Outing

Today, Mike decided to take the dogs on a shorter hike so they invited me to go along. The past couple days they had been scouting out the trails and found one suitable for me.

It wasn't a specially scenic trail but it was a great place for the dogs as it was a lightly treed forest with no underbrush. So the dogs could run quite a long ways and we could still see them easily. They didn't really run off very far as there just really many signs at all of any wildlife.

There were however some bushes with these little berries on them. They must have been very tasty berries as Sparkie wouldn't stop eating them. Mike would catch her eating them and tell her to leave it and she would run ahead. Sure enough when we got up to where she was she'd be standing there picking the berries off the bush and eating them just as fast as she could. I guess they aren't poisonous as she hasn't been sick at all.

We did see one sign of life.....but fortunately there was no one home! I found the shell of a bug on a tree. How it was still holding on to the tree with the bug gone I don't know but I'm sure glad the bug was gone. It was creepy enough as it was.

We came across this large rock that had a little opening. It looked like a Flintstones chair. Slugger and Mike each took turns in the chair.

Just as we were getting back we heard a woodpecker up in the tree. It took me quite some time to find him and then wait for him to be in the clear instead of behind a limb or leaf. It turned out to be a ivory billed woodpecker - very pretty. I had one opportunity for a shot. I think I did okay.

Even though it wasn't very scenic I totally enjoyed being out in the woods with everyone. I really missed hiking with them. They seemed to enjoy having me along too.

My friend, Shari, gave us the movie "RV" for Christmas so we watched in it. Pretty funny! But interesting the things we noticed in the film that most people probably wouldn't have noticed. Like how when they ran into things the RV didn't get dented (certainly not our experience!) or how they drove with all these things sitting on the counter! But we did enjoy it a lot.

Debbie
12/27/06

Catching Up

Well, I guess a few people have been worried since I haven't updated my blog and they heard about the tornados here so I thought I'd better do a little update. Last Friday (12/22) we moved from the Orlando area to Ocala. For those of you trying to follow us on your map, Ocala is NW from Orlando. Or in terms my mom and I can understand it's about 3/4 of an inch up and maybe 1/4 of an inch left.

We moved here because we have an agility trial coming up over New Years. There really isn't anything around here however if you're a dog owner (I guess that includes us!) there are great trails around here for hiking. So Mike has been keeping the dogs very busy hiking.

The day we got here the weather turned suddenly. It started raining and blowing in addition to the high temperatures dropping into the 50's. But being from the PNW it didn't really phase us. However, Christmas day was a different story. It poured hard all day long. There was also lightening and thunder so loud it sounded like it was coming from inside the RV. The wind blew hard all day as well.

We later found out that there had been a tornado that hit only a few miles from us that caused major damage. Once again we were lucky that the tornado missed us. So we are totally safe - no need to worry as the storm is now gone.

Since the weather was horrid we didn't leave the RV all day - I think that's a first for Mike. So we watched the Disney parade on the eastern time zone. Then since we also get the pacific time zone stations, we watched it again on pacific time. So Christmas day for us was rather a quiet one if you don't count the weather!

We're sure glad to hear that everyone has power again back home! Let's hope the weather calms down everywhere!

Debbie
12/26/06

A Firefighter in the Family

Sparkie always loves having a job. And what could be a better job than being a firefighter - riding on that shiny red truck with your ears blowing in the wind. And of course when you start a new job you first must have a photo shoot. VBG

So here is Sparkie's photo shoot:









But I must say, Sparkie wasn't so sure about this. She acted like she thought Mike was putting her on the fire truck and it was going to take her away forever. For the longest time she had the most sad look I've ever seen on a dog. And probably the first time I've ever seen Sparkie subdued. But once she got a treat then she decided maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

She was however very relieved when she got to walk back to the RV, all the while hunting for lizards and squirrels. So much for the firefighter career.

Debbie
12/21/06

Last day....

Today was Dave's and my parents last day here. So while we were waiting for Dave to get off work we walked over to Old Town to get some lunch. Our real reason for going to Old Town was to have some A&W Root Beer but of course we needed to eat too.

So we walked around and found a place called Flippers Pizza. The pizza was really good! Too bad we didn't discover them earlier during our stay here.



Old Town is decorated very nicely so of course I requested that my parents pose for a Christmas picture.



Then we had a very special time having an A&W Root Beer together and reminiscing about old Root Beer times.



This particular A&W was decorated very nicely.







At Old Town there is a section with various rides. Here is a message from there for a very special buddy of mine.



Since this was our last day together for many months, we had our Christmas celebration this evening. We found it interesting that Christmas only comes once a year yet Sparkie remembers all about it. She feels it is her job to unwrap every present whether it is for her or not. And I must say she did a great job! No one has more fun at Christmas than Sparkie. I think that at Christmas she wishes we had a much larger family!!

We had a great evening and had a lot of fun together. Now we just have to make it last in our memories until we can all see each other again next May.

Debbie
12/19/06

Wazzu & Pluto

The Disney parks are open until 7:00pm each day. Then on just a few selected evenings from 7:00pm - midnight they have what they call "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party." We had purchased tickets in advance to make sure we'd be able to do that while my parents and my brother were here.

It truly was magical from the moment you enter the Magic Kingdom. There was a band playing right at the entrance. The gigantic tree was all lit up as well as the entire Main Street. It was even snowing heavily the entire length of Main Street. It really felt like Christmas as the snow was cold and stuck to you a bit before melting.


Most of the attractions were open and once the daytime people all made their way out it really wasn't crowded at all. Even on the major rides you could pretty much just walk right on. The longest wait was on the Pirates of the Caribbean but it wasn't any longer than a five minute wait at most.

The first place we headed to was Tomorrowland. At the entrance there Mike stopped to take this picture.

As it so happened, just the entrance there were three ducks sitting about six inches from the sidewalk on the grass. Needless to say, this caught Wazzu's attention immediately. People were amazed that Wazzu didn't try to chase them at all. But as you all know, Wazzu just wants to make friends. The ducks weren't afraid of her in the least so they just continued standing there chomping on the grass and Wazzu just stood three or four inches away just wagging her tail as fast as she possibly could.

The first ride we came to was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. This was to be Wazzu's first ride ever. To get on the ride you had to go on one of those moving sidewalks. She didn't really understand that but handled it fine. The ride was one where two people (and Wazzu) sat in a seat and in front of each person was a gun and between the two guns was a joystick used to make the car you were sitting in spin back and forth so you could shoot at all the targets.

Mike was too busy making sure Wazzu was doing fine so he only scored 900. Wazzu was totally fine on the ride and was looking around being very curious. I scored 19,700 which I thought was pretty good until I found out my Dad scored over 300,000!

On the way to the next ride we saw that a show called "Twas the Night Before Christmas" was scheduled to start in about 15 minutes. We decided to see if there was a place I could lie down to watch the show. They were extremely accommodating and put us on the ground right in the very front next to the front row of seats. The show started and we were watching the stage when suddenly a door just to our left opened. Chip & Dale and Pluto came bursting through the door. Pluto saw Wazzu and I lying there on the ground and he came toward us and bent way over and waved and waved before heading up on to the stage. I was so excited and Wazzu perked right up too!



After the show was over a member of the band came over to talk with us. Just as we were about to leave I asked if there would be any way to get a picture with Pluto. He said to wait a minute and he'd get it all arranged! While we were waiting one of the cast members came over to see Wazzu. As I was telling her to get up they noticed her Pluto pins on her vest and wanted to see them all. So I was showing them the pins when I noticed one of them had come off and was lost. They said to stay put and they would get us a replacement. My goodness what a nice place. They now call Disneyland "The Place Where Dreams Come True" and my goodness they were really surpassing all our dreams.

In just a couple minutes they took us backstage to get our picture with Pluto. Wazzu liked Pluto but wasn't all that keen on getting her picture taken...as usual. But I was so very excited as Pluto is my most favorite character of all. And Pluto was so nice to us. He gave us many many hugs and made the most cute movements to show his love.



Notice the yellow band around my wrist? Everyone that went in for Mickey's party had to wear a wrist band. I had them put one on Wazzu too - you can see it hanging from her harness. The workers checking wrist bands always thought it was cute that Wazzu had her own wrist band.

By the time we finished our pictures with Pluto the cast member returned with a voucher for us to go to any Disney shop and pick out a replacement Chip & Dale pin. I just couldn't believe how kind everyone was being to us. Disney sure knows how to do customer service. But even so they went way above and beyond what anyone could even dream.

It really didn't matter to me what we did after that as I was floating so high. Dad and Dave wanted to go on Space Mountain so while they headed off to do that Mike, Mom, Wazzu and I wandered around a bit until we came across the Carousel. That seemed gentle enough for me so went on that. Once again, Wazzu acted like she had been on a Carousel many times and it was no big deal.



Since the very first time Dave and I went to Disneyland 37 years ago we have always loved Pirates of the Caribbean so that was our next stop. For those of you who haven't been on that ride it starts out calm with the boat floating in the water. Then you come to a spot where there is a large moving picture and it gives the feeling as though you are going to go under a very large waterfall. It looks VERY realistic. So much so that Wazzu got a little worried and started to duck her head as we went under. There is even mist so you really do feel as though you are going to go under a waterfall. Shortly after that the boat drops down sharply - it's like the down part on a roller coaster. We all thought Wazzu might get worried about that but it didn't really faze her. She wasn't really sure she like getting shot at and the water spraying up from the bombs. But once that was over she absolutely loved the ride. She was so curious and went to the edge of the boat and watched everything go by even cocking her head at the donkey and then again numerous other times. She wanted to go again! But we had more to do.

Now it was time for the huge Firework Spectacular over the Castle. We hear it every night in our RV so we were excited to actually see it. It really was spectacular. From beginning to end it was 16 minutes. My Dad kept thinking it was the finale as there were so many spectacular finale type displays - but I knew very well that it lasts 16 minutes every night.

Being that Wazzu is so short and people aren't used to a dog being there I was getting worried about he being stepped on as it is now night and very dark. So I bought Wazzu one of those flashing light necklaces that people were buying for their kids. It really helped. People noticed her right away and gave her space. A lot of people were wanting to talk to Wazzu and pet her before even. But when she got her flashing necklace she was even more popular. She was a hit with both the cast members and the public. In fact, when I bought the necklace the cast member asked if she could put it on Wazzu.



Nearby was Mike's favorite, Space Mountain. The guys went on that as I rested. In fact, Mike went on it a second time while Dad and Dave opted to head to Thunder Mountain.

The parade was to start soon so Mom, Wazzu, and I headed over to the parade route to find a spot. It truly was our night as we got super lucky and found a perfect spot. We were right in front and it was nice and flat. It was also close to the beginning of the parade route so we didn't have to wait too wait long for it to start.

This was an amazing parade. There were many very fun floats with all the Disney characters we know and love.



And of course the music was great too. In addition to floats, there were many marching, walking, and dancing people and characters. Wazzu was laying in the very front right under the rope that marked off the parade route. She was watching the parade with utmost curiosity. She was interested in everything including the horses, the skaters, the oversized deer, the seven dwarfs, and on and on. She never moved at all....until the Wooden Soldiers came by. The were marching and stomping their huge oversize square "shoes" and were only an inch from Wazzu. I was so worried that she was going to get stepped on. Apparently she was worried to as she jumped back toward me and laid up against me. Once they went by, she moved back to her original position.



One group that came by was a group of go-go dancers. They were flipping up their huge skirts and swooshing them around. One of them did their swooshing right over Wazzu's head. I think Dad, Dave, and Mike all wanted to be Wazzu at that moment. TeeHee.

I guess I've never been nearly this close at a Disney parade before as I didn't realize that the floats even emit a smell. One float went by where they were cooking gingerbread and the float emitted a strong gingerbread smell. My favorite was the float that smelled like cinnamon. They really don't miss a trick there.



By the time the parade was over it was close to 11:30pm so we decided to make our way out. On the way, we passed one of the seven spots in the park that was giving out free cookies and hot chocolate. How nice was that! The cookies were great (one of my favorite kinds) and the hot chocolate was super nummy. It was a really nice treat even though it wasn't cold out.

Our last stop was to get Wazzu's replacement pin. We didn't find the exact one we had lost but I'll bet Wazzu won't mind. She had an absolute blast at Disneyworld and didn't want to leave. I must admit I didn't want to leave either. That's about the closest I've felt to a normal person in quite some time. It was fun to participate in things that real people get to do, even if for a short time.

Debbie
12/18/06

Thankful Once Again

After Epcot, my parent went to Circque du Soleil so they had a really long day after their long long day of flying. It didn't faze Dad a bit so he and my brother got up early the next day and golfed 36 holes on both Saturday and Sunday.

I'm sure Mom could have done more but she rested and kept me company in the RV. Mike went out to do a few errands. In the mid afternoon I got a phone call from Mike. He informed us he would be late getting back as he had been involved in an accident.

He was stopped at a red light when someone from behind didn't stop and ran into him which then pushed Mike into the car in front of him. Fortunately Mike was fine although he said he got quite a jolt. We are just so thankful that neither I nor the dogs were in the car!

The car has damage but fortunately due to the tow package on both the front and the back it wasn't as bad as it could be. However, both the back bumper and the hatch door will have to be replaced. Fortunately, all three drivers are fine and the guy that caused the accident has insurance from a major carrier.

Now we just have to hope someone will be able to fix it in the timeframe we are going to be someplace as we don't stay put that much. Of course, we need them to fix it in a timely manner also as we have the inside of the car fixed up in a special way for both me and the dogs. Hopefully we'll find a rental car that can accommodate our needs.

But most of all we're just thankful that no one was hurt.

Debbie
12/17/06

Epcot

My parents arrived very late last night due to flight delays. Actually it was after midnight so I guess technically they arrived this morning. Either way, we had made dinner for them so they stopped to see us and have a quick dinner before going to my brother's to hit the sack.

Today it was off to Epcot. We had nice weather but cooler than we had expected. We walked through some of the exhibits and even went on a couple of the shorter rides. I just love the way they sculpt all the bushes to make them look like Disney characters.



Of course anything Pluto gets me happy!

One of the rides we went on was a Nemo ride where you sit in little clam shells and gently move through the ride seeing Nemo and other characters put on some little story. I tried to get pictures of Nemo and pals but they are little neon lights in the dark and didn't turn out so well. But I was able to get a nice picture of my parents on the ride.



The second thing we did was go on a space launch. My mom and I chose to go on the easier launch while Mike and my dad went on the more rigorous launch. We all had a great time except for Mike who decided he's not cut out to be an astronaut. He got very ill and couldn't eat all day.

But the scenery there really was beautiful.



And while there were other people there (of course!), it wasn't too crowded. You could easily see what you wanted to see and there was never more than a five minute wait for any of the rides. I waited outside on most of the rides but there was so much to see that I kept occupied - mostly just people watching. Everyone seemed so happy.

There were a few shows to watch too. I think Mom, Dad, and Mike enjoyed the Chinese gal on the 10' unicyle that caught all these bowls on her head. It got cool much faster than we thought and we were all getting a little chilly so we headed out. I hope they all had a good time.



Debbie
12/15/06

Wazzu does Disney

Today we had to do a bunch of errands. Since Wazzu didn't get to go squirrel stalking today we decided to take her with us.

We explained to Wazzu that this was a business trip and there would be no squirrel stalking. We did tell her that she would have to pose for some pictures. Oh she hates pictures. But she tried to be a good sport....up to a point. You'll see in a minute.

First we had to pose by Pluto.



Then we found a whole store where all they sell is pins. And they were busy! So of course we had to buy Wazzu a squirrel (okay chipmunk) pin and a Pluto pin.



Then of course we had to take our picture there.



Wazzu was actually being a very good sport...until we got to the Lego store. There were a lot of people around and they were all taking pictures of Wazzu too. Okay, maybe this was a bit cruel - but cute!




We had done well and were on our way out when Wazzu spotted a squirrel. Normally the squirrels we see are eating some sort of nut. But this one was just outside of McDonalds.



Debbie & Wazzu
12/12/06

3..2..1

The past few days have been fairly sedate. Unless you're Wazzu. Our days have pretty much consisted of squirrel stalking. And for some reason, most squirrel stalking outings require that you carry the pumpkin. But we did manage a couple outings without it.



For the last few days we have been overrun with KIDS. The average age in the park dropped by about 40 years. Egads, I haven't seen this many kids in one place in a long time. Little Wazzu who normally loves kids wasn't too happy with them. Besides being noisy so the squirrels wouldn't come down, the kids were just plain mean. Wazzu would finally search out a squirrel and the kids would see her standing so still and they would run up and chase the squirrel up the tree. The look of complete disbelief and hurt was so clear on Wazzu's face. I felt very sorry for her.

I tried to explain to her that kids will be kids. But she told me I should have kindly explained to the kids that it wasn't nice. That way the kids would grow up to be better people and not mean adults. She reminded me of the time we were in LA at an agility trial where she was stalking a gopher. She was less than an inch from the gopher. They really were nose to nose. There were probably 40 people standing around watching when suddenly out of nowhere this 40ish year old guy came running through the crowd as fast as he could and stomped on the gopher. The gopher ducked down in his hole (I don't know if he actually got his head stepped on) and Wazzu jumped back absolutely petrified. The jaw of everyone in the crowd dropped as the guy then left as fast as he came. I was so mad - but speechless. I was mainly mad because he could have severely injured Wazzu if she hadn't moved so fast. Even with her fast movement he only missed her nose by half an inch. Oops. Got off track. Tee hee.

Anyway, you'd have thought a bomb went off here this morning as probably 250 RV's left - taking all the kids with them! To celebrate Wazzu made me take her on three walks....I mean stalks. At one place there were four squirrels within a 3' area and they were teasing Wazzu to no end. I finally had to lay down on the picnic table and wait for her as she stayed there at least half an hour. They weren't a foot or two from her but on both sides so she had to keep looking back and forth...without moving fast of course.



As you know, Slugger likes to hunt lizards. Today he thought he'd found the biggest lizard he'd ever seen. But as he walked by it went into the lake. Little did he know it was no lizard....it was an alligator!!



No wonder the sign at the small lake in the park says "no swimming!"

Yesterday when Mike took the dogs out, I decided I would actually like to go for a walk instead of a stalk. So I walked next door to Old Kissimmee. It's just a street where cars aren't allowed and there are lots of little stores and a small amusement park. And of course, this time of year there is a Christmas tree.



One of the stores on this street was an A&W Root Beer. I love A&W Root Beer - but not out of cans. I love the root beer in those nice frosty glass mugs. Not only do I love the root beer and the frosty mugs but it brings back really nice memories of me and my dad when I was little. So today when we went for some root beer I had to call Dad and reminisce.




As you probably know, yesterday was the shuttle launch. Mike and my brother, Dave, drove to the Kennedy Space Center to watch the launch. They both really enjoyed it. I'm not posting a picture as I'm sure you all saw pictures on the news. But it sure was bright!!

I'll leave you with a couple more pictures of the great (and now famous) squirrel stalker.






Debbie
12/10/06

Clean Up

Today we did a little "spring" cleaning. Therefore, no big outings for the dogs, just individual walks. Slugger got to walk around the park looking for lizards and Sparkie got to take a long walk down the street - to the pizza place. VBG

Wazzu got to do exactly what she wanted which was squirrel stalking in the park. As I was getting ready to take her out she was getting pretty excited. I guess I was taking too long as she started doing her stress yawns. Then she picked up her big stuffed pumpkin toy. I figured she'd drop it as soon as I was really ready.

But instead she wanted to take it with her. I figured she'd drop it shortly and I'd have to carry it. But she carried it the entire hour outing. She is truly amazing the way she can make friends with these squirrels.

Of course, she brought smiles to many peoples faces today as they saw her carrying that big pumpkin all around. Notice how she is holding her paw up while she is stalking. She stands on three legs like that for a good 10-15 minutes without moving.



This picture was taken with my new little camera - just testing.


One funny little story for today. We had to run an errand this evening and didn't know exactly where we were going. So we were keeping our eyes open for the sign of the store we wanted. I saw a sign that had me doing a double take. Before I was able to say anything, Mike mentioned that he saw an odd sign. He said it looked like it said "Family Fun Care." I started laughing as it had to be the same sign I saw. We were each seeing it from different angles and there was a palm tree blowing around a bit. I told Mike I saw that sign but I thought it said "Family Funeral Cafe." What is that! Turns out we were both wrong - it was Family Funeral Care. Good thing, as neither of the things we came up with seemed very good!

Debbie
12/6/06

Disney Day

Short story first. The last few weeks Mike has been wanting our favorite deep dish pizza. You can't find it very many places but there was one in Orlando. So Monday afternoon after we arrived here, the first thing Mike did was to go get pizza. He left at 3:00 and I thought, "my we're sure going to have an early dinner." But time went by and it got later and later. At a quarter to seven Mike showed up. Turns out the place was on the complete opposite side of town from us - and the traffic got to be pretty bad. But oh well, he got the pizza he wanted.

Then this morning I wanted to go look for a new camera since my other one broke. As we were driving to the camera store - only about two minutes from our park - we passed the pizza place we like. Mike was just beside himself. He drove hours to get the pizza and they had a location just two minutes from us. It wasn't listed on the internet but sure enough there it was. I don't think he went 20 minutes all day without mentioning his disgust and anguish over the pizza fiasco. Too funny....at least for me!

Mike then took the dogs on a nice two hour on leash hike. Since they were now tired we could take some time to go out and do some things on our own. We decided to go to Downtown Disney. There is no charge to get in yet you get the atmosphere - which really is wonderful. And of course you they will sell you stuff!

Mike has decided that he's not taking me out of the RV park much as we tend to spend too much money! But all the stuff I got was so cute! A Pluto hat, a Pluto shirt, a Pluto tug toy.... I think you get the idea.

The very first shop we spotted with the Ghirardelli store. Needless to say we were both drawn to it like a magnet. Mike just got one scoop of ice cream. I asked for one scoop of ice cream but in a really big cup as I wanted lots of hot fudge. But for some reason they ended up giving me extra ice cream. When Mike picked up our order he could see there wasn't enough hot fudge so he asked for more. Next time I'm just going to skip the ice cream and just get the hot fudge. I had a lot of trouble digging around the ice cream to find the hot fudge. And of course, I couldn't begin to eat all that ice cream so Mike ended up eating it. He didn't even eat dinner tonight as he was too full. Oops.

Here are a few pictures we took at Downtown Disney. It's amazing how many kids were trying to get their pictures taken. But we managed to get a turn. After all, aren't we all kids at least at heart.

Mike had a good time at the Pirates of the Caribbean display. He was really good at saying "Argggg" or whatever it is that the pirates say.




I felt most at home with the dog of course. Too bad it wasn't Pluto.





The little kid getting his picture taken here just before Mike was so totally adorable. But Mike is cute too.




Can you believe this entire thing was made of Legos?




Debbie
12/5/06

Brrr.....

Today we woke up to a cool cloudy day. I think it may snow! The high today is only supposed to be 65! Time for the long pants to come back out!

After a leisurely morning, we packed everything up and left our nice little home on the lake. The drive to Orlando was smooth and short.

The park we're at (the only one in the entire area that would take us) is only a mile or two from Disneyworld. My goodness they think a lot of their RV parks in this part of the country. At the park we just left and at this one a ten-day stay costs DOUBLE what a full month has been costing us. So much for our budget!

At this park we're staying in the "slum" area. The spots in the front of the park are all paved but they cost $10 more per night. So we're way in the back on grass. But for our purposes (and budget) this is just fine. Wazzu loves it here and says it is well worth the money. Every tree has three or four squirrels. Unlike most dogs, Wazzu doesn't go wild and chase the squirrels. She VERY SLOWLY stalks the squirrels. I could read a book in the time she stalks ONE squirrel.

It took me forever to make our way back to the RV. I had to keep telling her there were lots more squirrels in the next tree, then the next tree, etc. But when we got back she had such a happy face. That's really what it's all about!

From our RV park we are about two walking minutes from Old Town Kissimmee. It's an amusement park, gift shop area, restaurant area. We went for a walk there after dinner when it was dark. All the places were open and it was all decorated for Christmas. But other than the workers I don't think we saw more than three or four people. I can't understand how they can stay open with no customers.

But the dogs had fun eating all the scraps people had dropped over the past weeks. And they got petted a lot by all the workers just standing around. Slugger was even very brave when the vampire at the Haunted House came out to pet him. Sparkie ate too much garbage on the ground and threw up. And of course, Wazzu was just perfect.

Debbie
12/4/06

Slugger Time

This morning Mike went for a bike ride along Longboat Key. The weather was nice and the ride was beautiful. And the bike seemed to work just fine with all the repairs Mike did the past few days.

In the afternoon, we took the dogs to the causeway. Dogs are allowed on the beach there...even off-leash. Although you really wouldn't want your dogs off-leash unless they were very well trained as the road is only about 30 yards from the beach. And it is a very fast road.

We let the girls be off-leash during the time that they were engaged in playing with us. But as soon as they were done playing with us they went right back on leash. This time was really meant for Slugger as he never gets to be off-leash. The girls have been free to run on their recent hikes so this was Slugger Time!

Mike put the long line on Slugger so he could swim way out. The long line is 50 feet but to let Slugger swim even further out, Mike waded way out in to the water - about up to his chest. Slugger could swim way out and he enjoyed it immensely.

Actually all the dogs really enjoyed it as the water was very warm...so I was told! It must have been warm as both Sparkie and Wazzu swam a lot too. Sparkie was really telling me to throw the ball.



In fact, Wazzu really wanted to play. It is extremely rare that Wazzu pulls rank. But she did pull rank three or four times at the beach today. She and Sparkie would be racing toward the ball and Wazzu would just give Sparkie that "look" and Sparkie backed right off, no questions asked!

It was really fun to see the girls swimming way out for toys for quite a long time as they don't really swim all that much. Sparkie was really jumping high out of the water going after the ball.



Even though it was in the 80's and the water was very warm, after a while Sparkie got cold. She went up to the edge of the sand and just that there in the tightest little sit and shook and looked completely pitiful.



We kept telling the girls to keep playing. But they seemed to want to stop but we didn't really listed and kept encouraging them to play as Slugger wasn't nearly done. Suddenly, Wazzu stopped and threw up. Oops. Guess she drank a little too much salt water. So I put Wazzu on leash and encourage Sparkie to play some more. She chased another ball or two and then proceeded to stop and throw up. Oops. Too much salt water for her too. So she went on leash as well and we just waited for Slugger to be done.

He was having a great time and had no intentions of stopping. A few minutes later Mike said this would be the last throw. He threw it really far so Slugger would have a very long last swim. But surprisingly he didn't go for the toy. He didn't want to swim. What...that's not like Slugger. So Mike told him to go get the toy and he did go get it.

We were walking to the car which was only 20 yards from the beach and just as we got to the car Slugger threw up LOTS. Mike was very thankful that Slugger missed him by about 1/100th of an inch!

Interestingly enough, the second we left the beach all the birds swarmed and landed on the beach just where we had been. Mike said he noticed that everytime someone left the beach the birds would go land there and check to see if the people had left any garbage.



I mentioned that the birds were going to be very disappointed with us as we left nothing. A few seconds later it dawned on me that wasn't correct. Wazzu left a piece of liver biscotti and Sparkie left two pieces of penne. I guess the birds were glad that the dogs threw up. Oooo, YUCK!

Since it is our last night at this park, we took a walk around and looked at all the Christmas lights all the people had put up on their mobile homes and RV's. Some of the displays really were quite elaborate. I don't think the dogs really appreciated the lights but we had a nice time.

Oh my, watching Sunday, Monday, and Thursday night football in the Eastern time zone is the pits! The games don't get done until after midnight which is past my bedtime. But I always stay up to watch the whole game...especially when it is the Seahawks! We don't get to see many of their games so when they are on I don't miss a minute. This game wasn't really all that fun to watch but we pulled it out. PHEW!!

Gotta go to bed as it's almost time to get up!!

Debbie
12/3/06

HELP....NEED BEER

I couldn't decide whether to name this post "Help...Need Beer" or "Bite Me." Okay, let me explain.

Today we decided to take a driving tour of St. Petersburg and Tampa. I've been telling you we were staying just outside of Tampa. I guess that is kind of true but in actuality we're much closer to Sarasota. Anyway, after traveling over a few toll roads we found our way.

As we were driving around we saw a guy standing on the corner with a sign. I figured it said something along the lines of "Will work for food" or "Please help, God Bless." Just while we were waiting for the light a number of people held money out their window for him. As we got closer we saw that the sign said "Help, Need Beer." I must admit I'd never seen that before....and I never saw anyone get so much money before either. I saw on TV recently that these people on the corner average about $20 an hour! I'm pretty sure this guy was getting more than that. We're not sure why he needed beer as he acted a bit drunk as it was!

Anyway, as we drove through downtown St. Petersburg we saw a little street fair. So we decided to stop and look around. As we got out of the car we saw a whole bunch of boats. We decided to go look at the boats first and then walk around the street fair.

It turned out that this was the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. It was HUGE. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many boats in one place. There had to be thousands.



We walked around with Mike and I looking at al the boats and the dogs looking in all the trees for squirrels....of which they found many. As you can imagine it was very slow going.

Directly across the water from the Yacht Club was the airport. And a busy one at that. It was just Cessna type planes but they were coming and going constantly.



There was a very pretty park along there as well and it seem well used.

After leaving there we walked to the street fair - just as they were all tearing down their booths. Guess that timing saved us some money! We went back to the car and noticed that in the park where we were parked they were starting to set up for Figgy Pudding that was to start in a couple hours. What do you know....too late for one thing and too early for the other. So is this national Figgy Pudding day? Did any of you in the Seattle area go to Figgy Pudding? We absolutely love Figgy Pudding in Seattle. What a perfect kick off for the Christmas season. If you've never gone you really should go next year.

Just in front of our car was a large tree...that was very noisy. In the tree were probably 20 parrots. They are wild down here and are seen (and heard!) frequently.



On our drive back we went through Tampa. So many memories came flooding back as we saw two cruise ships in port. The Veendam and an RCCL ship...couldn't tell which one. We really do miss cruising.

Mike didn't feel like cooking so on the way home we stopped at a seafood restaurant called R. J. Gators - it looked like a chain. We got some food and brought it home. It was pretty good but don't worry we didn't order alligator.

My body is so covered with little red dots that itch like crazy. I think all the little bugs that come in here in the evening think they here me saying "bite me." But believe me, I've never said that in any context.

Debbie
12/2/06