Land Yacht Safari Blog

Merritt's Mill Pond....

October 31, 2008....Friday.....we have been away on the Airstream and busy since we have been back...sorry to have neglected posting to you, my dears.....this was the first true road trip for Katie, our recently adopted almost 11 year old cat....Katie is a wondercat.....maybe with one of her other families she traveled....I doubt it but it could be so.....she made a round trip mileage of 1010 miles....and she seemed to be comfortable...she and Chi Chi ride in the car with us in their individual pet taxis....Hannah rides in the Jeep too on her night-night (interpret as dog bed).....our first stop was Arrowhead Campground at Merritt's Mill Pond in the Panhandle of Florida....we met up with a cousin of Ray's, Lee Anna and her two adult children, Christa and Shane, Ray's brother, Tommy and his sister, Carol, brother-in-law, Jud and their grandchild, Grace...this was our first stay at Arrowhead....the pond is a natural spring fed pond that is about four miles long....cypress trees and knees everywhere....there is a two acre tract in the area that belonged to Ray's paternal grandfather and it is still undeveloped and in the family..... ......Ray and I don't own any of the land but Tommy does and has had it surveyed...he wants to build a little camp on his part of the parcel..... .....there are not supposed to be alligators here....so we carefully watched Hannah become an otter........ .. ....she loves to swim anywhere and we love for her to swim..... .......Hannah,  Grace, Carol and me.....I had just fried and boiled some shrimp for us........ .......when we crossed the pond to go walk the property, I was assigned to Tommy's boat....I was to watch for cypress knees and stumps the boat might hit....it was a hard job....but we didn't hit anything....and we stayed dry....chilly water......on the way back I paddled our one man inflatable back across the pond.....I stayed dry....very good..... .......not a clear photo, but this is Ray in our inflatable..... .......a shot over the side of the boat...shellcracker fry (famous fish aka redeared sunfish)....... ........this really is beautiful spring water........ .. ...Lee Anna and her crew taking a break....Ray in the background....after our time at the pond, we ventured on to Pensacola to visit my Mother and the demon chihuahua brother and sister team.....we stayed in our Airstream with the cats and Hannah....and Hannah shared the backyard when the chihuahuas were safely locked in Mother's house....to get away from them all, Mother took us to see Beverly Hills Chihuahuas......I panicked when we sat down in the theater and I realized it was a Disney flick....usually I don't handle those well since Disney loves to use story lines where the animals are lost or kidnapped or something stressful....I was determined to sit through it for Mother....it was ok....they caught the bad guys and Drew Barrymore was a great voice for Chole, the Beverly Hills chihuahua....also I hate it when they put clothes on the animals.....but this has worked for Disney for a long time.....we made it back with both cats and the dog and just a little psychosis for us humans after sitting on I 10 for two hours behind a tractor trailer truck that lost its entire load to the interstate...and rain like we have not seen since Oregon days....it was good to have the Airstream on the road...... and it is Halloween....hope you all get treats...... (Mother liked my hair and only suggested I put on some make up one time!)

Hair Peace......Greenpeace......

October 12, 2008....Sunday....well, for two years now I have wanted to cut my hair....all this talk about change, I guess.....yesterday, I went to my regular hair appointment with my longtime friend and hairdresser, Donna.....when she found out what I wanted to do, she called her next appointment and rescheduled them for the afternoon....and she set out to "have fun".....I was really ready for a change....for 20 years or more, I had the same medium-long hair....but for some time, I have pulled it all back in a bun or ponytail.....it was rare that I wore my hair down....you know how it is....I was just wanted to try something new.....Ray has talked me out of it everytime for two years....yesterday, I left the house for the hair appointment thinking I would see how it went when I got there....I did not tell Ray I might come home looking different....I have previewed this change with a few people by email when I got home yesterday.....now, it is your turn....I hope you like it.....I liked it yesterday.....I felt like I had gained some new freedom....but today, I am sort of in shock about it..... ......what do you think?.....  .......another view........ .......it is a change.....so immediately after I returned home.....I didn't say anything and Ray just looked at my hair....he had to touch it.....to make certain it was not a wig, I guess....and then he said, "I can't believe you had all your hair cut off....but I like it." He probably would have said that anyway because he tries to be nice even when I am trippy.....I called Donna to let her know I did not have to take Ray to the ER.....and then we set out for Siesta Key to participate in an aerial art action by Greenpeace.... .........Kyle is giving instructions to the participants.....some of us who participated had been doing other Greenpeace actions with them.....but the majority of the participants were gathered from folks just enjoying the beach.....when they saw Greenpeace was doing something, they wanted to be involved....they felt a connection...... ......then we helped Joe and some others lay out the Stop Global Warming signs to spell it out for voters and political candidates.....Vote For Safe Climate.......we counted out people to stand at each letter and hold up the signs overhead....... .........we got  lined up and then everyone sat down to wait for the airplane to do the three flyovers to get the photos and I think a video for    www.youtube.com    ....there is an existing video Greenpeace did at Siesta Key in December 2007 (click on the link to youtube and type in Greenpeace Hourglass in the Search window...it is the first video).....we were not part of that one.....it was a human hourglass to indicate time is running out to save the planet from global warming......so while we waited for the plane, three young girls passed out from the heat.....replacements had to be put in place for the fallen participants and their caregivers......we will see what we can find out about when this action may be on youtube.com and I will let you know....it was interesting....it was too hot to be out in the middle of the day on all that white sugar sand.....but it was nice to see other people care about our world....and they also care about voting into power candidates who take global warming seriously and will make progress on issues like making Florida a solar energy source for the world.....so now I have a little hair peace and a little Greenpeace.......

"He's Not Heavy......He's My Brother"......

October 6, 2008......my goodness.....I am sorry to have not communicated with you in so long....but I know you are a forgiving bunch.....the other day Ray and I took our bikes out for a ride....it has been less humid in the last several days....we rounded our corner and coming down the right side of the road was a lady with an elderly Golden and a young one.....immediately I said...that one on the left looks just like Tank....our granddog....so I stopped and we talked to the lady.....new neighbor, Karin....just moved in around the corner from us....taking her gorgeous dogs to the Park.....we talked and very soon we discovered her Jackson (named after musician, Jackson Brown) was Hannah and Tank's litter mate...their brother.....their brother!....we were so excited and still are....her senior Golden is another male, Copa.....he is 13 and looks fantastic....so we decided to meet up at her house later with all the pups.... ........Jackson on the left and Tank on the right.......meeting three years after they were placed in their respective families.......two brothers....awesome dogs...... .......Tank loving the wonderful grass at brother Jackson's house........ ......Hannah in a not seen very often submissive pose with brother, Jackson...... .....this is Karin and the back of Copa while he is greeting our Hannah.....this is so great.....we plan on getting together again soon to sit out in Karin's backyard and for her and her boys to come visit at our house....nothing better than a yard of Goldens and discovering you have a brother just around the corner.......ah!!!!!