forum.HappieCamper.com

[Ron]

Week 13: Ending February 9, 2003

Monday:
Jake is still struggling. We make the very difficult decision that his quality of life is so diminished now that it is unfair of us to ask him to go on. We want to take Jake’s remains home with us to Massachusetts, so we will need to be in one location long enough to accommodate the logistics.

As it turns out, we will be in Las Vegas for 9 days beginning Friday, the 7th. We call Glen, a member of New England Old English Sheepdog Rescue who lives in Las Vegas, to ask for a referral for a veterinarian. We make an appointment for Friday afternoon.

Tuesday:
We leave Flagstaff for the Grand Canyon. It is a cold but sunny day. We stop several times along Route 64 to exercise Jakie and marvel at Nature’s beauty. The natural beauty of the road and the actual Canyon is very muted in color compared to Sonoma’s Oak Creek Canyon, but the size is magnified greatly, of course. Since it is winter, the Canyon is not busy at all. Some of the rest stops along Rte 64 are empty and refreshingly silent.

The North Rim is closed during the winter, so we traveled along the South Rim. The first visitor’s stop in the actual park features the Watchtower at Desert View. The Watchtower was built in 1932 as a re-creation of the prehistoric towers found throughout the Southwest. The inside of the Watchtower is decorated with a treasure trove of Indian art and artifacts. The bottom floor contains a gift shop complete with a fireplace. Beautiful views are available from the windows encircling the shop. Click here to view some of Ron’s neat camerawork.

Jake got to make his mark on the rim of the Grand Canyon. He wanted to venture closer to the precipice, but we wouldn’t let him.

We head south to the town of Williams to spend the night at Grand Canyon RV Park.

Wednesday:
We decide to hang out for another day and night. Temperatures drop down to single digits, but we stay warm inside The HappieCamper. The temperature actually went down to 4 degrees Wednesday night. A neighboring motorhome from Alaska suffered frozen pipes and a frozen water pump. We maintain our liquidity, and count ourselves very lucky.

Thursday:
Our next stop is in the town of Seligman, our first stop on Route 66. We visited Angelo’s Museum, Store and Barber Shop. The shop was jam-packed with memorabilia, collectibles (most of which was for sale and some of which was not) and a busload of tourists. And Angelo was giving a woman a trim in his antique barber’s chair! We exchanged business cards and Angelo’s daughter placed our card on their front doorway. What a place of honor!

Somewhere along the way, Ron coins a new phrase (at least we THINK it’s new): “Get your kitsch on Route 66”. If you’ve heard it before let us know.. it could be our million-dollar phrase!

We enjoyed a quick lunch at the Mini-Mart which is also the luncheonette which is also the Thai restaurant. (!?) Good stuff. Just down the street is a period Philips 66 gas station. Two period cars are parked outside but have not been well-maintained. Right next door is The Rusty Bolt gift shop. The roof and multiple porches are covered with 50s and Rte 66 memorabilia, but the primo piece is a powder pink Edsel with the spare tire bumper in back. Ron found a great Flames cap and Joan found some neat T-shirts for family members. As a result, the owner gave us each an Official Route 66 License. Neato!
We get back to the motorhome and Jake. The remaining 110 miles or so to Kingman is pretty desolate. Much of it is occupied by Indian reservation land. We had expected a lot more kitsch, but there was only one more town/stop of any significance, and we missed it. C’est la vie!

Click here to see some of Route 66.


Up Route 93 to the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas. There are no easily accessible parking lots for motorhomes at the Dam. What little Joan could see from the windows was breathtaking. Ron was busy keeping his eyes on the road.

Just as we are driving over the narrowest part of the road past the Dam, our hydraulic levelers start alarming very loudly! (Luckily, Jakie is also growing increasingly deaf. Otherwise, he would be howling as loudly as the alarms!) One of the levelers decided to drop down while we were driving! Luckily, by the time Ron found a wide enough space to pull into, a couple of miles down the road, the alarm ceased. After checking everything inside and outside, we decided to continue westward while the going was good. Never a dull moment!

Click here to see how we saw the Dam. (Hey! No Cussing!)

We pull into Circusland RV Park around 5 pm. Jakie has a good walk along the sea of asphalt and gobbles up his dinner. Ron and Joan decide to get a quick bite at the CircusCircus buffet. The good thing about the buffet is that we are served quickly, there’s lots of fresh fruit and the hot food is hot. We hurry back with some cookies for Jake.

Friday:
Jake is walking exceptionally well outside. Our appointment looms heavily on our mind, but nothing is definite. We take Jake out for a picnic lunch and ride before we meet with the vet. We pickup Wendy’s to-go (deciding time spent with Jakie is better than waiting around for a steak to be cooked for him) and find a grassy spot complete with trees and bushes in a business park. It is a warm, sunny day. We take some pictures and get back in the truck for a ride around the lake. We get lost trying to get close to the lake and finally make it back to the Lake View Animal Hospital.
Dr. Mark counseled us for a long time before we finally decided that it was time to say goodbye. Jake was a good dog and a great companion. We miss him dearly every day because our lives were so intertwined with taking care of him and just being with him.
We return home to an empty camper. We finally decide to go ride the Strip, which we do somewhat aimlessly and then turn around to check out downtown. The Fremont Street Experience was wasted on us that night. What can we say?! We return home again to vacuum and clean in preparation for Joan’s sister’s (Rita) pre-arranged visit. She is due in at 11:40pm. Her plane is almost an hour late, after the airline’s website informs us that it is on time.

Saturday:
Rita’s company keeps us distracted. We hit the Strip: White tiger watching at the Mirage, dancing water fountain and people-watching at the Bellagio (including a sighting of Robin Leach (on the arm of the world’s leggiest woman) at the Andy Warhol reception), and the pirate battle at Treasure Island.

Sunday:
We decide to revel in Mother Nature after being inundated with the Strip’s neon and drive west to Red Rock Canyon. It is a National Attraction, with beautiful cliffs streaked with reddish-orange hues. The scenic drive is 13 miles long. After a brief stop at the visitor’s center, we drive 1 ½ miles to the first scenic area. Ron notices that his tire seems awfully low. Rather than chance a complete flat in the middle of the desert out of cell phone range, we call our Motorhome Roadside Assistance. Two hours later, we are back in action again. We enjoyed the views, and the off-road capabilities of the Happie Dinghy.

Back on the Strip, we decide last-minute to see Penn & Teller for a 9 pm show. We are seated just as they enter the stage. It is an entertaining 1 11/2 hours that goes by very quickly. We check out a few more casinos before calling it a night.

A busy week, huh?

[curley & shirley]

verry sorry to hear about Jake. Rita called last nite and told us the bad news. but you made the RIGHT decision, its worse to see him suffer.

[Unclebobby]

Were very sorry to hear about Jake. Both you and jake were lucky t o have each other. I know how hard it is to let go. We kept both lassie and amie beyond their time. It was selfish on our part. You made the right deceison. Enjoy the rest of your trip, youll have many good memory's which includes jake.

[rmayo]

Hey guys sorry to hear about Jake, but he is now in a better place. He will always be remembered with love from all who met him.

Enjoy the trip and hope some warm weather smiles upon you'all. Take care.

The Mayo's