WHATS ONE MORE?!

The last half of 2016 has been a tough one. Just when we think we can recover from one incident something else happens. With all our drama we had to cancel all of our planned travels for what remained of 2016. We have only been out twice since our last outing in May. These two short trips have just been in the last few weeks and within an hour of the house. This has been the longest period of idle time for the Airstream since we owned it. Here is the short list of what has transpired:

       Christmas at Lake Louisa

One week after our return from our month long trip in May Tim's mom fell braking her pubis ramus in 2 places. Basically she broke her butt bones/pelvis in two places. Along with some other injuries from the fall she spent a week in the hospital. Then moved to a nursing home. Right before her move to an assisted living community ... she fell again. This time braking her hand. By the first week of August we successfully moved her to assisted living community nearby. Anyone who has gone through this with an elderly parent understands all that is involved in this process. She just turned 90! And is having a blast where she is currently residing.

                        José 

On top of that ...

A large oak tree on the bike trail that we live on fell into our yard almost hitting me and José. So glad Jett wasn't out there at the time. José is Tim's moms chihuahua ... we are fostering him for her until she can take care of him again. José is 14 years old ... was un-handled and unsocialized. Not a good mix with a 14 month old lab. With some patience and love we have brought José to a point that we can all manage to mingle in peace most of the time. Tim and I had planned on getting another puppy this past summer ... a yellow male this time and we would name him Dash. We decided to put that off for at least a year and I even said 'Who knows maybe a dog will find us.' 

And on top of that ...

The AC went out at the house in the heat of our Florida summer. My work has been BUSY!!! Hot water heater went on the fritz. Lawnmower broke. No power for 16 hours during Hurricane Matthew. House flooded ... Okay just one room and the garage. Just a little leak from a copper pipe in the FOUNDATION. No need to even do an insurance claim. The repair cost of less than $500 wouldn't meet our $500 deductible. Just as Tim was in the process of re-plumbing the entire house a second leak reared its ugly head. This time taking out the flooring and some drywall in FIVE rooms. Time to make a claim! We had no running water in the house now. It took three days to get the master bath back up and running. With our busy schedules it then took a few more weeks to get the rest of the house re-plumbed. It took six weeks to hear anything back from our insurance company! After much searching for new flooring we were finally able to order our new flooring which just arrived two weeks ago. Tim and I will begin the process of laying the new floors after the Holidays and the first of the year. At this point I'm just grateful that I have a roof over my head. So many other tragedies have happened to others in this world ... fires, earthquakes & entire towns flooded. A little water in the house is nothing to complain about. Just pick-up the pieces, figure out how to put them back together, be grateful for what I have and move on!

Back to the 'WHATS ONE MORE?!' ...

What seems like ages ago I was at the dog park just a few days before Hurricane Matthew hit Florida. I was inside the big dog park fence with Jett and half a dozen other large dogs and their owners when a guy walked up to the gate and said 'I just found this dog down the road by a trailer park. She almost got hit by a car. I put her over in the little dog fence.' Before we all knew it the guy was gone and we all decided to go check this dog out. There stood what looked to be a black lab mix and what a cutie! (Love at first sight!)

          Jett    and    Mattie

We all decided to just leave her hoping her owners would come find her there since she was from nearby. By this time the Park Ranger had found out and came over. He told me that if we were to leave her, his protocol would be to call the pound. I called Tim to tell him my situation. He was not the most receptive. I then put this sweet dog in my car with Jett. Drove around for a bit looking for a 'trailer park' nearby. Uh ... all the houses nearby are on the lakes and no trailer park to be seen! I figured I would find her worried parents by days end or at least within a few days.

Luckily for this sweet girl, when I got home, she jumped out of my car, ran to Tim wagging her tail and licked him! Long story short after a chip scan that showed no chip, social media postings, many fliers all over town we now have ONE MORE dog in the house. We've gone form zero to three in a flash! We named her Mattie after Hurricane Matthew and guess she was about a year old. Mattie didn't know what a toy or a ball was and didn't even know a sit command. She was also in HEAT when I rescued her. And I recall the guy who dropped her had a leash in his hand and had probably really dumped her. Why did he put her in the fence where no one was? How do you just happen to have a leash to rescue a dog?

          Mattie

Mattie has come a long way. Everyday we continue to watch her evolve coming out of her shell and becoming herself. She plays with toys now. Has a blast playing tug of war with Jett. I love it when they get a big chase going in the back yard ... Mattie being about 20 pounds lighter/smaller than Jett is a bit faster! Jett and Mattie are the complete opposites. The girls get along great and I now realize one would not be happy without the other nearby. She is the sweetest dog I have ever owned and has been the perfect fit into our home! Life is good. 

        Jett happens!

Jett is now 20 months old, Mattie 14 months and José 14 1/2 years old. What a mix! There is never a dull moment for sure. I'm always counting to three to make sure all the dogs are in check. Everyone continues to learn to cohabitate ... dogs and humans alike. 

        Jett happens!!!

Oh ... almost forgot ... I got to work with Buzz Aldrin a few months ago!!! The heck with the Olympians, famous football players, Darth Vader, Storm Troopers, Princess's (RIP Princess Leia), Mickey & Minnie. I got to work with a real astronaut! A world famous icon and true hero who walked on the MOON!

Our big news has been delayed due to all the chaos. Hoping we can make that announcement sometime in the next few years. Tim and I are hoping to be able to get out more in the Airstream in 2017. Mattie was able to go on her first camping trip and handled it like an old pro. 

       Mattie's first camping trip!

Here's to knowing 2017 will be a hell of a lot better than 2016!

Cheers ... Bring It On!!!

HAPPY FIVE-OHHH!!!

Yup it happened yesterday. The big one hit! As I look at it, its just another day and I am proud to now be able to claim my fifty years! 

One of my favorite birthday gifts was a print on canvas from the original of my Airstream in Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. Painted by the amazing fine artist, Elizabeth Jose. 

Then my mother made me the best birthday cake ever!

And I also received a shipment from Vintage Trailer Supply. Just a few items to get started on restoring our 1948 Airstream Liner. 

BACK TO THE HOME-FRONT . . .

We made it! It was a toasty 94* as we crossed the state line from Georgia into Florida. Then the temperature kept going back and forth between 94* and 97* as we drove south. Settling at 91* on our arrival home. 

Tim and I made it home around 4:30 PM today. We are glad to be home and so is Jett. She ran and ran in the backyard as soon as she was let loose. Now the major cleanup begins. Not sure of our next travels but hopefully it will be back into cooler weather when it does happen! 

WHODAHELLIZDAT?

Someone has not shaved in just over a month! Guess who? Just a 'little' gray I've been telling him. I think he likes it and I do too. Well, as far as today goes it was spent not doing much. 

Tim and I decided not to leave camp but to instead continue to enjoy our last day here in this spectacular park. Skidaway Island turned out to be an amazing find and very quiet on this holiday as most everyone departed this morning. We spent most of it discussing our future and what it holds. There will be major changes in what's left of the year to come. Life is indeed good! 

The Homefront has many projects waiting to be done and we have started to prioritize that list . . .

The day turned out to be fantastic as I got more hammock time. Weather is perfect. Jett enjoyed being outside with us as well and Tim took care of everything we needed. We only left camp a few times (at least Tim did 2x) as I was busy (in the hammock). We all did make it to the camp office where Jett was invited in! Jett happens . . . 

On our last night out, here at camp, we had our favorite foil pack dinner which is smoked sausage, potatoes, fresh carrots and sugar snaps. Then we enjoyed a toasty campfire for the evening. Perfect ending to a relaxing perfect day! 

Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all who are serving, have served and to those families who have lost loved ones serving our country. 

DAFFIN PARK . . .

Today turned out to be a rainy day. It rained most of last night but by daybreak it had finished or so we thought. By eleven it was drizzling again. Tim and I didn't think we had received much more than a light rain from the Tropical Storm until we took Jett for her morning walk. Once we began to hear the chain saws we knew something was up. 

Just down our row in the campground a very large hollow tree had fallen over onto a very nice crew cab truck. The cab was heavily crushed on the passenger side. Just thankful no one was hurt and that it didn't happen during the night to an RV. 

The weather was to clear after lunch so we decided to head out, grabbing our rain jackets on the way,  so that we could take Jett to Savannah's big dog park. It's located in Daffin Park near the historic district. We promised her she would have fun. 

            FINN

On our arrival ... guess who was there? None other than Finn himself! We met Finn in Forsyth Park earlier in the week on our first day here exploring the city. That was pretty neat. I think it helped Jett coming into a new dog park already knowing another dog. 

A few other dogs came and went while we were there. Jett had a blast of course. Mud puddle ... She rolled in it. Luckily I had Tim throw her shampoo in the truck before we left. Good thing because she was a hot muddy mess by the time we left. 

Looks like the rain is back for the evening. I was really hoping for some more hammock time but not today. No campfire either. Let's see what tomorrow brings! 

TRAINS, CEMETERIES AND BBQ!!!

What a combination! We thought it was going to be an easy and short day but it turned out to be a long day. Even with all our stops it was still fun. Jett thought it to be a bit exhausting but only because she was not able to get a nap in. 

Since this is a holiday weekend Tim and I decided to make an early start of it. The other day we scouted the Georgia State Railroad Museum. Making sure dogs were indeed allowed and that parking was adequate. So today we made this our first stop. What an amazing place. Center of attention is the functioning 85 foot turntable. By turning, it allows locomotives access to any one of the stalls in the roundhouse. 

I'm not sure if any of my pictures convey the true size of this enormous complex. Surrounding the backside of the turntable is the roundhouse. Here in the roundhouse locomotives were inspected, maintained and housed. Through redesigns and expansions over the years it currently has 34 bays, each over 138 feet long. One of the fascinating elements I liked (other than the locomotives) was the wood block floor. It was used because it absorbed grease, oil and water and it protected tools and parts from damage if dropped. 

The complex is made up of many more buildings including a paint shop, carpenters shop, machine shop and blacksmith shop just to name a few. On the backside of the Storehouse is Savannah's Children's Museum. It looked to be pretty neat! We didn't go in but could see through one of the buildings. This building has a maze and fun play area for kids in the basement but there is no floors, windows or even a roof. Crazy concept that works! Jett did really good. We even got some training in on a metal staircase. Just guessing that because she could see through them she didn't want anything to do with them. Our second try with her about an hour later worked! 

With weather heading our way Tim and I (with Jett tagging along) decided it would be a good day to visit a cemetery. Not just any cemetery but the very famous Bonaventure Cemetery. They even have their own Historic Society and it's listed as a National Registry Historic Place. The first adult to be buried on the property was believed to have been in 1802. 

Laid to rest here are many Confederate Soldiers, a few Generals, Governors, Senators, Mayors, plantation owners, Bishops, and even the famous song writer Johnny Mercer plus many, many more people famous and not. The Bird Girl Statue from the cover of the book MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL was here. People kept stealing her so the family had her removed and she currently resides in the Telfair Museum in Savannah. 

Just as it began to sprinkle we were wrapping up our cemetery visit. Jett was exhausted and we needed food. Tim began a search for something on our return back to Skidaway. We both decided on just picking up BBQ from a place we passed yesterday in Sand Fly. When I ran in to grab to go menus, while Tim sat in the truck with Jett, I found out that they didn't have any (only a chalk board) they do allow dogs in the outside seating area and they serve beer out there as well. That's all we needed to make up our minds to stay and eat. We didn't pay much attention to all the awards and plaques on the wall but once you smell it you know your in the right place! It was the perfect ending to an interesting day. 

Tomorrow may turn into a down day depending on how much rain we get from Tropical Storm Bonnie. As of now looks like we are right on the edge of it.