Bumps in the Road, Friends/Family and Ants

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.

C.S. Lewis

Thanks for joining me, Momma Dog and Big Dog on our journey. I am Magic, the Treeing Walker Coonhound and travel blogger. We are living full-time in our 2012 Newmar Ventana LE (known as Tana), which is a 39 foot Class A Motorhome.

June 14, 2019 found us entering Cedar Hill State Park after a literal bump in the road. Unfortunately, a utility pole encountered the passenger side of Tana during a right hand turn-which is always risky when driving a big vehicle. Momma Dog cut the turn too short because a car was in the intersection and she was in panic mode. We all felt sad and a bit horrified when we got out at the state park to see the damage. Momma Dog feels so ashamed-kind of like the time I wasn’t paying enough attention while running at the dog park and ran smack dab into a big pine tree. (Bark about embarrassed!) As always, Big Dog was calm and quiet-which certainly helped the situation. The humans have not shared this information with many family and friends and I have heard them say they really don’t want to talk about it.

This was our first state park experience in the motorhome and the place was packed for Father’s Day weekend. We got settled in and everyone slept well except Momma Dog. I became more and more hesitant to leave the motorhome when asked-and the humans used their best persuasive tactics (physical and psychological) to assist me in this process.

On Saturday, the humans met dear friends Holly and David Brown for a restaurant dinner and then they visited us at our new home site. Unfortunately, they did not bring their Border Collie along-and I spent the evening hiding in the bedroom. David did bring his drone and the humans were amazed at the flight and photographic capabilities of this little thing. Holly and Julie enjoyed s’mores cooked over the fire-complete with a birthday candle for Momma Dog’s 60th birthday.

We had our first overnight guest (a dog-lover) when Annette Smith (sister of Big Dog) came to see us. The humans had birthday fun (without me), but I managed to get some hugs.

The next day, we had a visit from some of the Cleworth family (Jim, Glenna, Catherine and Aspen) for a picnic and birthday cake. Glenna brought everything needed and the humans wagged their tails into the afternoon. Jim and Glenna have dutifully visited the humans in all moves since 2006, including Amarillo, North Carolina, Michigan and Plano-but Big Dog says they won’t be able to keep track of us now! Their canines did not make the trip to Cedar Hill State Park, so I took a good nap.

Cedar Hill State Park was warm and beautiful. The humans encountered chiggers, saw huge tarantulas and were surprised by an invasion of Argentine ants crawling on the outside and inside of our home on wheels. I experienced lots of stickers, and am getting accustomed to my “go to the bathroom walks” instead of just being turned outside in the backyard to do my business. We had many walks and talks and laughs at Cedar Hill State Park-and sometimes life felt a bit difficult, especially when there was a BIG thunderstorm with strong wind that kept us all awake. It was great to be close to the DFW Metroplex area, yet we felt far way from home at times as we became more accustomed to full-time life in our home on wheels.

Big Dog and Momma Dog and I took Tana to an RV body shop for an insurance quote, and we spent two nights in a hotel near Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. We all missed being in Tana, and could not wait to get her back and move back in. During that time, we met Momma Dog’s kind cousin, Karen DeSimone, for breakfast and she gave us a jigsaw puzzle with the quote seen below. I think we are beginning to read a very interesting “tail” with lots of pages!

Joanna visited on our last leg of our stay. We had a campfire (well actually I stayed in the rig) while the three humans cooked and ate some delicious s’mores. Big Dog and Momma Dog always love being with Jo, as she entertains them with stories of her travels and teaching and adulting. To mark our entry into true full-time on the road life, they gave Big Dog’s Camry to her-and she drove off into the sunset.

We left Cedar Hill State Park, and just a few hours up the road in Oklahoma, as we prepared to purchase expensive diesel fuel, Big Dog managed to scrape the other side of Tana with the barrier to the gas pump. I guess he underestimated the 38 feet and 8 inch length of Tana. Again, we all felt sad and horrified-and if you remember Cousin Eddie’s RV from Christmas Vacation, we think our Tana may look like that soon. Actually, Momma Dog felt kind of relieved that she was not the only one to bang up the RV-although her damage is a bit worse than Big Dog’s. I think her quote was, “Welcome to the party, Kendall!”

Thanks for reading my travel blog! We are grateful for our loyal friends and family who have supported us in this adventure and even paid an entrance fee at the state park to spend time with us. Our next stops include our first boondocking nights (no hook-ups to water and electricity) at a Kansas winery, a Lincoln, Nebraska auto museum and a railway yard in North Platte, Nebraska-all on our way to Colorado.

Kind regards, sniffs and woofs-MAGIC