dog | Ole Hippies Traveling

The Loss of My Best Friend

Today I am bringing myself to actually write about my best friend, Alice, who I lost on Sunday. Alice was my 102 lb. Lab/ Catahoula leopard dog who at 11 1/2 years old left this world.

Alice never wanted anything but to be by me. She loved me unconditionally. She was the best girl. She never left my side when we were hiking or the campsite while camping. When David and I would pick berries or spruce tips she would just lay and watch us, move as we moved and never left my side. We were walking with her through a park one time and this tiny dog came running out of the grass. Scared Alice to death and she went running for camp. Another time we were going to hike the trail to Five Fingers on the Yukon River in Canada. There were steep, long steps down to the trail. Alice got down about half way turned and said that is enough, ran back to the van. Trying to get her across a bridge over the Yukon River in Miles Canyon near Whitehose was really something. David pushed and I pulled. Once across she was fine and we went for a nice walk. Coming back we just thought this is going to be fun. She tricked us though and walked right across.

Alice was such a chicken. People would be afraid of her because she was big. They would hear her deep bark not knowing that she was hiding in the bedroom barking at them. She was a great protector if she could hide behind you. She was afraid of kitchens, bathrooms and floors without carpet. Oh yes, stairs can be scary too. In fact any change can be scary.

Alice helped me through my late husband’s, Baggy, 13 months of illness and his death. When the paramedics were on the way to our home I put her outside. As they worked on Baggy in the living room by the window she quietly watched. When it was time for them to take Baggy away, as they zipped the bag she started to bark and did so until they drove off. She was the one that helped me make it through this.

Alice moved with me from Texas to Washington to Alaska. Then our last move to York, Pennsylvania. She was a great traveler.

She was so good with the twin granddaughters. I used to laugh because every time Dan brought them over she would have to smell them and make sure they were the right ones, I guess. As they grew she would sit patiently until they finished eating so she could clean up their mess. If she did get tired of them she would just get up and go into the bedroom.

When we would get ready to go somewhere and Alice couldn’t go we could tell her, “No, Alice you have to stay.” Then she would mope off to her moping corner in our room. David said she reminded him of Eeyore.

Friday morning I was awakened by the sound of Alice falling against the wall next to my side of the bed. She then slipped down the wall and was laying down. I thought that was weird but she seemed to settle down. I went back to sleep for a while. I got up around 6 and went to start my morning routine, which the first thing was to let Alice out. She always follows me right to the door as soon as we are up. She didn’t follow. A little later she tried to get up and couldn’t. Her whole back end didn’t work.

We looked up vets online and found one that opened at 7:30. I called and they could get her in at 10. The next problem was how to get her in the back of our car. Luckily, we have a Subaru Outback so the backend opens up. But how would we get this 102 lb dog up the hill and into the car. Our son in law, Dan, and his Dad, Jim, came to help. I got her on a sheet and we brought in the girls’ wagon. We go her into the wagon, up the hill and into the car without stressing her out.

The vet couldn’t find anything really bad on the x-rays. Some arthritis but who of us don’t have that in our backs. I am thinking now it was a stroke. The vet says it could be. She says we could try a steroid shot and that if it helped we would be able to tell by Sunday. I agreed to let her have the shot, hoping it will help. We took her back home.

By now she has not been to the bathroom since Thursday night. David and I put a rolled towel under her to hold up her backend. We took her out but she didn’t do anything. She couldn’t pick up her tail and her legs just dragged behind her.

Saturday night wasn’t a good night for Alice. Sunday morning there was no change what so ever. I couldn’t let her suffer any more. I made the decision I had to make. The vet opened at 10. We were there with Alice when they opened. They got us in right away. They were so wonderful to us. Alice left this world knowing how loved she was. We were with her until the end.

I love you, Alice. I will never forget you and all you did for me. I hope you are sitting at Baggy’s side now watching over me.

Thanks for stopping by!

How Come Relaxing Makes You Tired?

I don’t understand how I can have a relaxing weekend out camping. I slept great and went for a nice walk. I sat by the campfire and played games at the table. It was such a nice, quiet weekend. We got home and the boys helped me unpack the camper which was not hard because I have it set up for the summer now. I came upstairs and sat down to work on my pictures when I fell asleep and didn’t wake up for 4 hours. By then it was after 8. We stayed up a while longer then went to bed to read. That is my excuse for not blogging yesterday.

Today I finally just got the photos done from the camping trip. Which was on my list, so I checked it off. I am liking this list thing because I seem to be getting a lot more done. There are several things I didn’t get done today, so they will move on to tomorrow.

I hope you enjoy the photos of our camping trip to Kings River, Alaska. We will be going back here in the fall to pick berries. There are lots of 4 wheeler trails if you have one. People are always out there riding. There a quiet a few that just come for the day. This isn’t a regular campground like with outhouses and conveniences. It is just where people have camping for years. In the fall it isn’t only good for berries, it is also good for hunting. With all the 4 wheeler trails they can get back in there and get a moose.

Walking on trail at Kings River, Alaska

Of course, my chicken dog, Alice, was with us. She loves camping. She will get into the water a little and she loves going on hikes. One thing she does that I think is funny she always pees in the water. Alice, shocked us when the dogs from another campsite came over to visit and she didn’t run. She actually let them smell her and she smelt thing. I believe they became friends. When Bogart got there, he kept trying to go make friends and we would call him back when he started sneaking off. He did get away with it a couple of times. Alice would let us know by barking every time he would start working is way out of the camp. It was pretty funny her telling on him.

Today was my weigh in day. I lost 1.2lbs. That was good because I think the beers may have been a little over my carb intake should have been. At least I lost and I still feel good about this diet. I made us lettuce taco’s tonight and we like it.

Well I am off for today. Hope everyone has a good night.

Girdwood Forest Fair and Camping

Alice got in her truck and was ready to go camping. The poor thing didn’t get to go into the Girdwood Forest Fair. That was okay though because all the people would have scared her.

Our plan for the first camping trip was to go to the Girdwood Forest Fair first. We got up in the morning and finished packing the camper. We didn’t want to get there too early because they close the road for the parade. We parked at Alyeska Resort Daylodge and took the shuttle to the fair. There were a lot more people than I had expected to be there. I guess since our summer is so short everyone goes to anything that is outside. It was a nice day yesterday, but even if it was raining they would have all been there.

There were stages all over with different things going on. Lots of vendors trying to sell their wares. Lots of food vendors doing the same thing. We went in the beer garden for a beer but when we found out we had to pay $8.00 for a cup and then $6.00 to fill it up, we thought that was too high and figured that would fill a growler up at the Girdwood Brewery.

I did think it was cool that they had a baby nursing place set up for the mothers and to change their little ones.

We caught the shuttle back to our truck and off we went to Girdwood Brewery. There Alice could come out with us in beer garden. We all had a beer and filled two growlers up with some of their nice brew.

After our beer it was off to find a good camping place.

We found a place on the old highway road to camp. It was between the railroad tracks and the highway. I know you are thinking that’s going to be loud, but it wasn’t bad at all. The highway was on the other side of this pond we camped by, so the traffic noise was not bad. The train was kind of cool except when they honked their horns when they went by.

Heather and Dan showed up with the girls. Katharine and Rebecca had never been camping before, so we were all excited to see how they liked it. They really did like it. Katharine loves the trees. Rebecca was going to check everything out. They thought the fire was pretty cool. There was another couple parked not far from us. They kind of just stayed to theirselves except when they came to see the girls and talk to the dogs. We were all at our own campsite and we had a fire going when all of a sudden a cop droves up, turned around and stopped. The cop got out of the car as we noticed the K-9 on his car. We were thinking he wasn’t there to tell us we couldn’t have a campfire, so we waited. He then let his dog out. We noticed he had something in his mouth, looked like a toy. Then the cop took the toy and threw it into the pond for the dog to fetch. The dog was having a blast. When he was done playing with his dog he put him back in the car, rolled his window down and told to have a good evening. We all thought that was a cool cop. Then it got to be bedtime and Mom and Dad got their beautiful little girls ready for bed. They took their bottles and decided it was full of caffeine or sugar because they decided it was party time. Well first Dusty drifted off to his tent. Grandma and Grandpa headed to their camper to play a little crib. Then Heather came in to fix the girls bottles again saying goodnight to us. We saw them out walking the girls as we fell asleep.

Then in the morning we woke up first and I made some coffee. Then Dan popped in for a cup and told us the girls didn’t go to bed until 12:30. Next Heather came in dragging. They went and fed the babies while I cooked breakfast of oatmeal and fruit Heather had brought. After everyone woke up things were fun.

After breakfast we decided to pack up because the wind was picking up and we felt a few drops. We all had a good time eating hot dogs cooked on the open fire while drinking a few good beers.

After one last look around our campsite, Alice got a couple more drinks from the pond and we left for home.

We had only gone a few miles when we could see that there was a line of cars backed way up the highway. It took us an hour to get 4 miles. When we stopped I called Heather because they had left before us. They didn’t make it through either and were a couple of miles ahead of us. They finally made it to Bird Creek Campground and told us there had been some kind of accident. When we finally got there it was all cleaned up and traffic was going back to normal. I sure hope no one was hurt.

Samuel Augustus Van Doghousen III

Fred and M for as long as I have known them have always had a Great Dane. They have rescued quite a few and given them a great life. They never know what kind of background they have come from, so sometimes they can really be a lot of work.

Sam is the one that they have now. He does have some cute ways about him. There used to be a commercial in Britain for a company and the star was Churchill the Bulldog. Fred and M somehow ended up with a stuffed one and Sam has adopted it. He carries it around and lays it down gently. He treats it like it is his baby. Sam must have also gone to model school because just bring the camera out and he poses for you. He is a real ham. But he is a Great Dane which means he has the brain the size of a pea. He can do some dumb things like not being smart enough to get out of the sun when you get to hot. When he is panting he is not smart enough to drink water. They have to put a lot of water in his food to make up for his lack of drinking it plain.

Sam is a good guard dog when it comes to people jumping over the fence to pick mushrooms. He goes bounding after them barking. They go running. We are never sure if he is really chasing them or if he is saying wait I want to play.

Sam has his own couch to sleep on in the hall with his own blanket, of course. He spends a lot of time here dreaming of chasing sheep and horses. He will bark at them and is very brave when there is a fence between him and them.

All in all Sam is just a big loveable dog who will always make you smile by doing something funny or with his facial expressions.

Sam thanks for all the laughs while we were visiting in Scotland.

Alice the Chicken Dog

When I say chicken dog I don’t mean that she herds the chickens together or that she eats chickens. I mean she is afraid of everything. She is a 100 pounds and is scared of everything. If you change something in the house she is afraid of it. She won’t go in the kitchen because that scares her. She hates going to my daughter’s because of the wood floors also scare her. We were camping one time and this tiny dog came running out of the grass barking at her and she took off running. I was out walking her one day in the winter and some other dogs came up to take a sniff. She took off running and it was icy, so try to guess what happened. I slide on the ice and fall on the road. I hit my butt and head. My glasses go flying off my face which I didn’t know until I got to the park and couldn’t read something. When I got back to the place I fell they had been run over. She is getting better since she has been out hiking, as far as other dogs are concerned. We were going down all these steps to go look at the Yukon river and she got halfway down the steps turned, ran back to the van. On the same trip we stopped at a place to get a closer look at the Yukon River. There was a really cool bridge you had to walk across. She didn’t think so, but with David pushing the back-end and me pulling the front end we got her across. Then going back across she was fine. Anyway she is still the best dog ever. I am glad my son, Dusty, is staying at the house to take care of her while we are gone.

5 HOURS AND COUNTING