Some photos...

On the same grounds as the RV park we are staying in is this fenced off, decaying "Wild West" tourist trap place. The management here gave me permission to wander through, cameras in hand. Here are some of the results of that venture...

"Stone Pony"
 This cement big eyed pony was standing guard on this decaying piece of Florida.

"Palm"Sometimes I get artsy, especially if it involves a geometric and back lit beauty like this.

"Signed Guarantee:"
The title is from the "lifetime manufacturers signed guarantee" cast into the frame. I believe this was one of those carnival music things. An internet search turned up nothing. One more small piece of Americana crumbling to dust.

"WHY?"

My first thought when I saw this was "Why would anyone let this happen to this classic MG-TD?" An iconic piece of British Automotive Engineering should not die this way.

The Dog Whisperer

Today Riley impressed me once again. Now remember, the boy had a bad couple of years before we met. He has difficulty with any dog he doesn’t know and especially if they show aggression towards him. He usually reacts quickly and with a lot of prejudice. I was sitting on the patio reading a book and Riley was sitting just “on guard,” so to speak. All of a sudden there was barking and rustling in the pine needles behind me.

A very handsome, young, but full-grown brindle-colored boxer was running loose. The boxer and Riley were playing a bit and sizing each other up. Thankfully there were no signs of aggression from either. I watched very pleased with my boy. This went on for about a minute until the owner of the boxer came over trying to corral his runaway pup. Walking with an empty leash dangling from his hand he kept trying to get close to the boxer. Well this boxer was too smart for that. He knew he was free and that leash meant captivity.

The owner never got closer than 10 feet of him. It really looked like the boxer was enjoying making his owner look foolish. I watched this poor guy walk all over the RV park following wherever the pup wanted to go. For at least 15 minutes I was treated to this show. Every once in a while the boxer would trot over to say hi to Riley and then when the owner got close he would bound off.

Soon some of the park workers using golf carts were trying to round up the dog. Again he was way too smart for that. Now imagine three people, two using golf carts, chasing this dog through the trees and open spaces. Comical to say the least! I seriously enjoyed it.

Now here is where Riley impressed me. I decided to assist in capturing this cavorting canine but feared Riley would interfere. Thinking it would be prudent to put him inside Roz, I pointed to the door and said, “Riley inside.” He immediately went in. WOW, in the midst of all this excitement he listened to me. GOOD BOY!

Back to the boxer. I could see he was a gentle dog and was just having fun with these humans. He was about 10 yards away from me. I slowly moved toward him and, when I was within about 10 feet, I got down to his level, held out my hand, and softly called him to me. “C’mon boy, good boy, good dog, here boy.” All the while I kept eye contact with him.

To my surprise he gingerly walked to me, sniffed my outreached hand and let me touch the top of his head. Mick Dundee and maybe Cesar Millan would have been proud. I slowly moved my hand to his choker, and secured a good grip on it, expecting him to bolt. He didn’t. The owner and two other dog wranglers stood there, mouths agape.

I think the owner was very embarrassed for he just muttered a low thanks and hurried off. The park people now call me the “Dog Whisperer.” A title I love, by the way. I was looking forward to meeting the pup today, learning his name, and maybe getting a photo of him for this blog but sadly he left with his owners early this morning. I’ll have to ask Riley what his name is.

Just a Little Blue Today

Today was, as expected, a somewhat bluer day. Not really depressing, just marked with a little sadness. I do miss my family and friends, especially on these special days. I had a lot of good phone conversations though. And I didn’t miss the snow back in PA.

A friend from CycleFish told me of a Florida State Park near here and I drove over there to check it out. The promise of lower rates was alluring.

The lower rates must not be a secret; the park was packed. Almost every site (about 150 of them) was full. There were many RVs and hundreds of children, all noisily having fun. If I were traveling with children it would be perfect, but Riley and I prefer a little quieter location. We’ll stick with our current location for a few more days. I never realized so many people do this on Thanksgiving.

Ok, now to the Thanksgiving meal. When I opened the drumstick package I was pleasantly surprised to see there were three of them. Wow, leftovers tomorrow. We had roast turkey legs, mashed potatoes, peas, stuffing and, of course, gravy. All were homemade except for the stuffing. I had to cheat a bit there, it came out of a box.

Timing was the biggest challenge, as all you great cooks know, getting it all to be ready together. I must say I did quite well. Roz’s oven worked perfectly, and I discovered it works VERY well as a house heater. Note to self: Design a good exhaust fan for Roz.

 Mike's Thanksgiving meal, mine lasted a bit longer than Riley's.

 

When the holiday feast was ready I made a bowl for Riley. I loaded his bowl with the meat from one drumstick, a scoop of potatoes, a few peas, a tiny bit of stuffing and some gravy over it all. He must have known there was something special, for he was really underfoot as I prepped his bowl. When I set it down for him, there was no hesitation. He devoured it, and before I had time to fill my plate he was back underfoot looking for more. 

 Riley's dinner that stayed in the bowl all of 30 seconds.

I looked over and saw his bowl was clean, not even a gravy stain. Licked totally clean.

I asked him if he liked it and his reply was a loud dog burp, so I guess he did. The meal was very good. Not the best Thanksgiving dinner I have had but definitely the best one I made so far on this trip. Apple pie is being saved for later.

WOOF! (Translated that means “Hi.”)

Riley here. Now that’s what I’m barking about, people food, is sooooo good. I especially liked the turkey and gravy. Dad, ya did good! But next time keep the peas. It was too much work to remove them. So what is it about turkey dinner that makes me sleepy, I am gonna nap soon. Oh and dad tell everyone about those cats.

Hey dad, do I get more tomorrow? Huh!!??

OK Mike here again.

Cats, yeah they are something. There must be about half a dozen or so semi-feral cats in this park. Remember the night visitors that woke Riley the other day? Well, they have figured out that if they show themselves to my boy he gets all excited and runs to the end of his leash and gets a rude snap back. (Don’t worry; he is on a chest harness, not a collar.) They sit at a safe distance and stare him down; all the while he is excited and prancing around. I tried telling him to ease up but he just replies, “Dad I am a dog. This is what we do.”

That’s all for today. I hope all had a happy and filling Thanksgiving. We did!

A Story about a Stick

At the Tobacco Farm Camp they had thousands of “tobacco sticks.” They are about 5 feet long, 1 inch square at one end and taper to about a ½ inch. If you do an internet search for them you’ll find plenty of entries. They were originally used to hold the tobacco leaves in such a way that allowed the tobacco to dry evenly in the drying barns.

I picked one up and used it as a walking stick on our daily walk. It somehow found its way into Roz and is now my official walking stick. If Shirley or Gary of the Tobacco Farm Camp are reading this, I am sorry; I did not mean to steal it. I will gladly offer payment if needed.

This stick got me thinking. It would be really cool if I make it a Scratchin-the-Itch story stick. I will wood-burn symbols and/or location names and dates of each special place and event on this odyssey. I am also going to ask friends, both new and old to sign one face of it. WOW, that should make for a nice piece of memorabilia. Here is hoping my drawing and wood-burning skills will represent the experiences we have. Ha!

Stump (Bob) and Arlene gave me a Native American good luck feather attached to a leather strap as part of my going away care package. It’s now appropriately attached to the story stick. Thanks Stump and Arlene! It looks beautiful. The first three entries have been burned. It just has text for now because I do not trust my drawing skills at this point.

One more note on the story stick. When we were at the RV park near Kill Devil Hills we met a really nice biker couple from NY state, Tommy and Roxanne. (Tommy is now “maybee” on Cyclefish.) They saw me testing my soldering iron to see if it could do the wood burning job needed for the stick and that it didn’t work. A little later that day I received the gift of a new higher temp soldering iron kit from them. Thanks Tommy and Roxanne!

We are spending quiet time in Panama City Beach, Florida, just relaxing and enjoying the very mild weather. One bad thing is our walks have to be curtailed. We went out on the road for a walk the first morning and I re-discovered, or I should say poor Riley discovered, sand spurs. For those who do not know these nasty little seeds, they are about the size of a small pea with sharp spikes.

The spurs stick to everything especially your skin, or paws in Riley’s case. They HURT!

Fortunately there aren’t many within the RV park so we do get short walks. The boy does OK when he gets stuck, he stops and gnaws at it till it falls off. Occasionally I have to help. It surprises me that Riley lets me fuss with his paws. Normally when I try to do anything with them I get a growl and slightly bared teeth. I guess he realizes I am actually helping.

This will be my first Thanksgiving away from family in a long time. I expect it to be a bit of a blue day. I do miss my family and friends, a lot! In an effort to lighten the day a bit we have a feast planned. There will be two turkey drumsticks roasted (one for Riley minus bones). The menu also includes homemade mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, stuffing, and apple pie for dessert. OK, I bought the pie. Riley gets a share of everything except the pie. No Alpo for my boy that day, he should be happy. A culinary review will be forthcoming.

Twice last night Riley went into alert mode. Uttering his low growl and pacing between the door and bedroom window telling me there is something outside. I calmed him and all was well. This morning I discovered what I suspect he heard, saw or smelled. There were cat paw tracks all over our picnic table. Isn’t that just like a cat, playing mind games and enjoying teasing my boy? Good boy Riley!

And Now a Message from Riley

Riley, yeah that’s me, or at least what some humans call me. I’d tell you my real name but it doesn’t translate to people-speak. I am 31 years old (that is 4½ people years) and right now I am living with my best friend, Mike, although he sometimes calls himself Rex. Weird, huh? He’s the guy who bailed me out of that doggie jail I was in a couple years ago. I won’t give details as to why I was in jail, but I am forever grateful to him. 

This guy is so easy to predict, like in the mornings I know he is ready to let me take him for a walk. He takes off his slippers and puts on his socks and boots and then gets two of those funny little plastic bags from the cabinet. He does this weird thing though with those bags on his exercise walk: After I relieve myself he picks it up with one of them. I want to yell at him, “Hey dude, I just picked that spot for a very good reason.”

We do a lot of things together, but not nearly enough for me. I really hate it when he leaves me alone for a long time. (Hey, what is time anyway?) And then comes home smelling like he was wherever. Man he has all the fun. But I can’t help it, this big ol’ tail of mine starts a-waggin’ and he can see I am so glad he is home. I guess it is just a dog’s nature.

So now we are on this road trip. He did the coolest thing for me. In our doghouse on wheels he made a special big dog seat so I can ride up front. There is nothing I like better than putting my nose out the window as we roll. All of those smells and I don’t even have to sniff. But after a while I get bored so I nap a lot. He has been finding really cool woodsy places for us to stay. Wow, so many new things to check out and anoint. I am in doggie heaven.

And there are other animals I have never seen before. We saw some deer, a raccoon, and some strange kind of big bird. He said something about bears but I don’t know what they are. There are other humans here too and some of them have these BIG doghouses on wheels. But it seems like the bigger the dog house on wheels, the smaller the dog in them, and noisy ones at that. I wish I knew why those little guys have to yap all the time.

Sometimes he yells at me for nothing; like the other day we were in this kind of park place and there were a bunch of big stones sticking out of the ground. So I did what I always do to tell all the other dogs I was here, and he yells at me for that. I mean, hey dude, I am a dog, ya know!

Food — now that is my favorite subject. Sometimes I get what he eats. I have to say, the man can cook! MMmmm. But that crud he gives me out of the bag, yuck! I usually try to out-wait him and leave it in the bowl hoping I can get some of that people food. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. I have to work on his training there a bit.

This morning he was extra friendly with me and even gave me some extra treats. Then went to a store and came out with some doggie ice cream. What, was it my birthday? Not exactly, but it is the same day I moved in with him two years ago. Time does fly.

                              

OK, storytelling is making me tired. I see a nice sunbeam coming in the bedroom window so I think I’m gonna curl up in the beam and take a nap.

Squirrel!!!

Where???

Hey, who said squirrel????

In Hope that Ansel Would Approve…

Having only spent about 30 minutes at the Wright Brothers National Memorial for photos, I wanted more. Riley has been such a good dog that I felt a “wanna-go-for-a-ride” reward was in order. Figuring there would be less people thereby less distractions for the boy, we waited until Monday to assault Kill Devil Hills again. It was a good choice.

This time I wanted to concentrate on things other than the obelisk. In the memorial parking lot, Riley sat on the ground next to Mack and was very patient with me. Once all my gear was readied — one wide angle camera on my custom-made suspender strap, one long lens camera over my shoulder and Riley’s 16-foot reel-type leash affixed to my belt — we started touristing. Oh, and I had two doggie bags in my pocket.

To my very pleasant surprise Riley responded perfectly to my voice commands. I fully expected to have many tugs on my belt when he became interested in some smell. There were very few times I actually had to pull on his leash.

A little side note here about my boy. From our first meeting I felt he had the heart and soul of a good dog. He just needed some love and positive guidance. There were a few times early in our relationship when we almost reached the end. I am glad I never made that Wrong Decision. He is everything I want and could ever ask for in a canine companion. Riley is a Great Dog!

For those who do not know, there were actually four “heavier than air” flights accomplished by the Wright brothers that December 17, 1903, each successively longer than the last. The park service memorialized the place and distance of those flights with five markers: one large stone at the take-off point and one marking the end of each flight (see photo).

I walked around this group of markers looking for an interesting angle to photograph from. Well, nature takes its course and Riley — you guessed it — lifted his leg and properly anointed the take-off point marker. The boy has no respect for the pioneers. Ha-ha. I am glad we were the only ones there at the moment. Whew!

This place is huge. A life-size stainless steel sculpture depicting the first moment of flight stands on one side of the obelisk. It’s titled “December 17, 1903,” and was created by Stephan H. Smith. Because I had an artistic idea for that sculpture we got back in Mack and headed over that way. The road winds around the Memorial Hill showing many different angles, and I saw one view I could not pass up. With a screech of the tires, I did a snap turn to a parking spot. Riley said “What the…?”

Many of you know I admire Ansel Adams, whom I consider to be the greatest technical artistic photographer ever. And here was something I think he would be proud to have. I will let this image explain itself. Except for the post-processing black and white conversion, it is exactly as I photographed it. To date, this is my proudest work of the trip. The Brothers were smiling on me again.

To close this extended photo trip dialog here are two more images of the first flight sculpture. One as it is and one I modified to make it look as if it were taken back in 1903.