Happy 6th Birthday to Pearl

Pearl here: Today is my 6th birthday. My brother Matthew made this picture for me.

Yesterday Stinkey and me took a road trip in the truck. I didn't have any idea where we were going. But it was raining cats and dogs. So I was just happy to stay dry in the truck.

It turns out we were heading to Los Angeles airport to pick up brother Albert. We met Ashley at the Howard Hughes shopping center and she rode with us to the airport.

The humans went inside LAX and I had to stay in the truck and baby sit Stinkey. No dogs allowed in airport, you know. Where are dogs allowed anyway? So Albert comes back to the truck and Ashley is hanging all over him. They made me sit up front in my Mommy's lap. I didn't even get to sit with Stinkey. My Mommy says the only way she got Albert to come over and hug her and the big guy, was to wave the new Green Bay Packers baseball cap she bought him. She says he came running to them then. I think I'm supposed to say LOL! now.

Then we took Albert to eat. And I had to stay in the truck (again) and baby sit Stinkey. Personally I wouldn't eat at any place that doesn't allow dogs. Albert and Ashley said goodbye to me and Stinkey and then they went home. My Mommy is laughing because instead of going straight home, they go to Best Buy. She says Albert won a $150 gift card to Best Buy for being the weekly winner in the Reagan's Fantasy Football League. Don't you think they should have gone straight home instead of going to Best Buy? Silly humans, he's been gone 5 months.

So we drove back home and it took foreverrrrrrr. But we arrived at 12:01 on my birthday. So I got one doggie treat. Now I am working my Mommy for more treats since it's my birthday you know. I love to hear to top popped on my treat jar. I'm going see what else I can get out of her before the cops come home, errr I mean the big guy. He'll blow the whistle on this whole spoiled stuff for sure. My Mommy does promise we'll go for an extra long lizard search today. Hey I think maybe I can get me one today. At least it's not raining.

Oh and by the way, I'm supposed to tell you that I'm having a girl cousin and that brother Albert won the bet. And my Mommy is putting another picture of Albert & Ashley here.

Here's where we 'live' half the year

This is Bay Pines RV Park, where we live half the year, and where we will be "stable" the next six months... we're about half a mile from the beach. So we are really close to the water, but far enough away from the coast that we do not get the sea spray and messy seagulls (!).

The photo of the trailer immediately below this post was taken today after we got settled back in.

The trailer and truck are FILTHY so both will need a serious cleaning inside and out this week.

[D]

Back at home base

Home at last!

We arrived back at home base (Morro Bay) around noon today. Pearl is already itchin (literally) for a walk on 'dog beach.' We will try to get to that tomorrow.

Thanks for sharing our trip with us! The blog has been fun :)    (D)

Last night on the road, literally

We spent our last night on the road at Cholame, Calif., at a crowded rest area on highway 46. This rest stop is just down the road from the James Dean Tree – the tree planted at the spot where Dean was killed in a car crash in 1955. (He ran into a Cal Poly student who pulled out onto the highway in front of his car.) The highway is still two lane, still very crowded, and still one of the most dangerous highways in America.

Here’s a snapshot of our trip, by the numbers:

Miles driven: 10,800

Miles per gallon, average: 12.09

Most expensive fuel: $3.89 (Calif.)

Least expensive fuel: $2.19 (Okla.)

States visited: 26

 

Stay-in nights…

RV parks, 26

National park campgrounds, 9

Corps of Engineers campgrounds, 8

Wal-Mart parking lots, 7

Forest service campgrounds, 5

Casinos (Terri says “Woo hoo!), 4

State park campgrounds, 3

Rest areas, 2

Didn’t stop at all at night (almost 1 - ok, 2)

 

National parks visited:

Smoky Mountain

Theodore Roosevelt

Yellowstone

Grand Teton

Yosemite

Yosemite (cough, cough)

We had hoped to see much of Yosemite valley on Sunday, but that was not to be. A controlled burn fire that got out of control resulted in closing some of the key roads to the valley. (I will avoid rambling on about how stupid it is to do a controlled burn when things are as dry in California as they are now!) So, anyway, we were able to see much of the eastern side of the park, shrouded in smoke, but we did not take the 3 ½ hour (one way) detour that it would have required to get into the valley. Oh well. Maybe next time.

 

Heading back to the trailer, we went up highway 108, which is a two lane road through the mountains north of Yosemite. When we drove to Alaska, we had to go up 11 and 12% grades on the Alaskan highway, and I thought that was excessive. Highway 108 has a 26% grade. Wow. Good thing we were not pulling the trailer.

 

 

Pearl sunbathing

Pearl's idea of a perfect day!

High in the Sierras

We are high in the Sierras in the area around Mammoth Lakes. Here is a shot of June Lake (which is nearby). Wifi isn't too good here, so we won't post any more for today. We are off to an exploration of Yosemite - but I do not know how much we can see. There's a big fire and some of the roads are closed....