Adventures in RVing with the Orion Gang

my Little Bailey - girl

2012-03-02T10:11:00.000-08:00

Most of you know that I lost my little Bailey to cancer. It took me this long to write without crying (yeah right). She was a true lady and a wonderful mama dog. She did love her babies. She will be missed so much. The trailer seems empty and we still have 4 others. Things I miss the most:
- her smile. She showed those teeth and grinned. If you got too close, you would get your nose bit.
- The way she relaxed, by holding a stuffed animal in her mouth and kneading with her front paws until she fell asleep and she would hold on to the stuffed animal while she slept.
- her love for hunting. She grabbed an opossum by the tail and pulled it out of a hole the night before she died.
-her easy going attitude. She was always the lady
- her love for her puppies
- if you threatened to kiss her feet, she would try to take your face off.. More bark than bite.

She will be missed so very much.

life in the RV

2012-02-03T19:07:00.000-08:00

Been in Uvalde for ove 2 months and I'm anxious to get on the road again. Heading to San Antonio on the 13th for a couple weeks. Bailey goes to a specialist on Tuesday. Say a prayer.

My little Bay-Bay

Our new trailer:

Our new coat rack

pretty outside

pretty inside

dogs doing what they do best:

whats up?

2012-01-25T12:59:00.000-08:00

Not much going on. Had some elective surgery done and am healing just fine. Dogs are hanging in there, but ms. bailey is still having potty problems. I think the final diagnosis is chronic colitis. sigh. poor girls feels like she has to poop every 5 minutes and howls when she hunches over. When not doing that she runs around like a little puppy. I'm stumped on what else to do for her. She is on low protein, high fiber diet and gets yogurt a couple times a week. Anyone have any ideas?
Still loving the new trailer. It is just what we have been looking for. Just love it.
Hope to see everyone at the texas 2 step dog trial in Navasota!

Merry Christmas to all!

2011-12-24T10:41:00.000-08:00

We are blessed to have each other and our friends and family in our lives. Happy Birthday Jesus- I love you.

New Trailer!!

2011-12-12T15:30:00.000-08:00

We decided we just didn't like the last trailer we had (for less than a year..sigh) and bought a Montana High Country. It is awesome! It has an electric fireplace and the dogs were very upset with the moving "things" in the box in the wall. Snap tried to claw it..yea that was well recieved.. NO! and Izzy just knew there was a critter in the box.. LOL they crack me up!

snap knew there was something in there!

Weather is awful in Uvalde, cold and rainy. When the next sunny day comes, I will take more pics of the trailer.

wow forgot to blog!

2011-11-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. Been busy, busy. We went to Huntsville, TX and had a great time visiting our friends, Cary and Kathy. We stayed at heartland rv park. It was ok. A lot of full-timers living there in their trailers. It was nice to meet some other dog people. Saw Cary almost everyday.
Next on to Debbie's house in Lexington, TX. What a nice time we had visiting and letting the dogs run around. A little windy and lot's of sand..ugh, but worth getting to see Debbie and Kailee :) Kathy came out for spaghetti one night and I forgot to give her the gate code.. sigh. But she finally got in and we had quite the time telling stories.
On to Lackland AFB. What a great park! Free laundry, WiFi, cable.. nice. So close to my mom too! We have had a nice time. Cooked Thanksgiving for Mom, Nan, Kim, Brent, Buddy and Jan and I have to say it was pretty yummy! Today we are headed to Maracumba (sp) a fantastic mexican food resturant.
OK now for the big news.. we are getting a new trailer...lol! we decided we don't like this one very much. We are getting a Montana High Country.. will let everyone know when we get it and take some pictures.

troubles on the road

2011-10-31T09:31:00.000-07:00

we headed to Camp Tonkawa Springs in Garrison, Tx..what a disappointment! we get in the office to pay for our 6 days (7th is free) and the lady in the office doesn't know how to operate the credit card machine. While in there a man tells us there are some deer that come through the park. I'm not too concerned..we can handle a couple deer...but we can't handle 50 of them!!!!! They were everywhere.. they walked through your site, pissed on your things and bedded down about 5 feet from your trailer. Needless to say.. the jacks were not too happy about all that. On top of the deer, there were guinea hens flying around and stray dogs... we were stressed out after one night. The dogs couldn't do anything bc of the deer. all they did was bark and want to chase them. We went to the office to get a refund so we could leave..sorry no refunds! WHAT???? They misrepresented themselves and now we are going to eat it? We had to go because there was no way we could stay there and have the dogs stressed and us stressed. So we head out and found a nice park in Crockett Texas. So here we are. I checked our bank account on line and found the Tonkawa camp charged us 2 times for an amount that was not even correct. They said they did a refund, but it is not in our bank. It has caused all kinds of problems with our finances. We are disputing the credit card charge. If anyone reads this...don't go to Tonkawa Springs.
On to Crockett Family RV.. nice place. A lot of people who live at the park year round, so not many people to visit with. Izzy found the tree next to our camp site pretty interesting:

Really I think it is in there

Really I do!

Let me show you

Poor Izzy checks the tree everyday and there is nothing in it. sigh. She really needs to get out in the field.

The site was pretty nice, with lots of big trees...but with that many trees..no grass..lots of sand.

Mississippi-yuck, Louisianna-nice

2011-10-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

Spent a week in Canton, Miss. It was awful, the park was ok, not great. Kinda like a trashy trailer park. Lots of Fema trailers with a number of "stuff" outside the trailers. Left after a week (Buddy said we were paroled) and moved to Ruston, La. It is beautiful so far. It is a "parish" park, like our county parks. Lots of big pine trees and a small lake to walk around. It was raining when we got here and a little cooler (53 degrees..brr). Tomorrow we are to have sun and beautiful weather. Will take pictures then.

The lake

Magnolia Dog Trial

2011-10-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

We had a really nice time at Magnolia and it is always good to see our friends, Pat and Al, Deb and John and Pam Victor. We had wonderful meals and got to visit for 3 days. Good time had by all.
Dogs did exceptionally at this trial. Rowdy was Senior GTG champ on Saturday and reserve champ on Sunday. Needless to say his daddy, Buddy was real pround of his boy.

pround papa

I know I'm special

Libby was champion under adult GTG on Sunday and Rowdy and Libby were champs in brush hunt also on Sunday. They had such a good time getting to Mr. Roger.

Snap did really good in his obedience and Rally and came away with 2 first for his work. Bailey got to do GTG and did fantastic for a 14 year old.. she sure likes to do that.

Now we are in Canton, MS and fixen to head to the largest flea market in the south right here in Canton!

Cypress Lakes RV park

2011-10-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful park! Nice people and a great place for the dogs. There are 2 lakes behind our trailer with walking trails all around them. Every day we would take the dogs for a walk and sometimes a swim. But, the coolest thing of all was the wild life! We saw an American Bald Eagle (so magnificient! And can see why it is our national symbol) We also saw a beaver! He was none too happy about the canadian geese getting too close and would slap his tail in the water.

little island with the American Flag

The geese were just fun to watch when they would fly in or fly into the water when we got too close..then they would turn around and honk at us! LOL.

geese watching me carefully

got too close

Even though they poop everywhere, they sure a pretty

Also, these lakes must have thousands and thousands of turtles in them. When you walk all you see are turtle heads sticking out of the water..And they are BIG!

one of the big guys

The dogs had a nice shady spot to relax in their little hammocks. Snap is just the cutest!

Tomorrow we leave for Germantown, TN for the Magnolia Dog Trial. Hope to have a great time there with all our friends. Till then...

Hunting in Georgetown, Ky

2011-09-29T14:17:00.000-07:00

Lynne McPherson called and invited Jan and I out to Georgetown to go hunting. It was only an hour away from Taylorsville park so off we go. We get there and Lynne even brought us a friend, to help dig, he was like a "pack mule." He carried almost all our equipment and wanted to dig! Todd can come with us anytime! We went to some friends of Lynne who had a small farm and we let the dogs run around. Libby got into a wood pile and immediately started baying. She stayed with it for a while and we started moving some of the larger pieces of wood out the way and found a very large cave-like hole underneath- with off shoots going every which way. Libby was way in deep. We could hear what sounded like a raccoon in there and a couple good fights. Libby came out and she had been bit on the nose by that nasty critter.

my poor little Libby :(

We cleaned Libby's lip, nose and mouth off and cleaned her eyes and let her rest for a while. So we went walking in the woods on the other side of the farm. Lynne's little dog (no hunting experience), Ripsy, jumped in a hole under some roots of a tree and she worked and worked this sette for over an hour. She put enough pressure on to bolt a raccoon! We were so proud of her and I know Lynne was too!

Then we went to an old barn and Izzy was going crazy over this large spool of barbed wire. She wouldn't leave it lone! We all thought there must be a mouse in there..but OH NOOOOOO!

Izzy looking in the large spool

Mr. Angry Oppossum trying to take a nap in the spool. Scared me to death when I looked inside expecting to see a little mouse and Mr. O was growling and baring his teeth!

We went walking around the barn and found what we thought was a ground hog hole. Izzy went in and started baying and really stuck with it. We found her about 2 feet in the ground face to face with another Oppossum! we pulled her out and let Ripsy work the Mr. O. Ripsy was so funny, she almost did the splits while trying to get in the hole. It was a fun day had by all!

Izzy had so much fun with the Mr. O in the hole. She was one dirty little girl!

fun times

2011-09-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

Buddy and I are still in Taylorsville, Ky. The weather has been up and down. Last night lots of rain, thunder and lightning. We are still standing and no leaks so that is a good thing. Took the dogs to the park and let them run loose in the baseball fields for some off leash time. Izzy is losing weight because we go for walks so much. Now she is eating more and is much happier. Rowdy keeps us in stitches with his funny ears:

trying to look like my friend, Hunter

The dogs love to jump in their x-pens and one day they are going to figure out that they can get over the top:

Our next stop is Land between the lakes in Ky then on to Magnolia. Hope to see you there!

Blue Grass Working Terrier Trial

2011-09-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

Great time had by all! Buddy, Jan and I ran the Brush Hunt again and it was a huge success

All the dogs did a fantastic job, Rowdy got first in agility, and first in jumpers. Izzy got first in her beginner agility class and Snap got first in obedience! Wahoo Orion Gang!

beautiful last night at Green River

2011-09-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

The night has to be the most beautiful I have seen in a while. Looked like gold shimmering on the lake. It was so pretty, you just had to sit and look. The dogs even seemed to be mesmerized. It was truly God's work on painting the sky. Hmm

now on to Taylorsville for the BWTA dog trial

If Indian Hills was hell, then Green River is close to heaven :)

2011-09-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

view from the trailer

Green River is a beautiful park. Right on the lake. If only the weather would cooperate. We had one day of clear skies and now more rain. still don't mind sitting in the trailer watching the lake.
Bailey had to go to the vet (in the middle of the night- of course). She needed to go out about 2 am and we took her out and she humped up as if to poop and just started screaming. woke everyone up. found a vet on line and took her in. He palpated her butt and found both anal glands about the size of marbles. They were HUGE. In 14 years she has NEVER had anal gland problems. So it never entered my mind. Anyway, they were severly impacted and she was in much pain. The vet got them expressed and now have her on chicken and rice to calm her intestines down. Doing much better now.
My sister is in the hospital..moved out of ICU today to a regular room. Long story, but she has Auto Immune Hemolytic Anemia. Please everyone put a prayer out for her. Well, off to walk the dogs..again.

OMG we are in Hell

2011-09-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

That was Buddy's assessment when we drove into Indian Hills KOA. No trees and highs in the upper 90's to over 100. A lot different than at Dale Hollow...can we go back?
This is what happens when you don't make arrangements for RV sites over the holidays. You get whats left over..Not the greatest.

Rowdy said it was so hot his ears stood up to get more air.

Our true adventure started on this trip with Jan joining the caravan.

Jan and her Puma ready to travel!

Buddy and the BIG RIG!

What a day for wonderful visits and good food

2011-08-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful time yesterday. Day started by being cool with light breeze. Actually wore a sweatshirt in the morning. Mid-day our friends, Tom and Carole came to visit and brought with them...the most wonderful ribs, sauce, and tator salad. OMG it was SOOOO good. We went for a great walk and came back to the camp to visit. Rea and Bruce came next and brought all our mail. Rea and I took a good walk with some of the pups and her clan, Tator, Willow and Cricket. Tator even got in the water! When we returned Buddy's friends, Roy and Trish came for a visit. It was a busy day, but it was a great day. Hopefully, we will see Rea and Bruce in Taylorsville for the dog trial. Off to run..beautiful day again.

dogs at the lake?

2011-08-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

Well, let's see, the weather has been wonderful..breezy and in the 80's, but today the heat returned and so we decided to take the dogs to the lake for a swim..yeeeehaww.
We were the only ones down at the "swimming hole" with Bailey, Rowdy, Snap, Izzy and Libby. About and hour in.. and in comes a DUCK. It lands just outside of the "swimming area." Now to set the stage, the water is VERY choppy because of the wind. Where did the Duck land? On the choppy side...Libby starts that way, I scream "come here", she hesitates, Snap starts that way, I scream "come here". He hesitates. Both look at me and decide it is better served if they beg forgiveness than ask for permission..so off they go. Over the side Libby lunges.. going after mister Duck. Duck in a panic, flies away. Dogs don't notice. They think Duck is still in the area and must be apprehended. Libby now in the water is being slammed on the rocks because of the waves. Buddy and Cindi panic. Buddy is holding on to the remaining JR's. I reach down to get Libby off the rocks and Snap falls in. The waves are over their heads and it is getting pretty scary. Finally I get Snap and Libby on the shore..sigh. It was touch and go for a while. Back to ball throwing and stick throwing..with Libby and Snap in Time out. We have a nice time, TILL people come from the other side of the swimming area with 2 LARGE dogs off leash. Our dogs go crazy, their dogs go crazy.. and do the people have leashes? NOOOOOOO. It eventually worked out and we got the dogs home and safe. It was an adventure (I don't want to repeat) for sure.

These are the dogs in Time Out

Rowdy going for a stick

Izzy and Snap being cute

beautiful day with friends

2011-08-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

Today Ellen, Gary and their dog, Ollie, came to visit us. Couldn't have asked for better weather. Nice and breezy with low humidity.. wonderful. Ellen and Gary brought lunch..yummy stuff and then we took a nice long walk and quick dip into the freezing water from the fish hatchery. All in all a really great day. Thanks to Ellen and Gary for making the trip out to visit. :)

wonderful rain

2011-08-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

I talk to my relatives from Texas all the time and they are in such a drought. Awful, they say it is the worst in over75 years. Makes me realize when we get rain in TN it is a blessing. Wonderful rain this morning. Dogs didn't even care to go out and do their "stuff". Nice relaxing day, went to the big city of Celina.. pretty poor. did our laundry..oh fun, oh fun. Dogs had a couple good walks and a nice wade in the cool water.

Animal Kingdom and more

2011-08-19T17:05:00.000-07:00

Buddy got up this AM and took the dogs for their morning constitutional while I slept.. (isn't he great?!) Anyway, when I got up he said he has never seen so much animal life..he saw, yes, a skunk at our site, two chipmunks, a cat, a couple dogs, birds and squirrels. He said the dogs were so busy "hunting" they wouldn't do their business. They finally settled down and went about their business. We took them in the afternoon to the lake to go swimming. Found a beautiful place where they could chase a stick and ball into the water. Reminds me of Pine Ridge Lake in Monterey. We had a great afternoon. I'm not feeling that great..runny nose, weepy eyes, cough..ick. Hoping it is allergies. After we got home, we had a HUGE storm, wind, lightning, thunder and lots of rain. Someone here lost their awning and another lost their EZ-up tent.. EZ up- EZ down.
weather is fantastic now..cool and partly cloudy.

SKUNKS?!?!?!?

2011-08-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

What the heck!? We have a wonderful site (#2 if anyone wants to visit!) and there are SKUNKS eveywhere! we saw 5 last night! of course the dogs think it is great even though we won't let them catch any. the hosts said they "trapped" about 1/2 of the skunks in the area..UGH I HATE SKUNKS!!! Have Skunk Off on hand in case. The skunks have been "treated" like squirrels and think it is ok to walk into your site... my dogs beg to differ!

2011-08-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

ok we are at Dale Hollow Lake this week..or 2. beautiful area, but our site #2 isn't the best seeing that the hosts across the street have a cat they let out of their trailer. Our dogs are not so accommodating-They would REALLY like to have the kitties over for dinner..theirs! But there is a HUGE place for Libby to play ball and lots of walking areas. Can't beat the price. Buddy has the *cough* senior discount so price is 1/2. Not too bad for 2 weeks, 10$ per night. Anyone want to come visit? will be here till the 31st.

homeless

2011-08-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

Well, lets see we are officially homeless, but living in our 5th wheel. So far it feels like we are just "camping" We are at Cumberland Mountain State Park in site 118 if anyone wants to visit before we leave on the 17th. We head to Dale Hollow for 2 weeks then on to Russell Springs Ky for the next 4 days after that...then? who knows.
A couple things we didn't consider about RV-ing full time:
Laundry is more expensive than I thought.
Not all RV parks have WiFi
Getting tired of watching NPR (no cable)
Will rely in my kindle more than I thought.
Love Running with my new shuffle that Kim and Brent got me
Must keep track of holidays because RV parks fill up fast.
Hope to hear from everyone while we are traveling! :)

is it supposed to be this hot?

2011-08-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

why is it sooooooo hot when we are trying to pack, box things for storage and get the house cleaned? We miss our friends from Texas..they had tire troubles on the way here and tire troubles on the way home. sigh. Is this a sign? Buddy got the RV washed and we are ready to start with the food tomorrow. Today is Snap's birthday, so on to celebrating! Happy Birthday my little snap-dragon!

no more lessons?!

2011-08-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

had my last lesson today in 8 years...sigh. Hopefully, everyone will follow my blog and keep up with me.

Things are going cheap!

2011-08-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

we made a great amount of mulla in the moving sale. Time to move out and on to RV-ing.

It All Goes To the Highest Bidder

2011-08-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

We had the biggest moving sale this past week - sold all of our stuff, aside from what we're taking in the RV with us. People wanted the dogs, but we refused to sell!

Some great friends from Texas, Matt and Heather Harrison and Norma Jean and Gracy, came up to help us. With them and Jan, our friend who will be traveling with us, we sold everything, packed what was left and cleaned the house. I could not have done this without all of them!

We'll be going to Cumberland Mountain State Park on August 8th. Here we were there this past Spring!