Walkies

It has been very nice weather for the last couple of days. Yesterday, I took a different route than normal. I was searching for the perfect tree! I even wanted to cross the very busy 4 lane road 'cause there looked to be good prospects there. But Mum and Dad wouldn't let me do that. Then all of a sudden - I found it - the perfect cat jungle gym tree. Can you see me - all camouflaged with the fall colours matching my lovely rusty coat.
😸

 

Clear Lake - Sept, 2018

Cows in the field.

What the heck! There is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing from the house to the garage and trailer. Wait a sec - Dad is trying to put 3 huge planes in the truck. Yippee - there goes my travel bag - I guess we are going float flying camping. The truck was packed to the rafters- I even lost my back seat. Not that I use it anyway - I prefer to rest on the console so I can put a paw on Dad or Mum.

Dad is letting me check out the cows but I do believe there is something far more interesting on the other side of the truck. I am not scared - honest.

We are going to my favourite campground. Hope we get my favourite site.The weather was absolutely beautiful. A little misty in the morning but clear for flying later in the day. I got to spend all day outside. There is a magic screen door so I can go in and out of the trailer to take advantage of food and other facilities. Mum says an I am indoor pee-er and poop-er. She likes not having to be my butler. Although she does have to hang around to protect the wild life and untangle me.

Hiding in the bushes - mice won't even know I am here.

Misty morning

Gorgeous flying

There were many highlights on the weekend.  Dad's Piper Cub flew very well but it did get pranged. The 415 also flew but it also got a little damaged. Mum helped with the craft. That seemed to go well but she is still waiting to see pics of the finished project. While Mum was doing the craft I got to go down and hang out with the dogs on the beach. It was all good until they started sniffing my butt. 😝

Keaton and Dodge and me.

It was also the big fall wrap up dinner. Dad was one of the carvers so he had to be in the skit. He played one of the secret service men protecting a "president". Something about building a wall to protect the rest of the planes from the Northstars. Not sure what that was all about as I wasn't allowed to go to the skit - furry friends are not welcome at foodie events.

Supper!

The wildlife were very active. Coyotes howled in the evenings. A huge flock of whooping cranes flew overhead. They were very noisy but it sounded like they were having fun. There were leaders looking for thermals. Once they found a thermal the rest followed. They got so high they were hard to see. Sadly, one mouse did not fair well. Mum went to the washroom so she couldn't enforce the catch and release rule. 😈

It was the best weekend of camping. Certainly made up for the July event.

Garner Lake Provincial Park - Aug 19 - Aug 23

Mum and Dad are loading up the trailer - no planes and there goes my travel bag. Hurrah we're going camping! 😸 We didn't head west like we usually do - where are we going? We ended up at Garner Lake Prov'l Park. Although there was a small glitch - all the sites were reservation only. There was no staff and no self- reservation. We drove around and found a site. Luckily we were able to reserve at the gate so we didn't have to go home. 

Five minutes in and I am already dirty. Dad had to shampoo me. The smell of VO5 certainly hampered my stalking. Although by the second day the wildlife all seem to avoid our campsite. There didn't seem to be any mice but there were lots of birds, ground squirrels and ordinary squirrels. The ground squirrels would go into the underbrush and grab bunches of leaves in their mouth. Mum figures they're getting ready for winter. 'Course - we were surrounded by dogs - lots of dogs!

Our campsite.

Mum and Dad went for lots of walks. I got to go for shorter walks but the gravel was hard on my feet so sometimes it was more carry than walk. And did I mention there were lots of dogs - it was hard to find a route that didn't set off a chorus of barking dogs. I did meet a few people and some of them had even brought cats. Mostly indoor cats and apparently not other-cat friendly. And the people carry a canoe scared me enough to hide behind Mum. I'd never seen a canoe before! I even climbed a tree - twice. Well, it was the same tree but I did climb it twice. Mum didn't see but Dad saw so it counted.

Dad making cookies - a daily treat.

My hiding spot

The weather was quite nice. Only one thunderstorm at night. Mum insisted that the tent heater should be used in the evening during the cribbage tournament. For awhile Mum was winning most of the games but by the second day Dad caught up. They think it ended pretty even by the end of week.

It was the best week of the summer!

Camping Clear Lake - July MOFFA

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Mum and Dad packed up the trailer and we were off. There were planes in the truck so I guess we are going float flying 😸. Dad has been working really really hard on his 415 - a water bomber. He is pretty sure it will fly but the first flight is always a little iffy. Dad had it all set up and ready to go when it started raining. It rained and it rained and it rained.  It was starting to be the worst camping trip ever!  

When is it going to stop raining? 😾

Dad even had to cook in the rain.

  By Friday the weather improved and Saturday was perfect flying weather. Dad's plane did fly well.

Courtesy of A.S. - MOFFA chronicler.

One of the other pilots spotted for Dad on the first flight. The 415 flew very well. What a relief!  When Dad went for the second flight he noticed a small flutter so the plane was grounded for the rest of the weekend. He did have the Northstar so he still had many hours of fun flying. 

We did have a bear scare while we were there. There was a big bang for the bear banger but I didn't see a bear that day. However the next day I heard rustling in the bushes. I peered and peered into the bushes. I even did the gopher stance to see better. There was still some rustling in the bushes so I slowly slunk into the trailer where I could watch from the safety of the table 🙈. I didn't even give a second thought to whether Mum was safe.... Mum was watching - the rustling turned out to be one of the boys playing with walkie-talkies. What a relief.

We didn't get our regular campsite but this wasn't all that bad. There was lots of mouse and squirrel activity. There was even a path that looked interesting. I didn't really want to go for a walk so I didn't even climb a tree. 

Camping Clear Lake

Mum says that camping is so Dad can fly his float planes but I think camping is for me.

View from my campsite

 I spent hours tracking a mouse in this pile of dead grass. I could hear it with my swivel ears. I pounced and came out with a mouthful of "mouse". Mum and Dad just laughed and laughed - it was mouthful of leaves and dead grass. 😖.

My other mouse hunting sport!

Twice a mouse did come out of the brush but Mum held me back. When Mum tried to scare the mouse away she kept advancing - claws out, teeth bared. A very brave mouse!


I was so involved in my hunting I didn't even notice the squirrel that ran right behind me and tried to invade our trailer!  And I didn't even climb a tree. Next time.

Dad did take me to the beach when Mum was making clay fairy houses. I did get to interact with a few of the dogs. They are so noisy compared to cats.


Dad got lots of flying and Mum did some social stuff besides reading her book. We did have a thunderstorm with hail. Some poor pilot had his plane covered except for the tail. The hail was very hard on that tail. We were snug and dry in the trailer but Mum had to change the supper menu.

Mum says that Dad made the planting boxes for her but I beg to differ. The blueberry box is the best place to hang out. There will be tomatoes and lettuce and spinach and kale and maybe peppers. All Dad's favourites.

I know we haven't been doing many posts. Last year was a challenge. First we went on long trek across Canada. I got to see many great parks and campgrounds, meet relatives and got to roam around in other houses. We had a special party for Gram's 90th birthday. When we were on our way home Dad got sick and needed emergency surgery in Timmins. I got to stay in a hotel and ride in an elevator. We even flew home so Dad could have more surgery. He spent a long time in hospital so Mum didn't have much time for me. Now she has more time and she will help me catch up on our travels. 😻