Outdoor chowdown

Excellent weather on our long drive home. We stopped at a lovely state park in Yakima, Washington, for one night and the girls enjoyed it so much. Here’s a photo of Allen enjoying the great outdoors alongside our ride.

 

Jackson was our first RV dog

One of the phrases Allen and I have coined since we began with a recreational vehicle in 1996 was RV dogs. Practically everyone traveling in an RV has a dog (or two, sometimes a cat, or even a bird). We think this is one of the reasons folks first begin taking trips in an RV; basically, you can take the whole fam-damily on your road trips!

You see big dogs, wee dogs, all manner of dogs traveling with their pack in RV’s. And lucky dogs really says it for these mutts — who wouldn’t like riding around on Mom’s lap in an RV, big or small, out exploring?!

Our first RV was a truck and camper and we enjoyed many terrific trips. Jackson was not the greatest traveler, laying on a pillow in the back seat of the truck with the boys, while we all suffered the results of his stomach disturbances across many states and provinces.

Anyway, once we arrived wherever we were going, Jack enjoyed being with us all, whether we were at a campsite in the woods up by the Nanaimo Lakes or taking in the views around Mount Rushmore (and staying at the world’s largest KOA in the world).

Our next RV was a motorhome and Jack did accompany us on many trips in that, too. Unfortunately, however, he could not be left alone in the motorhome — he would pant, howl and jump around from seat to seat, getting a ton of noseprints on the windows (a big no-no with Allen). We would just take his lumbering big kennel along and put him in that if he needed to stay on his own.

All in all, Jackson was a fantastic family pet and we all loved him for his 14 years with us. Jack had some challenges, including wearing a cone on more than one occasion (I think the pic below was after he scratched his cornea somehow — looks pretty scary because we could not get near him to clean it up at all – grrrrr!). Jackson was a real character, and although not the smartest cookie in the jar, we loved him unconditionally.

Now we’re on our 2nd motorhome and Cindy has been the ultimate perfect RV dog; she has enjoyed various adventures (for example, the Rockies ’07 tour, to Reno, and through Washington and Oregon numerous times). Allen built her a custom seat (fits right between Mom and Dad’s seats) so she can alternately watch the road or just snooze. AND she never puts her nose on the windows, just watches patiently for us from her perch when we are out.

Now we have Midge and Cindy has very kindly permitted her to share her motorhome seat. We are heading out tomorrow for a week away in Washington, so there will be a few posts of the girls’ adventures. Below you can see how the two of them fit so perfectly in the seat — Cindy can help Dad stay straight on the road and Midge can just look over and admire me! Happy RV dogs!