Adventures Tenting

In August Mama and Papa bought a tent and camping equipment, packed up the truck and we left Bellingham. We first drove east to Perrigrin Lake near Winthrop, WA. I don't think they remembered how hard it was to tent camp. It would take them a half hour to set up everything. They thought they were hardier than they really are. Like me, they are powder puffs. Thankfully they had a great queen size double air mattress and good sleeping bags so we were very warm and comfy at night. But in the mornings it was really cold. We have a great travel grill by Coleman so Mama could make her coffee in the morning. But it was such a hassle to clean up without running water. I am sure Mama didn't think she was getting everything clean when she washed them. She is kind of obsessive.

I met the neatest, strangest looking dog there. We stood nose to nose for about five minutes and just stared at each other. Mama said it was a deer, but I still think it was just a funny looking dog. It sure had a strange scent. We wandered around Winthrop which was very cute, like an old West town and had lunch outside. It would have been very nice except we were surrounded by yellow jackets. Everyplace we went there were yellow jackets which were really annoying and really difficult to kill. We spent three days there. Mama and Papa wanted to just try out their ability to set up and tear down. They were not happy about how long it took to tear down and pack the truck. It was so much work but they were committed so we continued on.

First Memories

Hello, my name is Remy. I am a three and a half year old Bichon. I live with my mama and papa, Carol and Bob. I was "born" in Las Vegas NV where both my parents worked in casinos. My mama was a hostess and my papa ran the main cage. They worked different shifts so most of the time some one was home with me. I had a sister, Sophie, who was six months older than me. She was a Rottweiller, so sweet but a real scardy cat. When someone came to the door she would run upstairs to hide and poke her head out between the bannister. I also had two cat brothers, Pitzel and Schlomo. They really didn't have much to do with me. Schlomo was Pitzel's pet and they pretty much kept to themselves. They didn't like playing with me. But Sophie and I always had a good time together. She would carry me around by the head in her mouth. But she was very gentle and never hurt me. We could run around the dog run, but since I was so small I could get thgrough the bars and Sophie could not. That really frustated her especially when the gate was closed. Sophie might have been sweet but she was very strong and she broke Mama's ankle one day when they were walking. She had already broken the other ankle and had the then had to have the plate and pins removed. I thought we were very happy but my Mama never liked Las Vegas. It was too brown, too hot and too much kinetic energy and it made her very nervous and depressed.

My mama got sick and had to stop working and my papa retired to take care of her. They decided to leave Las Vegas. So they gave Sophie to a friend who had two other dogs and five acres where she could run and play. We travelled throughout the Northwest looking for some place to retire. They finally decided on Bellingham, WA. We rented a small house in a nice neighborhood with three parks within walking distance. My mama and I would take walks around the neighborhood and met lots of dogs and friends. Then we met some people who met at one of the parks everyday. So we joined that group and I had lots of friends, Archie and Daisy, two terriers, Casey, a Tibetan terrier, Sadie, another terrier, and Dolci and Saint, two mixed breeds. Mama and Papa got along with these people and started a group called the Chicken Heads. They got that name because our favorite toy was a rubber chicken and some of the others would chew off the heads and so we were left with just the heads. They even had hats that looked liked yellow chickens. They really looked funny in their hats. But everyone had a good time.

Last March my Mama got sick again. She had to have her tonsils out. They thought she was really sick but it turned out to be a bacterial infection. But it scared both Mama and Papa. They had been talking about getting an RV and just travel the country for thirty years. So they hired an Estate Sales Company and sold practically everything. They packed up a big truck, bought a tent and camping equipment and left Bellingham in August. Thus began our lives as gypsies.