Tick Tock....

Well, forget the "tock" part and just multiply the "tick" part by lots!

Today Mike decided that the dogs should each get individual attention. Mostly just because Wazzu needed to take it easy as she got pretty sick yesterday and throughout the night and really worried me.

So Mike took Sparkie out for a nice long hike. Mid-morning I decided that since it was such a nice day I'd take Slugger down the boardwalk to go swimming. Since there is no way I could save him if he started to have trouble I decided he should wear his life jacket.

As I was getting him ready to go, Wazzu started acting all sad as she didn't want to be left home alone. So after a lot of self debating I decided I could handle them both. There is no way I can explain how great Wazzu was on this outing. She totally took care of Slugger and kept him in line. She was totally coralling him and keeping him close. It really was amazing. Anyway, we had an extremely successful outing and we all had a good time together.

When Mike and Sparkie got home it sounded as though they'd had a great time. With just the two of them they can really cover some ground! In addition to a nice long and fast paced four hour hike they saw a lot of wildlife. They saw deer, wild turkeys, armadillos, raccoons, possoms, and wild pigs. I've always wanted to see an armadillo but I just never seem to be along when they see them. So Mike said that after we took Slugger on his own private swim we'd run out to the place they saw so many armadillo.

We left the girls in the RV and took just Slugger for a little one-on-one time. He loves this as he doesn't always get pulled along to keep up with the girls. So we went at his speed (slow) out to the swimming area.

Usually the water is very calm but today it was fairly wavy. At times he'd be swimming back in and the waves would go over his head. But he doesn't care. Unlike everything else in life there is nothing scary about swimming. As always there was quite a current but he totally understands currents and has no trouble navigating.



After an extremely fun and long swim time we decided to head back. On the way we decided to see if we could get Slugger on the dock. All previous attmepts failed - and this time was no exception. So finally Mike picked him up and carried him to the dock. We tried very hard to stay still so we wouldn't make it rock. Mike set him down but held him tight until the dock stopped rocking.

After a few minutes, and the dock not moving at all, he decided this was a pretty good thing. We must have laid/sat on the dock for a good thirty minutes while Slugger just watched....well I don't really know what he was watching but he enjoyed every minute of it.



When we got up to the deck we saw a lizard. Slugger started chasing it and actually fell about six feet off to the ground. But it didn't slow him down a bit. He and Mike tried finding the lizard for quite some time. Before all was said on done we'd chased three lizards and Slugger then sat on the bench watching....who knows what.



We finally got away from there and started walking back across the very nice boardwalk.



The sun was shining so bright and when Slugger stopped stare (at who knows what) I noticed his shadow on the tree. Very cool!!



Since the sun was out so strong the lizards were out in force. The lizards were really cool as when we would first see them they would be bright green. Then when they'd start running from us they'd turn brown. These were Green Anole - and they really do change color.



Yesterday I showed you the bench in the middle of the boardwalk. Today there was a lizard on the bench and Slugger noticed it. When he climbed up on the bench to chase it, it surprised us all by jumping off the bench onto a VERY small branch. Wow, talk about exciting - Mike grabbed Slugger just in time. Slugger had planned on jumping onto the branch to get the lizard. It wouldn't have been pretty as it is about a 12 foot drop to the ground. So we spent another 15 minutes staring at the branch.



Slugger just loves it when he gets to be the "only" dog. He was the perfectly behaved little king.



When we finally got home it was getting late and if we were going to see the armadillo we had to get going. There was no way Wazzu was going to get left behind again. So we decided to take her along as she was feeling much better.

We started walking and kept Wazzu on leash as we didn't want her to scare away the armadillo. Well we kept looking and didn't see a thing - guess they had all gone for their naps. Even though Mike and I saw no sign of any kind of wildlife, Wazzu was super duper alert from the second we got out of the car. She was up on her toes, sniffing up in the air, and trying to dart this way and that.

After a while it was obvious we weren't going to see an armadillo. So we let Wazzu off leash. She immediately put her nose up in the air and started running. Sure enough a few minutes later we saw her chasing an armadillo. It was back quite a ways so there was no way we would have seen it if she hadn't found it. We went over to where she was but it had gone deep under a log. It was long gone.

We continued on and sure enough a little while later Wazzu went off on another run. Once again Wazzu amazed us. She chased the armadillo until it found a place it wanted to hide. Instead of going after the armadillo she started barking like crazy. For those of you that know Wazzu you know what a huge deal this is as Wazzu only barks about once or twice a year - truly.

So Mike went running to see what was going on. Shortly after that he called me and told me to come see the armadillo. What a sight. Wazzu had found an armadillo, chased it to where it was going to hide and then "called" us to come see it. When I got there I started taking pictures - even though we couldn't see its head. Wazzu could have tried to go after it but she just sat there watching it. Just like a bird dog that points out the game for his hunter. She was so cute - she totally melted my heart. She acted so proud of herself for finding me an armadillo. This picture of her sitting by watching her great find just melts my heart!



Oh, here's the armadillo.



Just as we started heading back my legs gave out. So Mike found a very short way to get to the road. He told Wazzu and I to stay there and he would run back and get the car.



How nice is that. What a guy! While we were waiting I just happened to look up and see the moon just up and beyone a tree.



All three dogs ended up having a great day! I really enjoy the one-on-one days. You can really see each dog feeling so very special. We really get to do what is most fun to each of them. Way more special than I can explain.

We settled down to watch TV for the evening when I looked over and noticed something on Mike that looked like a tick. Sure enough - it was. So we decided we'd better check each other over for ticks. Since we'd seen one on Mike I started checing him first. I found another, then another, then another. Each one was already attached. So each time I found one I would take it off. After the fourth one Mike fell to the ground saying "I'm sick, oh I feel so sick, I'm light headed." All I could do was laugh...okay roar! You have to remember this is the same guy that faints at blood an literally faints looking at x-rays. After I got done laughing I managed to get him up so I could finish checking him over. He then collapsed on the couch.

After he recuperated, he check me. He found WAY more ticks on me than we found on him. Amazingly enough he took them all off me and I never felt sick. Ha ha. I guess we'll be doing tick checks for a couple days.

These ticks attached fast! Usually we find them walking around for a day or two and get them all before any have attached - other than the one a couple months ago that attached to my head!

The dogs seem fine so far as we haven't noticed any on them. Guess Mike and I better start eating more garlic!

Debbie
2/27/07

Suwannee River Hideaway

I finally got a chance to explore our little hideaway. It is definitely as pretty as Mike was telling me. I'll do my best to take you on a little trip to the river with me.

This is the smallest RV park that we've stayed at. It holds about 45 RV's but I'd say there are only about 30 here. We got a nice little spot that is a bit secluded - it looks like we have the place to ourselves. In the main part the RV's are all pretty close to each other with not much to see but other RV's. But we have a nice little yard and our own palm tree and no other RV's in sight from our yard. In addition, we are the closest spot to the boardwalk. It is so nice but hardly anyone seems to use it. Well, that's good for us!

The boardwalk is over a quarter mile long through the forest.



As you can see, there are trees and bushes the entire lenght of the boardwalk. Most of trees don't have their leaves right now so it is easy to see into the forest. However, due to the MANY branches it is just about impossible to get pictures of all the birds.

This little area is full of a lot of different kinds of birds. However, we can hear MANY more than we ever see. And I have just had the worst kind of luck trying to take pictures of the ones I do see. Just too many branches.

The one bird we see all the time is the Red Shoulder Hawk. There are at least two of them and they are either nesting or mating. All I can tell you for sure is that they holler and squak and fly around all day long! I missed a great opportunity to get a picture of one that was sitting only eight feet from me. There were branches in the way so I was trying to maneuver for a better picture - but I'm not as sneaky as Wazzu and he flew away. Bummer.

As you continue down the boardwalk there is a very nice bench so you can just sit and watch all the birds and squirrels.



In addition to trees, there are small little ponds and a lot of very pretty yellow flowers.



As we approach the end of the boardwalk you can see the river off in the distance.



I'm sure most people can walk a quarter of a mile in ten minutes or so. But it always takes us at least half an hour as we are so busy looking at the scenery and the watching for birds.

At the end of the boardwalk there is a very nice little deck with benches all around. It is a very pretty place to sit and look at the river.



From the deck there are stairs and then a ramp that lead down to a dock. The dock is a floating dock. So when you step on it, or the river is wavy, the dock moves. Slugger says no way is he going there. Way too scary for him. So he just sits at the top of the stairs while we enjoy rocking the dock. Sparkie and Wazzu think it's pretty fun.



From both the dock and the deck you can see the Suwannee River.



If you go off the deck there is a very pretty trail that goes quite a ways along the river.



Just a couple hundred yards down the path is a small little beach area that is a perfect place for Slugger to go swimming. And boy does he love it. It's kind of a little cove area on shore.



If you keep walking along the path you can see the river and some very pretty little cove areas.





While most of the trees don't have leaves there are a few here and there that do have leaves. Today was a sunny day and I really thought this tree was pretty against the clear blue sky.



In the afternoon after returning from their four hour morning hike we all got in the car went to Manatee Springs State Park. The Suwannee River is spring fed. This park is on one of the spring runs. I'll try to explain. The Suwannee River is large as you could see from the picture I posted from our park. Off the river is a small "run" (looks just like a smaller river) that runs maybe a quarter of a mile to a spring and that's the end.



The spring is beautiful. You can't see it it the picture but in person you can see the ripples on the water where the water is coming up from the spring. And the water is so blue and so clear that you can see all the way to the bottom - it's fairly deep - maybe 25'.



We saw quite a few smaller type fish. Notice how clear the water is.



While we were looking at the water we saw a rather large fish. You may not really see the fish real clear in this picture - although we saw it very clearly - but you can certainly see how blue the water was.



The dogs weren't allowed to go on the boardwalk. So Mike and the dogs wandered around the field a little while I walked the boardwalk along the spring run. From the end of the boardwalk you could see the river. I'm not sure what was going on but there were hundreds of vultures circling overhead.



On the way back I saw a lot of turtles sunning themselves. Just while I was watching more turtles would climb out of the water onto the logs.



Here is a closeup - hopefully you can see the little baby turtle.



We did find some trails the dogs were allowed on. We started walking but it was soon clear I needed to get to the car. So Wazzu and I went back while Mike, Sparkie, and Slugger continued hiking for a while.

I do have one thing I have to share. When we got there the first thing we saw was this sign:



I'm thinking I'll just pass on the caution part and just not swim!!

Debbie
2/26/07

Way Down Upon The Suwannee River....

Far, Far Away.

Any of you remember that song? Not sure why I do but I remembered it immediately when Mike announced we would be heading to the Suwannee River.

Thursday mid-morning they finally had our RV all done and figured out how to get us all checked out. We don't really have any place we have to be until the first weekend in March so we had to figure out where we wanted to go. We need to head north so Mike decided the Suwannee River would be a good place. So off we went.

Well, from what Mike and dogs tell me, the Suwannee River area is very pretty and there are a lot of hiking and swimming places. I however wouldn't know as I've been sick in bed with the flu since we arrived. But today (Sunday) I think I'm getting close to being a human once again.

Since it is a lot of work to keep track of three dogs, Mike can't take pictures when hiking. So as of yet we have no pictures of the area. Hopefully tomorrow I may be able to be out and about a bit and I'll be able to share some of the scenery with you.

I do know that the Suwannee River is Far Far Away.....from cell phone towers (no connection), and from stores (over 50 miles away). So I guess it is a good place to "get away from it all" if you're ever looking for that.

Hope you are all well. Don't worry, no germs are included in this post!

Debbie
2/25/07

How Much Farther?

Today we decided that instead of just sitting around waiting all day we would just leave the keys in the RV and take off for a nice long hike. The dogs have been the perfect picture of patience these last couple days but we were sure they’d really like to do something. We weren’t all that far from a place we had hiked a couple months ago that they really liked. So they decided to go there and take me along this time.

Since we have to get up and have the RV moved every morning by 7:00am we got a nice early start on our hike. That was a good plan anyway as it was supposed to get into the low 80’s today.

The place we went is part of the Florida Trail. It really is a beautiful trail and goes a LONG ways. We only met two people on the entire hike that we did and they were doing the entire trail. They were carrying very large packs and assorted gear. As we spoke they mentioned that it would take over two weeks to do the trail from end to end. We didn’t go that far – although if you’d seen us you would have thought we’d done the whole thing. I’ll explain.

Mike wanted to go on a long hike to get the dogs really tired as tomorrow most likely will be another long day of rest. The portion of the trail we did was flat we the exception of half a dozen hills. We started out great. The girls were running around like wild dogs zipping this way and that. They’d run way ahead and then race back. They’d do huge sweeping circles coming back minutes later with tongues a flopping. All the while Mike, Slugger, and I were leisurely walking along the trail.

The trail was pretty. It kind of reminded me of what I would expect a jungle to look like.



The trail was very pretty.



Many parts of the trail had a lot of moss on the trees.



And as you can see, the scenery varied a little bit.



And it was indeed a very pretty day for a quite walk.



We came across this HUGE tree that had blown over, roots and all. Looked like a good photo op to me!



Along the way we saw hundreds of pinecones. Unforunately you can't tell from this picture really but these were the biggest pine cones we'd ever seen. Even bigger than the large ones we saw in the Redwood Forest.



We also came across a tree that had hundreds of beautiful flowers.



And this huge tree that was quite a sight to see. Way too big to hug that's for sure!



This went on for a couple hours when my legs started bothering me. Mike said there was a small park ahead where we could stop and rest. It seemed like a long time to the park but the scenery was so pretty. We took a short rest at the park. Well I should say most of us rested. First we offered everyone a drink. Slugger and Wazzu each drank close to a full bottle of water. Sparkie wanted nothing to do with it. Slugger was the first to plop down. Then I found a fairly level place to lay down. As always, Slugger is much happier when he is touching so he had to move over and lay against my legs. Great, there are miles and miles of land and he has to lay on me. Wazzu was a very good girl and laid down near me. Mike found a nice little spot to sit and rest. Sparkie was very busy the whole time. Run here, run there, sniff this, sniff that, chew on this stick, chew on that stick, tear up the empty water bottles…..well you get the idea.

After about ten minutes we decided to continue on. We did pretty good for about hour before the trouble started. I was having big trouble as was Slugger. It became what looked like a very strange game of leap frog. I would like down in the path while the rest of them would continue on. Wazzu of course would stay with me. She would lay down just ahead of me in the path. Then every little while she would come over and nuzzle down to find my face and give me lots of kisses. When she was sure I was okay she would go back up and lay down in the trail.

Further up the trail Slugger would just plop down in mid stride. I would decide to move on and would end up passing the others as they waited for Slugger to get up. This went on for a little while and then suddenly we had a third member playing the game – Wazzu. Sparkie on the other hand had at least slowed down to a trot but was still going off here and there to explore. She totally didn’t understand the hold up.

There were times in my mind that I really thought there was no way I was going to make it back to the car. But my heart knew that was written: Cry to the Lord in times of trouble and he will save you from your distress. So I cried out asking for help and continued to praise God for all the wonderful things. Indeed, as always, He was faithful to His word as eventually we all did make it back to the car.

I will say however that once we got to the car there wasn’t ANY movement coming from three of us. We got back to the RV just as the place was closing down. They had indeed gotten to us and repaired the “emergency.” We were hoping they’d fix one other thing that is very important – but since we can get around that by doing a manual adjustment each time we stop, they didn’t consider that an emergency and therefore didn’t fix that.

Since they were just closing they didn’t have our paperwork done so we had to spend the night. Which didn’t bother any of us as we had no plans to move a muscle so it didn’t matter where we were.

I must say it didn’t surprise me that both Wazzu and I had trouble on the hike. That is just plain too far to try to take either of us. I’m extremely surprised that Slugger had trouble. He hikes a lot and he was on leash the entire time so he was just walking. And most of the hike we were in the forest so it was well shaded.

What should have taken four hous without me and maybe five hours with me (way too long for me!!) ended up take a little over six hours.

I’m pretty sure Mike won’t be taking me on any long hikes again any time soon.

Debbie
2/21/07

Playing Catch Up

You may have noticed that it’s been a little quiet on our blog recently. Maybe it’s kind of like when writers get “writers block.” Actually, I just had my attentions elsewhere for a bit.

Thursday, the day after Valentine’s Day, was Mike’s birthday. We had a very nice day planned. First, a nice hike to get the dogs tired and then an afternoon of just the two of us together at a nice nature preserve. Best laid plans…..

Mike and the dogs left early for a nice long hike. They returned a few hours later with Wazzu being carried inside. She had injured her right front leg and wouldn’t put any weight on it. So instead of our nice afternoon plans we spent the afternoon at the vets office. Turns out she has a soft tissue injury and will need to take it easy for a while. So much for nice birthday plans.

Early the following morning we left for our drive back to Palmetto for another agility trial. The weekend was super cold. Everyone kept saying it felt like Alaska. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that cold but it was not pleasant. The temperatures in the morning were in the 30’s with the high in the low 40’s. The winds were blowing hard – up to 70 miles an hour we were told. Those winds ripped right through the tall arena (all open sided) making it feel like an arctic blast.

Wazzu of course couldn’t compete so she stayed in the RV all weekend resting. The other two had their ups and downs each ending up with a 50% Q rate. Little Slugger is starting to catch on to the Tunnelers game and is actually turning when Mike calls him instead of just stopping to stare at the crowd or the cones or whatever else he may see.

Monday morning we made our way to Wildwood, FL. I’m sure you haven’t heard of it. There really is nothing here…..except a Monaco factory service center. Even though they have 60 bays we couldn’t get an appointment. Fortunately they do have emergency service. Our problem qualifies as an emergency (no hot water or heat!) so we are “in line” along with 30 other emergencies that came in the same day we did. So we just sit in the parking lot waiting for our turn. Nothing all day Monday, nothing all day Tuesday….

One interesting sight that I forgot to tell you about last week. As we were driving (don’t remember exactly where) we were out in the middle of total nowhere. We weren’t on a freeway just on a road that leads from somewhere to somewhere. Suddenly we found traffic – huh, way out here?! In the field to our right, which stretched for a good couple miles, were thousands and thousands of cars as well as over a thousand RV’s and hundreds of tents. It was obvious people planned on being there a while as they had barbeques set up and radios blasting. As many cars as we saw there were even more ATV’s and motorcycles all zooming around every which way with no definite flow. There was a huge camera crane there – we couldn’t tell which TV station it was though. We saw fire trucks and ambulances spread out among the place as well. We couldn’t imagine what could be going on. Then we saw the sign – 2007 MudFest. Shortly thereafter we saw the MUD. I’ve never ever seen so much mud in my whole life. We saw mud people, mud ATV’s, mud trucks, mud motorcycles……everything was covered in MUD. I’m sure there was mud wrestling too but I wouldn’t let Mike stop to confirm that. It really was quite a sight – one I was happy to see from the road. Slugger would have loved it. I’m sure it would have been the highlight of his life. Maybe next time….NOT!

Just waiting……

Debbie
2/20/07

Individual Time

This morning I got up to find Mike making my favorite pancakes. (Thanks for the recipe Pat.) Wazzu wasn't feeling up to par so we decided that the dogs would get individual walks today so that Wazzu could take it easy. Since it was supposed to get hot today we decided to take Wazzu first.

We went back to the park that is less than a block from where we are staying. I was immediately worried as the two large alligators we saw yesterday weren't where we had left them! Yikes....where are they?!

I scanned all the way around the pond and didn't see them anywhere. The only thing I saw was a turtle swimming around.



So we decided to take a walk on the trail called "Three Ponds." The first pond we came upon we saw an alligator about 20' from us sunning himself. This was not one of the "missing" alligators as this one was much smaller than those we had seen yesterday.



Just a little further around the pond was a turtle sunning himself.



As we continued on the trail I was noticing that there were some tracks on the trail. I was taking a closer look to see what kind of track it was when suddenly Wazzu & Mike both noticed a large snake dart off the path. From that point on I kept a close eye on the path for snakes who may be sunning themselves!

Shortly after that we noticed a trail leading off to the left. It wasn't an "official" trail but a trail nonetheless. I kind of glanced in to see what was there and I noticed it was another pond. However, I have learned that alligators like to sun themselves on the banks of these ponds. So while I wanted to see the pond I wasn't real brave...so I sent Mike in to see if it was safe!

He slowly went the 15' to the pond and announced that it was clear. So Wazzu and I started to join him. When we were about two feet from Mike he jumped, as did we, when we saw a huge alligator only a couple feet from Mike go into the water. We were all caught off guard so it took me a little bit before I was able to take a picture.



So much for Mike as a lookout!! This pond was a very busy pond. There were all sorts of things that kept sticking their heads out of the water and we could see a lot of movement around the pond. We really wanted to stay and watch but decided it might be safer to move on.

However, after moving on we thought maybe we would have been better staying put. As only a short ways down the trail there were probably 40 - 50 vultures soaring overhead. There were two different kinds of vultures. I don't know what they were really doing but whatever it was they didn't like us standing there watching them. One of them dive bombed us and came within 5' of our heads. I decided that I'd take one picture and then we were out of there!



We decided that was enough for Wazzu so on our way out we stopped at the original pond to see if the two large alligators had reappeared. They had not - gosh...where are they?? In the spot where the largest alligator had been was a turtle.



As we turned to leave I looked down an noticed NUMEROUS alligators - all were about three - four feet long. There was at least six of them.



Just to the side of them I noticed some a couple more. It wasn't until I was loading this picture that I noticed there was one to the left of the picture that I hadn't even seen.



Just as we were leaving Wazzu suddenly perked up. She started slowly stalking.



She hadn't been paying any attention to the alligators so I knew that's not what had caught her attention. So as she was slowly stalking Mike and I were both scanning the area to make sure there wasn't an alligator around. Suddenly she pounced and out ran a huge rat. It ran to the next clump of grass and she once again started stalking. Just as suddenly the rat came out running straight toward me! Needless to say I took off....so no picture!! I'm glad the rat was there though as it did seem to perk Wazzu up. She now had a happy face!

This nearby baby alligator seemed very content to watch Wazzu play with the rat.



Next it was Slugger's turn. He loved going by himself as that meant he could go at his pace. His pace is VERY slow as he loves to hunt for lizards. So while his walk took a lot of time he didn't cover much ground. But he had a great time. Not so sure that Mike did though.

When it was Sparkie's turn Mike decided to go to a different spot as he was getting a little bored with the same place. So they went further down the road. It was actaully the same park just a different part of it. There weren't any ponds here so there wasn't the danger of alligators so Mike let Sparkie off leash as she really needs the exercise. All was fine until Mike saw some wild pigs. They are actually more dangerous than the alligators so Mike had to hurry and get Sparkie on leash. She wouldn't have had a very good day had she decided to chase the pigs....which she really wanted to do.

After the dogs had dinner we took them on a short walk around the park. Suddenly out of nowhere, it seemed, two low flying birds came right by us. I didn't have tinme to get ready so this picture is a little blurry - but I like the way the sun was on his wings.



As we were standing along side the waterway Sparkie decided she needed to get something out of the water. She kept sicking her head in the water and blowing bubbles so she could keep her head under water longer. She finally came up with a mouthful of leaves. Not sure what all that was about but Slugger decided he needed to help too. So he did the bubble blowing and came up with a huge stick. He had quite the time getting it out of the water.

While the kids were doing such foolish stuff, Wazzu sat on the shore and watched the activity on the other side. Interestingly enough there was a racoon that seemed to be playing with a Great Blue Heron. The racoon seemed to be having fun while the Great Blue Heron just stood still watching the racoon play around its feet.

Well, that was our Valentine's Day. I hope you had a great day too.

Debbie
2/14/07