner lot. I was amazed that with all the children and large families camping throughout the campground it was never noisy in the evening.  The dogs and I just needed to dodge bikes and trucks as we took some of our walks.....

And, hey, I finally took time to wash the Baja saltwater scum from the sides of the kayak.  I also left a little Mexican sand in West Virginia.

And there were the afternoons with the cousins.....