Canaveral National Seashore

Feeling more confident about Lulu’s health we decided to push on. With an overnight stop at Pecan Park RV Resort just north of Jacksonville, we made our way to the next destination, Seasons in the Sun RV Resort in Mims, Florida. A place we had been several times before. What’s there you ask! Well, its a great place to hang out so I can explore my favorite birding place Black Point Wildlife Trail on Merritt Island. A bonus is Canaveral National Seashore which is just down the road. 

However, our trip to Mims was not without its scary moments. We drove through one of the worst rain storms I had seen. We were stopped literally in the middle of I-95 not moving because it was raining so hard no one could see. I found out later 9” of rain fell in a matter of hours. Now I know why all the campsites were flooded when we arrived.

With the weather working in my favour off I go to Canaveral National Seashore to see the sights.

It doesn't take long before I'm doing the wow and OMG thing. This wonderful seashore is part of the national parks system so my America The Beautiful annual pass was honoured here. The park was created in 1975 and is home to several species of plants and birds. Its location is between New Smyrna Beach and Titusville on the barrier island and is accessible by vehicle at the very north or southern ends. 

A 24 mile long sandy beach, a little rough today

Beautiful butterflies everywhere

There's a paved road with 5 access points to the beach. The day I went it was windy, warm, sunny, and not alot of people around. Just the way I like to explore nature.

Paved road with nobody around

Enjoying a walk through
century old oak trees

Access point #4, looking out over the vegetation to the Atlantic

Sitting on the beach watching the fisherman fish, the brown pelicans dive for fish, and me eating my wonderful picnic lunch of tuna fish ( getting the theme of this adventure), I though it was time to move on to my favorite place to bird watch Blackpoint Wildlife Drive. This 7-mile, one way, self guided trail meanders through both salt and freshwater marshes.

Again, my America The Beautiful pass allowed me entry into the refuge otherwise there is a $5.00 fee (honour system). The drive offers several areas to stop however many avid birds pull far enough off the road to allow traffic to pass.

This drive can be a hit or miss situation. There are times I see thousands and thousands of birds, other times a few, its all dependent on the time of year. I've seen several species of wading birds, shorebirds, raptors, waterfowl, along with alligators, otters, and wild hogs. Patience is a virtue here.

Mud flats usually a favorite for wading birds, nothing today

Open prairie with palm canopy in background

Usually I do the drive at least twice. On the second time around I park the truck and venture down one of the 7 trails looking for different birds. Cruickshank trail leads to an observation tower that allows one to look out over the marshes.

Cruickshank Tower in the background

With the day getting on its time to go home and tell Susan my adventures. Another wonderful time out doing what I love to do.

Taking a Deep Breath

It has now been 5 days since we started Lulu on the steroids and she is a different dog. She no longer sounds like a Pug (no disrespect to those pug owners out there), she has some energy to walk a short distance on the beach, and an appetite that puts a Rottweiler to shame. With all these wonderful signs we are taking each day and praying she makes a full recover, with or without the mass in her nose. Time will tell. In the meantime we extended our stay in Myrtle Beach for another 8 days. The same site was available so no moving involved. Yeah baby!

Our site

With the stress in our lives diminishing slightly, we finally made time to get out and enjoy ourselves. Firstly a long, long walk on the beach was in order topped off with supper at Crabby Mike’s in Surfside Beach. This is our favorite place to dine on all-you-can-eat crab. Now that I’m feeling great I stuffed myself with the succulent sweet crab until I couldn’t eat another morsel. I have blogged on this place before so no pictures this time we just dug in and ate.

Enjoying the beach

Beautiful Brown Pelican flying by

Seeing friends that we hadn’t seen in a while is always great. We were able to hook up several times with our good friend Ranger Bob who is a park ranger right here in Myrtle Beach State Park. I would have offered him an alcoholic beverage but alcohol is not permitted in South Carolina State Parks. So we settled for coffee instead.

Each year in Myrtle Beach they have a ride along the beach for the American Cancer Society. This is not just any ride. With over 800 horses walking, trotting, and/or galloping down the beach you don’t want to be in their way. I stood for an hour on the pier patiently waiting for the horses to come my way. It’s quite a sight. This year they decided to ride south instead of north. However, there were a few that came north into the state park so I was happy.

Only a few came my way

The coastline at Myrtle Beach State Park shows a perfect example of how each day the wind and salt prunes the trees. The salt laden sea breeze carries across the shores where the salt is deposited on the tree branches facing the ocean. The salt causes the leaves and buds to become dehydrated and die which in turn produces a significant stunting of the trees. Because the inland side is somewhat protected the trees grow in a lopsided manner.

One very lopsided tree

With life getting back to some normalcy hopefully my blogging will also. Please stay tuned and thank-you to everyone for the kind thoughts and prays during our anxious moments with Lulu.

The Rollercoaster Ride

This whole week has been like a roller coaster ride and not at all a good one. I'm relaying this because not everything goes according to the best laid plans. We have heartache with our little girl.  The day after we arrived Lulu was not doing very well at all. After a short walk outside we noticed a huge bulge on her butt. I couldn't even get close to it. So off to the vet we go (Ark Vet Clinic). Her temperature was 105.2 and they diagnose a large rectal abscess. Yes, she screamed bloody murder when they took her temperature but it was worse when the abscess broke. And yes I cried a thousand tears. Taking care of people was much easier than this. The vet put her on a stronger antibiotic hoping her breathing would improve also.

A very sick little girl

The next morning after a quick outside walk we noticed another abscess on the otherside of her butt. We called the vet and she wanted to see Lulu right away. By the way her breathing is worse and she's not eating much. The heartache we are feeling at this point is indescribable. The second abscess breaks, a chest xray and lab work is done. 

Meanwhile I'm not feeling great either. To make matters worse both our computers crash and have to take them in to get fixed. With all this going on my Visa card somehow becomes compromised again so we are waiting for a new one. How do you pay for things with limited resources. We didn't bring alot of cash across the border. Off to the bank to open a cross border account. That takes up alot of time to fill out and it won't happen for 7 - 10 business days.

With Lulu's breathing not getting any better we are referred to a clinic in Charleston which by the way is a 2 hour drive south of Myrtle Beach. Away we go on Friday, her appointment is at 9:30 am. She is looked at by a great vet and suggested a rhineoscopy and CT Scan. He could not do it so we had to go to their Mount Pleasant clinic 10 minutes away. Lulu was again poked and prodded and booked for the procedure later that day. We left her at the hospital and drove 2 hours back to Myrtle Beach. They are doing biopsies so bleeding is an issue. They called later that evening, she is doing good BUT there is some sort of mass in the back of her nose. Hopefully the biopsies will tell the tale.

Back to Charleston to pick her up on Saturday morning almost a week since arriving. She is sent home with a syringe full of epineprine just in case she starts to bleed. Well, if I thought it impossible to put ointment on her butt how the hell was I going to put epi down her nose if she starts bleeding. Luckily I didn't have to.

Monday the vet calls from Charleston for an update. Biopsies should be back by tomorrow. They booked Lulu for surgery on Wednesday to remove the mass. Meanwhile my watch has stopped working. How ironic is that.

Tuesday the biopsy results are in, it shows NO cancer cells. However, the tissue shows lots of inflammation and some sort of mass. So we forgo surgery at this point and opt to treat her with a high dose of steroids. Time will tell.

Through all of this I have cried a thousand tears, laughed at the silly games she would play, and praised her for all the love she showed anyone that payed attention to her. I will keep you posted on her progress. Hopefully it will be good news.   

Myrtle Beach, SC

The big decision this year is which way to travel south. Do we go the Pennsylvania Turnpike with no campgrounds open therefore we have to boondock or do we go through West Virginia like last year. With snow in the forecast it was pretty much a no brainer. Campgrounds 1 Boondocking 0.

We left our home park in great time only to arrive at the border to wait for 45 minutes before crossing. Finally through we head towards Erie PA only to be met by snow. Typical of Erie this time of year. We stopped for diesel then back on the road. Our first overnight stop was Morgantown WV. We stayed here last year so we know where to go and what to expect. Chicken noodle soup is all I could muster up to eat. Lulu still is not herself.

Waking up to a few flurries is always nice but not when you have to drive in it. Oh well onward we go. Most of the leaves have changed and fallen which is earlier than last. The trip into Mount Aire NC was pretty much unremarkable. At least the sun came out for awhile.

With a little warmer weather we make the final trek into Myrtle Beach arriving at 2 pm to sun and the smell of salt air. Oh how I've missed it. Lulu seems to be sounding more and more like a Pug. She loves the beach so maybe the salt air will help her.

We get parked in our usual site. And settle in for 2 weeks of pure bliss. Or so we thought..... Stay tuned. 

Getting Ready To Depart

It's that time of year again. The leaves have fallen and the days and nights have gotten significantly colder. So that's our cue to be at the ready for the annual migration south. Jeez I feel like a bird. 

The rig is fixed or so we thought (that's another story), the truck (you remember Precious) is ready to go, all our appointments have been taken care of, so all that's left is to pack the rig with way too much stuff. Every year it's the same question, "do we really need this"? And every year it's the same old answer "of course" so into the rig it goes only to come back home in the spring in the same place we initially backed it. Sooooooo this year is going to be different, we are only taking the absolute necessities. I'm taking half the clothes and Sue is taking half her artsy stuff. That should leave the rig half empty. I will believe it when we are finally on the road.

The water to the park is shut off so we filled every container we could find in the park model, filled the fresh water tank in the rig, and had our last shower. So much for giving Precious a bath.

And of course someone always gets sick. Well this year it is Lulu and myself. Both of us sound like we have colds. I'm not the type of person that jumps to the vet every time one of the dogs gets sick but this sounds strange. So off we went. Some antibiotics and $150 we are good to go or so we think.

We make the last rounds, saying goodbye to family and friends. The truck and rig are connected and ready to pull out in the morning. The weather calls for rain and the dreaded "s" word. A word I can't say around Susan. 

Now stay tuned for our trip south.

Time To Go Home

When I booked the ferry many many months ago for July 31 the departure time was 6 am. What was I thinking? The campground is ½ hour away from the ferry terminal and we have to be there 2 hours before departure. Again what was I thinking? Well the departure gods must have seen my dilemma because they emailed me with a change in time. Our new departure time is 1145 am, hallelujah, thank the ferry gods. Now we were able to get up at a descent time have coffee & breakfast, shower, and leave for the ferry in the daylight hours.

Goodbye moose family

We got to the ferry terminal with no issues and entered the inspection area. You are not allowed to take potatoes or plants of any kind off the island. We had a few potatoes so out they go. Its cool and rainy so after we got in the line-up,  we went inside the terminal for a coffee.

Our ferry...the transport truck in front looks like a toy...
and that was only half the boat I couldn't get it all in

Waiting in the line-up

This ferry ride was not complicated, no backing on and off like before. We got safely aboard, and were off by 1140 am. The 6 hour 20 minute ride went by pretty fast. We slept, we ate, we played cards, we people watched, we ate some more, and finally we were in North Sidney, NS. The dogs did fantastic in the rig. Once we got off the boat we stopped in a large parking lot so they could relived themselves. We were yelled at by security for stopping. Well, back to reality and the real world.

Our first stop was only 3 km away from the ferry Arms of Gold Campground. It is just toooooo late to start driving. This park caters to ferry goers and comers and RV caravans. We counted over 60 rigs/motorhomes with the same caravan sticker. 

The next morning we were up and gone with a stop in Antigonish NS for diesel and to get a few groceries. We arrived at Loch Lomond Campground in Amherst NS for the night. The campground was crowded with lots and lots of kids running everywhere. We put the air conditioning on and read a book.

Early the next morning we were on the road again getting closer to home. Now that Rogers has cell service in NS I'm able to call my mother. We make a quick stop for diesel and onward we go arriving at de la Republique Provincial Park in NB.

Our site...with the sun setting behind us

The following day we were going to drive to Montreal and stop for the night. But coupled with the anticipation of getting home and also the weather being fantastic we drove through to Kingston ON. Even though we got in late we are only a half days drive to home.

Being in no hurry to get moving we left Kingston at 9 am the following day, drove through Toronto and arrived home (NET Campground) by 1 pm. Its nice to be home only because I hate driving day after day with just overnight stops. Also we need to get ready for our winter excursions where ever that will be. We have not decided yet.

Thank you for following. It has been fun and challenging at the same time. If anyone plans on doing a similar trip contact me. I can try to help you out with suggestions, dos and don'ts, especially in Labrador.

Journey To The Ferry

Leaving Bonavista we made three short stops before reaching the ferry to head home. The first was the town of Grand Falls-Windsor where we decided to use the next 3 days to get caught up on housekeeping, shopping, and maybe a little sightseeing. Grand Falls-Windsor (GFW) was incorporated in 1991 when the two former towns amalgamated. GFW is located on the TransCanada Highway in the middle of Newfoundland. Therefore from here you can virtually go any direction. After being here a couple of days the housekeeping is done, shopping is all looked after so that leaves sightseeing. Well there’s not a lot of sightseeing opportunities here. GFW has a salmon interpretation center which is much like the one in Torrent River. The Exploits River is the largest river in Newfoundland. Again fly fishing is the only type of fishing allowed. Atlantic salmon is now in season but on the Exploits you are only allowed to keep 5 for the whole season.

The Exploits River

Grand Falls

Note the sign...its 25-30 feet above the river right now

Atlantic salmon are attracted to the fishway because of the
churning water supplied by underground piping

We left Grand Falls-Windsor and drove to Deer Lake where we stayed for 2 nights. We were unsure as to what to do since all the housekeeping has been done…for now. Quickly realizing that Gros Morne National Park was just up the road and so is our favorite seafood market, away we go. This time we took the cooler for the lobster and cod. They might have some they might not I never know what is in season. 

This time we chose The Tablelands 4 km trail to hike. The Tablelands mountain range was formed when two continents (Africa & North America) collided 500 million years ago. The mantle which usually lies below the ocean was thrust upward to the earths surface. Peridotite rock that usually lies 12 km underground is present everywhere here. During the last ice age, glaciers carved the shape of the mountains and many of the canyons along the trail.

The Tablelands Mountain Range

Which way home?

That water was cold

  

Winterhouse Brook Canyon...its the end of July and yes that is 
snow in them there hills

Yellowish coloured rock is Peridotite

Gros Morne Mountain
in the background

Taking in the sunshine
and view

Our final stop on the island was in the town of Doyles at the Grand Codroy Campground. The campground history is much like the rest of Newfoundland unique. In 1966 10 acres of land was donated by the Downey family to the province for the development of a provincial park. Cost $1.00. However, in 1997 the Newfoundland government downsized their parks system so the family was able to purchase the land back. Today the park has been upgraded to include all amenities. Since it is not far from the ferry they tend to cater to those coming and going from Newfoundland. 

Our site...lots of space

We decided to do a little sightseeing but shortly after we left the campsite the weather deteriorated very fast.

Cape Anguille Lighthouse

Cape Anguille Inn

On the way back we found the Codroy Fish Plant and wondered if they sold fresh fish to the public. I know we just bought some but I figured that you can't have toooooo much fresh fish. So we stopped and got more lobster and cod. The prices were amazing. This time we forgot the cooler but its just a short drive back to the rig. 

After we dropped the lobster and cod off I was getting real hungry. A small place just down the road was recommended Hynes Chicken Villa so away we go. Susan asked what I was having and I though it was pretty much a no brainer. If I have to leave this island I want my last meal here to be cod of course so we both ordered pan-fried cod. It was the best cod we had on the island. With our bellies full and know where to be we head back to the rig for an afternoon beverage.

Enjoying the afternoon with a beverage

It just happens that a caravan of 27 rigs was pulling into the campground as we were enjoying our beverage. That proved to be our entertainment for the day. Later we found out they are on the island for 8 days. What can you see in 8 days? We just spent 5 weeks here and didn't see half of the island. People just don't realize how big this place really is.