Recovery

I am on the road to recovery. I purchased some Pepper Gel spray so I am able to start walking around the block again. The neighbor man was walking and a new dog in the neighborhood attacked him and bit him 6 times. A new family moved in down the street with two large dogs and one doesn't seem to be restrained by the electric fence. Many neighbors have complained but nothing was done and now there has been an attack.
 I heard the lady came out and stopped the attack.The attacked man went home so his wife could patch him up and he could decide if he needed hospital care. The dog owner called the police and reported that the man was teasing the dog and the dog attached. The police came and asked where the attack occurred and they could see blood on the far side of the street from her house. The police asked the owner for her dogs current tags and registration papers and she did not have them. So this lady called the police on herself because her dog was out of her yard, bit someone and had no tags. The dog was taken and is quarantined for 10 days. If the dog shows signs of rabies our poor neighbor man will need the shots.
I do not know if the dog will return to the neighborhood, but I have learned I will need protection when I am walking. I do not have the strength to fight off a dog so I hope this Pepper Gel will do it for me.
I am doing my arm exercises and preparing to walk and regain my strength! If the rain stops today I might try to walk a bit!

Food

No weekend get away would be complete without food! We found some really great places to eat!

 My flavored lemonaide!

 Lobster and crab dip!

 Natalie had this drink and they made it from fresh ingredients right at the table. It was a real show!

All American Grooming Show

This weekend I accompanied Natalie to the All American Grooming Show in Schaumburg, IL and was it ever an amazing experience. We can never quit learning about all of the amazing jobs there are out there and how some are so fun they do not seem like work! People spend a fortune on their pets and Natalie spent a fortune on products that makes their pets look well groomed and smell amazing!

The sheers, clippers, shampoo, and other products Natalie uses for grooming come in all qualities, and Natalie has decided to only use the best, which is costly but worth it. Although I was just an observer I saw the different products and how the elite ones really are better for the dogs coat and skin. I observed how a pair of sheers that cost $75. ripped the coat and left uneven lines while the $275.+ Sheers cut the coat like it was butter, sliding through the coat not ripping out the hair and leaving a clean well groomed looking cut.  It was a real education for me!

We also attended the competitions and I had never seen anything like it. It might look like the dogs are being used, but I think it is the human being used. These show dogs love to be looked at while being groomed and while walking the runway, they just seem so happy! The groomers are artists that know how to trim the hair in various areas and apply dye and spray in details to make these dogs, mostly poodles because of their fur type, look like amazing works of art. After the judging most of the dye just washes out and with a comb out and a bit of trimming one would never know the dog had been in this type of show. These dogs are treated like stars and live a life of luxury. 

I laughed when I heard people complain to the show personnel that the temperature in the huge room was not cool enough for their dogs. One employee said if he upped the temperature it would be chilly for humans and the loud reply was, “Tell them to wear a sweater! Our babies need it cooler!” It did not take long for the convention area to cool down!

I am a Dog

We tried to figure a way to wash my hair without requiring me to bend over very far. Finally Natalie exclaimed, "I know how to do this! My van!" The DOG grooming van was a great idea because the sink is high requiring minimum bending and she has a long faucet hose so she could reach me. Natalie just purchased some expensive dog shampoo that smells amazing so she insisted she use it on me! I hate to say it, but my hair feels and smells amazing. That might be because I am so glad it is clean but we do think it is an amazing product!
Natalie now has another daily job, washing my hair!! Now I can say I have been groomed!!

Hospital

Surgery went well and I am home to recuperate and then begin Phase 2 of this journey. The most pain I am having now is the tight bandage wrapped around me. It is hard to breathe and I will be like this for at least two weeks. I’d love a shower today but a sponge bath is all I am going to get. I am trying to figure out how I can wash my hair later today. 

I am glad to be home to quiet, I had a private room but my neighbor was very loud and demanding. He was either yelling at the nurses or pushing his button for them to come into his room so he could yell at them. 

I hope this recovery goes well!

Mud Volleyball

I thought I would sleep in today but NO! Natalie and Duffey get me up to ride my bike with them to watch Natalie play mud volleyball. So before 9 AM I have ridden my bike over 12 miles and I have watched 3 mud volleyball games. Duf and I returned home because her next game is not until 1 and it is quite hot outside already.
We are also in charge of picking her Mobile Grooming van up from a place in WI that put a dark film on her window so people can't see her grooming. When people look in the window the dog gets upset and moves and she is afraid she might cut the dog if it were to suddenly be startled and move. There are a few things that happen with her business that we did not even think of when she ordered the van. She is doing great so this little item is not a big deal.

Fun Trip

We got to site 5 and started to set up when Duf realized he forgot the Jeep keys! This meant we could not open the locked doors or unhook the Jeep. He realized the rear was not locked and climbed through to open the door. We walked around the RV park and found some large rocks to put behind the tires when we unhooked because the Jeep was in neutral and it would roll away. 

While we were getting the Jeep unhooked an RV pulled into site 6 but we did not pay much attention to them because we were working on the Jeep project. It was Cheryl and Di from Roscoe! They were there for the same days and had pulled their boat up and did not have a car. They recognized our motorhome, voices and car and came over to see what we were doing. They will never let Duf forget that he forgot those keys!!!

We called a Jeep dealer about an hour away and found out it would cost over $250 to get a key made so we decided to call Natalie and have her send us the key. The key did not arrive until Thursday night.

Cheryl and Di brought their beautiful boat with them and had used their RV to back their boat into the lake! They invited us to go for a ride that turned into a fishing expedition where we caught numerous walleye and Cheryl cooked them for dinner! I had made potato salad and Cole slaw so we had a nice dinner.

We had a great time laughing, boating, fishing, and walking up to the casino for HUGE ice cream cones! The casino gave us $10. To gamble with and it took me about 15 minutes to use mine! Duf lasted around 45 minutes with his and Di won $55. 

It was an amazing week and we all had a great time with many laughs and things that happened that only we will know and laugh about.

Trip of less tension!

I have been having a test a day it seems and none of the results are what I want to hear so Duf decided we should take a little trip and sight see for a few days. We finally have the motorhome back and it is completely fixed and  has all new batteries.

I had a PET scan in the morning after which Duf had a dentist visit so we were on the road around noon. We drove two hours and then had a small lunch and continued our journey to Vermillion Bay, MN. Duf had been to Elly with the Boy Scouts years ago and wanted to show me the cute little towns. We suspect they have grown in the last 20 years, but we shall see.

The 7 hour trip was mostly uneventful and it was shocking I only slept an hour! 

Superior and Duluth are the most interesting cities on this journey thus far. We crossed over the Superior bay and once in Duluth began the up hill winding climb. This is a very steep hill that winds up and ends at a plateau that is full of shopping! Each city seems to have their thing and in Superior it is selling Wild Rice. It is for sale on almost every corner.

There is still much shipping going on in these towns.

We continued about an hour north and are now in the Fortune Bay Casino RV Lot. This is a beautiful area with very large pull through lots.

We arrived just in time to get hooked up and the rain hit us. It is 84 degrees so we turned the AC on and relaxed.