Finally the sun is shining!

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June 24
Oh the dogs woke us up early this morning 6:30. I could hear Dottie scratching at her crate. She rarely gets up before Red but then he went out about midnight last night. I got up and put my robe on telling both the dogs and David I’m going to go back to bed. It was a quick trip for them and I had Dot go right back to her crate. Red followed as did David shortly thereafter. I was asleep I’m sure by 6:45. When I finally woke up it was 8:16 and everyone was still asleep. I got the dogs and just put my cloths on and closed the bedroom door as David was still fast asleep. The dogs and I went outside and there it was, the most glorious, warm sunshiny day that I’d been missing for the last 20 days. Not even a breeze was felt just warm rays that glistened over the lake not 50 ft behind the trailer. For a moment I found myself just fully immersed in the warmth. The dogs felt the same way, Dottie was in full stretch out mode in the sun. Red however was taking in the area, nose up to the slight breeze, eyes scanning the horizon, ears listening for any sound on which to alert. In the distance we could see a young man fishing, we could hear kids laughing and oh my just a hint of bacon in the air. Does it get any better than this I wondered. Red, Dottie and I started down the campground road, one might imagine a tight formation but not with Red. What you get is a dog zigzagging in front of you in a manic sort of way, which makes it near impossible to get anywhere very fast. Dottie is pretty consistent checking out her side of the road and dodging Red’s bounces as best she can. It occurs to me that Red is like Winnie the Pooh’s Tigger. He is trouncy and Bouncy and unstoppable and yes I think he’s the only one!!

We had a great walk and all three of us enjoyed it. On the way back we met Madeline and her daughter Maggie newly immigrated from South Africa. Gavin the uncle was from England but now lives in Denver. They all came out here for a week of camping for summer vacation. Madeline told us about the horrible conditions in South Africa and the terrible murders happening to the white farmers. She said she had been in the US since May with her husband and the three children. She expressed how lucky she felt to be here even though at 54 her husband was starting a new career. She said most people here do not understand how lucky they are to have such freedoms. She was almost in tears at expressing her appreciation for being able to come. Our conversation certainly reminded me how lucky we’ve been to be born and raised in the US.

We returned to the camper around 9:15 to find David up and only slightly moving. He enjoyed sleeping in he said and was so pleased to see the beautiful blue sky.

After breakfast David and I got the truck unhooked from the trailer and we got the slides in so we could level it. Afterward we loaded up and headed back the 8 miles to Ogallala for marshmallows, hotdogs and yes a fishing license. The day had turned quite hot so David and I took turns staying in the truck with the dogs.

For supper David started a fire and we roasted hotdogs over the fire and enjoyed them. Dottie and Red loved the cookout since this was their first fire roasted wieners. I must say I got way too much sun today so I headed for the air conditioning after dinner. We made a brief outing after watching an old movie We met Madeline and Maggie and introduced them to David. The dogs were giving kisses to all comers and there was a whole herd of kids. It was so good for them. We returned and headed to bed early. It was a great day!!

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