Alley Pups

We left Elephant Rocks and made a big loop up around Salem and then back down to Alley Spring where we spent the night. We had planned on going there for some time now. However, while at the campground we decided we did not feel like touring the place and we headed on home. At morning coffee Joyce asked if Ava was on our way home. I said, "It could be. Why?" Then she said she'd like to go be there to look at a Westie pup that was advertised there. We had been looking at Westies before we came on this trip. This was one she had found nearby...and we missed Ditto terribly. For the rest of this story, go to https://westiegirls.blogspot.com/. That will explain what happened.

Elephants and Dogs

After our canceled trip plans we were still itching to go somewhere in Pumpkin and maybe try out the generator. As long as we were within phone reach and less than a day away, we felt comfortable leaving Russ and Mike if we were needed (Russ is OK, as it turned out). So, we decided to make a little 1-2 night shake-down cruise. Tues. the 3rd, we headed east toward Elephant Rocks in Eastern Missouri. We stopped and spent the night at Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park. But, something wasn't quite right. This was our first trip without Ditto. I was looking back over the past posts and realized I had not mentioned Ditto. We lost our little Ditto on July 24. We were, needless to say, heartbroken. Ditto was our traveling buddy. She took every trip we ever made with us in our first Pumpkin and in our current Lil' Pumpkin. This trip was difficult when we let ourselves think about it. So, we tried not to, but not too successfully.

The next morning, we headed out to Elephant Rocks State Park. It was only a few miles, so we arrived there just before noon.

Johnson Shut-Ins and Elephant Rocks are beautiful places to visit, but something was missing.

Trip Interrupted

We were working our way up to a nice trip to New York and on to Nova Scotia (another try). We did not want to be on the road over Labor Day weekend as finding camping spots can get trying. So, our plan was to leave about August 26 or 27. We wanted to arrive by Friday before the holiday weekend.

Then things began to fall apart. Russ was having heart problems and it looked like he was going to have surgery. He had an appointment shortly before the holiday to determine the next step, which most likely surgery. So, we felt we needed to stay home a while longer, at least, until we knew what was to happen and sure enough, he was to have surgery. Then, we were told Tom and Julie were flying to Idaho on Sept. 5. This meant the most time we would have with them would only a few days during which they would be preparing for their trip. The last straw was we were both (Joyce and I) feeling rather depleted. It just wasn't going to be a fun trip under those restrictions.

Since we backed out of the trip to New York, we began considering a trip to Idaho to Skyler's where Tom and Julie were going. Skyler was planning a camping trip for all an invited us. We would have to get there by the weekend to join the party. But, then the news came that Russ's surgery would be Thurs. the 5th. If all went well, we could leave about the 6th and that was "if". We're old and can't change direction like we used to anymore. We gave up. But, the generator runs well.