Happy Father's Day

I can't believe that we've been on the road for nearly a month.  We left home on May 21.  We spent nearly three weeks in Canada.  While we had good cell phone and Internet connection for most of it, I had a little password snafu that I couldn't get fixed while I was "out of the country", so I wasn't able to post to my blog.  We made it to Alaska on June 10 and, since then, when we aren't out site-seeing, Mom's been busy taking care of some business and she's told me to keep my paws off her computer.  😞

Anyway, things are settling down a bit, so I'll do my best to catch you up on our travels, but first, I'd like to wish Happy Father's Day to everyone.  Especially my Dad who gives me the best life a dog could hope for.  This is us at the start of our trip.  He made me this great platform, so I can see out through the windshield (and so that they can store stuff underneath).

I'd also like to wish Happy Father's Day to Grandpa Earle in Texas.  I got to meet him in December when we visited.   This is Grandpa Earle with Dad and my Aunts, Susan and Mary.

I'd also like to talk a little about my Mom's Day, my Grandpa Ralph.  I won't get to meet him because he died when Mom was a girl but he's part of the reason we have come here.  When Mom was a little girl, her Dad would plan big family vacations.  He really wanted to take a trip on the Al-Can Highway, but Grandma was pretty apprehensive.   Grandpa planned a vacation that got as far north as Dawson Creek (the start of the Alaska Highway) when Mom was about 8 or 9.  She remembers that they were there on a Saturday night and went to church.  After Church, several of the members of the congregation crowded around their car because they'd never seen a car like her family's car.  I've shown you this photo before of how they rolled in their station wagon, but it doesn't show the whole car.

That's my Grandpa Ralph facing the camera, closest to the road.

I found this photo on the Internet.  Mom says that's what their station wagon looked like.  It had windows in the roof.  That's what was what attracted the people of Dawson Creek.

Pretty cool car!

While they didn't go further north that year, Mom knew that one day her Dad would plan a trip and she'd be back in front of the Milepost 0 for a trip North.  Back then, she thought it would be in the 70's on a family vacation.  She never expected that it would take more than 50 years and that she'd plan it herself, but she finally made it.

Mom, back in front of the Mile 0 marker in downtown Dawson Creek, BC wth Dad and cousins Nancy (left) and Marie.  

Our whole traveling Caravan - Marie and Nancy with their girls Cheuy
(she gets a stroller) and Darby with their truck and trailer on the left. 
Mom, Dad, and me with our camper on the right. 
This is the "new" sign by the Visitor Center.

Next time I post, I'll tell you about some of our adventures in Canada getting to Mile 0 and then try to catch up over the next several posts, so that I'm posting more about the events, as we are doing them.

A map of our Northbound trip

Current location as of 6/18/2022 - Fairbanks, Alaska, #25 on the map above..  We've been here a week, did a side trip north of the Arctic Circle (#23), and plan to leave tomorrow and expect to be in Valdez (#27), by next weekend.

Happy Father's Day

Love,

Jake

The Rest of the Story

When I wrote to you last, we were close to the end of our stay in Phoenix.  Let me tell you about the last few days...

Mom and Dad went for a hike.

It was a hot day and Dad was pretty excited to find a shade tree 😄

On our last day we took a drive on the Apache Trail.  It's a road that goes into the mountains, east of the Lost Dutchman State Park.  I went along because it's even hotter today and I can be in the air conditioning in the car.  We don't have electricity at our camp site, so we can't run the air conditioning there.

Dad and I at an overlook into a really deep canyon.  I'm glad that Dad has a firm hold on my leash. It's a LONG way to the bottom.

A beautiful sunset for our last night at Lost Dutchman State Park.

From Lost Dutchman, we headed north to Cottonwood, Arizona to a place called Dead Horse State Park.  We've heard a lot of great things about it, but it was our first time there.  We are scheduled to be here for a week. Then we are planning to head for home.

The first day was cloudy and rain is in the forecast.  Mom and Dad decided to leave me in the RV and go for a drive around the area and into Sedona (about 20 miles east of where we are staying).  They brought back photos to show me all the pretty red rocks around Sedona.

Over the last few days, Mom and Dad have been looking at routes and weather reports.  Due to snow predicted in various places in Utah, Idaho, and Eastern Oregon, they've decided that we are going to go home through California.  There is even snow forecast that might affect I-5 in northern California/southern Oregon, so we are leaving Cottonwood three days early to be sure to get ahead of it. 

Monday, March 7

Thursday, March 10

We are on the road, on the south edge of Portland.  By the time you read this, we should be home.

What's next? - Mom and Dad got in a bit of a rush to get home because they want me to have surgery.  I had an appointment for late April, but that's pretty close to when we plan to leave for Alaska and Mom and Dad want me to be well, so when an earlier appointment came up, they took it.  I'm scheduled for surgery on March 21 at the Vet School in Pullman, Washington.  We won't be home long and then we get to go on another Journey!

A little about my surgery - Poodles are prone to something called Bloat, which is a situation where the stomach twists and traps what's in there.  What happens next is pretty gory and would be very painful.  If it happens, I'd need a big, invasive emergency surgery or I'd probably die.  My brothers Rainier, Figaro, and Doolin all went through it, so Mom and Dad are a little fearful that the odds are bad for me.  Most of you didn't get to know Rainier because he didn't make it.  Figaro and Doolin got the surgery in time and recovered, but that was pretty stressful for them and for Mom and Dad.  

Fortunately, now there is a Laparoscopic procedure that can prevent it.  It's hard to find someone who has experience doing it, but Mom and Dad finally found a good surgeon who teaches at the Vet School and that is who is going to do my procedure.  While I'm there and sedated, I'm getting "tutored" too.  It's sort of a surgery "two for".  Wish me luck! 

Phoenix

We arrived in Phoenix on February 17 and set up camp at one of Mom and Dad's favorite spots.  It's called Lost Dutchman State Park and it's next to the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix.  To get a campsite for 14 days (the max stay), Mom reserved our spot on February 17, 2021.  That's before I was born!!

Mom and Dad decided to hike the Black Mesa/Dutchman Trail loop which is about a mile east of the campground.  It's a long trail (8.7 miles) and it's hot today, so I decided to stay back in the RV.  

Me enjoying the cool tile floor while Mom and Dad are out for a hike.

Boy, am I glad I stayed home.  The parking lot was full at the trailhead, so they had to park at the overflow lot 1/2 mile down the road (adding 1 mile round trip).  Then, the trail guide was wrong about the length of the trail.  Even though they didn't get lost and stayed on the trail the entire time, they ended up hiking 10.7 miles 😵 😬 💥  That's a new record for them for the longest hike they have ever done.

 

Mom with Weaver's Needle in the background

Another hiker. (Just kidding)  There was a wildfire in this area in the summer of 2019.  Even now, the damage is very evident.

Views from the Black Mesa/Dutchman Loop trail outside of the burned area.

Another day, I joined Mom and Dad on the Siphon Draw trail.  It was even hotter that day and we had to turn back because I was overheating.  We did log 3 miles and were 700 ft higher than the start, so we got a pretty good view.

Mom and I on the Siphon Draw trail at Lost Dutchman State Park

It turned cloudy late in the day, which gave us a really pretty sunset from our RV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our neighbors from home, Larry and Kathleen, have a winter home in the neighborhood next to the State Park.  They invited Mom and Dad over for burgers on their patio, which turned into burgers in the dining room because it turned cold.  Mom and Dad said that it was still nice to see friends and dinner was delicious.

Another day, Mom and Dad invited our friend Gary M to come by the RV for Happy Hour and then Gary treated them to dinner out.  He said that he remembers a Happy Hour at our RV a few years ago with Doolin and it was such a nice time.  Well, this year it rained!  And it's cold!!  Isn't this Phoenix?  Isn't this the Desert?

It wasn't the beautiful afternoon that we'd planned, but we enjoyed Happy Hour and a visit with Gary inside the RV and then, when the clouds cleared, enjoyed seeing snow on the Superstition Mountains as we left for dinner.

The next morning we woke up to ice on the Jeep.

Last night there were clouds covering Flat Iron (the snowy peak left of center in the photo) but this morning it has snow, too.

By afternoon, it was nice hiking weather and we went for a hike near Gold Canyon.

Mom and Dad's friend Tammie invited them over for lunch on the 2nd Saturday that we were at Lost Dutchman.  Dad worked with Tammie before he retired.  Tammie and her husband Ed moved to the Phoenix area a couple years later.

Tammie told them that she has an owl that lives in her palm tree.  Tammie pointed it out.  It's at the top of the leaf stubble, just to the right of the tree trunk.  Mom took this close up picture.  Tammie - many people don't know this, but Poodles are bird dogs, so I'm kind of an expert on this type of thing.  I think you have TWO owls.  There are 2 more ears to the left of the one you showed Mom and Dad!

The next day Mom, Dad, Tammie, Tammie's step-son Adam, and Tammie's friend Judy all decided to hike to the top of the Flat Iron.  The first part of the Flat Iron trail is the Siphon Draw, which I attempted last week, so I decided to stay home.  Besides, they started at 7:30 AM and I'm not a morning dog.

Mom and Tammie on the trail.  It's still shady on this part of the mountain.

This part is very steep and there is lots of fine dirt/dust/gravel on it, so it can be slick.  It's tricky to go up and even trickier to come down.  Mom heard that it gets worse, so she decided that she would wait at the here while the others continued on.  That's Dad and Tammie continuing on up the trail.

A view of the steep slick part, taken from the top.

Tammie about to tackle some of the scramble up the rocks part.

The destination is in site.  That part sticking out is the Flat Iron. 

Dad at the top of the Flat Iron

Dad took this picture to show Mom what she missed.  She said she's happy that she didn't go.

One last photo of Tammie. 

I like to hang my head out the window when I'm riding in the car.  I've discovered that, on a windy day, standing in front of the RV window with the wind in my ears is almost as good, even if we are parked. 

A few years ago, our friend Gary M suggested that Mom and Dad check out the Boyce Thomson Arboretum near Superior, AZ.  It's been on Mom's bucket list ever since, but for one reason or another they haven't gone.  Last summer, there was a wildland fire in the Tonto National Forest surrounding the Arboretum and Mom read that the Arboretum was closed for about a week for the safety of the staff and volunteers.  The fire was very, very close (within a mile) and there was the fear that if there was a wind shift, the Arboretum could be destroyed.   

If you haven't been to Arizona, you may not realize that there is a lot of land called "National Forest" here that doesn't actually have trees, but fire still spreads in the cactus, shrubs, and other plants.  Warning:  Mom LOVES plants and takes lots of photos.  I'm only showing you a few, but it's still a lot.  You may want to scroll fast.

The Arboretum is in a canyon with cool rock formations.

This is less than 1/2 the cluster of Golden Barrel Cactus.

Queen Creek where it flows through the Arboretum.  As you can see there are actually trees in the Arboretum and quite a bit of shade.  Mom and Dad were happy about that because it was a warm day.

There were lots of African Aloes in bloom.

More Aloes

Red Barrel Cactus

A really big Prickly Pear cactus with Dad, so you can see how really tall it is.

These are called "Living Stones".  It's a succulent from Africa and is very sensitive to the cold.  Even here in Arizona, they keep it in a greenhouse.

A cool design on this cactus

This is a really wrinkly cactus

Another photo of the Aloe garden

I probably lost quite a few people with all these Arboretum photos, so I'll wait and show you the last few days of our stay in Phoenix in my next post.

Jake