Monday, September 12 (continued)
In the previous episode, RVSue and her canine crew arrive at Lyman Lake to make an overnight camp.
Visitor center and park store, Lyman Lake State Park, St. Johns, eastern Arizona
“I’d like a beach campsite for one night,” I tell the man behind the counter. I hand him a check for $20.
He enters the information into the computer. Then he writes the date on a card to be hung from the rear-view mirror and hands it to me.
The crew and I drive past the main campground area where a few RVs are parked and hooked up to electric.
I don’t see the need for electric hook-ups on a cool and breezy day like this . . . .
We pass a line of cabins available for rent. Only one cabin is occupied.
We stop at the road that goes down to the beach.
I get out to look over the campsite choices. Several picnic tables with fire rings are spaced far apart on the packed sand near the water.
I walk down to the beach to get a “feel” for the campsites and also to check that the sand is firm enough for the PTV and BLT.
No, I don’t want to camp here. The sand is firm enough, but a night of rain could make mud. And it’s not very level. No, I like that site up there on the point overlooking the lake.
I return to the crew waiting in the PTV.
“We’ll be situated in just a bit.”
I back up the Best Little Trailer with the rear window facing the lake.
Here’s the view from my computer table, seen through the window screen.
The brown object in the photo (above) is one of the doggie beds, blown over by the wind.
The little cottonwood tree gives evidence that this is a windswept place.
I look around for birds.
Most of the birds have taken cover from the wind. A few pitch and dive over the lake. A lone heron in the distance becomes the subject of my zoom lens.
Reggie finds this new campsite exhilarating!
“Let’s go down to the water,” I suggest to the crew. Reggie takes off toward the beach, straining at the end of his tether. Bridget hangs back. She doesn’t want to walk.
“That’s okay, sweetie,” I tell her with a pat. “You can watch us from here.”
~ ~ ~
“We’d better go back, Reg. I don’t want Bridge to wait too long.”
There’s something I need to tell you about Bridget.
When I put out the saucers of chopped chicken this morning (Monday), Bridget doesn’t want to eat. Immediately I know something is wrong because Bridget always eats breakfast. She loves breakfast!
Over the course of her life I’ve noticed Bridget has three favorite things to do:
- Hang out with her best pal, Spike.
- Ride in her car.
- Eat chicken chunks for breakfast.
To keep you on track, this is the same morning that the PTV has her own problems.
Now you know why I don’t stay at the Chevy dealership in order to have the PTV inspected. My mind and heart are on Bridget, more than anything else, as we roll across the desert to our camp at Lake Lyman State Park.
Here’s our girl shortly after we arrive at Lake Lyman.
She drinks water and rests well, but she definitely isn’t up to par. Kibble doesn’t interest her either. I make some chicken broth and offer it to her in a saucer. She turns her head away.
Tuesday, September 13
Bridget hasn’t eaten anything since Sunday afternoon. I offer her the usual breakfast which she refuses.
I pack us up and we pull out of our Lake Lyman camp.
Fast forward to real time . . . .
I’m writing this post on Thursday, September 15. Bridget still does not have an appetite. She ate a little bit of chicken yesterday. She’s losing weight, of course, and sleeps a lot.
Please read the following very carefully.
Bridget has been aging rapidly over the past year. You have not seen what I have seen. Bridget has had good days and bad days. More than once over the past few months I’ve wondered, “Is this the beginning of the end?” And then I’m surprised and overjoyed to see her perk up.
I confess I’ve hidden these bad times.
I couldn’t bring myself to post photos of Bridget looking less than beautiful. You could say that’s not fair to you, the reader. Maybe it’s a form of denial on my part. At any rate, that’s what I did and now it’s become necessary to hit you with the reality — our Bridget may leave us soon.
Before railing at me for not rushing Bridget to a vet, understand what I write here.
Bridget is somewhere around 15 years of age. She has been covered with lumps and bumps and tumors for years, probably benign, but maybe now they aren’t. For months she has exhibited symptoms similar to those of Spike before he passed.
After considering every angle of this situation, I decided not to take her to a vet. I don’t want Bridget to stay overnight in a crate at an animal hospital in order to have tests done. She would panic and be terribly stressed, and for what?
I will keep her home with Reggie and me.
I’ll try my best to keep her comfortable, continue her usual routine as much as possible, and be with her when the time comes for her to slip away. Please respect this decision when making comments.
Okay, jumping back into the story line of the blog . . . .
Wednesday, September 14
We’re at our new camp at Luna Lake. It’s near Alpine and is one of the nicest campgrounds in which we’ve made our home (more about our new camp in a future post).
Mid-morning Bridget eats a little bit of chicken and walks around the campsite.
I have an idea!
“Bridgie? How ’bout you go for a ride in your car? I think you’d like that.”
I fold up one of the doggie beds to make a chin rest for her. As I push her out of the campsite, she has her head down.
Soon she takes an interest in where she’s going and lifts her head. She becomes more alert.
“You love your car, don’t you, Bridge. Doesn’t the air smell good? I love the scent of pines.”
“All the sites here are pretty.”
“That Reggie, always on the go. . . . ”
“This walk is doing you good. I knew you’d enjoy your car. You always do.”
“I love you, too, honey. Look, we’re almost home.”
In closing . . .
Maybe Bridget will come out of this valley, as she has in the past. I want you to be prepared for the possibility that she might not.
As I type this, it’s Thursday and Bridget hasn’t had a decent meal, despite offers of various foods, since Sunday. She had another ride in her car today. She sat up the whole way around the campground, turning her head from side to side, enjoying the day.
rvsue
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