My Stay In Arizona Continues

I was joking with some of my family and friends that my life as a Retired Vagabond has morphed into more like the Groundhog Day movie.

Groundhog Day?

This is due to the unforeseen events happening.  One was the change in the timeline for getting my new puppy and sidekick.  Of course, you can’t predicted Mother Nature 🙂  The additional hindrance in moving on with my travels  is the warranty work needed on the Coach.  It is only superficial items, but I wanted to get them taken care of soon and I would be here for a while anyway. Fortunately this is a nice place to be, since my son and his family lives nearby and there are many things to see and do before the weather heats up.

Okay my Travelstyle just changed radically

Meeting my Sidekick – Photo provided by Sapphire Aussies

While I researched and tried to image traveling with a dog, it is still a learning curve.  The first week was full of change and waiting on my Sidekick.  That I expected and I enjoy spending time with him.  Most of the time we hung  out around the camp. Occasional we go for a short walk, meeting new people and situations.  Not as much as I would like, but the training is exhausting on both of us.  My expectation was months of focusing on a new puppy.  A lot of that was bypassed, since I found an older dog at 6 months old.  It’s still a lot of time, which I have at this point in my life.  My dreams of hiking and having a companion by my side will come to fruition, but it will be longer than I was thinking.  So for now I am focused on Jagger. Some of the sight seeing will be on hold until I figure out how all this works.  Of course any suggestions are always welcomed.

Most of my difficultly yesterday, was caused by an appointment to take my Coach in for warranty repairs.  That’s like giving the keys to your home and walking away.  It turned out to be 89 degrees and I knew of no escape, since I had a dog with me who I didn’t want to exposed to too many different situations and animals.  We ended up at a dog park having a picnic under a shelter, which coincidentally took almost as long as my Coach took.

Surprise Dog Park

The park was so busy (many dogs in the play areas), I didn’t trust letting Jagger in with all the dogs, he hasn’t had all of his shots yet.  So we just hung out near a small lake and watched the people, birds and ducks cruise by our shelter.

Just as we were finishing up with our visit at the park and I was trying to figure where we could shelter until the Coach was ready.  Doug, at Orangewood RV, called and said my coach was ready.  Great news they are finished for this trip.  Unfortunately all of the warranty parts weren’t in and it may be up to 4 weeks before they arrive.  (He followed up with me later that day, saying the manufacturer said they would arrive by April 21st). This means my travel north will again be delayed at least 2 more weeks. We went to Orangewood RV, picked up the Coach and headed back to “plug in” at Lake Pleasant about 30 minutes away.  We had two days before our next reservation started about 90 miles north and since the temperature was getting above 90, I didn’t want to deal with it.

Back at Lake Pleasant – Temporary Area

Stubborn Him or Me

I let Jagger hang out in the truck until my Coach was set up and the AC turned on.  So far I hadn’t made Jagger get out of my Truck on his own, as it is a 4×4 and very high off the ground for him.  Well I hurt myself lifting him in the truck recently.  Naturally it was when I was in a hurry.  It feels like I separated a rib, which I have done several times before.  Anyway, I unhooked his “dog hammock” in the back seat and tried to coach him down. He didn’t want anything to do with it, period.  Well I set up my chair and time went on, 1 1/2 hours later, I got in the back seat of my truck, picked up his front paws and forced them a whole 6 inches down to the bump in the floorboard.  Within minutes after that, he hopped out of the truck “leash-less”, I freaked out, but he came right back to me.  Bottom line I guess he taught me how this was supposed to work. 🙂

It’s been an experience.  Until next time, safe travels…Gary

More Photos: Arizona