Digital Paintings

I have been fooling around with iPad art for a while now. Ever since I’ve had one, actually. When I had to replace my old iPad a few months ago I got the Apple Pencil to draw and sketch with. I have two other styluses, a Paper 53 Pencil and a Wacom Stylus. Both of them have squishy tips that don’t work real well for line drawings or watercolor. I have been getting used to the Apple Pencil and experimenting with it.

I offered people in a group I’m in on Facebook digital paintings and have completed a few for them. I told the first girl when she asked my hourly rate that it was “Free. I don’t work for money anymore.” She had me do this one for their next door neighbors who are moving.

When I posted that, a few more people wanted one too. I usually do a few different versions so they can choose the one they like.

This person is moving from this house. She liked the first one, I like the second.

This lady’s pet died last year and she wanted something to commemorate him. I have had fun completing these paintings and thought I would show some more here.

The Apple Pencil was perfect for the fire hydrant.

Henry

Body

Missy

Pets are a favorite.
And a few from past years…

Eastern Shore of Maryland

Crossing the Ohio River

Jefferson, Iowa

Along the trail

Thorn Thicket

My water glass

Lincoln, Oregon

Bus interior

Ilwaco, Washington

Astoria, Oregon

View from the Elks Lodge in Eugene, Oregon

The dishrack

Waterloo, Iowa

Another Elks view, Waterloo, Iowa

Canyon Lake, Texas

And one from today in Lockhart, Texas. Guess where we are parked!

Every single time we have been to this part of Texas it has alternated between pouring down rain and sunshine. This time is no exception. We came here for the barbecue and ended up staying an extra day so Jim could replace his failing iPad. I already had to replace mine in Kansas City this year. We are as close to an Apple Store as we will be for many months before we get to the Rio Grande Valley.

Need/want a digital painting? They make great gifts. Hit me up.

More Friends… More Texas

Once we left the Okies in Oklahoma we weren’t in any big hurry to get back to our winter park because they are experiencing heavy flooding. Great.

We decided to head for Lake Mineral Wells where there is a bike trail we have ridden before and we have friends in Weatherford. Time for some sightseeing and visiting.

Viv and Gary were some of the first people we met in our south Texas park when we first went there. It was time to catch up. We settled into our spot at Lake Mineral Wells State Park where they have really nice big sites right on the lake with very few people there. Kitty country.

Our first full day we headed to Viv and Gary’s place where they landed after downsizing from their place in Possum Kingdom. Really.

We settled on a plan to have lunch then go to Fort Worth for some touring around. We had been to the stockyards many years ago. Viv likes to shop but we can’t really buy much being in the bus and all. We did decide to hit some thrift stores next time, both of our favorites.

We ate at Carshorn’s a real Jewish deli in the heart of Fort Worth near the TCU campus. Had to fortify ourselves before we hit the two main art museums in the Cultural District. Fort Worth has everything grouped together, the Hospital District, Cultural District… As it turned out it was Free Friday at both of them!

The first one, the Modern Art Museum is mostly modern art. Duh. Even though parts of it were undergoing renovation they still have an impressive collection. Touring both, I felt transported back to my art history days in college with so many artists I recognized from my studies. Picasso, Mondrian, Pisarro, Corbet, Pollock, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, Pouissin, Manet, Monet, Edvard Munch, Liechtenstein, Bracque, Joan Miro, Paul Klee; the list goes on.

Picasso

Warhol

Liechtenstein

Rothko

Pollock

Picasso

Mondrian

Corbet

Munch

Mondrian

Pisarro

There was the normal mix of older stuff too. So many museums have so much of this stuff. Some pieces date back to 25 AD.

The Kimbells…

After the art fix, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and a drive through some of other districts, we were thirsty! Gary steered us to Eddie V’s nearby and we had happy hour.
Of course we did…

Then of course it was time to eat again. We enjoyed dinner at a steakhouse near Weatherford. We always treasure our one-on-one or two-on-two visits when we meet up with friends while we travel. It’s the best way to get to know people better and we look forward to these times.

Aw….

Gary was volunteering at a 5K the next day and Viv was flea marketing, so we rode the Lake Mineral Wells Trailway for the third or fourth time. It is a fairly well maintained small gravel trail. A few rough sections but they didn’t last long.  Along the trail. Gorgeous day to ride. And nice to be back on the bikes.

When we got back to the bus deer roamed by our campsite and the cats wandered about. We were right on the water so they had their own private dock in the form of a pallet raised above the water. And they’re getting really good about sticking around the bus or under it. They are senior citizen cats, after all.

We decided to stay a couple of extra nights so we could watch the Chiefs play on Monday Night Football. We lucked out by getting satellite positioning on our shady site.

There had been a bunch of Boy Scouts tent camping on Saturday night. We had a fire ring and a ton of nearby kindling and a couple logs. Jim went into his scour-the-campground mode and got quite an unused stash from the Boy Scout leavings. So we built a fire which we forgot to light that night so it was Monday night or never.

We made the fire and burned up all the wood. We watched the Chiefs eke out a close one. We ate homemade hamburgers on ciabatta rolls with tomato and avocado. We got to ride our bikes. We shared a day with friends, art, good food and drink.We are healthy. We are high and dry with our kitties safe and well.  We are BIG BIG lucky.

We are delaying our arrival in the RGV till things dry out down south and flooding gets under control. Apprehensive about the whole situation but, ever optimistic, we remind ourselves constantly how much we have to be grateful for.

Friends are right at the top of the list.

Dos Okies Otra Vez…

After three thankfully uneventful days of travel, we pulled into the fairgrounds in Norman to catch up with Bill and Janelle, Dos Okies. We always stop on our way south, a little earlier this year. As usual, we had a fine time. Taylor has grown and is a very smart and exuberant dog. He loves treats though so he’s pretty easy to win over.

We were lucky to be in Norman during Bill’s regular music group and Jim sat in. They meet every week and play and sing together. It was nice to experience it after hearing about it for years. A fine tradition.

The rain has been following us and one day it rained hard all day and night. Glad we were parked on pavement, snug and dry and plugged in. As Jim says, in our little spaceship.

The rest of the time we ate and drank and watched OU beat Army in overtime while chowing down on Janelle’s sister Fran’s delicious lasagna. We actually extended our stay to partake in that.  And it was well worth it. They live about four blocks from the OU stadium and we could see the parachute guys drop into the stadium from their front porch. Sometimes they have a flyover. We ate sushi one night and Janelle cooked beef stew one night and grilled salmon and sausage another. Her table always a delight.

Salmon serving dish made by Janelle when they lived in Alaska. It has served many a salmon. We so enjoyed falling back into conversation with good friends. We also got to see Carol and John but we were too busy talking to take a pic of all of us. Such gracious and easy hospitality that comes naturally. A treasure indeed. Before we knew it our time together had flown by. Time to start heading south where our winter park flooded for the second time since June!

Jim found a Corps of Engineers Lake in Waurika, Oklahoma, a short travel day. We have a large site but it has been raining so much the grass is like two feet tall! They mowed our site though and we extended our stay because it’s a quiet spot right on the lake. Kitties like it too.

An iPad drawing of Taylor and the fire hydrant across the street from Bill and Janelle’s. I’ve been doing alot of iPad art with all the rain lately.

And now it’s raining again. Of course it is…

Columbia and Beyond

Once we got the bus squared away in Odessa, we proceeded to Hartsburg, one of our favorite places to park. Marni and Eric live right on the Katy Trail and we needed to get some downtime and biking in. And visiting with friends. And music and art. This is a great place for all of those things.

As it happened the Missouri River Relief Eco Art Fest was going on with music and art at Cooper’s Landing on the river. Eric was scheduled to play Saturday night and the pouring rain stopped and it cleared up enough so we could hear his awesome set. Cooper’s music policy is that musicians only play their own original music, no covers. It really makes for an enjoyable experience. Eric’s set with Rob Lampe was original and exciting as usual.

Click here to see some video.

Since we got stuck in their lower parking area last time we were here we backed into their driveway this time to avoid ruts. Of course we brought the rain with us after they had been in a drought for months. Want it to rain? Call us!

We cause ruts every time we’re here! These smoothed out when it dried up.

The next day we went back to Eco Fest and I met up with an old friend I hadn’t seen for about 25 years, Alyce. At least. She was celebrating her birthday and we all ate cake! None of us have changed a bit! Ha!

Astrid and Carmella love it here and they explored the garden, climbed trees and ran around like crazy kitties. Which they are.

We ate from the garden, rode bikes and started to get our lives back after the whole Astrid Affair. Their place is always a welcome relief from the road and we really did get to relax by the river.

We met up with our friends Joe and Kathy a couple of times and had dinner with them. Jim and Joe have been friends forever and we always enjoy catching up with them. Just fall back into conversation with old friends. Joe was Jim’s Best man at our wedding and a few years later I got to photograph theirs.

Another blast from the path, Chuck. We go way back. See the castor beans? I haz seeds!

Some of his art. When I asked him if OK to put on the blog, he texted “Finally my ART will be given to a grieving nation so the healing can begin…blah blah blah.”

World Corp. Buys Another President

3-Legged Devil Baby Jesus Escapes the Cross

On Sunday we packed it up and headed for the Elks Lodge in Springfield along the Dead Animal and Blown Tire Memorial Highway. Thankfully, we had an uneventful trip in both the bus and the car and arrived without incident. It continues to be very hot here so the Elks 30 amp was welcome.

We are working our way back to Texas but the park has been flooded since heavy rain and other factors. Sigh. More on that later. We want things to be dried out when we get there and it’s looking better now.

A night at the Elks in Tulsa and on to Norman, Oklahoma to visit Janelle and Bill, Dos Okies. We always have fun with them. Food, wine, good conversation; what’s not to like?

Third Vet Is The Charm

Today is a month since we got Astrid back.

The past month and a half has been a roller coaster of high hopes, emotional letdowns and very slow healing for Astrid.  Once we got to Kansas City, Jim called a friend of his from high school who is a veterinarian here and Jim told him the whole long story on the phone. Her eating was erratic; it got to the point where she wouldn’t even eat shrimp! That’s serious. She acted like her mouth was very tender and sensitive and of course she wouldn’t let us look at it. The chin abscess was healing but her foot was tender and she yeowed big time when we tried to apply the antibiotic ointment to her messed up claw.

Astrid and Dr. Steve

We took her into his Brookside Animal Clinic the next day and Steve exchanged pleasantries with us before he got down to work. We had told him that both the Minnesota and Iowa vets had given her an antibiotic shot and the Iowa vet sent us home with a two week round of oral antibiotic tablets. We took her bag of medicines with us and he looked them over. He said, “I like to identify the problem first, then figure out how to treat it.”

When he looked in her mouth, he discovered that her teeth were not perfect as the Iowa vet had said. Not at all. On each side she had FORL lesions from her gums growing down between her teeth and the teeth were crumbling and rotten. He said it was very painful and that explained her hesitance to eat and pawing at her mouth. She would walk over to the food bowl, look at the food, try to eat some and drop it from her mouth. Even shrimp.

He did bloodwork again since it may have changed since the Minnesota vet did it and declared it perfect after we got her back on August 8. That came out fine this time too. As Jim told him, besides the not eating, she didn’t act like a sick cat. She was still grooming herself and going outside on leash and supervised. On the first day of the appetite stimulant she even played her favorite game, paper ball. That slacked off after the three day window was closing.

His recommendation? Do oral surgery, extract the bad teeth and clean the rest, remove the lesions and put her on a liquid antibiotic, much easier to administer to cats.

And her claw needed to be surgically removed. He said it would grow back and that “Kitty will take care of it.” We brought her in the next morning at 7:30 AM and picked her up at 5:00. We were worried about the anesthetic especially since a friend in Texas took her little dog in to have his teeth cleaned and he died on the table from the anesthesia. Steve texted when she was out of surgery so we could enjoy the day with our friends during trailer pickup, which was the same day.

BEFORE

Steve shows how to administer the antibiotic.

When we picked her up he showed us BEFORE and AFTER pictures they took during the surgery on his iPad. He showed Jim how to administer the liquid antibiotic and we took her back to the bus.

Her eating improved a little but she was still lethargic. Except for that, again, she didn’t act like a sick cat. Jim and Steve texted back and forth about her continued lethargy and Jim thought it might be a reaction to the antibiotic, which Steve said could be likely but we needed to give it to her for at least five days, twice a day.

We were still exhausted and very nervous. What cruel irony it would be to get her back from the woods after 13 days and then have her go downhill after that. We were determined to see things through to the end. No more Xanex either. We made an appointment for Tuesday in case she needed it and took her back to the bus for the weekend. Steve texted us and we let him know that she was still lethargic. He said the next thing he wanted to do was to X-ray her abdomen and make sure nothing was going on there.

We wondered if she could have PTSD and when I posted the last cat update, a Canadian friend of mine called almost immediately and said to get her checked for Lyme disease. She had lost her dog to that and was adamant. More research. She was not exhibiting any Lyme disease symptoms but we wrote it on our list of questions. Once we finished up the antibiotic she seemed to be better and her appetite improved. We continued to give her the appetite stimulant and it works. You can pretty much set your watch by it. Steve gave a different type that you can apply to their ear daily, so they continue to eat.

We planned to stay at the Elks through the Labor Day weekend in case she needed to go back to the vet. We had a good spot to park and Astrid was improving, going outside and eating better.


Our view from the bus.

We made an appointment for Tuesday after Labor Day, just in case. We took her back in and he checked out her mouth; it was all healed. Her claw is growing back and is no longer tender.

He took X-rays and everything inside looked good. He saw a little piece of bone in her colon and said it may have come from her food.

Because the Internet needs to see the inside of our cat…

Once she was done with the antibiotic, she continued to improve. Steve said that could be the cause of her lethargy. She was grooming herself, not hiding and her mouth was healed up enough to eat well. He said the dental problem could have been exacerbated by her sojourn into the wilderness. He wanted to make sure “she got back online.” And so did we, of course.

We were planning to leave for Columbia on Wednesday but it was pouring down rain when we got up and it continued all day. I didn’t have a good feeling about taking off in the driving rain so we stayed another night. Astrid continued to act more normal and we passed the day by provisioning, reading and taking it easy. We had already been in Kansas City way longer than we planned but the vet was crucial to the plan.

By this time she was acting pretty normal (for her) and continued to eat without the appetite stimulant. We finally began to relax a little and see the light at the end of the tunnel.

It has been a very long and very stressful six weeks but it was worth it to have Astrid back. Thank the Lord! And Dr. Steve Smith. He is thorough, experienced and responsive. And he got results! If you are in Kansas City, we highly recommend Brookside Animal Clinic at 85th and Wornall.

Now she is interested in food again and going outside regularly. Today she even climbed partway up a tree! We are getting our life back.

We moved on toward Columbia on Thursday but not without a hiccup or two.

 

Meanwhile…Back at the Bus

Since it was pouring down rain the day we planned to leave we sat it out at the Elks in KC for another day. It’s a good thing we did.

We hit the road and dumped and fueled up in Oak Grove before heading to Marni and Eric’s place in Hartsburg. I was driving the car behind the bus and all went just fine for about 20 miles. Traffic was heavy but started to thin out a little once we got away from the city. It wasn’t raining but was supposed to later that night. The rain has been following us.

The bus had been running fine before we went to get some maintenance done at Inland Truck in Olathe. This was the first time we drove it since then.

We only had about 100 miles to go and figured we would arrive in time for Happy Hour. A few miles more and Jim pulled off onto the shoulder. I stayed in the car as he came back to the engine compartment. I could see that the engine belt was loose and he tightened that up. The guys at Inland must have bumped the switch that tightens up the belt. Jim has fixed this before; it is on the every travel day checklist. So is checking the oil which was at just the right level in the morning before we left. Inland Truck had changed the oil too.

Once the belt was tight he checked the oil again. I could see his shoulders slump when he did and it looked like he was cursing. Uh oh… Then he got on the phone while I watched and waited. He was calling Howard, his bus guru. Then he came back to the car. When he checked the oil this time it was way high on the stick. WTH? He figured some fuel must have gotten into the oil, overheated because the belt was loose, and the engine wouldn’t start because of it.

What to do? We put out triangles to warn traffic while he got on the phone with Coachnet, our roadside service. They have always been very responsive. This time he got on hold and that was it.

Myrita stopped as did another gentleman but nobody could help.

Meanwhile, finally the Highway Patrol pulled up. I had been waving traffic off but once he showed up, everybody moved over. He was on his way to a wreck up the road and couldn’t stay but he called Jackson County Tow and got them to come get us.

Jim was still on hold with Coachnet and tensions were rising as was the volume of traffic. I went back to waving off the traffic and he continued to be on hold with Coachnet. As I was waving away the traffic, an RV flashed his lights at us, in a show of solidarity I assumed. They pulled off on the shoulder ahead of us and walked back to the bus. It was some friends from our winter park in Texas! They had been going in the other direction and saw us on the shoulder. Jim and Renae said “Is that The Mighty Bus?” We took a quick pic and they moved on. It was very thoughtful of them and boosted our spirits. A little.

Finally the tow truck arrived. They said they worked with Coachnet but we hadn’t gotten the go-ahead from them so we weren’t sure if Coachnet would pay for the tow. And it would cost $550! Yikes!

Meanwhile traffic was picking up. We had been on the side of the road for a couple of hours by the time another Highway patrolman pulled up. Officer Shubert stayed behind us for quite a while but he stressed that we needed to get off the road as it was getting closer to rush hour and a storm was coming. The tow company sent out another truck to back us up on the shoulder when he had to leave. We found a diesel shop in Odessa, just a few miles down the road and they proceeded to hook us up. Oh, and the drive axle needed to be removed because otherwise the transmission would spin during the tow and that is not a good thing.

The second tow truck ran interference for the eighty plus feet of rig that was the bus and the tow truck. We followed in the car and they pulled us into a bay.

John, the elder statesman of the garage took a look at the oil and determined that it was just oil, not contaminated with fuel or anything else. That was good news but why was the oil level so high? All they could figure was that the guys at Inland Truck had overfilled the oil. GRRR…

They told Jim to try and start the engine and guess what? It fired right up! And it sounded right. They let it run for a while and then the oil level was back up. Jim called Howard again and nobody had any idea what was going on. They couldn’t find anything wrong. They put the drive axle back together and said we could stay in their lot that night. By this time we were more than ready for a cocktail.

That night the rain caught up with us and it rained all night. By the next morning it was overcast but not raining. The shop only charged us a half hour of labor to replace the drive axle. Howard told Jim to just go down the road and check the oil every 50 miles or so.

In the morning we took off again and decided to pull over and check the oil periodically as Howard suggested. By this time it was raining hard. The first time we stopped, Jim came back and said it was not overheating and the pressure was fine so we just kept going.

We made it to Marni and Eric’s place without further incident and settled in. It was finally time to relax by the river. And concentrate on getting back to normal. Whatever that is….

We know. We are BIG BIG Lucky. And thankful for our good fortune.

Where the Action Is…

Once we moved to the Kansas City Elks we continued to medicate Astrid and see friends. We knew we would be here through Labor Day so we had some happy hours. On one day, Jim was seeing his dad and there was some police action in the parking lot.

I saw two police cars pull to the back of the lot and figured they were just having a chat. I went out to throw away our trash and two Elks were talking to a guy by the dumpster. Apparently he was not an Elk and they told him to leave. He told them he came to vote. On Sunday before Labor Day. Right. He didn’t leave so the cops rousted him out.

We had a couple of friends, Nancy and Laura, over for Happy Hour and Laura had already left when a pickup pulled up next to the bus with music blaring. I went out and asked him to turn it down. It quickly became apparent he was very drunk and refused to turn down the music or move his truck. I went into the Elks and told Pat and Mike about it and they came out. By this time Jim was calling the police. So were the Elks.

It took a while for them to arrive so I took a picture of his license plate in case he decided to take off. He knew we had called the police and just sat there in his truck even though he knew they were coming. By the time they got there, he had reclined in his seat and fallen asleep.

The police asked the Elks if they wanted the truck towed and Pat said “Yes!” They also said they wanted to press charges. I don’t think this guy knew how expensive DUIs can be but he is about to find out.

Elks are awesome.

Out and About in Kansas City

We got to Kansas City and found that our usual spot at the Grandview Elks was taken! The horror! Missouri is in a huge drought so we took the other spot which had electric but was on the grass. And the bus is heavy.  We figured it would be OK since it was so dry.

We had friends to catch up with, happy hours to attend and host, Jim’s dad to see, our trailer to pick up, the Apple Store to go to, peonies to dig, our financial adviser to see, ahi tuna to eat, martinis to drink, bad haircut to fix, art to buy, maintenance on the bus and a million other errands. Oh, and we had to pick up our new (to us) car. And, of course we were determined that Astrid continue to get better. We are ever hopeful.

The first day we arrived it rained all night. Hard. We figured the spot would be OK since it was regularly getting packed down by RVs. It rained the whole next day too. Hmmm.

Jim saw his dad and got the car (that’s another whole story) so we had a way to get around. We proceeded to complete our lists. We also got the first Shingrix shot. We had the Zosterax vaccine two years ago. The next day I got shingles. GET THE SHOT!

Sunday evening we went to Marg and Jay’s for happy hour and to see the quilt she is making for our new house. She is a prolific and talented fabric artist and we have a quilt of hers in our bus plus a couple of other pieces. If you are in the Kansas City area, her work is a must-see. She has a show every year at Darling Yoga in Johnson County and this year she has another one in Brookside. She also has a huge and eclectic yard sale every year where she sells all the stuff she has been collecting for the past year. All really cool stuff. This year her sale is September 14 and 15. Go to 52nd and Wornall and follow the signs. You won’t be sorry. We even got a few advance items from the sale including some antique quilts and an older one of Marg’s. The prices were just too good. This is one of the antique quilts.

Some of her work..

And the piece we got for our new place in Texas. And the new quilt she is working on for us…

Work in progress. This piece is going to be amazing. It already is.

When it freezes she is going to send me some cannas and elephant ears for our new garden. We have some of Jim’s mom’s peonies from our old house and I am going to try them too.

Marvelous Marg

Cannas! Can’t wait.

Elephant ears

We really needed the happy hour and met Peter and Theresa, a British couple who run a B&B here in KC. They have just purchased a Sprinter van and are planning to sell the B&B and hit the road. We invited them to happy hour at the bus the next day along with our old friends Betsy and Ralph.

Jim, Peter, Theresa, Betsy, Ralph and me

Marg and me

Theresa, Peter, Marg and Jay

Oh. On Sunday we had noticed that Astrid had started to get lethargic again and had trouble eating. The appetite stimulant works for a day or so. Jim called a friend of his from high school who is an experienced veterinarian and explained the whole situation. We took her in on Monday and we will update on that when we have a few more days behind us.

Meanwhile…

Tuesday we met Doc and J and Bob and Carma, friends from Texas. Doc is hauling the trailer back to Texas for us and that was the pickup day. The guy who stored it for us had gotten it out of the barn and when we were here in May, Jim packed the bearings, put new tires on, got a receiver hitch lock and readied it to roll. Then we went and ate really good Mexican food and drank margaritas. It was great to see everybody and get our minds off the cat.

We had work scheduled on the bus for Thursday and decided to move to the Elks in Kansas City after we had scoped out the much better (drier) parking spot. We had planned to stay at Inland Truck the night before but it was good that we moved early. When we went to pull out of Grandview, the bus had sunk down into the grass quite a bit and at first it wouldn’t budge. The tires weren’t spinning though so Jim gave it another shot and it began to creep out of the holes the tires had created. Slowly at first, then when it was working, a steady effort. Our leveler pads were in a U shape…

Hard to see but the back had sunk about 5 inches

Front of site

The next morning we got up early to take the bus across town for the preventative maintenance. Right before we left it started raining like hell. We had to go so we got on the highway and headed west. Then the heavens broke loose with a monster thunder and lightening storm. The lightening was some of the longest lasting I have ever seen. And it was close by. Jim did a great job and we got pulled into our bay and the guys went to work.

Under the bus.

Trying to figure out what happened

From the driver’s seat

Brake adjustment, oil change, lubrication, lug nuts torqued, and fuel filters changed. When it was done, Jim went to fire up the bus and it wouldn’t run. It usually starts right up when you flip the switch and push the button. Made sounds I had never heard before and wouldn’t stay started. And we cranked it many, many times. Too many for my liking. The shop stunk and they were all trying to figure out what was wrong. Jim called his bus guru, Howard, while the very experienced mechanics were standing around scratching their heads. Meanwhile, I took over the engine starting so Jim could hear the sounds we had never heard before. Finally one of the guys in the shop asked if he could do the throttle, like I didn’t know what I was doing. It didn’t work for him either. I hate mansplainers. None of this helped our anxiety level.

Finally Jim found that they had primed the new filters with automatic transmission fluid, not diesel like he did when he changed them. They said they do that all the time. But then they found that air had gotten in the system because they hadn’t closed the check valve and the fluid had run back out of the hoses. They fixed that and after some more cranking, it fired up. Whew! We don’t need any more high anxiety these days.

We got the bus back to the Elks and figured we could just relax! Finally! We are staying put through the holiday weekend to make sure the cat is good to go.

Astrid Aftermath

After we took Astrid to the vet in Minnesota, she seemed to improve. The antibiotic shot perked her up and the appetite stimulant worked really well. For a day or so, then she got more lethargic. We can only give her the stimulant every third day.

By the time we got to Waterloo, Iowa we thought she was out of the woods so it was time to celebrate my birthday and Astrid’s continuing recovery. I started out by getting a much needed haircut and we had reservations at Galleria de Paco for dinner. This was a very reasonably priced four course dinner and the courses were small enough so you could enjoy them all. And the decor!

Around Waterloo.

Cedar Falls

And we thpought a missing cat was bad!

One afternoon I just had to distract myself so I took a walk around the block. I was at the light which was green in my direction and I had a Walk light. As I got into the crosswalk a car came barreling toward me at high speed and made a left turn right in front of me. I actually had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit. That shook me up. Right before I took this picture, a real fixer-upper.

By the next day Astrid’s lethargy became more pronounced and her eating slacked off. Again. We found a vet in Cedar Falls who could see her so we got an Uber in the pouring rain and went to the clinic. By this time we had discovered that her left paw was super sensitive when we tried to trim her nails. The Minnesota vet didn’t catch this.

We asked the vet to do a thorough exam and gave her another antibiotic shot and a two week round of oral antibiotics. I figured this would do the trick. We got Uber back to the bus where she immediately started pawing hard at her mouth and crying. WTH? I called the vet and she affirmed that she had given Astrid’s mouth a full exam and saw nothing there. She added, “Her teeth are perfect.”

She said she could prescribe some pain medicine so the next day we rode our bikes up there to get that. At least we got to ride. As we started out I asked Jim, “You locked the bus, right?” He had gone back in for something and knew he had locked it the first time.

After about three miles he said “I have to go back.” I asked why and he couldn’t be sure he had locked it the second time. After leaving the screen open we just don’t trust ourselves anymore. So we rode back to the bus and it was indeed locked. Whew. I fed Astrid some shrimp and we headed out again.

Along the Riverside and Hartman Heritage Trails.

We started on the oral antibiotic the next day and she seemed to be heading in the right direction. On the seventh day it was extremely difficult to give her the pills so we crushed them up and shot that into her mouth with a syringe. I had asked the vet if we could mix her canned food with water and force feed her and she said “Absolutely.” So we started doing that too on the days when her appetite was weak. That’s a lot of fun for everybody. The vet said eating and drinking was the most important thing and that a sick cat wouldn’t groom itself. She was doing that too. We were just as determined in this recovery phase that she would be 100% as were were when we were trying to find her. We just had to keep on keeping on.

Astrid’s arsenal of meds…

We left Waterloo and went to the fairgrounds at Osceola where we had the place to ourselves. Astrid went outside for the first time here and we thought things were looking up. The appetite stimulant worked fine for a day or so, then her eating slacked off and she became more lethargic. This round she was eating some each day. I told Jim that by the time we got to Kansas City we would have Astrid back.


Our view from the bus.

My iPad was beginning to lose its charge quickly and become hot during use. A trip to the Apple Store is in store. It seems like we always spend a lot of money when we go to Kansas City. We also have a meeting with Amber, our financial adviser to see if we have any money left.

So Astrid was out of the woods but not out of the woods yet. Gotta get to Kansas City so all can be well.

To be continued…

I Was Really Hoping For a Happy Ending…

We planned a weekend at Avatan where we were looking forward to meeting up with Debbie and Jack, Dick and Frankie, Becki and Herb and several others from our winter park in South Texas. Jack is the drummer in the band in Texas and Debbie and Judy and I practice yoga together. We anticipated a really fun weekend, after which we planned to head to Waterloo, Iowa for some bike trails and dinner at Galleria de Paco to celebrate my birthday month.

After a short drive from Pine River we headed for our primo spot in the park. Jim was driving and I was backing him in when a guy from the park just had to come over and tell me how to direct him into the spot. I just kept backing him in and the guy continued to tell me what to do. I finally turned to him and said “We do this all the time.”
We got parked just fine, thank you, and headed off to Happy Hour with Debbie and Jack and new friends. We had a fine time catching up.

When we got back to the bus we found Carmella, the orange cat outside! WTH? We figured she must have gotten past us when we went out the door but we are very careful about that since we don’t want the heavy bus door to crush the cat. We got her back in and were relieved that she stuck around. We hadn’t had much to drink but for some reason we didn’t think to look for Astrid, the very shy and timid black cat.

The next morning I said “Where’s Astrid this morning?” I usually get up before Jim and she carefully climbs in my lap atop her blanket and rubs her face against my iPad while I read the paper. It is one of my favorite times of the day. We looked through the bus in all her favorite hiding places. No Astrid. That was when we discovered that the driver’s side window screen was open! That was how Carmella got out and apparently Astrid did too. Oh. My. God.

We immediately started walking the park and calling her. Someone told us they had seen a black cat on our site the night before but they didn’t know us or our cat. If only we had known. The park is fairly small but there are a million places to hide, under decks, porches, under trailers, in open sheds. And we had just arrived so it wasn’t like it was familiar territory for her. Plus, she is so very skittish. She would never come to another person. The park is surrounded by deep woods with dense brush, tall trees and lots of mosquitoes. And predators…

We spent that entire day in a panic, looking high and low for her. No sign of her, no squeaks, no sightings. We figured our best bet was to continue to look and call for her but she was going to have to come back to the bus or reveal herself on her own. We put out food and water and left the bus door open so she could get back in. That meant that Carmella, the good kitty, had to be on her leash all the time, even when inside. And Astrid didn’t have her harness and tags on since they normally don’t wear them while in the bus, just when they go outside. She is microchipped though and we made sure all that information was up to date. We had to do something.

Naturally, internet research commenced in earnest. We signed up with a couple of lost pet services that alert shelters and vets in the area. I put a posting with her picture on Craigslist. I made a LOST CAT poster and Frankie printed out a bunch for us and Paul and Jack and I went around and put them up. It is a very rural area. Jim traipsed all through the woods, calling for her. We walked miles around the park over and over calling her. I am certain I called Astrid’s name many more times in those first days than I have in the twelve years we have had her. The research said that a displaced cat could hunker down for a week without food or water. That meant that Astrid, being as skittish as she is, would hunker down for two weeks. Great. And we were just staying the weekend. When Debbie asked me what we were going to do when we had to leave, I said “I’m not leaving without the cat.”

In the late afternoon of July 28, a neighbor, Bob, came by in his golf cart and said “Get in! I saw her!”  I jumped in the cart and we went to where he had seen her run between two trailers. There was no sign of her but at least there was some hope. We were invited to a big dinner party that night but told Debbie and Jack we felt we should stay at the bus. We were both a sobbing mess of emotions by then and wouldn’t be a whole lot of fun anyway. Even Carmella, normally an active, prancing, tail-up cat, was acting depressed. She knew she was looking for Astrid. We adopted them together almost 12 years to the day she went missing.

The news of the lost Astrid spread like wildfire and everybody in the park was so caring and nice. We were pretty much beside ourselves and really appreciated all the concern and good will. I actually said to several people, “If good will can bring her back, we will get her back.” We got lots of sincere and heartfelt hugs from people and that just made us cry even harder. Bob and Sandy drove their golf cart very slowly and quietly around the park looking everywhere for her. I heard Paul walking along softly calling  “Astrid, kitty kitty kitty.” There is a whole lotta love here and we felt it and it helped. A few curmudgeon types said stuff like, “Well, that cat has probably found a good new home by now.” Thanks.

I have to add here that we also really do have perspective, just like with Tikita, whose demise we had experienced just a month before. After the first few days of the missing cat, I found out that a friend of mine had been diagnosed with Stage Four breast cancer that had spread to her bones, shoulder, hip, ribs and skull. And she’s like 45 years old. And a friend here in the park, a wonderful woman with two beautiful rag doll kitties of her own, had a heart attack and was told by the doctors that she had a 99% blockage in an artery and was lucky to be alive. Dear God, Astrid, you’re a cat. Please come back.

We negotiated an extra day with Frankie and determined to find her. Frankie also came by to tell us that for as long as we needed to stay, we would have a reduced rate. More tears. Jim sat out in the woods for hours calling her. I started sleeping outside and several people suggested a live trap. A guy in the park had one and he brought it over but the minute I saw it, I knew it was too small for Astrid. He said he knew another guy who had a bigger one but he was gone. The next day, he brought the trap by and Jim set it and baited it where Bob had last seen her.  They say to put an item of clothing in it so we put some smelly socks in it. You also have to bait it really carefully so they get all the way in the trap before the door is tripped. It all sounded like a pipe dream to me. At one point, after several more days Jim Said, “I actually think the trap is our best bet now.” I thought, we’re screwed. It’s not looking good.

All the research also said stuff like, stay calm, be optimistic, think like a cat. But Astrid is no average cat. She’s a wild child and always has been. We also invoked our friends Connie and Andrew’s mantra Trust the Loving Universe, which we actually do all the time. I reached out to Connie and she said there is also transformation through grief. URK. We’d had enough of that with Tikita. Debbie said “Whatever God you pray to, keep the prayers coming. The yoga teacher, Karen, came over and did a Find the Cat meditation with us. We sobbed the entire time. North Dakota Sandy brought us corn from their garden and broccoli and cukes. Too bad we had no appetite but Jim made dinner every night and made me eat.. I certainly didn’t feel like eating. My diet was Xanex and vodka. I would go to bed at night and when I woke up I remembered that Astrid was still missing. So I got up, took my chair into the woods and walked another million miles trying to find her. We were getting exhausted.

Jack and Debbie were going through their own grief at the same time. Their 17 year old dog, Gizmo, was at end-of-life and they were just as sad as we were. The second Saturday we were there, I went to check on Jack and Gizmo since Debbie had flown back to Texas to see her mom and some girlfriends. She had called Jack and said “If you think it’s time (which it was), do it.” And he did. Poor Gizmo! Poor Debbie and Jack.

And the poor kitty! Here she was, all by herself, out in the park or the woods, nothing to eat and most likely terrified. There were rabbits and squirrels around and she is a good hunter. But Avatan is busy and noisy on the weekends with lots of people, parties, music and oh yeah, fireworks. Astrid’s favorite.

After the first weekend, the park quieted down and we thought there was a much better chance that she would make her way back to the bus with fewer people there. We also had a couple of good old Midwestern thunderstorms which I thought would make her more likely to return. Nope.

After about five days in, we had a pattern. Knowing Jim and how thorough he is, I knew if anybody could find her, he could. Not to mention that he felt terrible for leaving the screen open in the first place. After the first weekend we were afraid that maybe somebody had left a shed open when she escaped, then closed and locked it when they left. We searched all the unlocked sheds and Jim put notes on the locked ones to see if they had been there the weekend before. Frankie sent an email to all the people who may have locked a shed.

Nanette heard a cat fight one night and told us the next day so Jim moved and rebaited the trap. This time we added a stinky bike jersey of mine to try to attract her. Sandy and Bob loaned us a super powerful flashlight to poke around under the decks and porches.

More searching. More Xanex. Hey, it worked with shingles… Then Frankie told us that somebody had booked our site starting August 16 and we would have to move. The possibility of leaving without her loomed dark and heavy. It is starting to look really bleak. Jim had a map of the park and he systematically went over and over each spot he checked. And he checked them all.

On the morning of August 7, Lucy came over to tell us she had seen the cat come out of the woods at New York Nancy’s trailer at six o’clock in the morning. This was eleven days after she went AWOL. Jim moved the trap again and this time I didn’t lay eyes on it but knew where he had set it. It had my stinky bike shirt in it and a towel over it to get her to go in and then soothe her once she was caught. By this time, Carmella had given up looking for Astrid under trailers and decks and she was just sticking around our site. On her leash. We were all wrung out, depressed and not very hopeful.

On August 8 I woke up and once again remembered the cat was gone. It must be like when you lose your partner and every day you wake up and the loss is new and raw. I have several friends who have described that feeling and the misery is real. And I know, it’s just a cat. Our twelve year old cat. Our family.

What to do? I couldn’t sleep so I went walking down by where Jim said he had set the trap. As I stood at the edge of the woods and called and called her, I heard what I thought was a bird very high up in a tall tree. A very squawky bird that didn’t fly off or move around. That was the first hopeful sign. But the tree was so tall and the first branches so high off the ground! If it was Astrid up there, how would we get her down?

The squawking continued in a raspy and desperate manner. I was calling and calling for Astrid. I looked down and at my feet was the trap covered with the towel. I pulled the towel aside; it’s not a certainty that the animal you caught is the one you want. I saw her yellow eyes and her little black face and I couldn’t believe it. When I lifted the trap and moved it into the sunlight, I saw her chocolate highlights and I knew. IT WAS HER!

We had already discussed how to handle things if she got trapped. No opening the trap outside; no hugging her to our chest and carrying her. She probably would have clawed us to death anyway. I picked up the trap and carried it back to the bus. She was making a lot of noise but her voice was very raspy and rough, so still not completely sure it was her. When I approached the bus, which was about 200 yards away, Jim saw me carrying it toward the bus. I closed the door for the first time in 12 days, brought the trap inside and we opened it. It really was her! She ran out and into her cubbyhole hiding place under the bed. Dear God, I couldn’t believe it.

We still weren’t sure what condition she was in, but when she emerged not too long after for some food we looked her over. She had a small abrasion on her lip and super raspy voice but otherwise seemed to be OK except for her matted fur and obvious freaked-outed-ness. OH. MY. GOD. It really was a miracle.

As soon as we got her settled down, I headed over to Debbie and Jack’s. They had told us to let them know even if it was 3:00 AM that we got the cat back. It was 7:45 AM. They came to the door and saw me with tears streaming down my face and Jack immediately thought something really bad had happened. I said, “I know it’s not 3:00 AM but you said to tell you and WE FOUND HER! Debbie said “Gizmo’s Angel helped bring her back.” And she was right. Dear Gizmo had to leave the earth for Astrid to return to us.

The next day she seemed OK and we planned to pull out on Monday, August 13 and take her to a vet then. We contacted the vet where Gizmo went for her final journey and we managed to get in Friday afternoon. Jim thought the sooner the better and he was right. Jack graciously let us use their car and we took Astrid to get checked out. The abrasion on her lip turned out to be an abscess from being in a fight with another cat. The one Nanette heard, most likely. They did bloodwork because the vet said when they are lost for several days and don’t eat they can quickly develop fatty liver disease. The bloodwork was done in office. The results were in in 10 minutes. The blood work was perfect. She was fine.

On Friday, Jack and Debbie threw a big party. Some other friends from Sandpipers, Cindy and Jim, had arrived, Sandy was recovering from her heart attack with a stent and monitor and Astrid was back, thanks to Gizmo’s Angel. And the day we got her back was International Cat Day. And two days before she and Carmella were adopted 12 years ago. We really managed to dodge a bullet.

The news that she was back also spread like wildfire. North Dakota Sandy was so thrilled for us and Sandy and Bob and Paul and Sandy were too. Frankie was so instrumental in helping us through the logistics, Denise was sweet and supportive. We thank everybody so very much.

Oh, and the morning I found her, somebody spotted a black bear in the park. I asked Astrid if she saw the bear but she wouldn’t talk about it. Another interesting fact; when she was found so many people who were being so supportive the whole time were amazed that she was actually found and OK. So many things could have happened. We knew that but decided to take the optimistic route. Thanks to all who contributed their good energy and love. Trust the Loving Universe.

We moved on to Rochester, Minnesota today and are comfortably parked at Walmart with both cats safe and sound. Tomorrow is Waterloo, Iowa for more bike trails and dinner at Galleria de Paco. We are finally celebrating my birthday month. But I already got the best present ever. Thank you Universe.