Toy for Tommy

We're hoping that Tommy just might learn to fetch this kong while we're gone. Since she was a kennel dog, the only thing she knows is to chase bunnies and sleep (she's reeeeeal good at that!) She'll be getting exercise when we take our walks into the bush, but we'd like to teach her to "fetch". We thought this Kong might do the trick. We put dog bones in it for now, but she quickly looses interest. I'm going to get a can of that squirt cheese to shoot into it. The ultimate goal for these antics is for her to learn to fetch a bunny when Chris shoots it, like her mommy does. Hope this works.

Fourty days to till D-Day!

I'm finally allowing myself to begin some clothes packing. Now that it is warm enough to wear some summer clothes, I can pack up some of the warm stuff, like, chords, long sleeved shirts, wooly socks, fleece jackets,etc.

Since Chris removed the back seat of the truck, there is plenty of room for three of these bins in the "back seat" space. We figure this will hold all the clothes we could possibly need. If it gets chilly, all we'll have to do is layer some items. We just plan on taking along 10 days of cloths, and then hit a laundromat whenever we see one in populated areas. We'll have some summer duds along, too...but probably won't be using them much until we hit the states during the last leg of the trek. Luckily summer clothes don't take up as much room.

We also tested the furnace and made sure that it's in running condition, though we probably won't be using it much. We are both "cold blooded" and enjoy sleeping in kind of cool air.

I hope I'm able to sleep in 24 hours daylight, as it will be in Prudeau Bay. That will be so wierd!

Just realized that we won't be seeing the Northern Lights while on this trip.....since it needs to be dark to see it! Duh! Can't have it all, I guess.

Smile! You're on Candid Camera!

Well, I didn't want to do it....get one of these fancy things. It might mean that I will have to stop, set it up, and actually try to take loads of pictures. Now, don't get me wrong....I take pictures; lots of them....but I like to whip out the camera and shoot (perhaps that's why I've dropped my camera several times???). I don't like jumping through hoops. But this hoop I might have to jump through. Chris wants to be able to take pictures of both of us together....not just me taking pictures of him (as is usual). I guess there might not be just loads of people walking by that we could ask one to take a picture of us. Didn't spend a lot of $ on it....just took a miandering trip through Wally World and found it. With this handy dandy piece of equipment, I just might take a few award winning shots of Mt. McKinley!!! if it's not shrouded in rain clouds....which I hear it is most of the time. 51 days till we leave!!!!

It's Just A Hop...Skip....& a Jump!

This is the coolest step ever to get into our pop-up truck camper. We have used everything from a step stool, to jumping up on the bumper extension that we carried our bins on last summer on our trip to Yellowstone. This is sooooooooo much better. It's like night & day.


It just slides into the Reese hitch and locks in the upright position, that you see, while driving. Then, it flips down when you want to use it as a step to get into the camper. Tah Dah! You can see how Chris stepped up on it... Isn't that super?????

With the wonderful weather outside today, while I was raking the leaves off of the flower gardens, Chris worked on taking the back seat out of the truck (he was so fixated on that being a waste of space!), and building a platform for us to put our clothes bins on, and store our boots underneath. And, conveniently enough, those super reclining lounge chairs that Chris bought for us from Cabella's fit right behind the bins....and Tommy has her bed that will fit right on top of one of the bins.

So, the nice thing about this is we have nothing to pull out of the camper each night, or when we get in for lunch.....other than the generator. But that's nothing compared to what we had to haul out last summer. This is the ritz!

This Is Just a Test....

I have passed my first test. Tah Dah! I have successfully connected with a WiFi outside of my own home.....30 min. away from home. So, now, I CAN DO IT! Baby Char had her 1 yr.. pictures taken today. I came along for the ride. She was totally photogenic today so it was lots of fun. She really hammed it up.
For lunch we came to Panera Bread so I could connect to their free WiFi.
And for lunch I had a wonderful cheese & broccoli soup in a sourdough bread bowl. Yummy....getting hungry? Andrea had a portabello mushroom & mozzarella panini. Yummo!
Does this mean that I have to stop at every Panera Bread all the way across Canada?

This “equipment” should keep us on track. You saw the laptop that we already acquired for our blog, for e-mails, and for paying bills. These added items should compliment the computer. All truckstops have internet these days, so that is a place for us to stop and log in. This book, the National Truckstop Directory, lists all the truckstops in north America, and the services available at each. (other places have WiFi access also.)
The Good Sam Club has its own little perks. But the biggest of which is the “2008 Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator”. Besides locating all the campgrounds & services provided,it has maps of the U.S. & Canada for trip planning…but, tah dah…it has the capability of linking our Garmen to it. Then we can see a bigger map of where we actually are! (and not on the 2” Garmen screen!) and we won’t even need the internet for this feature. This is a super biggie to have along! Especially because our wonderful OnStar has been deactivated because it is analog and now they are only digital. And for once it would really be nice to have the OnStar…and can’t have it. (Kind of burned us when this happened Jan 1st of this year.) We obviously have all the hard maps, too. And if the truth be known, there aren’t that many possibilities of taking the wrong road when one is in the Canadian British Columbia, for example. Take a look at the map…not that many roads to begin with! So, we shouldn’t really get lost….but it’s always nice to have the “big picture”….gives me some kind of security.
AND, although you are not aware of a test I just accomplished....it worked well. I just wrote this blog on Word, that copied and pasted it into this blog on line. That proves that I can write the blog at any time on our trek, then post it when I have internet access. This is a good thing.
So long till later...

Tommy, the Traveling Beagle, is ready to go, too!

"Never leave home without it." Can't remember where that saying came from....but it sure applies to Tommy, the soon-to-be, international traveler. We have been taking all the necessary

steps to make sure she is ready for D-Day (departure day). We got her a new fleece bed for the back seat of the truck, so that she is nice and comfy. You see her perched on it in the pic. We got her some new smaller food bowls....not like we use in the house, which could hold enough food for a mastif! There's also the screw-in-the-ground short tie-up for her when we are camped. They had a huge one for "up to 50# dog"...I can't see her enjoying that at all; she's never on a tie-up. So we got one that was for a 10# dog (she's about 23#) because we won't be walking away and stressing her anyway. She'll be walking with us or in the camper or truck. So, that problem solved. Not pictured is a hunting collar, that has up to a 1 mi. radius. We'll be using that, when appropriate, to let her get some running in. (and thanks to our new little Honda generator) we'll be able to recharge it as needed. We'll only be using the hunting collar when we're also watching. She would be good bear-bait....and that would be aweful! Truth-be-told, she doesn't even wear that hunting/training collar when she is bunny hunting any more because she listens to Chris so well. He can even call her off of a hot rabbit trail. That's one good dog! But way up in Alaska & Canada....don't want to take any chances. That collar also has our name, address and phone number on it. We have to get another name tag for her pink dress-up collar. (That was her Christmas present)

In May we have to stop in at the vet to get her annual check-up and be up to date on her rabies shots. We have to take all that documentation along, too.