The transition to Fall

Fall has arrived here in Mid-Michigan and with it came a couple of rainy, cool days.  Those are the days that make the transition to Fall difficult for me, but we have been lucky over the past week to have some very comfortable temperatures in the low to mid 70s, which make it a great time for getting out for adventures with the girls.  

The first day of Fall brought with it a call from our vet regarding Maddie's most recent bloodwork, and unfortunately, the news was not good.   Since her last bloodwork was completed a few months ago, her kidney disease has progressed to the point that she is now dealing with anemia and low albumin levels which will ultimately lead to other problems.  This isn't unexpected; her kidney disease was bound to progress at some point, but it is still hard to get the news.  

Currently her liver, heart, and other organs are still functioning well, but it is only a matter of time before they begin to be affected as well.  We are now at a point where she will be considered hospice, which just means that we will continue to keep her happy and comfortable for as long as she wants to stay here with us-be that a few days, a few weeks, or a few months.  That call from the vet came at the end of a difficult, exhausting, and frustrating day and brought with it some guilt for feeling frustration and some tears of sadness which ultimately seemed to make me feel a bit better.  It was also followed by a really good night's rest and a good day, thankfully.

While the weather was cold and rainy, we couldn't get out for any real adventures, so I had to find ways to keep the girls happy while spending the days inside.  The licky mats filled with yogurt and peanut butter came out for the first day and kept them both occupied for a bit.  Apparently all that licking was pretty hard work for Maddie and she fell asleep on her mat.  

The second day of rain brought the fun of licking the yogurt out of the empty containers.  This is always a fun activity for the girls and they really get into it as evidenced by the yogurt on Peaches' nose.  The day also included several rounds of fetch and lots of trips in and out of the house.  While we couldn't get out for a walk, the girls insisted on taking car rides.  And while the girls handled the rainy days well, I was happy that sunny and warmer weather was returning in time for the weekend.

After a busy week of work and all of that rain, we were excited to take advantage of the sunny Friday afternoon and headed downtown for a nice walk around the LCC campus.

Maddie was having a great day and was feeling pretty sassy.  She insisted on getting out of the stroller and walking around on her own on several occasions.  That can make things a little more challenging as I try to push a stroller, walk Peaches, and try to keep track of and control Maddie.  But I love when she wants to walk and certainly don't want to discourage her.  It's nice to see her excited about being out and about.

We spent a nice hour walking around campus, enjoying the sunshine, and doing a little geocaching before we headed home.  It was a much needed reprieve from the rain and a wonderful way to start our weekend.  

Saturday morning was cloudy and gray, but I had big plans for the day.  I started the day at a local farm buying pumpkins, straw, corn stalks and other fun Fall decorations.  This is the first time I've gone to this farm for my decorations, but it won't be the last.  I had a great time, saved a ton of money, and even got to enjoy some fresh, homemade doughnuts.  

After my trip to the farm, I went home to get the girls so they could join me while I ran some errands.  First was a trip out to the shelter to meet up with Katelyn and Arlo to pick up some farm fresh eggs from their chickens.  Then we found our daily geocache.  Next we ran to a few different stores, got a few groceries, filled up the gas tank, and then headed to our favorite taco truck to grab lunch.  Maddie was thoroughly enjoying the day and insisted on sticking her head out the window.  It was so sweet to see her soaking in the sun and all of the smells as we drove along.  She's always loved having her ears flapping in the wind.

After picking up lunch, we headed home to work in the garden and watch some football.  It was nice to be able to just enjoy a relaxing afternoon at home.  Honestly, it was one of the best Saturdays that we've had in a while.  

Sunday afternoon we headed out for a little geocaching adventure around Gratiot County with Vanessa.

The day took us to some small towns, a few parks, and to downtown Ithaca.  Peaches got out at several of the stops to help us search while Maddie waited in the car, once again with her nose out the window.

We had a nice short walk around Ithaca which seemed to be the perfect short adventure for Maddie.  We drove down some country roads and took another short walk with Peaches at a nice natural area outside of Alma while Maddie napped in the car.  We ended the day with a stop at Phillip's Orchard for a cider slushie and doughnuts, which of course I shared with the girls.  It was a nice afternoon adventure and we enjoyed getting out of the house.

While things at work have been keeping me busy, we found time to get out for a nice walk on my lunch on Monday and I even stopped and got the girls a puppacino from Biggby along the way.  It was a good way to start the week and made for a quiet afternoon.

Wednesday promised some really nice weather and I was happy that I had decided to take a day off mid-week to get out for some fun with the girls.  I had originally planned to head Southwest and spend a little time along the shores of Lake Michigan, but we had a slow start to our morning, so I decided we'd just take a drive and see what we could see.  

We took a nice drive South to US12 and followed it West through several small farm communities, stopping at some small parks and picking up geocaches along the way.  We stopped in Sturgis for lunch and found an awesome little Mexican restaurant right next to a park, so I got some take-out and sat out in the sun enjoying my lunch and sharing a little with the girls.  Maddie was pretty happy to share my chicken.

We continued along backroads as we made our way home and made a stop in Marshall to take a walk along the river walk, one of our favorites spots on the North Country Trail.  We haven't been here in months and it was nice to get back and enjoy a quiet afternoon walk along the trail.

We spent about an hour there enjoying the scenery, the wildlife, and making memories together, but far too soon it was time to head home so that we could make it back in time for Maddie's laser therapy appointment.  We had had a marvelous day just being together and while we didn't have any grand adventures, we still made some special memories.  It really doesn't matter what we do, as long as we are spending time together.

We finally got home just after sunset and the girls ate their dinner and then settled in for the night.  Maddie ate her dinner enthusiastically, got a good drink, and was snoring away so I knew it had been a great day for her.  We all got a good night's sleep after our wonderful day.

The next couple of days will be spent around home as we prepare for our next big adventure.  I know that our days of adventuring with Maddie come closer and closer to their end, but for now we are taking advantage of the good days, dealing with the bad, and just spending as much time as we can making memories together.  

An End of Summer Hurrah

Hello friends and happy September 21st.  Sadly, we have reached the last full day of Summer for 2021. This year the Autumnal Equinox, and official start of Fall, occurs at 3:20pm ET on September 22 so by this time tomorrow it will officially be Fall.  While I am always sad to see the end of Summer, we really made the most of our Summer this year almost until the very last minute.  The weather has been beautiful and I haven't yet had to switch from shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops to pants and jackets, but I can definitely feel Fall in the air today.  But while the weather was still sunny and warm during the last few days, we got out to enjoy it!  

Peaches and Maddie have been enjoying our adventures both big and small.  Even just the trip to the vet for Maddie's laser therapy is a reason to smile.  They get to see friends so that always makes for a good day.  Any reason for a ride in the car makes them both pretty happy.

While we had a some stormy weather to start our week and weren't able to get out much, by Thursday things had cleared up and we finally had the chance to get out for a bit more of any adventure.  So for the first time since the students returned to Campus earlier this month, we made a trip to campus on a weekday and, honestly, I was completely shocked at the number of people on campus!  It's been 18 months since campus was so busy with students and I had forgotten exactly what it was like with them all here.  

While a portion of our walk on a busy portion of campus where the girls got some attention from strangers and I got a lot of comments about how cute and well behaved they were, I was also happy to find some quieter areas for our walk.  I was really a bit overwhelmed by all of the people!   But I know the girls enjoyed themselves.    I'm sure we'll do more walks on campus throughout the Fall, but it's definitely going to take me some time to adjust to the return to a somewhat more normal campus.    I sure am going to miss our quiet and uninterrupted walks.  At least it's still pretty.

On Saturday, we started our day pretty slowly.  Maddie and I stayed in bed longer than we would normally and we enjoyed a little snuggle time, but I didn't want to waste the day, so eventually we got up and headed outside to enjoy our final weekend of the Summer.  

The garden is still providing some veggies and I had to get out and do some work to make the most of my harvest.  I got a really good broccoli harvest, probably one of the best of the year, along with a little celery, lots of pear tomatoes, a some San Marzano and Roma tomatoes too.  I still have a few Roma left to pick, but the tomato harvest this year was not as good as last year, so after one or two more pickings, they will be done.  I am hopeful that the broccoli will continue for a bit with the cooler weather and I've even got some more zucchini growing unexpectedly.  And I have to keep reminding myself that October is only 10 days away and I'm guessing in the next three weeks all of my veggies will be harvested and the garden cleaned up and ready for next year's planting.  But I will have a freezer full of goodies to enjoy throughout the dark Winter months.

After our time outside, I came in to clean up and start lunch, but Peaches had other ideas.  She always seems to have some extra energy to burn and was ready to go!  So after a couple of rounds of fetch with her new toy, I decided an afternoon adventure was in order.

We loaded up the car and the girls were ready to go!  They definitely knew an adventure was coming.  

We made the drive about 25 minutes South to the small town of Leslie to do a little geocaching, get in a walk, and see a new area.  We didn't have a lot of luck with our geocaching attempts, but we did get in a pretty nice walk around town and even picked up dinner at a local restaurant before leaving town.  

And we did finally find a couple of geocaches to help keep my streak alive as I continue to work on geocaching for 365 days in a row.  As of today we have completed 291 days with only 74 to go until we reach 365 days.  It's been challenging and fun and I'm excited that I've been able to keep the streak going.  But it will also be nice to be done!

Sunday we had one final big Summer adventure to take.  We were up and out the door shortly after 9am to meet Vanessa and make the drive Southeast to the bottom of the Thumb.  Our first stop, Palmer Park in St. Clair.  We enjoyed our visit to this area so much earlier this Summer that we decided to head back and see even more.  While we didn't see many freighters, we did see a few throughout the day.  It's always impressive to see them so close.

After a walk through Palmer Park and a little geocaching along the way as we drove South down M29, we reached Marine City.  We decided to check out this quaint little town and it did not disappoint.  

Maddie was enjoying being close to the water, Peaches was loving all the squirrels, and Vanessa and I both enjoyed our walk through town.  There are lots of cute little stores and restaurants and plenty of places to satisfy a sweet tooth.  

What I liked most about town were all of the cute parks along the river.  They were beautiful and included lots of information about the history of the area.  And the views were pretty nice too.  After a nice walk through town we had to stop for ice cream before we continued our journey South.

We made a stop at the Algonac State Park to take a walk and do a little geocaching and we made a quick stop at the Algonac Boardwalk for a little history lesson and geocaching as well.

Finally, we made it to New Baltimore and Michigan's tallest flagpole.  We got the girls out to explore the area and to get a picture because I couldn't miss that opportunity!  We also had one mission to complete in the area and that was to find a geocache in the area so that we could get our first geocache in Macomb County.  Over the last 18-24 months we have been working on finding a geocache in each Michigan county and Macomb was one we still needed.  

While we didn't find the initial geocache we went to find, we did run into a couple of other geocachers and had a nice conversation with them while we all looked for that darn cache.   We finally gave up and made the short walk to find a different cache nearby with our new caching friends.  I'm happy to report that we made that find and officially have found a cache in 81 of the 83 Michigan counties.  Only 2 to go!! 

It had been a wonderful day of geocaching, walking the girls, and sightseeing, but the day was coming to an end and we made a very quiet drive home while the girls happily slept all the way.  What a wonderful way to spend our final Sunday of Summer!

The girls weekend adventures made for a pretty quiet Monday at home which was good since we had rain in the evening and couldn't get out for much fun.

With the forecast calling for rain most of the day today and for the next two days, I made a point of getting the girls outside for some fresh air this morning while I worked from the patio.  It was gray and cloudy, but still comfortably in the low 70s.  Before the rain moved in, we also went for a drive on my lunch to make sure we could find our daily geocache.  Otherwise it's been a pretty uneventful final day of Summer.

Cooler temperatures and more rain move in tonight and we won't get out of the 50s the next two days so it will be slow around here for a couple of days, but thankfully the 70s return in time for some Fall weekend fun.  The changing seasons certainly aren't going to keep us from having fun and we have some great adventures to share over the coming weeks.  

As the Summer comes to an end and I reflect on the last few months, I feel blessed to still have both of my girls here adventuring with me.  Had you told me last Summer, or even just a few months ago, that Maddie would still be here with us and going on adventures still, I wouldn't have believed you.  But here we are and I am thankful for all of the memories we've been able to make together so far this year.  Our adventures have definitely been different.  There are more challenges and they have had to be modified to work with Maddie's limitations, but I'm so glad that we've been able to continue to have fun together.  My adventure dog is still adventuring and that really is all that matters.  After all, what's life without adventures?  

Fun with friends both old and new

Last week, we had a fun-filled week followed by a very busy weekend and this week started off a bit crazy as well, so I haven't had any time to sit down and write until now.  I've also been affected by some issues with numbness in my right hand which I was sure was being caused by a pinched nerve, and after a visit to the doctor on Monday, has been diagnosed as most likely Carpal Tunnel.  Thankfully it hasn't been terrible to deal with most of the time, but I'm hoping the stretches I've been doing and the arm brace I have to wear at night will help solve the problem completely.   Only time will tell.  For now, I do what I can to relieve the symptoms and just keep making the most of life.  What else can you do, really?

While Labor Day was just a little over a week ago, we have already reached the middle of September.  Time is just flying by so quickly!  Maybe part of that is the crazy week we had, but at least we started off with a little down time.  Maddie has become quite happy to nap much of the morning and I'm happy that I can sit near her and get some work done while she's napping.  I just love to watch her sleep.  Most of those morning Peaches spends outside in the yard enjoying our end of Summer weather, and it's nice that each girl can spend time doing their own thing.  

We had our weekly vet visit to start the week and Maddie was a little slower than normal all day, but still happy to see her friends at the vet.  I had to help her into the building and it took both the vet tech and vet assistant to help her walk out of the building, which is very unusual.  She just wasn't having the best day, but that happens when you're 15 years old.  Once she got out to the car and loaded up, both Maddie and Peaches were hoping for some extra treats, but to their dismay, I didn't have any to give them.  Once we got home, I gladly let them spend the rest of the afternoon outside while I worked from the comfort of the patio.  I hope that made up for the lack of treats!

Mid-week, we headed to Uncle John's Cider Mill outside of St. Johns to watch my nephew, Mason, run in a cross country meet.  I bought a cider slushie and a couple of dougnuts before the meet and then headed to find my parents to watch with them.  Of course, one of the doughnuts I bought was a plain one meant for the girls to share and they were pretty excited about it.  It was a good way to get them to pay attention to me and settled in for the duration of the meet.

Maddie was excited to be out on an adventure and eventually climbed out of the stroller to walk around and take in all that was happening.  Eventually both girls settled in, laid down, and just enjoyed being outside.  

Cross Country isn't the most exciting sport and you don't see much of the race at this venue without running around a lot yourself, but Peaches and I made sure we were close as Mason ran by us so we could cheer him on.  It was a great night to be out enjoying what remains of our Michigan Summer and it to visit with family.

Thursday our adventures took us to several local small business to buy Michigan themed snacks for two baskets I was putting together for the ISR reunion raffle, one basket with human treats and the other with dog treats.  I made purchases at a few stores in Old town before heading to Preuss' Pets where Peaches was able to join me for my shopping.   We then headed to the brand new Soldan's location in South Lansing to check out the store and do a little more shopping.  I was excited that Maddie was able to join me for this portion of the shopping trip because the aisles are wide and there was plenty of room for her stroller.  She enjoyed her visit and even spent sometime outside of the stroller sniffing around and checking things out for herself, and of course she got treats from the cashier as we made our purchase.  It was a pretty good night for the old girl!  We will definitely go back again because Maddie loves visiting a good pet store.

After a quiet day spent mostly at home with a nice walk around the neighborhood on Friday, I was excited to take part in a special geocaching event on Saturday afternoon.  During the event, we introduced a group of Girl Scouts to the fun of geocaching and helped them earn their geocaching badge.  I left the girls at home because this was just not going to be an easy place to bring Maddie and it's best if Peaches stays home with her.  I know Vanessa was pretty surprised when she got to the event and I didn't have them with me.  It was definitely strange being out on an adventure without them, but I know it was for the best.  

We met at the Lake Lansing boat launch for an introduction to caching where I was able to meet several other local geocachers.  Before starting our caching adventure, we taught the girls about CITO, Cache in Trash Out, by picking up trash around the boat launch area.  We then headed across the road to the Lake Lansing North Park to begin the caching lesson.  Our first stop was a brand new cache which had been placed especially for this event.   The girls were pretty excited for the find and ready to continue on to find more.  It was a fun day with fellow cachers and the enthusiasm and excitement of the girl scouts made it even better.  We found several caches while there and enjoyed a nice hike around the park.

After a couple of hours of caching through the park on a beautiful day, the girls began to get tired and it was time to head home.  It had been a lot of fun, but I needed to get home to the girls and get some stuff done around the house.  I'm really glad I decided to join this event and look forward to joining other events in the future.  It's fun to share stories and talk with other people who enjoy caching.  Hopefully next time, the girls will be able to join me.

On the way home I had to get a couple pictures of the trees along the lakeshore.  Boy was I surprised at the number of trees already changing color near the lake.  It was pretty, but it's just too early!  

Sunday arrived and we were up early because we had a big adventure planned for the day- a trip to the Chicago area for the Illinois Shorthair Rescue Reunion!  We were sad when the event had to be cancelled last year due to Covid because it would have been the 15th Anniversary of the rescue, but boy were we glad that we were safely able to gather in a little smaller group this year because this is the one time of the year that we get to see most of our rescue friends and, more importantly, their pups!

We were on the road early with a couple of quick stops to make along the way to pick up a couple of geocaches in counties that I didn't have a geocache yet.  I was able to make those stops and get back on the road pretty quickly, and luckily the traffic was clear nearly all the way to Chicago so we made good time.

We had to make a stop downtown to pick up Emmalee, who would be joining us at the reunion.  We don't see her often since she's busy at medical school, but we were glad that she was free to join us this year again.   The girls are always happy to see her, and I appreciate the extra set of hands to help with the crazies!  Peaches spent the day dragging Emmalee around, making friends, playing games, and eating ice cream.   It was a great day for her!

Maddie also got to make new friends with both two- and four-legs and took part in both the ice cream eating contest and musical dogs contest.  But most of the time she was relaxing in the grass, looking for more water to drink, or just waddling around and exploring the area.  She had a really great day!

Both girls really enjoyed their time at the reunion and we came home with toys and treats and lots of great memories.  It makes for a long day to travel there and back in one day, but it is always worth it to see all of our ISR friends and the bonus of spending some time with Emmalee too.  The drive home was smooth and quiet since the girls were exhausted from a day of fun and the traffic was light.  What a fun day we had!  I look forward to doing it all over again next year.

The girls spent most of the day Monday snuggling and recovering from our busy Sunday.  I just love how cute they are!  This week has been stormy and we've had rain most evenings, so we haven't been able to get out to do much, but I have been taking advantage of this time to prepare my tomatoes for freezing.  I've made several batches of sauces, both pasta and chilaquiles, and have roasted lots of tomatoes too.  Soon I'll begin to do a little more baking to take advantage of some of the fruit harvest, and I have plans to pick some raspberries at a local farm to enjoy fresh now as well as to freeze for the Winter.  We also have more fun plans for this weekend and the few days that remain of our Summer.  While I'm sad to see the Summer end, I know we've made the most of it, and I look forward to sharing our end-of-Summer adventures with you next time!

It is hard to believe that by this time next week it will be Fall, but the trees around us are starting to make that feel a little more real.  I hope you can all get out and enjoy the last few days of Summer.  Soon our adventures will begin to focus on more Fall fun and, while I prefer Spring and Summer, I promise we'll have some great Fall adventures to share too.  Thanks for following along on our journey!