Friday, August 19, 2011
Jack and Maggie Training.....
Though I think we ALL prefer just camping in the woods, sometimes we go to shows also and let Maggie and Jack strut their stuff. They haven't done anything spectacular according to the judges but they are spectacular none the less!! And Jack does try to jump up on them and give kisses when they walk by...but it's frowned upon, go figure!!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Still learning....
So day 2 was mucho better, as I said before we found a nice county park and the dogs all got to eat and have a good run. Howie, Maggie and Jack weren't fond of their "alone time", but survived.
By now I've learned that Jack has to be tied to the passenger seat so he is the resident co-pilot and definitely not happy about it. I put a board up to separate the front of the motor home from the back so that the little guys could have the run of the back. That lasted about 3 mins until Jack learned he could climb up the handles on the drawers in the kitchen and hop over the counter. Oh well, the best laid plans....
There was hardly any traffic going through Pasadena, which was surprising. I kept putting off getting gas thinking I'd pass a truck stop but HELLO...welcome to So Cal! In Glendale I finally got off the freeway and discovered they eat a lot there but no one gets gas. Finally found one and had to do some serious maneuvering to get in and out (n/b traffic had to stop while I backed up and pulled forward again because I couldn't make the turn onto the street!!)and we were on our way again. All the streets sounded familiar but nothing look anything like I remembered. This is where I grew up? Luckily, Vernon JR HS is still in existence so I had a marker to make a left turn, from there reflex took over. Straight, right, follow it around. It was a strange feelling. I was glad to see that most of the houses looked really good, people had remodeled and fixed up their homes and the entire neighborhood was actually awesome.
Lesson learned day #2: Absolutely nothing can compare to a good friend.
The rest of the trip was pretty much just stress with no pictures so we'll fast forward to...we made it home!
Ready for the next one!
By now I've learned that Jack has to be tied to the passenger seat so he is the resident co-pilot and definitely not happy about it. I put a board up to separate the front of the motor home from the back so that the little guys could have the run of the back. That lasted about 3 mins until Jack learned he could climb up the handles on the drawers in the kitchen and hop over the counter. Oh well, the best laid plans....
There was hardly any traffic going through Pasadena, which was surprising. I kept putting off getting gas thinking I'd pass a truck stop but HELLO...welcome to So Cal! In Glendale I finally got off the freeway and discovered they eat a lot there but no one gets gas. Finally found one and had to do some serious maneuvering to get in and out (n/b traffic had to stop while I backed up and pulled forward again because I couldn't make the turn onto the street!!)and we were on our way again. All the streets sounded familiar but nothing look anything like I remembered. This is where I grew up? Luckily, Vernon JR HS is still in existence so I had a marker to make a left turn, from there reflex took over. Straight, right, follow it around. It was a strange feelling. I was glad to see that most of the houses looked really good, people had remodeled and fixed up their homes and the entire neighborhood was actually awesome.
Lesson learned day #2: Absolutely nothing can compare to a good friend.
The rest of the trip was pretty much just stress with no pictures so we'll fast forward to...we made it home!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Day 1 with the new motorhome!
Well, we started out on the 14th of December and it's now the 29th. That alone is telling. I thought I would be setting up camp every day, walking/feeding all the dogs and then curling up in a blanket and blog away about the day! Ugh...so it wasn't awful but it certainly didn't turn out that way.
Left El Dorado about 5 hours late because it was torrential rains and I didn't really want to tackle that in the dark. We were going to Santa Maria to pick up some of the delish Suzy Q's that Annette had got me hooked on during our Butt Lake trip. So basically, I decided to go 5 hours out of the way to pick up seasoning. Ya that was a mistake! We got to Santa Maria about 4:30pm and hit a detour on Hwy 1. It was getting dark, I knew the road was windy and curvy and had NO idea where the detour would take us so I picked a street that went east and headed back to the 101. We made it to Ventura and pulled into the KOA at about 7pm and I couldn't find my flashlight anywhere...another Ugh moment. Finally found our site but backed into the wrong one and CRUNCH! Who woulda thought a little split rail fence could cause so much damage??? Guess that's fiberglass for you. Finally got into the right spot (helps when you have a 33' motorhome to back into the site that's 34' instead of 28')and just plugged in the electricity, walked and fed the dogs and went to sleep.
Got up early the next morning (really had no choice, the peacocks were everywhere and talking up a storm!)
I hooked up the water and got everyone out for walks. Now, I had taken the motorhome to Folsom the week prior to make sure that everything worked and that I could work everything. Didn't have problem 1 there. HOWEVER, after walking the dogs, I put the little guys back in and looked down the hall and my bed was up in the air! Oh panic...the reservoir was filling up with water and about to bust! I ran and turned off the water and started trying to figure out what I'd done wrong. Tried to turn the water heater on but, alas...it went "click, click, click, woooshhhh"....then died. After trying this a few times with no luck, I started boiling water for one of THOSE kind of baths. I didn't want to drive with all that water and the only thing I could figure out was to pump it out through the toilet and faucets....turned everything on and, luckily, the pump was working! Cleaned up and packed everyone back in the motorhome, stopped to dump the tanks and saw a county park below us. It was empty!! So that's where we went for breakfast....the mist had let up by then and everyone got out and had a run. This was the easiest part, as long as I've got space without a bunch of people I just hook everyone together and let 'em go....though sometimes I have to intervene...
So now we start day 2 feeling that no matter how bad things get, NOTHING could have been worse than if that reservoir had busted open with all that water!
Day 1 lessons learned:
#1 Jack has to learn the word "STAY". Our first stop (at a rest stop) I went to put the big dogs back in the motorhome, opened the door and he was out like a streak of lightening! Had to run after him of course (still had the big guys on leashes)and Maggie and Howie jumped out also! They are very good though, stayed right with me while I ran after Jack (who was flipping and flopping and turning like a little maniac...in other words, just being Jack!)and finally caught him. Soooooooo later that day, all the training he'd had went out the window and he learned stay the "consequence" way. Tied to a leash with just enough play so that his feet wouldn't hit the ground...left the door open and he jumped out, hung himself. Picked him back up, put him back in, told him to "stay" and walked away. He jumped out, hung himself. Picked him back up, put him back in, told him to "stay" and walked away....you guessed it. He jumped out and hung himself. Surprisingly, that was his last time, I honestly thought it would take him 9 or 10 times to get it. Jack no longer jumps out of the motorhome until I tell him to come. Some dogs just have to learn everything the hard way.
#2 Truck stops are much better than rest stops. Lots more open space, not so many people and the dogs can run around and I don't have to be so stressed that someone is going to try to cause problems.
#3 The motorhome, unlike the Excursion, does not go "beep, beep, beep" when something is behind it. You have a backup camera....USE IT!!
All in all it was a good day:)
Left El Dorado about 5 hours late because it was torrential rains and I didn't really want to tackle that in the dark. We were going to Santa Maria to pick up some of the delish Suzy Q's that Annette had got me hooked on during our Butt Lake trip. So basically, I decided to go 5 hours out of the way to pick up seasoning. Ya that was a mistake! We got to Santa Maria about 4:30pm and hit a detour on Hwy 1. It was getting dark, I knew the road was windy and curvy and had NO idea where the detour would take us so I picked a street that went east and headed back to the 101. We made it to Ventura and pulled into the KOA at about 7pm and I couldn't find my flashlight anywhere...another Ugh moment. Finally found our site but backed into the wrong one and CRUNCH! Who woulda thought a little split rail fence could cause so much damage??? Guess that's fiberglass for you. Finally got into the right spot (helps when you have a 33' motorhome to back into the site that's 34' instead of 28')and just plugged in the electricity, walked and fed the dogs and went to sleep.
Got up early the next morning (really had no choice, the peacocks were everywhere and talking up a storm!)
I hooked up the water and got everyone out for walks. Now, I had taken the motorhome to Folsom the week prior to make sure that everything worked and that I could work everything. Didn't have problem 1 there. HOWEVER, after walking the dogs, I put the little guys back in and looked down the hall and my bed was up in the air! Oh panic...the reservoir was filling up with water and about to bust! I ran and turned off the water and started trying to figure out what I'd done wrong. Tried to turn the water heater on but, alas...it went "click, click, click, woooshhhh"....then died. After trying this a few times with no luck, I started boiling water for one of THOSE kind of baths. I didn't want to drive with all that water and the only thing I could figure out was to pump it out through the toilet and faucets....turned everything on and, luckily, the pump was working! Cleaned up and packed everyone back in the motorhome, stopped to dump the tanks and saw a county park below us. It was empty!! So that's where we went for breakfast....the mist had let up by then and everyone got out and had a run. This was the easiest part, as long as I've got space without a bunch of people I just hook everyone together and let 'em go....though sometimes I have to intervene...
So now we start day 2 feeling that no matter how bad things get, NOTHING could have been worse than if that reservoir had busted open with all that water!
Day 1 lessons learned:
#1 Jack has to learn the word "STAY". Our first stop (at a rest stop) I went to put the big dogs back in the motorhome, opened the door and he was out like a streak of lightening! Had to run after him of course (still had the big guys on leashes)and Maggie and Howie jumped out also! They are very good though, stayed right with me while I ran after Jack (who was flipping and flopping and turning like a little maniac...in other words, just being Jack!)and finally caught him. Soooooooo later that day, all the training he'd had went out the window and he learned stay the "consequence" way. Tied to a leash with just enough play so that his feet wouldn't hit the ground...left the door open and he jumped out, hung himself. Picked him back up, put him back in, told him to "stay" and walked away. He jumped out, hung himself. Picked him back up, put him back in, told him to "stay" and walked away....you guessed it. He jumped out and hung himself. Surprisingly, that was his last time, I honestly thought it would take him 9 or 10 times to get it. Jack no longer jumps out of the motorhome until I tell him to come. Some dogs just have to learn everything the hard way.
#2 Truck stops are much better than rest stops. Lots more open space, not so many people and the dogs can run around and I don't have to be so stressed that someone is going to try to cause problems.
#3 The motorhome, unlike the Excursion, does not go "beep, beep, beep" when something is behind it. You have a backup camera....USE IT!!
All in all it was a good day:)
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