A Skruffyless Year

I have many pictures of Skruffy that I like...just can't pick a favorite.  This picture above was taken April 2, 2012 while I was in Indiana getting a lift put on our Class A Motorhome while Marcia was recuperating from her hip surgery.  I had just finished my official work at the Library in Arkansas at the end of March, although I would get paid for unused sick and vacation time along with a few extra weeks tossed in for consultation work until my official retirement day on October 1, 2012.   Skruffy came into my life in late October 2009...went to work with me every day, even took her on a work trip to Colorado, putting her into Doggie Daycare during the day while I was in my meetings, and she was with me at night.  

Good bye my love...say hello to dad.

 

While in Alaska in 2016 she got real sick...diabetes was the major diagnosis, with many complications that went along with it.  She pulled through that, and we enjoyed 3 1/2 more years with her.  All of the sudden on December 23rd she started to act different...stopped eating (she ate two meals a day 12 hours apart along with getting her shots after her diagnosis), and by the morning of Christmas Eve I knew she needed to see a Vet, and I also knew the end was near.  In consultation with the Vet, knowing what she had gone through, and knowing that a dog with diabetes is lucky to get two more years and she had nearly twice that, the hard decision was made to let her go.  Above was her last picture...her loving eyes already lost their luster.  I held her, I talked with her, I reminisced about all our good times, and I let her know that loved her to the end and beyond.  She passed in her drug induced sleep, didn't even need the 'poison' but the Vet gave her that last shot just in case.  My heart this the floor...Between losing Dad on Thanksgiving, and Skruffy on Christmas Eve, how could it get much worse?  Well...2020 ushered in with this thing called COVID...enough said.

Indy's first day with us

The trip to Florida was so sad, and we got through winter, and made it back to California.  Then on July 4th, our new little miracle came into our life thanks to my sister Sandy...enter Independence K Burdick, or Indy for short.  ('K' is Sandy's middle name).  It took a few days for her to adjust to her new forever family...

Indy mid-July after a haircut

...but by mid-July the adjustment period was nearly over, she was truly a part of the family.

 

Then in October we lost Bubba on our way home to Florida from California via North Dakota.  He made it to Joplin Missouri...his ashes were spread at a Butterfly Park, so if you see a Butterfly, think of Bubba.

Skruffy and me in my office at the Library

We figure that Indy came into this world about the same time Skruffy left this world.  What a wonderful gift she has been for us.  My little Skruffy will ALWAYS have a part of my heart...I am just glad my heart is so big that there is still room for not only Indy, but for all my family and friends.   Merry Christmas to one and all...and hoping that 2021 will be a better year for everyone.

Meet INDY, Independence 'K.' Burdick

Yes, we did it ... replaced Skruffy today, and we did not even try.  Arny was going to cook some ribs for 4th of July, and I stuck my head out the motorhome around 11:30 am to ask what time we needed to have our Mashed Cauliflower ready when Sandy says, "You gotta look at this."  It was a picture of a dog...this dog...being advertised on "NextDoor". (Nextdoor is a hyperlocal social networking service for neighborhoods.)  I showed Marcia, and she said, "I WANT THAT DOG!"

Within 5 minutes Sandy and I were on our way.  Because NextDoor is so local, we knew it was close...ended up less than 5 miles away.  The family had her for about 6 weeks, and she is about 5 1/2 months old.  (As far as I am concerned, she was born on December 24, 2019...the day Skruffy passed away.)  They said they are moving to a place that does not allow dogs...so they needed to find it a home.

Even before we left I suggested we call her "Indy", for Independence Day, the day we got her.  Sandy wanted her middle name to be "K.", which is her middle name.  When she was adopted her middle name was Kay, but the adoption papers said "K.", and we always teased her about her middle name being "Capital K Period".  At first it probably hurt her feelings a bit...but she came to wear the name with honor, and she deserves all the honor we boys can give her.  Hard to come live with four older boys, that is for sure.  Patti, her biological sister, joined the family as an adult, so she missed out on all that fun.

So, we are HAPPY to have a second dog in our household again.  Bubba is 17 years old this year, and his ability as a service dog for Marcia is going down hill fast.  It is his hearing and his sleeping that make it hard for him to fulfill his duties.  Afraid Marcia is going to fall one of these days back at the Condo when I am away, and Bubba will sleep right through it instead of coming over to her to help (we put a cell phone on his back so she would have access to call for help.)  We will spend as much time these next few month preparing Indy for her duties, but we might need to have both Bubba and Indy there for a few months, which I am sure the Condo Association will throw a fit about...only time will tell if that is needed.

 

Yes, some resemblances...but many differences.  It will take awhile for Indy to get used to us, and for us to get use to her, and to train her (and for her to train us).  She won't be SKRUFFY, she will be INDY, each with their own personality. 

Our 4th of July did not turn out like we thought, and for that, we are SO THANKFUL!.  So much so, I created a song by altering a Martina McBride song...

Let freedom ring, let the little doggie sing
Let the whole world know that today
Is a day of remembering.
Let Marcia be helped, the doggie lets out a yelp
Roll the door away, this doggies going to stay
It's "Independence's Day"

WELCOME to the FAMILY Independence K. Burdick, aka: INDY  We will love you, and show you so much of the USA, just as we have with Skruffy and with Bubba...perhaps a little of Canada too.

Made it to Sacramento

We had a decent nights sleep, despite having the AC on until 2 am, then having to turn it back on at 4 am because Bubba was panting.  At 4:30 Marcia woke up, I told her I reset the alarm clock on my phone to 5:30 since it was very dark still at 4:30.  Since we have traveled each and every day, I don't think the "time changes" had totally set in on our systems yet...so 4:30 is really 7:30 to our minds and bodies.  At 5:15 I see a bit of light coming through our windows, and up we were, and we pulled out of the park at 6:00 sharp.

From Bakersfield you have two choices...go up US-99, or go over to I-5 and go up...both go through Sacramento, but from where we were, I-5 was 10 miles longer.  In a car, I would have gone I-5...but in a RV pulling a car with a 55 mph speed limit in California, I decided to stay with US-99.  Sailed through Bakersfield, and cruised along towards Fresno, and I see the GPS icon which essentially says, "You have a delay ahead".  Pushing that icon and I find out it is a wreck, 7 miles ahead, and it would be a 30 minute delay....NUTS!

Sure enough, traffic was at a crawl...and then at a stop.  However, within 20 minutes it was all over.  A wreck?  Maybe...it was gone when we went by, but we did see a fire truck putting a foam along side the road, so there was something.

The rest of the trip was non-eventful, other than the stretches of construction, bumpy roads especially near Atwater, and traffic was just fine going all the way through to my sister's house.  We pulled in right at 12:35, and by 2 pm we were settled in.  Bubba was/is one happy camper!

It is ALWAYS nice to be back in our home away from home, sitting on the concrete pad in Sandy and Arny's backyard, 30 amps, water, and way to dump our tanks with the use of our Blue Boy Tote, and enjoy family.  It was so nice to see mom doing so well, and being "SAFE" in her new normal at Sandy and Arny's house.  Even Patti came by for a short visit with her little dog Parker.

It was exactly six months today that we lost little Skruffy.  Just a few months ago Patti lost one of her dogs, Charlie.  More importantly, seven months ago, on Thanksgiving, Dad passed.  For the most part the grieving is done with...the memories are fond, full of love, and miss them all so very much.

Today it was 100 in Citrus Heights, just north of Sacramento.  Despite the heat, the Sacramento Area normally gets a sea breeze every night and cools down into the 60's, and the predictions are a few hot days, cool nights, and in the 80's by Sunday...typically weather for June in Sacramento.

Meteor Crater to 'HOT' Needles to Bakersfield

Ok, I will include the pictures to Needles (yesterday) and then to Bakersfield (today's trip).  Above is a look at the San Francisco Mountains, or San Francisco Peaks (depends upon who you talk to) which sit just north of Flagstaff.  I think our highest elevation was around 7,300 feet, and on the other side of Flagstaff it drops considerably.

For some reason (talking with Marcia about who can remember what) I did not take pictures of the Williams area.  This drive along I-40 is one we have driven many times, so you could just use our search box in the far right column and search for Williams.

As we get closer to Kingman, the trees get very short, more like bushes, but there are some nice mountains to see through the drive to Kingman.  A few years ago a 'con-man' tried to tell us that we had a major oil leak under our motorhome.  (See Scam Alert, Kingman Az)  I joked with Marcia telling her I was going to pull off and try and find him and let him know our motorhome has been fine with the "leak".

One thing I did not know about Kingman is that the airport is a mini-graveyard for some older planes, especially DHL freight and Delta Airlines.  After WW2 it was one of many scrap locations for airplanes, but they all hit the scrap iron heap ages ago.

In some of the above pictures you can see how nice the roads were...unfortunately as we got closer and closer to California the roads were real bumpy bad.  Nice way to remember a state that you just drove 350 miles through.

The Colorado River, yes, the same river that runs through the Grand Canyon, is the border between Arizona and California in this area.  Here is a shot out my window, and the river is just visible above the guard rail.

Here is the bridge crossing over the river on I-40.

And we would give you a better look of the river except this bridge out Marcia's window obstructs the view...and out my window is no better.

We got through California Customs, I mean Fresh Vegetable Check Point and they allowed us to carry in our 1/3 head of lettuce and a few Cherry Tomatoes that we promised was our dinner for the night.  Here is a picture of our camp at Fender's RV Resort in Needles.

If ONLY a picture can show you how hot it was.  At this point we were the only ones in the front area...and it was about 106 degrees.  Later a 5th Wheel came to our left, it took them a good 20 minutes to pull in, 30 minutes to set up which included them turning off our 30 amp breaker because "They thought it would make their 50 amp go stronger".  I wish I could say they were new at this...but they were not.  As Marcia says, "You Can't Fix Stupid"  It hit 111 degrees right about the time they turned our breaker off.  I will stop talking about it or mom will wash my mouth out with soap when she sees me tomorrow...

Our motorhome is parked just out of the picture to the right.  Past that community building, there are some camping sites for those who are staying longer than just a night or two...they overlook the Colorado River.  Needles is only around 500 feet in elevation, a big change from the 6,000 plus just the night before.  Along with it, you get LOT MORE HEAT!

We got up at 4:30, and hit the road by 5 am.  That is NOT our norm, but HOT TIMES require abnormal behavior.  A few miles down the road, and about 1,000 feet higher, the temps are down to low 70's from the 80's we woke up to in Needles. 

I take this picture out my window of the my mirror just to show Marcia the sunrise, and ...

...she HANGS out her window, gets this picture.  Unfortunately, I hit a very large bump, and she fell out...but I just left here there along the side of the road.  WELL, she really wasn't hanging out, but she did take a good enough picture that all I had to do was rotate the image just a bit...it really turned out better than I expected.

Just like with a sunset, if you turn the opposite of where the sun is setting you sometimes get a nice picture of the last rays of sun hitting a mountain, clouds, whatever.  Here, we are headed opposite of where the sun is rising, so it is a great view which lasts for nearly 30 minutes.

To some the Mojave Desert in California is just plain ugly.  To me, it depends.  Depends upon the time of day, where you are at, and if you are in the mood to see the amazing beauty that lies right in front (or in this case, off to my left) of you.

Here is another example off to my right that Marcia took.

And sometimes it just seems to go on and on and on, seems to last for ever.

In April 2012 we stayed in this rest area, 60 miles east of Barstow, for the night. 

Got this picture of Bubba (left) and Skruffy (right) looking out at the vast wasteland, wondering if they will ever see grass again.

Today I pulled up right where we had stayed eight years ago...

Here is Skruffy just last year, looking out at the vast wasteland for her last time...

"Hey Dad," she says, "I found some GRASS!"  I am sure she has lots and lots of grass where she is now...oh, how the memories still hurt so very deep, and yet bring joy at the same time.

We got to the Orange Grove RV Park in east Bakersfiled by 11:30.  It is HOT, but only 101, although it was suppose to be 103...I never saw it make it that high.  It is 6:15 and it is still 101, but I am confident that it will start to fall real soon.  It is suppose to drop to 76 this evening, cool enough, with this low humidity, to open windows and vents and circulate outside air...but that will come when I get up in the middle of the night.  Tomorrow, we will be under that big tree in Sandy and Arny's backyard!

Somewhere In Heaven

 

Somewhere in Heaven . . .

It is with sadness in our hearts that my sister's dog Charlie went to sit on Grandpa's lap next to Skruffy.  Oh, it brings tears to all our eyes, and a smile on his face.

Unfortunately Bubba and Parker are probably not too far from being there too...but Dad's lap is certainly big enough for them all.  

 

This is the picture that I took Charlie out of and added him to Dad's lap.  This is a much happier, better day...Patti having her dogs over to Sandy and Arny's house, our dogs there because we were camping in their backyard with our motorhome.  I treasured these moments...I only wish I had more pictures of them.

Parker got sick about 2-3 weeks ago, and had minor surgery to remove a blockage in his abdomen.   He will be on special prescription food for the rest of his life, and NO MORE Arny Treats, much like Skruffy who got pork that I fried up so that she could at least have a modified Arny treat.

Bubba is the oldest at 17 years old this year.  He is showing his age, we have our fingers crossed that he makes it to California again to see his best bud Arny.

I hope dad can wait for another year of more before his lap gets taken over...

(yes, tears where shed writing this post)

  

Trying to Settle In -- Home in Florida

We have been home for eight days, and for the most part, we are settled back in...but there is a BIG HOLE still in our lives, in our hearts...

One thing we love is the Florida Gas Prices compared to the California Gas Prices.  I have a 14 gallon tank in the HHR, and I put nearly 13 gallons in at Sam's Club Friday.

Back in late November, I put just over 13 gallons in, and it cost me $45.50!  That's $15 more in taxes in California than in Florida!  THAT'S a bunch!!!  On top of that, Florida's highways are in much better shape than California's highways...makes you wonder doesn't it???

It took us a week, but we finally made it to Mama Maria's.  To top off the treat of eating at Mama's, we met Marcia's granddaughter and great-granddaughter there.  No pics, they don't want pictures of the nearly 4 year old out on the Internet...all I can tell you is that she is growing up, and is as cute as could be.  

Next week is Marcia's first Doctor's Appointment of the new year.  Today we went to get blood work done, and we were back home within the hour.  Sometimes it has taken us over an hour just to get the blood taken once we walked in the door!

 

Bubba is sure adjusting well without Skruffy.  We turned in the notification to the Condo Board about Skruffy's death, and Bubba being the new service dog.  We are going to look for a younger dog to fulfill this need, probably start looking in March.  He reminds us when he gets his "Arny and Sandy" treats...sometimes this 16+ year old acts like a kid.

It has been 2 1/2 weeks since we lost her..the hole in our heart is a bit smaller...I have not had any more dreams of her, but we both miss her so much.  

All of these pictures of her were taken back in 2012, except the one below which was taken a few years while we were headed to, or already in, Alaska.  This one above was taken at a westbound rest area in Texas along I-10 between San Antonio and Van Horn.  It was a very windy day, and she let me put her securely up on this tree limb, and you can see by her face just how windy it was.  When we drove along the same highway but eastbound, I looked over at that same rest area, I think the same tree...there are going to be many, many memories like this as we travel.  Happy memories, which help fill that empty hole...

Now when we drive, we just figure that Skruffy is there with us as our "co-pilot"...sitting on my dad's lap.  We love and miss you both.