pics of Curly and KJ's trip - days 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16

Remember Curly?

Curly is our other former foster dog who is now ours. Curly is about 6 years old and has battled summer hair-loss for years. I had battled fleas on Curly in the past, but wasn't as diligent as I would have been were he "my" dog. It was hard to justify spending lots of money on someone else's dog. *hanging head in shame* I have now taken care of the flea problem, but his skin was all icky. The vet said it was flea bite dermatitis so I gave him a medicated bath and had been rubbing salve on his skin. Like Roscoe, I had trimmed mats out of his hair and he now looked terrible.

I decided that maybe a trip to the groomer might help so on Thursday, Curly got to have a spa day. When I picked him up, he had a "start-over" haircut and was sporting a pink bandanna. The biggest surprise was the groomer referring to Curly as a"SHE." I checked and sure enough, Curly is a girl. How could I have not noticed this for 6 years? In my defense, she is a very hairy dog, the opposite neighbor had told me that he thought Curly fathered his dog's last litter, and I just never paid attention. The groomer told me that Curly has tapeworms from the fleas so I got her medicine for that. I had dewormed her and Roscoe when they became ours, but didn't get tapeworm dewormer also.

At least she will be cool for the summer.

Roscoe and Curly have been inseparable since Roscoe arrived 3 years ago. When I loaded Curly into the car Thursday morning, Roscoe didn't mind too much. When I arrived back home about 2:30 without Curly, Roscoe seemed concerned. The groomer called shortly after that saying Curly was ready, so I loaded Sammie up since he was going to have a quick nail filing when I picked up Curly. As I drove out of the driveway, Roscoe started chasing the car. This was unusual, but not unheard of. He and Curly sometimes do this as far as the neighbor's driveway, but not very often. I looked in the mirror as we passed the neighbor's drive, Roscoe was still chasing me. I kept going thinking he would stop any second, but he was running for all he was worth. Finally, at the turn off our gravel road onto the main road, I stopped. I was afraid Roscoe would keep chasing me until he had a heart attack or heat stroke. He had chased me a little over a quarter mile. I put him in the passenger seat where he promptly put his face near the air conditioner vent and we all went to pick up Curly.

When we arrived at the groomers, I had Sammie on a leash, but Roscoe walked around like he owned the place looking for Curly. They were both overjoyed when Curly came out and rode in the back seat together for the ride home. Sammie was in the passenger seat and so emotionally overwrought from his nail filing that he was asleep about 2 blocks from the groomers.

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I heard from KJ Tuesday evening. He was in a laundry mat doing his laundry. He talked my ear off about a glacier, seals, sea lions, bald eagles, hiking, fishing, and his first experience using a group shower. (high school gym) He is still having the time of his life! He called again last night to just briefly touch base and ask me to send more money.

I went back and corrected a few previous updates as the schedule changed a little. Let's see, I left off with KJ boarding a ferry Wednesday morning for Ketchikan, Alaska. They arrived in Ketchikan Wednesday night and stayed until Friday evening when they boarded the ferry for Prince Rupert, British Columbia. They slept on the ferry and arrived in Prince Rupert really early this morning. Today they will travel to Prince George. Tomorrow (Sunday), they will travel to Jasper, Alberta. Monday, they will travel to Banff.

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