It’s been nearly 8 months since we brought our rescue Scotty, Trisha, home. She’s come a long way in that time and has come out of her shell. She can be impish with us and our other dogs. She loves belly rubs and running in the back yard. She also enjoys going on walks to explore. She’s warmed up to our friends but can still be shy around strangers. Her coat has also become darker. She knows she hit the lottery.
On August 31, 2020, our Scotties, Toby and Tillie, had an unfortunate encounter with a porcupine.
Toby, our male Scotty came in from outside before bedtime and we immediately notices the quills in his snout. He was able to eat and drink so we decided to call the vet the first thing in the morning. He got through the night with no issues.
It wasn’t until the next morning, when I gave Tillie a chin scratch, that I was stabbed by two of the quills that were in her snout. The quills are quite sharp, even on the broken ends.
We were right not to try to remove them on our own since the quills are barbed. The barbs expand when they are exposed to body heat, are quite brittle and there is the risk of driving them deeper into the body.
The vet sedated both Scotties and removed the quills. Tilled had 15 embedded quills and Toby had 12. The vet also confirmed that they were porcupine quills. The dogs each received an analgesic and antibiotic.
Until last night, I had no idea that there are porcupines in our area. They live in a narrow range across central PA which includes our region. They are classified as rodents, are herbivores, mostly nocturnal, and are pests due to the damage they can inflict by chewing tree bark, leather and wood in their search for salt.
Our Scotty, Toby Two, has had a rough few weeks. From June 24 until July 6, fireworks were launched almost every night. During the first few times, he would run to an enclosed space such as the laundry room, his crate, our dog’s toy box, or under a chair in my office. Now he looks for me and lies down in a dog bed next to me in my office or in the living room. Toby Two doesn’t like thunder either, and he exhibits the same behavior when a storm passes through.
Last October, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania rewrote the 80-year-old fireworks law, making them easier to purchase. That is what made it worse this year as far as Toby Two is concerned.
Made it to Akron, OH, on August 30, without incident during leg 8. Just 3 doggy stops and a stop for fuel, both for the RV and for the humans. This leg was as boring as leg 2 heading to Nebraska. There is not much to write about The Ohio Turnpike except for the seemingly endless series of construction zones in both directions for much of its length.
Near Akron, we stayed at a KOA near Streetsboro, OH, which is nicer than the place we stayed over two weeks ago during the journey west. However, the dog park had a flaw in the fence which allowed Toby Two to escape to chase a rabbit. We were able to retrieve him in short order, however. Tobey Two was covered in burrs though; many of them were able to be brushed out, but a few remain. We had dinner in our RV, along with a friend who resides in Akron.
The 9th and final leg began the next day. We needed 3 doggy stops again. We arrived home, safe and sound, at 3:15 PM EDT on August 31.
Trip summary:
Lessons Learned:
My Tillie alarm clock went off at 6:50 AM CDT.
We are still in awe after observing the eclipse. We learned today that I-80 was a parking lot west of Lincoln, and beyond our site near Henderson. We couldn’t observe this directly but heard about it from other campers when they went to town after totality. There was also some price gouging in Scottsbluff, NE. One motel charged $900 a night. Another person bought 100 acres of land, for $40K, and charged RVers $1000 each to park without any hookups. He made quite an indecent profit. The average price for our RV has been around $38 a night including 50 ampere electric service, water, sewer, WiFi, and other amenities such as laundry.
We packed the RV, walked the dogs, thanked the campground owners and left. There was just one RV remaining when we departed at 11:15 AM CDT, and began our journey home, headed for Beatrice, NE.
Along the way, we stopped in Lincoln for doggy walks and lunch at a Casey’s General Store.
Just north of Beatrice, I walked the dogs while Marla shopped for groceries at a WalMart. From there it was a short drive to Homestead National Monument .
At the Monument, they were still cleaning up from the previous day’s eclipse activities. The NPS crew looked weary. Marla got her passbook stamped and I was able to get a lifetime senior NP pass before they increased the cost. We also took a brief look around and viewed one of the largest tracts (100 acres) of restored tall grass prairie in The United States.
Our dogs also walked near this area which officially made them:
PRAIRIE DOGS!!!
I also learned the homesteaders secret to success:
Then, we went to our campsite near Nebraska City. I had trouble navigating near the campground since the local roads were torn up and the GPS was useless as a result. I called the campground for directions and arrived successfully.
Tomorrow, we plan to stop at Camping World in Council Bluffs, IA, and then go to Pipestone National Monument, which is just east of Sioux Falls, SD, in Minnesota. South Dakota will be a new state for Marla, and Minnesota will be a new one for all of us.
Today is our final leg to our eclipse site.
Dogs got me up at around 6 AM CDT. It had rained during the night. I took them for a walk to the highway and back.
I topped off the fresh water tank before departing.
This morning we took our time getting ready for travel. Took our dogs to the small dog park one more time before leaving. Then, it was retract the slide outs, disconnect the hookups and retract the jacks. Soon we were heading southbound on I-29.
We stopped for a break, and to eat lunch, in the parking area of a Marriott Hotel off of I-680, west of Omaha. Soon we were headed westbound on I-80 again toward Lincoln. Nothing looked familiar to me, except for The Platte River, until we got to Lincoln. However, there’s been a great deal of development since I left 35 years ago, when I finished my graduate work at UNL.
We stopped at a Casey’s General Store (The Sheetz/Wawa of the west) for another break and fuel. However, due to a lightning strike the night before, the pumps were not operating. I walked our dogs and then bought Marla, my wife, some coffee. She said the coffee was very good.
It wasn’t long before Tillie started her, “I want to stop!,” yipping. I got off at the next exit, where there were no services, and investigated. It turned out that a lower drawer had opened during travel. I resolved that issue and gave treats to all of our pets (slipped a little extra to Tillie). We got back on the interstate and it wasn’t long before, Tillie started her, “I want to stop!,” yipping again. This time, it was Trixie that needed to be walked. Have I mentioned that we love our dogs?
We stopped one more time in York, NE, to top off the fuel tank. Soon we arrived at our eclipse campground, near Henderson, NE, called Prairie Oasis, around 3:30 PM CDT.
We soon settled and relaxed before the big day tomorrow.
While walking Tillie, Toby Two; our two Scotties; and our Westie, Trixie, I discovered the campground tornado/storm shelter.
The forecast for tomorrow has deteriorated somewhat. The NWS is now calling for partly sunny. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.
A down day to recharge, relax and do some housekeeping.
Performed a basic maintenance check on the RV. All OK.
Discovered a small enclosed dog park, with a single large tree, in the back of the campground. This allowed our pups to run around.
My wife had a brilliant idea and placed a peel and stick map of The U.S. on the bottom of the forward bunk. It also came with a black erasable marker to track our progress.
The machines in the campground laundry had whimsical names:
It was a very good plan to go on a few shakedown trips before this big trip. We both learned a few things, as well as got in some practice setting up and tearing down. As a result, we had no major issues during our 1000 mile journey. Just a few minor glitches; nothing that couldn’t be fixed with duct tape and simple tools.
Musings on Weather, Climate and Life in Central Pennsylvania
Musings on Weather, Climate and Life in Central Pennsylvania
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