Back to Hot Springs (Via car!)

Or OH, MY WE ARE TERRIBLE BLOGGERS!

Our trip back from Oklahoma, up the Wind River Canyon in Wyoming was so stunning and we took so many pictures that at the time of our previous blog I had intended to spend an entire blog on that, however, overcome by excitement of being back in Hot Springs, the annual Camp Tuffit trip, and looking forward to spending a week with one Grandson and then another week with three Grandsons, that intention was overcome by other events!!

I will include some pictures of the drive through Wyoming, which if you had never done, we would highly recommend!

Excited to be “home” again and with Goober, and looking forward to the annual sojourn to Camp Tuffit kept us busy for a couple of days. Goober spent the week with Jim and Paula and he was well taken care of and loved! But so excited to see his pack when we got back, and we were even more excited to see him. Our little fella is going to be 10 years old on August 4 and we are pretty devoted to each other!

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We had reserved a cabin last year at Camp Tuffit so Coach was staying home while we went away for three nights. Goober thinks we are totally crazy, but he is always game! And he doesn’t lack for attention when there are people nearby! This years group would be Paula, Randi with Audrey and Kason, and new to Camp Tuffit, Jaime and James, Joanette’s daughter and youngest grandchild. A great time was had by all. We ate really well, walked a lot, enjoyed some good music with Skunk Alley Modified (just made that up, Skunk Alley is Paula on bass, Jim at the drums and Rick from the phone company on the keyboard — Rick moved to California, and Jim wasn’t feeling too perky) So it was Paula and Keith on guitars, bass and vocals and a great bagpiper Dick Bratten on the drums, until he turned the sticks over to Tony. Tony turned out to be a great drummer, with a rock and roll background, he is a nephew to Jon and Amy Anderson and is a counselor at Job Corp in Darby. Nice guy, he had fun filling in too! Awful big shoes to fill with Jim Stobie missing, but all still had a good time.

Camp Tuffit was the beginning of a 19 day stay for us with Grandson James. From Camp Tuffit we would go back to Stobies for few days and then head over to Washington. Bridgeport State Park on Lake Rufus Woods behind Chief Joseph Dam is just a few miles from Joanette’s sister Wendy Witt in Brewster. James had a great time riding his bike on the paved campground roads and we lucked out getting to spend three nights for free in the campground host site!!!! We had some great quality time with Wendy and her husband Rick and youngest son Ben at their home overlooking the Columbia River and the little apple town of Brewster Washington.

We moved on to some boondocking at a Forest Service Campground maintained by the Back Country Horsemen of Washington up on Loup Loup Pass, Highway 20 between Okanagon and Twisp Washington. After getting settled we drove down into Winthrop to meet Keith’s son Jason and pick up two more Grandsons, Gracen (7) and Lincoln (4) to join us with James (8) at the Loup Loup campsite! It was so fun to see these three cousins have a great time together after not seeing each other for three years!. Gracen and James spent hours riding their bikes with Lincoln in chase. We met two nice gals from the Methow Back Country Horsemen who graciously let the boys go for horseback rides on Shorty and Honey! That was amazing for the boys. Thank you Jill and Jeanette from Winthrop for your hospitality and education.

After 4 nights at Loup Loup we decided we were dirty enough to warrant two or three nights at an RV park where we could scrub up, wash some clothes, etc. And we did just that at Big Twin Lake RV Campground outside of Winthrop. Once again the kids had fun, ate well and got two showers in, one upon arrival and one on our last night there, which happened to be the night before Gracen and Lincoln’s parents would arrive for us to camp near them.

We moved up the Chewuch River on the North side of Winthrop on Thursday for some more boondocking. Jason and Tina arrived late that night and set up their camp near the yurts overlooking the Chewuch River. With Jason and Tina was our smallest Grandson Jackson (2). The four boys did lots of playing, bike riding, playing in the river, eating and sleeping. We stayed four nights with them, and we were dirty and tired and decided to leave Monday morning to get back to Hot Springs.

Part of that decision was due to our little buddy Goober. While we were at Big Twin Lake Campground we decided to book an appointment with the vet in Brewster. Goober had done a few quirky things recently that bugged us and he had lost a couple of pounds. The vet in Brewster told us they were booked up but to bring him in on Friday and they would at least draw blood to send off to the lab, but when Keith arrived they “worked” them in as it was obvious he needed to be checked out. The blood was drawn and xrays completed. Keith returned with the saddest news. Goober is very ill. Although they wouldn’t know anything until the test results return, the xrays showed spots the vet is worried may be cancer. She sees what she believes is a mass, but because we had been in Arizona, there is a very good chance he has “Valley Fever” a fungus breathed in from the dirt which about 6 to 10% of dogs get each year. Usually older dogs or dogs with compromised systems. We are so anxiously awaiting the test results. Hope to have those back this Friday, July 10th. His appetite has really diminished, although he still loves his treats when he comes in from doing his business. And he will eat some without us hand feeding him. He quenches his thirsts. He is taking Prednisone while we wait for the results. We sure are worried about this little guy. Love him so much

The three Grandsons (the older three) were sure good to him and very compassionate when we told them the news (to help them understand why Gpa and Gma were kind of edgy). They hand fed him and were so darn sweet. We returned to Hot Springs, one last horse ride for James (with Audrey), Gma returned James to his mom, we met in Drummond. A successful summer vacation for the Grandparents and 4 Grandsons! and Goober!