Scout - 11/19/05 to 07/15/15

Scout is gone.  She passed peacefully last night at 8 p.m. in a dimly lit room with three sofas and a fireplace. I couldn't have asked for nicer surroundings for her final moments.

My all time favorite photo of Miss Scout

When the vet told us that Scout had about eight weeks left (which was exactly right), I told Scout she could have whatever she wanted.  Boy, did that girl listen.  She demanded treat after treat. Peanut butter was her favorite for taking her meds.  I thought cheese might be a good change, but unfortunately I didn't buy her Kraft cheese this past weekend and she let me know that the new brand was not up to her standards.  Homemade frosty treats were her all-time favorite and she had so many in the last few days. She even ate two on the way to the vet.  She also dined on chicken last night. I thought my sign that she was ready to leave us would be when she quit eating, but that didn't happen.  The girl had a huge appetite.

Her favorite toy.

When I was looking for a girl to adopt, I told the group I wanted a petite, fawn girl.  Somehow I ended up with a 82 pound, brindle girl.  She was very much a tomboy.  She came with the name Scout and refused to adapt to the name I wanted to call her which was Katie.  In the end, she won and she remained Scout.  She was also known as Baby Girl, Girlfriend, Miss Scout and Scoutie.  I am sure there are a few other nicknames that I am forgetting at the moment but those were the ones she heard daily.

Give me treats!

 She hated walking when the sun was out.  We called her our vampire dog because she was happiest walking at night.  She loved playing in water and she loved sand.  Her favorite camping place was in Alabama because there was a huge dog park and her whole yard was sand.

Playing with her little brother.

Relaxing in Arlington, TX.

I remember when we first started taking her camping.  She was dragging as we walked through the campground.  I thought she was ill.  Nope, she was walking slowly in hopes that someone would stop to pet her. She did that on every walk. She loved people and being told she was beautiful.  She especially loved blonde or gray-haired ladies.  I think that her foster Mom most have had light colored hair.  One time, we were camping and we ran into Nancy, an old co-worker of mine.  Well, Scout must of thought that she was her foster Mom, Debbie, because she actually put her dirty paws on her shoulders.  I was so embarrassed. She had never done that before.
 

Scout's first day of full-timing.

Cadillac Ranch

Memorial Weekend in Arlington, TX.

Scout was a full-time RVer for the past three years, two months, two weeks and two days.  She didn't really enjoy the driving part, but she liked exploring new locations and meeting new people.  She hated Arizona.  I am glad we never stayed there for long.  It was too hot and too much gravel for her.

Fun Run in Abilene, KS

Scout was thrilled when we bought our latest motor home.  It has a king sized bed with a ceiling fan above it.  She spent her days roaching on the bed with a big smile on her face.  We kept the bedroom a cool 70 degrees just for her. No, she was not spoiled.  LOL

Happy girl!

I was so happy that she made it home to see everyone one last time.  The swelling on her head had actually almost disappeared and she looked great.  I think she also felt great that week.  We were beginning to think the vet was wrong about her dying, but only a few days after we left home, the swelling returned.  Her body began to fail her and we knew it was time to let her go.  Scout and I had many talks about the Rainbow Bridge and how wonderful it would be.

Pretty girl!

The house now feels empty without our brindle girl.  We no longer have to step over her bed which blocked our walkway in the bedroom. There are no more treat crumbs in our bed.  Joey and I are trying to create a new normal for our day.

Posing for Mom - one of the last photos of her.

I hope that Scout has found Jack and her foster Mom, Debbie by now.  She will be missed and, of course, never forgotten.

The Brindle Kids - not happy about scarves that Mom knitted for them.  Wow!  They definitely looked alike.

Together again.

Love ya Baby Girl.

Patty,

Mom To The Greyhounds; Jack, Scout and Joey 

A Day Trip To Gettysburg

Yesterday, the folks drove to Gettysburg for a few hours.  We are only 36 miles away, but it takes 1.5 hours to get there.  What is up with that?  Mom says there must be a better way.  GPS took them on back roads.  Mom said the views were nice, but she wanted to get there.

I stayed home.

They ate lunch at Garryowen Irish Pub.  It is a restaurant that has high ratings among reviewers.  Mom immediately liked the inside. 

The folks started their lunch off with an appetizer. They chose a Scotch Egg.

It is a hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage, breaded and then deep fried.

  The folks said the Scotch Eggs were good.

Mom ordered a Irish Whiskey Burger.  It had whiskey cheese on it.  The onions rings were in a beer batter.

Dad had the Whiskey Sausage Sandwich.

They said the food was good, but we didn't get to try any because THEY ATE IT ALL.  :::sigh:::

They then headed to the Gettysburg Museum of History.



These people were on a tour and they were slow.

The museum had a lot of bullets and other items from the Civil War battle in Gettysburg, but they also had other items.

Locks of hair belonging to George and Martha Washington.  It is in the center of the photo on the pillow.

Abraham Lincoln's wallet.

A lock of Lincoln's hair.

Foot stool that belonged to Hitler.

Yes, JFK's boxer shorts. Is nothing private?

I guess not because this is Marilyn Monroe's bra.

This is a gun found in the water at Normandy Beach.

Elvis' hair brush.  Seriously?  Mom thought his brush would have been nicer.

One of Elvis' prescription bottles.

A pillow that Jacklyn Kennedy had in the White House

There was a lot of serious things in the museum, but Mom likes to find the off the wall items.  They said it was a really nice museum and it was jammed full of items.  American Pickers has bought several things for the museum.

The folks spoke to the owner and he said he has been receiving threats because he carries Confederate items. He said he has been placed on some sort of a watch list.  Seriously?  It is history folks.  He has T-shirts that say "I would rather be historically correct than politically correct".  Mom told him he needs magnets with that on it.  He said he hadn't thought of that, but he is going to order some. 

The folks said that there is a lot to see and do in Gettysburg, so they will be returning. 

On a sad note.... Scout is getting worse.  I don't think it will be much longer before she leaves us for the Rainbow Bridge.  We had a treat party today. Scout still loves treats.  We also had fried chicken for lunch.  Yum!  Mom made a ton of frozen treats for us to enjoy.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks Treat Parties Are A Ton Of Fun

We Are In Maryland

Sunday morning, we took off for our next adventure.  We drove for about nine hours and spent the night in a KOA near Buckeye Lake in OH.  We were very impressed with our site.  It included a swing, table and chairs and flowers.  It ranks up there with our favorite site which was in Naples, FL.  Here is a link with photos of our favorite spot: Our favorite site.   The place in OH was pricey though.  Yikes!  Dad said after taxes it was $75.  We even used our KOA discount.  We stayed there because it was easy to get to and we had driven enough for one day.

This was our site:

Some of the sites were even nicer with more landscaping and plants.  At first, Mom said she wouldn't mind staying here for longer because the town was really nice and there were a lot of restaurants around.  However, Mom changed her mind when we started walking around the campground.  We were on our way to the dog park when we were attacked by mosquitoes.  It was terrible.  They were buzzing our ears and landing all over all of us.  I didn't even get to stop at the dog park.  We walked fast.  It reminded us when we stopped at a park in Florida and there was a mosquito meter that said to "RUN!"  We thought it was a joke, but it was not.  Anyway, we noticed they were mainly where the trees were, so after that, we tried to stay more in the open areas when we walked.  We didn't sit outside and wasted that nice patio because Mom was fed up with the mosquitoes.

Monday, we made our way to Maryland.  The PA toll road cost us $56.60.  Mom actually thought it was going to be more.  We have five axles now, so it is more expensive than our old rig. 

We finally arrived at our campground.  It took Dad a long time to get us registered.  He had to sign all sorts of papers. There are a ton of rules here, but nothing really crazy.  When we arrived at our site, Mom noticed the trees Dad would have to get around to park us.  He tried four times and Mom said it just wasn't going to work for us.  There was a tree that was in our site that we just couldn't get around.  If we could have pulled forward more, we could have done it, but there were wooden posts blocking us.  Dad took the Jeep to the office to see if another site was available.  As soon as he left, a man pulled up and asked if he was getting a different site.  Mom told the man he was.  The man said "I knew there was no way in hell he your rig was going to fit in there.  I have another site for you."  It turned out that he was the owner.  He told Mom he had a pull-thru for us.  He called the office and got it all straightened out.  Dad came back and the owner directed us to our new site.  The only thing we don't like about our site is that our steps are high up.  We have a portable step that we use in cases like this.   We have a nice view.  We do not have shade, but that means our satellite works great.  It is a give and take, you know.

This is our view.

Storm clouds were moving in last night.

Mom and I walked to the dog park this morning.  Scout wanted to stay in bed.  She is fine, but tired from our trip.  She stays behind a lot of mornings which is fine with me.  I like my alone time with Mom.

It's pretty big!

See me?  I am way in the back.

Tennis courts are in the background.

 

Here are the tennis courts.

This is a wooded site. There are a lot of wooded sites here.

These sites have covered picnic tables.

There are a ton of things to do here.  They have basketball courts, horseshoes, mini golf, golf practice range, game room, roller racer court, a huge pool, ball field, entertainment center, outdoor movies, crafts on weekends and other special activities. They also have a nice snack bar that looks like a small restaurant.  I know there are other things here, but that is all I can think of right now.  Mom is excited about the Christmas in July weekend because an Elvis impersonator will be performing.  I don't think Dad is as excited as she is about that.

We will take more photos as we explore the park.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Tired After Two Days Of Traveling

Time For More Adventures

Our time here at home has gone so fast.  It is hard to believe that tomorrow we are heading back out on the road.  We are kind of sad because we have had fun.  Scout and I even had visitors on this trip.  Scout said that everyone came to visit her because she is sick.  I don't know about that.  I know that Grandma L. came over just to see Scout.  Scout is her favorite.  Yes, Grandma, I know that.  :::snicker:::  That is okay. Grandma gave us treat money.  Thanks, Grandma!  Grandpa L. didn't get to visit us this time because he just got home from the hospital and he needs to stay home until he gets all better.  He is doing good though.  We also saw Aunt Donna, Aunt Lisa and Aunt Sandy.  They are really not our aunts, but they are from our greyhound group, Greyhound Companions of Missouri.  They really helped me when I had my leg issues, so I call them my aunts.  They came out to see ME and Scout and our new rig.  It was fun seeing them.  Grandpa and Grandma E. came by, too.  Mom said I was a good boy for all our visitors.

We had a nice site this time.  We had a nice view of the lake and we were away from the holiday crowds.

Scout wants everyone to know that she is feeling good and she is looking even better.  The swelling around her eye has gone down a lot.  Mom contacted the vet and she said that it is normal for the swelling to go up and down.  Scout says she feels better when the swelling is down.  Everyone who saw her said that she looked great and told her she was beautiful.  Blah, blah, blah.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Hitting The Road Again

We Are Home!

We arrived home on Sunday night.  The folks have been busy visiting family.  Today, they had medical check-ups and I had to visit the vet.  Scout didn't have to go.  The vet said that I was very muscular and a good weight.  Mom was surprised that I haven't gained any weight since Scout has been sick and getting whatever she wants which means I get it too.

We just learned some sad news.  Hazel from Class A Greyhounds...RVing with the Big Dogs has died.  :-(  She was a regular reader of our blog.  Hazel died in May, but we just learned of it today.  Mom hasn't been reading blogs as much since Scout has been sick. She had two greyhounds and a cat.  Hazel was a solo RVer.  We are very sad to hear that she has passed.  Mom heard that her pets have found new homes. We hope they are okay because they have to be really scared.  Mom read about Hazel's passing here: RVing: The USA is our Big Backyard

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Sad To Hear About Miss Hazel