I'm here, but I must say that this trip has not been a good one. Thank you to everyone for your concerns. Today is the first day I've turned on the computer since I left my campsite in Arkansas. I tried to post from there, but didn't have very good internet. Lost it midpost & wasn't able to get it back. So I gave up. So here's a recap of my events..I've been very saddened & will explain.
May 25, I was DETERMINED to leave that day! And I did. It was a very long day of stuffing preparing items & such for my trip. Around 8:30pm, I finally pulled out of the driveway for my long awaited trip! Yay! I drive, I drive, I drive...I'm tired. No where to pull over. I'm on 59 heading north to Arkansas. Finally, I found a place to pull over around 2:30am. I pull over & go to sleep for the night. Next morning, I get up, take care of the dogs & head on. I pull over at a gas station in Marshall, TX, I get gas. I pull out of the station & head down the road, a kitten darts out in front of me!! I hit it. I cry. I've NEVER hit anything other than a rabbit & a possum in my life!! It devastated me. Poor beautiful little kitten - gone forever. Damn. I cried for days over that. But I get a few blocks from that unfortunate incident AND my Serpetine belt breaks! I hear this noise under my hood. I pull over in a strip mall, cut off the engine, open the hood & see shreds of what looks like thread. Then I realize it's a belt, I look & yep, it's shredded alright. Oh goodie, it's Saturday & a holiday weekend! Thank you to a very kind man that works for the commisioners office in Marshall, he was able to get a mechanic to me. The mechanic changes out my s-belt & my power steering belt as well. So I get back on the road & am on my way to the State Park I like to stay at in Arkansas. After several hours of driving, I arrive to the Iron Mountain State Park in Caddo Valley, ARK. At DeGrey Lake. Nice place. No spots. Oh crap. It never occurred to me that they'd be full. I don't know why it never occurred to me, but it didn't. They offered me a boondocking spot for $10 a night. I have a quarter tank of gas, can't run my genny. Of course, I could leave the park & go get gas, but if I have to pay to run my genny & can't run it after 10pm, I might as well move on & boondock at a Walmart or somewhere. But go check out the spot anyhow. I pull in & cry more. I'm still very upset over the kitten. And I'm exhausted. The thought of driving on didn't appeal to me, so I debate on whether to take the spot or not. I drive back to the rangers station & the lady meets me at the door. Good news! They just got a cancellation & I got that spot! Man was I thankful! $14 a night. Yipee. I pay for 3 nights. Sat, Sun & Mon. Cool. First day, we just chill, I walk the dogs a lot & try to mentally detox. We're enjoying the sights of the boats on the lake, etc. Monday, I hear this really loud noise. I'm thinking, wow, someone is doing something really loud. Then I realize that the noise is coming from inside of my motorhome!! Uh oh. Not what I planned on. So I rush inside, it's my roof air. I cut it off quickly. Other campers come to help me with advice. We're all thinking the fan motor is going out. And it's a holiday. No places open. One camper gives me a number for an a/c place. I call. They can't do motorhomes or RV's. They only service houses & businesses. So I have no choice but to open windows & put fans on the dogs. It's 95 outside, very still, very hot. Dogs are better kept inside with fans & getting spritzed with water. But I worry. Finally, night falls & it's a little more comfortable for us all. The next morning, we head out. I call SEVERAL RV places, I get friends to help me call as I barely had any cell phone service. NO internet service at all. I drive to a few RV places, nope, all they can tell me is to leave my RV with them & they'd get to it in a few days. Um, not possible. So I decide to keep driving, hitting RV places along the way. Camping World offers to look at it, (Little Rock), they declined on the phone, but when I showed up in person, they said they'd take a look. BUT if it was a motor, then they'd have to order one & have it shipped to me. Cost of looking $129. But I'd still have to pay someone else to install. So I thought maybe it would be better if I moved on, using the dash air to keep us all cool & just keep heading to my destination in Missouri. I get into Mo, I think, OK, I'll stop & walk the dogs at the state forest. I could relax & they can stretch their legs. We're enjoying our walks, until I discover that hoards of ticks are attacking us!!! EEEKS! We're outta there!!!
I drive till I find a convience store & pull over for the night.
Head back out the next morning & drive to Beyerle's RV in something Mo, which is not far from where the dog show is. I beg, plead, etc for them to come out & look at my roof air. They come out. I crank on the genny, I turn on the a/c. It's running fine. I told them in a few mins that it will act up & I'll come get them when it does. well, it behaves. So it's like taking a sick dog to the vet. You get there & the dog is fine! As was my a/c. So we decide that a mud dauber nest or something had gotten in the squirrel cage & got dislodged with the rough roads. So far, so good on the a/c! So I'm pleased with that.
Get to the dog shows, we have 4 all breed shows before our saluki nationals starts. We do the all breed shows & I share a booth with a friend of mine. She writes books & has a booth for her books, but wants me to share the booth for my jewelry, so I do. She has 3 of her salukis with her in a pen at the booth. They are really sweet well behaved dogs. I enjoyed being around them. Then finally, our saluki nationals begin. We go down, set up for it. We go to the grocery store & stock up on supplies. We are soooo looking forward to camping out & cooking each evening. Then something horrific happens. My friend decides to take her one year old puppy up to the puppy play area, which is fenced off to play with one of her littermates that comes to the show. So I stay at the campsite & they take off to the play area. Problem, her puppy spooks when they get up there, bolts & gets away!! She's GONE!! She took off totally! We get a sighting on her, but we don't personally see her. So my friend sets up camp where she was last spotted. I went up every day & spent the days with her after I take care of my dogs. Then I come back & take care of my dogs again & go back till the end of the day each day. Finally 4 days after she's gone, she's sighted again. We jump on it & she sees her puppy, eye to eye. Puppy takes off again!! She's scared & has gone feral. Salukis tend to do this when they get spooked. Poor puppy is scared living in the woods days on end, but she keeps moving around so no one can see her. Day 5, my friend calls me & thinks she's going to come to her any minute now. Then we get the devastating news that she's been hit by a car. A really, really super nice married couple are also helping that live on the property near where the puppy had been hiding out. They allow the puppy to be buried on their land. So sad, so very, very sad. We are all still very devastated over all this. And my poor friend had a break down when she went home & entered her home without her puppy, seeing all her toys & things around the house. It's going to take us all a very long time to heal over this, if ever.
So I am now at my Mom's in Pa & am trying to mentally heal. Please take the time to appreciate life today. Hold onto loved ones, let them know you love them.
Sorry that this post was so long. As you can tell, I'm not ready to go back to my daily blogging, but I'll be back to my old self soon.
Loves & hugs to all -- TexCyn
