Anniversary

Nimmie on the Harry Street trail

I remember the day we drove over to that small town south of Spokane in February of 2008.The owner had advertised her and we’d been selected at her new forever home. It was cold and bright in the Palouse. We left Allie in the car and walked up the stars into the small rural health clinic and the receptionist brought Nimmie out. She promptly hid under a desk in the back of the room. After some conversation and verbal enticement, Nimmie came to us and we walked her out to the car.

That was the beginning of an all too brief love affair with one of the sweetest dogs on the planet. Nimmie was eager to please and obsessed with a tossed ball. And prairie dogs. Think the movie Up. Most nights she’d come over to my side of the bed, making little moaning sounds as I rubbed behind her ears. She enjoyed the walks down Harry Street on Discovery Bay and the trails at Fort Worden. Smaller than Allie, she nonetheless gave no ground when it came to play. She was a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriver: bright-eyed, intelligent, vocal and active.

She left us in the evening of a sunny day on Cape Cod. We had begun on our walkabout knowing she had stage V lymphoma, but also knowing she was just as happy with us in the motor home as she was at home in the cul-de-sac.

Nimmie taught me what love can be. She taught me that dogs are affectionate partners in life, with us for fewer years than we’d like. I now hold  Allie, Kinnon and Sherry much closer. I’m now able to let go of some of the things that I used to think were important. Dogs live in the moment and why shouldn’t I try? We’re here in this lifetime for a short time only. Nimmie’s transition continues to let me know how short that time really is and how important each kindness becomes.

Nimmie was full of grace:  elegant, beautiful, with smoothness of movement; dignified, polite, and decent in behavior; with a capacity to tolerate, accommodate, or forgive people. I can only imperfectly aspire to what she so easily embodied each and every day.

So, dear girl, chase that ball and be pain-free where you are now. I look forward to having you by my side in God’s own time. Go free!

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Saying Goodbye

I’m not very good with saying goodbye. We lost a very fine friend last month. I first met Jan when I joined the Vietnam veterans support group in Port Townsend in 2003. My leftovers from the Southeast Asia War Games were interfering with Life, as had happened in the early 1990s. We found we could talk easily over coffee. We shared our affiliation with traveling Bill Wilson’s road to happy destiny and were easy with discussing such trivialities as the meaning of the universe. Rest easy and enjoy, my friend,  until we are together again.

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Nebraska

I know I’ve made Nebraska the butt of many jokes, but we really did a little exploring and had some fun. The state is still very flat, but it makes driving easier than Iowa and Illinois, which could have spent more money on cut and fill when they constructed I-80.

We had breakfast with son Christopher at the Cracker Barrel in Lincoln first thing. Was great to see him and hear about his school work. We then sought out the AAA office for maps and finally Starbucks for some real coffee. We drove through Lincoln rather that around on I-80 and it’s really quite a nice town.

We got off at North Platte to have lunch and found Penny’s Diner right next to the tourist attraction Fort Cody. Wonderful steak and Philly steak sandwich. The Philly was the best I’ve had since Tom showed us what a REAL steak sandwich is in South Philly. We then found the Bark Park and the kids enjoyed some ball tossing in the heat. Once of the finest parks we’ve seen since Paradise, CA. We then visited the Golden Spike Tower at the Union Pacific Bailey Yard. Quite an operation and it was unusual to have the vantage point of being eight stories high.

It may be flat, but no more Nebraska jokes.

Wyoming tomorrow.

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Michigan

We spent a couple of days in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario before heading south. We visited the Soo in 2005, so we repeated a wonderful walk with the dogs on one of the islands on the St Mary River, which not only separates Canada from the US, but also Lake Superior from Lake Huron. The Whitefish First Nation owns the island and has a great circle walk, full of wildlife. Kinnon and Allie were particularly attentive to the geese and ducks and we watched a tour boat enter the Canadian lock as we left.

We then drove south and re-entered the US after two very interesting weeks in Canada. WE crossed the spectacular Makinaw Bridge and traveled a couple of hours south to visit Carol and Steve Smith, who have a farm in Empire, MI. As always, we enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere and their gracious hospitality. Carol served a whitefish dinner that was absolutely delicious. Allie and Kinnon had the chance to run free. The area of the Grand Traverse is really beautiful, as is Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which Carol showed us on our last trip.

Today we drove down the west coast of Michigan, turned west through Indiana, and are now poised  in Illinois to cross the plains. We stopped for our first Butter Burger of the trip at Culver’s, accompanied by one of the finest blackberry milkshakes in the known universe. Made, of course, from their custard.

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Allez Allie!

A wonderfully sunny and cool day to walk Vieux Québec.  It’s all about keeping culture and language in a world that would have everything be McDonald’s and in English. We walked almost 5 k in the old city while Allie and Mackinnon kept the RV safe. So much more to learn about our world that was excised from our America-centric history books. General Montcalm defeated the English at Fort William Henry (which we visited in New York) in 1757 only to be defeated by the English at Québec in 1759. Both he and the English General Wolfe died the day and day after the battle and are memorialized on the same monument. Which is inscribed in Latin to solve the language issue!

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Cape Breton Island II

We spent the night next to the water on Bras d’Or Lake in Jersey Cove after a great visit to the Alexander Graham Bell National Historical Site in Bradeck. It rained and blew most of the night. Up early, we then drove north and enjoyed Cape Breton National Park. Parts of the drive reminded me of the Big Island minus 35 degrees. The Highlands were absolutely awesome. We stopped for lunch in Chéticamp on the St Lawrence side and let the dogs run on the beach there. Best lobster roll of the trip!

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Cape Breton Island

We spent yesterday morning touring the Fortress of Louisbourg, the largest historical reconstruction in North America. Well worth the time and we were fortunate we brought cold weather gear with us! We then drove north to see the Marconi National Historic Site in Glace Bay. In this age of instant communication it’s easy to forget how difficult it was to create such an accomplishment as sending messages across the Atlantic. I think my history books in school also made small of the Italian and Canadian foundations of this operation. The site had a volunteer ham radio operator (and his gear) who, along with the single park staff, made the stop very enjoyable.

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Peggy’s Cove

Several days have gone by since we left Bar Harbor since uploading pics has been an issue. We enjoyed St John NB and the City Market after spending the night at New River Beach Provincial Park just a few kilometers the the west. We then decided to suck it in and drive to Halifax. Nova Scotia, finally!  Today we drove to Peggy’s Cove, stopping at the memorial to Swissair Flight 111, which is just north. Peggy’s Cove is said to be one of the most photographed places in Canada and rightfully so. We parked the View by the visitor’s centre and walked the dogs down to the lighthouse. We then made for The Bay in Dartmouth so I could by some of my favorite McGregor Happy Foot socks. The freeways are much smoother Nova Scotia compared to New Brunswick. Maybe because of all the money NS saves by not having to have bilingual road signs?

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Acadia

We spent an extra day on Mount Desert Island and visited Acadia National Park and Ba Ha Ba. The park is the only one on the East Coast and a wonderful place for those who don’t want to travel to the Oregon coast or the San Juan Islands. Ba Ha Ba is a nice little tourist destination, with shops getting ready for The Season. The Rupununi earned this trip’s Best French Fries award, garnished with garlic and rosemary.

Tomorrow we plan to visit The Roosevelt International Peace Park on Campobello Island, NB, then we’re off for provincial and national parks in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Cell phones and our Mi-Fi card will be off, so postings may be sporadic for a while. We plan to cross back into the states at Sault St Marie on about June 26.

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Amherst and North

A fine ocean breeze in Maine and time to catch up on our travels!

Our five day visit on the farm of Kevin and Cynthia near Amherst was relaxing and playful.Lots of great food, conversation and canine supervision. Ice cream and more ice cream and Cynthia’s marvelous cooking.

The tick situation prevented the usual romps in the fields by the dogs. Even with walking on the mowed paths, Kinnon was attacked by the nest of ticks, necessitating pulling thirty or so of the black bugs off the poor boy. We also let some of Nimmie’s ashes go at the creek as this was the last place she enjoyed herself last year, walking the fields and in the woods with Allie, Maya and Javier and their humans.

Yesterday we drove north to Freeport, ME, shopping at the Outlet and Flagship stores of LL Bean. On the way we enjoyed lahbsta rolls in North Hampton, NH on the advice of a friend who we had hoped could join us for lunch. Unfortunately, he was in the ER for gout and appendicitis. Get well, John!

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