060514- Durham, NC

5/14/2006
Falls Lake, NC

Today looked like a beautiful day, at least that is how it started.

Late in the afternoon, a tornado watch was reported in the area and then we had heavy rain which turned into large hailstones, ranging from marbles to cue balls.
We did not seem to have a any damage but I cant get up on the roof to inspect it. We do have a rubber roof which should afford some protection.

We are finishing up a wonderful week, having spent it in a nice park with good friends.

We met Pete and Rose on our Mexican caravan 2 years ago. They had befriended us and kindly drove us around whenever we had to leave our RV's and car pool. They were kind to Peter and I and Pete even washed the beast once in Mexico.

This past week they had come to Durham to attend one of their 23 grandchildren graduation from Duke U. The beginning of the week they spent lots of time with us as we roamed the roads of the park, me on the Batmobile, and Pete and Peter afoot. Rose has a little trouble walking distances but she joined us for part of our walk.

She also made some great chocolate chip cookies as well as a couple of meals they offered to share with us. They are truly nice people ,,, who also participate in building houses for Habitat for Humanity.

Pete has an aversion to being photographed, but we did get to snap one as he walked Peter at the edge of the lake. Hope he forgives me. One the other hand, Rose was all smiles ,,, and while I would never reveal her age, she looks and acts like a woman in here 60s.

The park was part of the North Carolina State Park System and was a joy to spend time in. The roads were paved, the site level, and the surrounds and landscape very serene and beautiful. Except for the cold shower, we really rated it quite high … and the cost was only $14 a night.

060508-Rutherfordton, NC

Monday, May 01, 2006
Spartanburg, South Carolina

There we were, just cruising along, and all of a sudden, we experience a loss of power and are forced to pull over to the side and abandon ship.

The good news is that we were in a Wal-Mart Super Center on one of their electric carts.
The bad news is that we had to transfer our purchases to a manual cart and walk the rest of shopping day.

Monday, May 08, 2006
Rutherfordton, North Carolina
4 paws kingdom rv pARK

this RVP is billed as the first park to be dedicated to dogs. Since it was Peter’s idea to stay here, I told him he would have to write the next journal entry. Here is his submission.

We’ve been here for a long time …Daddy says 8 days … and he also said that since we came here for me, it’s my job to write about it. I know Daddy doesn’t like it when I use his computer because my nails pull off the letters, so I found a little Mexican dog who actually spoke English very well, who has little paws and works a computer pretty good. His name is Killer. He has a friend who lives with him named Wags, who is a long, skinny guy, who looks funny.

Anyway, when we got here, it really smelled good and the welcoming committee was 2 dogs called Corgis Schroeder and Lucy. They were little, but really frisky, especially Lucy. I think she was flirting with me.

This place has lots of trees and bushes, and I can tell that most of the dogs that have been here really like this place.

We had a good location, because all the other dogs had to walk past us, so I got to know them by name and their owners said hello to me by name all the time.

Every afternoon, we all go to this grassy park and the people sit around talking while us dogs get to run without our leashes and do whatever we want, wherever we want. There sure are a lot of different looking dogs here … I’m the only one with a black tongue, … but we all seem to get along . Rosie is a really big girl ( Newfoundland ). There is a whole box of toys that some of the guys like to play with and there is a blue beach ball that this one black Lab likes to push around the park, but he doesn’t let anyone else play with it. The rest of the guys here … Onya, Herschel, Blondie and her son Stewart were all fun to meet. They said they would write, but I think they were just repeating what they heard their owners were saying. Some of then didn’t even know what a computer was, but I gave them our business cards anyway.

One evening we all got together for what they called a Cinco De Mayo Potluck party, which has something to do with Mexico. I got to try some of the different foods and they were really good. Maybe I’m part Chihuahua.

The morning we left was a rainy day, so I didn’t get a chance to say good bye to the gang, but I left them as many messages as I could. I hope they get them.