Tuesday, July 29, 2008

I want my baby back, baby back, baby back..................harmonica music
I want my baby back, baby back, baby back...............

Well, the Mountain Men are crossing the vast expanse of west Texas. KJ will spend Tuesday night in Lamesa at the Sky Vue Drive-in. The drive-in will open just for them so they can camp out there and watch movies. Wednesday night will be at Wolf Mountain Scout Ranch in Llano and I pick him up Thursday afternoon in Georgetown. Whoopee!!!


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Saturday, July 26, 2008

KJ's trip - days 27, 28, 29, and 30

KJ called yesterday! He was running around Buena Vista, Colorado with 4 other boys. He had just purchased a kinife sharpener for a small souvenir knife he had bought in Alaska. He wanted to buy a "real" knife, but you had to be 16 and everybody in his group was 15. He is having a blast and said that he had really started to click with some of the boys. Today, they will be going white water rafting on the Arkansas river. I told him to wear a helmet, a life jacket, and hang on tightly. His was reply was, "yes mom."

Anyway, yesterday (Friday), they traveled to Buena Vista, Colorado where they will also stay Saturday night. On Sunday, they will travel to Bandelier, New Mexico. Monday, they will visit the Los Alamos Lab, and shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico where they will spend the night.


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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

KJ's trip - days 24, 25, and 26

KJ called last night and said that he had just seen "old Faithful" in Yellowstone. He also sent me a text message this morning that said...

Hey mom. Ill b
home in 9 days. I
really miss u.
Hope ur doing
well. Love. K.J.


I teared up when I read it.

Anyway, he is supposed to be heading to Jackson Hole, Wyoming today (Tuesday). Wednesday, he will travel to Lander, Wyoming where he will get to see Sink's Canyon. Thursday, he will travel to Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Karisma - I replied to you in the comments on the last post.


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Sunday, July 20, 2008

KJ's trip - Days 20, 21,22, and 23

I left off with KJ traveling to Rock Creek, Montana on Thursday. I heard from him Thursday afternoon and again Friday morning. They stayed at Rock Creek until today when they will travel to Cody, Wyoming and hike the lower and upper falls of Yellowstone. Monday, they will travel on into Yellowstone National Park itself.



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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Look how he has grown

Apparently, some people, well my dad, did not recognize the black dog a few posts back. That was Sammie.

Remember Sammie? This is David holding him on April 29.
This is David holding him tonight.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

KJ's trip - days 16, 17, 18 and 19

I haven't heard from KJ lately, but here is where he is supposed to be.

I left off with KJ traveling to Banff, Alberta on Monday. They will travel to Radium Hot Springs in British Columbia Tuesday, and Glacier National Park on Wednesday where they will hike at St. Mary's Lake. On Thursday, they will travel to Rock Creek, Montana where they will spend three nights at Ekstrom's Stage Station.


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Saturday, July 12, 2008

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.

*************************************************************

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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Monday, July 7, 2008

KJ's trip - days 8, 9, 10, and 11

I'm back from helping my slavedriving, *ahem,* I mean extremely focused sister paint her living room and hall. Just kidding Staci. We had a lovely visit in addition to painting.

Well, after I said that I probably wouldn't hear from KJ, I heard from him two days in a row. He is having a wonderful time, of course. They arrived in Petersburg, Alaska shortly after midnight e-a-r-l-y Sunday morning. They will stay in Petersburg exploring, fishing, etc. until Wednesday morning when they get back on the ferry for Ketchikan, Alaska. Both of these places are already on the map so I won't update it yet.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

KJ's summer trip - days 5, 6, and 7

I'm heading up to my sister's for a few days so I'm going to go ahead and post today, tomorrow, and Saturday of KJ's trip. FYI - I haven't heard from him. This is just where they are supposed to be based on the itinerary and the updates to the designated parent. There has only been one update so far so I assume they are without cell service. (which we expected) Today, they will travel to Houston, Bristish Columbia to camp. They will leave tomorrow morning for Prince Rupert, British Columbia and camp at a city park. Saturday, they board the Matanuska ferry at 6:30am for Petersburg, Alaska where they will spend a couple of days.



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Wednesday, July 2, 2008

KJ's summer trip - days 3 and 4

The campers spent yesterday exploring Deception Pass State Park in Washington. They are supposed to cross the border into Canada today via Higdon. Then they will head up to Williams Lake, British Columbia, where they will camp for the night.


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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Remember Roscoe and how he and Curly are now our dogs, since the neighbors are moving? Well, this is Roscoe a few weeks ago. His long hair is matted and full of burrs. I took a pair of scissors to him to remove the mats and burrs, but...............he then looked like a 2-year-old who cut his own hair. I forgot to get a picture of that, but trust me, it was bad.


Today, Roscoe had his first-ever grooming appointment. He got the full treatment, and when we picked him up later, Roscoe was a whole new dog. He is MUCH cooler with his "start-over" haircut.




He looks so suave, but in his heart, he's still a country dog.