Big Trip Part 2… by Gimli

As BG told you last time, we got to a truck stop between San Antonio and Houston by Tuesday night. We had traveled 640 miles that day, even WITH the 5 hours we spent with them working on the truck, and were pretty tired! It’s a bit hard to sleep with the truck roaring and bouncing along!

We thought that it had been a hectic ride up to that point, but then came WEDNESDAY!!! We had a “long way to go and a short time to get there…” so Papa got up very early, and took off again, while Grammy tried to get a little more sleep in her rolling, pitching bed.

During the nights, Pippin slept in the top bunk with Papa, while I slept between the wall and Grammy’s back. If Grandma OC hadn’t been at Mango’s Mansion, she would have slept between Grammy’s feet, and Unca BG slept on a quilt on top of the fridge area where Pippin rides during the day.


Anyway, on Wednesday, we drove through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and into Lake City, Florida

Grammy was NOT impressed with Louisiana… at least from Hwy I-10! All we saw was dead, mossy trees and swamp… for MILES and MILES! She thought it would be a terribly depressing place to live, and I thought it would too because there wasn’t any place to run and play! She said we couldn’t even swim in it because there were alligators all over, and I don’t know what an alligator is, but she made it sound really scary!


All through Mississippi and Alabama there was the most HORRIBLE storm that Grammy says she’s EVER seen! We could only go 35 miles an hour at times because Papa could only see two white lines in front of us with all the heavy rain! We looked like we were on the back side of a waterfall when looking out of the windshield sometimes.

Grammy was really praying hard… especially after it got dark because then the storm got REALLY BAD! There was lightning bolts every 2-3 SECONDS during one half hour period, and it was hitting so close that the truck was shaking with the thunder! We couldn’t pull over because we were afraid we didn’t have enough time to get to Florida as it was.

It’s a good thing that God was watching over us because we almost got in an accident a couple of times! A truck stopped RIGHT IN FRONT OF US, and our brakes were wet and we ALMOST didn’t stop on time! Missed him by about 2 inches! He’d had to stop real quick because of a Mini van that had gotten stalled out in a flooded section of the road. I almost fell off the bed!

Papa was SO TIRED when we crossed into Florida, that we found a truck stop and finally went to bed. He had driven 851 miles in all that day! Poor Papa still had to get up, when it was barely light, to drive the rest of the way to Jacksonville the next day, because the trailer had to be offloaded, in the shipyard, before 4 p.m.

We got there a little after noon and got the trailer offloaded with one hour to spare! Papa was SOOO relieved! We drove about an hour back and then they stopped for a nice dinner at another Cracker Barrel. That’s were they ate dinner almost every night in the towns we were in. A couple of their grand-daughters work in Cracker Barrels, and one of them even travels at times to train the servers when they open new stores.

Papa got us some GREAT Ham Biscuits and then we drove another hour or so and stopped at a nice Rest Stop near Pensacola, FL where we could get out and run and play for a while before going to bed. We traveled 431 miles that day.

Friday, we all got up really late (Papa had been SOOO tired), and Grammy and Papa were VERY sad to find out that their eldest son, had run into a few problems and wasn’t going to be able to drive the 5 hours up to meet with them like he had been planning.

They decided to go ahead and take off and drive back toward Houston, TX so that they could at least get to spend some time with their daughter and her family (3 of their grandsons are there.) Back through Alabama… and Mississippi…

We even went through a place near “Pascagoula,” Miss. and Papa sang a song about a Mississippi Squirrel that terrorized a church in Pascagoula.

We were ready to go SQUIRREL HUNTING, but Papa said we didn’t have time.

We went back through that depressing Louisiana place again and made it back to Orange, Texas before stopping again to sleep (only 417 miles), but we were still quite tired and wanted to rest up before seeing the grandkids on Saturday. We’ll tell you about THAT fun time the next time, OK?

Oh, and by the way, notice my EAR is UP… FINALLY! That is because that “Ear Assassin,” my sister, Mercy, didn’t go on this trip with us!

Grammy note: Sorry this is taking some time to get out but I had 104 vids to work through and edit into pics, etc. so the corgis could tell THIS story…

We’re HOME!!!! by BG

We are home… FINALLY! THAT was quite a trip! We got home about midnight last night and then had to unload the car of all the stuff we took with us. Grammy didn’t get to bed until 1 a.m. and she’d only gotten 3 ½ hours of sleep the night before.

We left Sunday afternoon instead of early that morning, because they found a problem with the trailer Dad was going to haul, and had to fix it at the last minute. We had left the house early in the morning because Robert had to take us over and then get back to church as he runs the LCD for the songs and sermon every Sunday.

We played around the “yard” while our people loaded all of our stuff into the cab of the BIG truck we were going in. About the time everything got loaded, Dad’s supervisor that was doing a last minute check of the trailer we were hauling, found some kind of big problem, and they had to do a lot of quick running around to find parts to get it fixed before we left.

Dad wasn’t to happy because we were already leaving later than he’d hoped too, and we only had 4 days to get all the way across the U.S. He had to have the trailer in Jacksonville, Florida by 4 p.m. on Thursday, the 21st so that it could be loaded on the ship that would take it overseas.

While Dad got more and more stressed, waiting for the trailer to be fixed, WE all got to run and play, so we didn’t mind too much that we didn’t leave at 8 a.m. like Dad had planned.

Actually, we didn’t leave Bakersfield until AFTER 1 p.m.

We got as far as Quartzsite, Arizona that night… About 355 miles. We got to stop about every 3 hours or so and get out to go potty and get a drink of water, and we got some hamburger or ham biscuits whenever Mom and Dad had breakfast or dinner in a restaurant, as well as our doggy kibbles at night.

Monday morning, we left Quartsite and continued driving down I-10 through Arizona and New Mexico. Pippin is waiting for his Papa to get back from the restaurant with our mid-day snack in this pic. We made it to a Rest Stop just past El Paso, TX by that night… another 570 miles or so…

Early Tuesday morning, we left the Rest Stop and headed deeper into Texas. THAT is a BIG state!!! About the time we got to Fort Stockton, Dad noticed a problem with the truck’s temperature gauge. He called Ryder (The company they rented the truck from) and we went to a shop there in Ft. Stockton to have it checked. They said it wasn’t serious, but we had to go to San Antonio to their big shop to have them fix it.

Dad was NOT happy about losing almost 5 hours of driving time since he was on a tight schedule, but we got to get out and play while they worked on the truck, so WE didn’t think it was to bad.

Trip Update

I just got a call from the travelers.
They asked me to post a picture of were they are in their trip.

I will try to twitter updates but I have been having problems logging in.
Check along the side for them.

Our BIG day! By Gimli

Pippin and I had a really BIG day today with all kinds of new things in it! First, Papa left to go move a trailer, and after a little while, Grammy and Robert put our collars on US and put us into the car. We always have to wear a collar when we go in the car for some reason.

Anyway, we took a looonnnggg old trip ( I got sick, cause I’d just eaten) and finally got to a big place… turns out, it is where Papa’s job office is! We got out to check out the flowers and grass… we haven’t seen much of that around here, and Grammy kept telling us to “go potty,” but we really didn’t feel like it.

Suddenly, Papa came out and Pippin was very happy and wiggled all over him (not widdled, wiggled… he has been known in the past to do the other, so I just want it clear.) They put us on leashes (we STILL don’t like those very much) and went into what they called a big shop, where people work on trucks that are HUGE! Papa’s head only comes a little above the BOTTOM of the door!

Papa, we found out, is going to DRIVE that HUGE truck, and WE are going with him and Grammy. They had borrowed a painting ladder that was about 5 ft. tall (they said) and has large steps. Grammy can step on the bottom one, then on a truck step, then a ladder step, and then another truck step and another ladder step and she can get up into the seats of the truck!

Apparently, we are going to get into that HUGE truck and drive a long time, (Grammy says about 10 DAYS!) and go from California to Florida… wherever THAT is… and back! Mango, didn’t you just go to Florida and go swimming there? I wonder if WE will get to go swimming? Do you see how little Papa looks by that BIG thing?

Anyway, we got to check out the cab (that’s what they call the room where you sleep and eat and drive!) Bet you didn’t know you could DRIVE a huge ROOM! It’s got TWO BUNK BEDS in it! and even Papa and Robert can walk around in there! I guess Papa used to drive those big trucks for a long time (Grammy: 32 years), but he says he’s never gotten to drive anything THIS nice before.

We finished checking out that “cab,” and then we got to meet a lot of new people and they were pretty nice and Pippin wiggled all over, but I was a bit more careful until I saw Pip getting all the sugar, and Grammy said it was ok, and THEN I let them pet me too. Grammy says I’ve got to get used to people and that she will be sure that I don’t get hurt, and that they won’t hurt her… I was just trying to protect her.

After THAT, Pippin stayed with Papa, who had to drive the trailer around to get it weighed and hooked up to the oil testing trailer he is hauling. He got home pretty late, and Mercy and BG really loved up on him!

I went to several stores with Robert and Grammy to do some shopping (for dog & horse food, and a little people food.) Since I wore Unca BG’s vest and Grammy told them how I was training to be a service dog, I got to go in a cart. I was real good and Grammy was proud of me.

We even went into a DOG STORE… actually, there were cats, and fish and stuff too, but MOSTLY it was for dogs and had all kinds of toys and chewies in it… I really wanted to grab one, but Grammy said “Sniff, but don’t touch…!” I was good, and she bought me some chewies for the trip… oh… OK… they are for BG, Pippin, AND me.

We finally came home and I peed and peed… I just didn’t feel right about going in a strange place. Grammy says I better get used to the idea cause she doesn’t think I can hold it for 10 DAYS!

Grammy’s been working really hard getting ready since we got home, since this is all a last minute thing. She only got 3 and a half hours of sleep last night, so she is pretty tired. I think she is waiting for the dryer to go off now… oh, THERE it went! … so we can go to bed because we have to get up early to leave. This should be interesting! Grammy, Papa, Pippin, BG & me are going! We should be back by the 26th or 27th, and Robert will be helping Dott to take care of things and with the blog. (Actually, one of the pictures - of me in PetsCo- is on his phone, so HE will probably have to finish putting it on here and then post and since he is busy ALL Sunday, you might not see this until Monday :(


A note from Dott: As you can see my dad got it done on Sunday. With Gimli, Pippin, and BG are on their way to Florida, and mama OC at Mango's place thing could be quiet around here. I will have to keep my guard up. with diminished forces I might have to work twice as hard to keep the squirrels and coyotes under control.

Mama OC Called... By Dott

Mama OC called me from Mango's place today. She used one of those fancy computer video cams and her bluetooth. She says that it has been TOTALLY cold... more like FREEZING... over there, so she is staying inside mostly on this nice, comfy bed. They have a really nice heating system there, too, instead of only an old wood stove to warm the house.


She said she is being taken care of very nicely and is really enjoying the visit with the other judges. She said that her and Martha and Bailey have been looking online for their formal wear for their judging days, and decided to turn on the live cam and call.



Papa's work has changed their minds again, and got a different truck for him to drive to Florida in. He has to haul one of their HUGE oil testing trailers from California to Florida so that it can take a ship across the ocean. With this different truck, there is a possibility that Grammy will be able to go with him, and they would take Pippin, BG & Gimli with them, since Mama OC isn't here to go too. This just came up this afternoon, and the decision has to be made by tomorrow as he is leaving tomorrow night or early Sunday morning. He will definitely be taking BG and Pippin anyway.


Grammy kind of wants to go because the road goes through Houston, where their daughter lives, and they will probably be able to see them for lunch or dinner, at least, and it ends a few hours drive from where their oldest son lives, so, since he will have a couple of days off around the time Papa has to be there with the truck, he will be able to drive over and visit too, for at least a few hours or maybe overnight. Papa has to have the trailer there one year from the day that Oldest Son's wife passed away last year, and they would both like to be there for him.


A lot of the decision will be if they can find a way to get Grammy all the way up to the cab in that BIG truck with her hip and back problem. They will figure that out when they see the truck tomorrow.


In other news, Grammy and Robert gave the pups their next set of booster shots today. Mercy whined a bit, Gimli kind of yelped and struggled, and Pippin screamed his little head off, and almost wiggled out of Robert's arms! Had me really upset for a while until I finally figured out what was going on.


Well, I'd best go for now. We seem to be having a bit of an uprising among the squirrels AND the coyotes lately. I'll tell you more about that later, though, as I've got to run for now!

Sadie... By BG

Dott has been so busy, that she said that I could do our blog today, and I thought I’d tell you about Sadie’s reaction to the Mango Minster 2010.
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At first, she told me that it sounded kind of interesting, but she KNEW that OC would never let her enter, and would probably put her busy doing something that would give her little time to even think about it, like cleaning out the woodstove and hauling out the cinders…

Then, she saw Mango fly in, and when she found out that he had invited OC to go to his estate and be a Judge for the Show, she started thinking that at least she would get a break from constantly being watched, and sort of get a vacation from all the work that OC keeps assigning her.

She tried not to show it to much, so as not to irritate OC, but she was getting a little excited when she was told that she would have to help take all of OC’s luggage and stuff to the airplane when it got here.

She could hardly wait for that plane to land, on the day they told us they were coming for Mama OC, and she found it really hard not to grin from ear to ear! Finally the Big Guy’s plane arrived, and she hauled the luggage down the driveway.

After Mama was gone, Sadie went cracker dog for a few minutes, and jumped around for joy! She wanted to play, but I wasn’t to sure that it would be appropriate for me to celebrate having Mama leave.

THEN, Sadie got the idea that MAYBE there would be a way for her to enter into Mango Minster 2010! Apparently, she'd been dreaming about it for a while.

She talked to me about it, and I told her that I didn’t know about that, because she is a Border Collie, and that makes her a herding dog, and since Mama OC is going to be judging THAT group, she wouldn’t stand a chance!

She asked about the other classes… what they were and who was judging them, so I told her. There is the Hounds Class with Martha and Bailey judging… The Cat Dog (Cats that think they are dogs) Class being judged by Khyra … and The Sporty Dogs (Good Sports or love sports) being judged by Moose. There are also The Non-Sporty Dogs (Bad sports, grouchy, etc.) and Sadie made a rather snide comment about who ought to enter THAT class… That class is being judged by Ike. The Cracker Dog Insane Terriers (CDIT) Class is being judged by Norwood, and last, but not least, the Hard Working Dogs Class, which is being judged by Tula. I also explained that the last Class was dependent on who won the other classes, and that Asta would be judging that one, which is called the “Best In Show.”

She thought about that for a little while and THEN came up with the idea to enter herself into the WORKING DOG Group! She has a point there, because she is one HARD WORKING dog around here! She used to work with the goats for Mom, and still works to put the horses where Mom wants them …

She baby sits the pups, and BELIEVE ME, when ALL three gang up on you, THAT is HARD WORK!!!

She does a LOT of the cleaning, and she helps bring in wood for the woodstove,

She is able to pick up a lot of the stuff that Mom needs picked up that is just too big and heavy for me to pick up, too.

She had a point, so I told her that I would help her get her entry together and sent in. I just HOPE that Mama OC will speak to me when she comes home, and that I won’t get into TO much trouble!