Goodby to a friend

She came to us as a tiny little ball of black and white fur. Tossed over someone's front yard fence, barely 8 weeks old, she was the only stray brought into the police department that Steve was ever tempted to bring home. Kendra and I had been in a minor car accident the day before and, feeling slightly battered, this tiny little puppy was the perfect cure.

Molly, as we named her grew quickly into a loving dog, protective of her family and a great explorer. Her favorite perch when she was young was a planter wheelbarrow, where she'd relax and survey "her" yard as she watched for invaders.

She got along with pretty much everybody, including the cat Murphy that was her best friend for years. Any cat that didn't run was her friend too, but if they ran, look out! The cattle dog instinct took over and when she was "inspired" she was fast!

Molly never really liked riding in a vehicle, but happily hopped in when a camping trip was at the other end. As soon as she saw us packing the rig she was ready to go.

She attended every Duck training camp too, but was a bit too shy of strangers to make it to the tailgate parties at games.

We logged many miles on back trails, and the only time I ever saw her startled was when an owl swooped out, low and very large, as it crossed the trail in front of us. She slowed down a bit in her later years, but her heart was always ready to go.

Molly has been staying with our daughter and her husband while we're in California, and yesterday she suddenly became quite ill. Kendra took her to the vet yesterday and this morning we got the diagnosis - a fast growing liver tumor. No treatment was really possible, so the tough decision was made to put her to sleep.

We'll miss her so much - she hasn't missed a camping trip in 16 years! Molly has convinced me. .  I truly believe, all dogs go to heaven.... I can't imagine it without them.

More photos in Molly's Album.

sitting still in Garden Grove

Our schedule on this trip hasn't gone exactly to plan, but then, life seldom does.

We knew a long time ago that Steve's dad had terminal cancer. The only "question" was how fast things would progress. Twelve years ago the doctors gave him ten years. . . these Worshams are made of tough stuff. One tends to get overconfident after so much time goes by, but none of us can beat the odds forever.

Shortly after Kendra and Jax left Bud took a turn for the worse, so we extended our stay.  It's hard to watch a loved one fade away, and even harder to see how hard Steve's mother works to take care of him. They are receiving Hospice services too, and I can't say enough wonderful things about the folks that work for that agency. They have made it possible for Bud to be comfortable at home, and for Mom to do the things needed to take care of him. The support they provide is amazing. In the meantime we do what we can for her, connect with family, and try to keep Bud comfortable. The other boys live locally, and their only daughter flew in last night, so all the "kids" are here. "It's only a matter of time", as they say, but time moves very slowly in a situation like this.

Across Arizona

As we expected we bucked a headwind all across Arizona. The saguaro and teddy bear cholla cactus sprout here and there between the blooming palo verde - what a beautiful landscape. I love the mountains in the distance too. In this part of Arizona they form interesting peaks and crags, and with the changing shadows there's real variety in the landscape. We're a little short on real mountains in our part of Texas, so it's a nice contrast to our rolling "hills".

All too soon we were thrown into the race of the big city.... plowing through traffic and dodging cars. We finally reached our destination, the Elk's Lodge in Garden Grove in early afternoon on Sunday.

We've stayed here before, and though the actual parking spots aren't exactly luxurious - they're just blacktop - our space is larger than the one we had at the state park on the beach a few years ago.

A real benefit of stay here is their nice little park where we can take Shiner for walks.

Off to one side of the park the lodge members are constructing a memorial to members of the military. It's still under construction, but so far nicely done.

memorial in the Elks Lodge park

We're close to Steve's parents here, another bonus, and there are always a few Elk members around to chat with. This is an active club, with events scheduled almost every night.


As much as we prefer the rural life, we don't have too much trouble shifting gears, and we looked as this trip as an opportunity to introduce Shiner to a wide variety of experiences. She's met more new people, new dogs, and new sounds in the last couple of days, and who knows  how many new aromas her sensitive little nose has picked up. We needed to find a place where she could run off leash, so we checked out Arbor dog park, just a short drive from Leisure World (where the folks live). The park is pretty nice! It was a bit of a challenge to find, just off Lampson behind the Department of Fish and Wildlife offices. On the first visit Shiner was the classic new kid on the playground, head down, tail between her legs, when two young huskies ran over and greeted her politely, then helped her chase her ball. Though she didn't do a lot of mingling with the other dogs, she did relax and had a great time playing fetch.

One of Shiner's new friends at the park was a Brittany Spaniel named Toby. . . Toby Tornado actually. His owner filled us in on Toby's story. Toby was already scheduled to be adopted by the gentleman we were talking with, and was living with a foster family in Oklahoma when a tornado struck, pulling him out of the house through a skylight. He wandered loose for several days and all concerned had given him up for lost when he was found and taken to a rescue shelter in Dallas, TX. Once all the connections were made with his adoptive parent, Toby was scheduled to be crated and shipped to him out here in California, but a stewardess who had worked with the adoption agency heard about the situation and decided to improve on the travel plans. She went back to Dallas, put a service jacket on Toby, and he flew all the way to his new home in the cabin with the passengers. After all he'd been through I think he deserved a relaxing trip! He's about three years old and seems to be adjusting well to his new home, in spite of his adventure in Oklahoma. Dogs are amazingly resilient creatures, and the gentleman who adopted him has had several Brittanies and seems very attuned to his needs, so I think he went to the perfect home.

Tuesday afternoon we picked Kendra and Jaxen up at the airport. Her bag had gotten lost somewhere along the way, but they managed to find it and deliver it in a couple of hours so the crisis was minor. We spent the evening with family, then tucked the sleepy little guy in for what we hoped would be a long night's rest.

A new friend

 The following day we headed for the dog park again. This time with Kendra and Jax. He loves dogs, spent an hour in his stroller watching the show as dogs ran and played chase. One of Jax's new friends was a four month old puppy wo is being trained as a service dog for a lady who uses a wheel chair, and he seemed to take quite a shine to the stroller as it is so similar to the wheelchair he's used to.

The dog park has turned out to be best entertainment for Shiner and Jax too!

Today we're off again, this time for two days in Palm Desert.