More dog photos

Quick update on Katie and Jagger  - they got along much better after their first meeting.  I'm putting a few of the pictures from following days in this post so you can see.

Some of my commenters thought Katie was taking too much abuse from Jagger, but he's just a puppy, about half her weight, and Katie could easily have moved away from him.  She could have growled or snapped at him, or run away from him, but she seemed to be in control and I was standing a few feet away.  After a brief about of time, we separated the dogs.  Trust me, I wouldn't let Katie be bothered if she seemed to want to get away.

Going to the dog park before our Trolley tour:

Jagger was much better with Katie at the dog park, and was really good when we were walking the dogs.

You can see who was in charge in these photos.  It was almost like Katie was saying, "Down!" as Trish and Tom do, and Jagger will immediately lay down.  When Katie looked at Jagger like this, he went down.

Katie even got in a little game of "chase" with Jagger:

So things were much better and I'm sure if we stayed longer they would have gotten along just fine.  Katie seemed to know the right things to do to let Jagger get in all his sniffing, but not too much, and then she'd reprimand him with a quiet growl or showing her teeth, and he'd back off.  I loved watching them interact and run at the dog park.

And finally, Jagger in Katie's Doggles.  The frame color is perfect for him. I can't decide if he looks studious or elegant:

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everybody!  :)

Wordless Wednesday - Subtle Street Art

Welcome to our newest Follower, Mole007!   Mole doesn't have a photo or any information, so he/she is truly a Mole!  So, Mole007, if  you end up with a post, let me know and I'll give you a plug - thanks for following along with me and Katie.  Welcome aboard!  :)

...and a few more words, on Wordless Wednesday.  One of our fellow bloggers, RV Bond, has a link to the most interesting story - just fascinating.  It's here, if you are interested in checking it out.  It's the February 18th post.

From me and Katie, have a great Wordless Wednesday, everybody!  :)

Photos from another fun day in San Diego

We decided to take the Old Town Trolley Tour on Sunday.  First we had our usually Dewell Family Breakfast, which we always cook once when we get together:  Eggs Benedict.  I used to make it, and now Tom usually does.  He's good in the kitchen and I'd have to say a master bar-b-q'er too.  Then we went to church.  I really like this young congretation and pastor, and there are a variety of older people, too. His message is always really good.  I found out the church has a website, and I can log on to watch/listen to his service messages, and I plan to do that.  :)

Afterwards, Trish's parents came over and we all drove down to Old Town San Diego.  I had bought a Hometown Pass years ago, so I go free with a paid guest, and the family also had passes, so it was a great deal for us. Here are some photo highlights of the day:

Balboa Park - beautiful architecture:

Old graveyard in Old Town.  Do you know how many people are buried here?

All of them!  That's a joke the trolley driver told us.  :)

Coronado Bay and Municipal Golf Course:

Hotel Del Coronado:

Mormon Battalion Historic Site in Old Town:

I love these trees - this was in a restaurant courtyard at Seaport Village:

San Diego Bay and Coronado Bridge:

 San Diego Skyline taken from Coronado:

Boats on San Diego Bay:

San Diego palm trees:

Boat yards in the bay:

Another of my favorite trees:

The seal show transportation:

Seaport Village sign:

Kansas City Barbecue, where they filmed part of Top Gun:

And finally - my beautiful family - Trish's parents, Richard and  Joanne, Tom, Trish, Kennedy, Graydin and Gavin.

Sorry, those aren't in any particular order - I just threw them in and labeled each one.  Can you tell I'm tired?

It was really crowded on Sunday - with Valentine's Day on Friday and President's Day on Monday, there were lots of people out and about, and lots of tourists in town.  Taking the Trolley was a great idea and with the ongoing facts about each of the areas we drove through, it was really interesting.  We pretty much saw the whole area, downtown, shipyards, bay, Old Town, Little Italy, Balboa Park, Coronado, Seaport Village, and probably more I can't think of now.  You can get out at any stop and do a little sightseeing or shopping or have a meal, then hop on the next trolley to head to the next stop. I would recommend it to visitors to San Diego, but plan on getting there early so you'll be able to make some stops and really enjoy the area.  It's an all day adventure.

WELCOME to two new Followers:

Dawn from Camano Island, who has a brand new blog.  She and her husband, Jim bought a Nash 24M at the Seattle RV Show and plan to head down the road January 2, 2014 after Dawn retires.  Jim is already retired.  Dawn says in her profile, "We have three sons, three amazingly wonderful daughters-in-law, and three best-in-the-world grandchildren! We journey through life with our Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Ari, and our cat, Slim, who came to our door as a stray eight years ago."  Welcome aboard Dawn!  I look forward to reading about your future travels!   :)

Charlene Swankie doesn't show a blog, so I can't give her a plug.  Charlene, if you DO have a blog, let me know and I'll post the link.  Thanks for following along with me and Katie, we're happy to have you aboard!  :)  NOTE:  Charlene's blog address is SwankieWheels - Kayaking America.  Thanks Roxi! 

From me and Katie, have a great Monday, everybody!  :)

Katie and Jagger

Tom and Trish and the grandkids have a new puppy.  He's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, 10 months old, and they are in the process of training him.  He is super high energy right now, and was so curious about Katie.  What fun, a new toy!  When we first put them together, Jagger was all over Katie, sniffing every inch of her and I was watching carefully to make sure Katie was okay with this and didn't try to be aggressive with him.  This is what she did:

She didn't try to run away, but went into turtle mode - tucking in as much as she could and just lay there with her ears back and her tail tucked in.

She tried to adjust to keep away from him, but still stayed very calm.

Little Jagger was jumping around, sniffing her here, sniffing her there, and finally decided to go a little too far, and Katie, insulted, growled and jumped up. We finally had to separate them.

Poor Katie, she was really good, and poor Jagger, too.  He was just being a curious, playful male puppy. They have a few crates around the house, and I got a larger one to put Katie in some of the time - a safe place where Jagger couldn't try to play with her.  Katie's such a great dog, but I don't think she knows how to play with other dogs. 

Jagger has a bed in the corner of the family room, and he's pretty good about going to his bed and staying there, his training is new and on-going right now, but having Katie roaming around was too much sometimes, and of course he'd soon be out of his bed.  We kind of rotated dogs in crates.

Then little Jagger went to the vet on Thursday for his appointment to be altered.  He came home drugged and with a "cone" around his neck to keep him away from the stitches, and he was super calm that afternoon.  The next day he was back to his old self and doing fine.  Here's a photo from last night, poor pup.  He was sent to his bed but kept his eyes on everything that was going on.  Look at that darling face:

Gavin and I took the dogs for a walk yesterday, and Jagger just prances and dances and wags his tail the whole time.  He's got long legs and is a little bigger than Katie, but she's much more solid.  He's light as a feather.  So cute!  :)

That's it for today - a Katie and Jagger post.

From me and Katie, have a great Saturday, everybody!  :)

Happy Valentines Day from San Diego

Katie and I have been in San Diego since Monday.  We're here visiting my son and daughter-in-law and grandkids, and also I'm getting my annual medical, vision and dental appointments out of the way.

We're having a perfect visit - their house is so comfortable and Katie loves being here.  (Me, too, of course!)  Katie can run around without a leash, and go outside and walk on the wet grass or lay in the sun on the patio.  I think her preference would be a stick house to a home on wheels.  But she's not the boss, so... for now it's the home on wheels for us.

We are able to park across the street from Tom and Trish's house in Carlsbad.  They're on a cul-d-sac so it doesn't work for us to park in front of their house.  The street opposite them, though, has a long area that is the side of a neighbor's house, so we're not actually in their front yard, and it feels okay for a few days. 

None of the neighbors have said a word about us being here.  RVs aren't allowed to park on the street in this city without a permit, but they live in a gated community and so I guess we're okay unless there's a complaint.

I got to see Graydin's baseball practice - he's four:

And Kennedy's swim lessons - she's 11:

Practicing free style:

Practicing the butterfly, that's the stroke she's working on now:

She is taking lessons in a place that has three small heated pools with a wave type machine at one end.  It's a really neat setup; I would have loved to have swim lessons in a facility like this when I was learning how to swim.  Kennedy knows how to swim, but is learning new strokes and upping her game because she wants to be on a swim team.

And Gavin practicing catch with his dad during Graydin's baseball practice - he's 9 and a great baseball player:

Gavin had his own practice yesterday, but I missed it because I wanted to see Kennedy's practice.  The boys both have baseball practice on Saturday, so I'll make sure to be at Gavins.  During Gav's practice yesterday they had a hitting contest, and although Gav is the youngest kid on the team, he won the contest.  All my grandkids are good at sports. I wasn't into sports as a kid so I really appreciate their efforts and achievements in all the sports they participate in.

The schedule in this family is pretty intense and Trish and Tom compare notes all the time to make sure each child is getting to their daily practice, appointment or whatever destination they have - sometimes in the same direction, sometimes at opposite ends of town.  And they each have their own schedules to keep up with and compare with each other.  They do it with ease, of course - they've grown into this kind of craziness as each child got older and became involved in sports and other activities and as their own businesses and interests grew. 

I'm having a blast catching up with the whole family, and Saturday night is the "Grammys' motor home night."  The kids remembered last year when they came over and watched a movie, they each got popcorn, counted out some jelly beans.  It's so weird, they are happy with - like - 4 or 6 or 8, whatever number I pick.  They pick out their colors and are happy with that amount.  I used to want the whole bowl!  And then we laid out the sleeping bags and pillows and they spent the night.  They've asked if we can do that again, and of course we can!  And will!  So Saturday night it is.  Kennedy wants to sleep in her own bed, but she's going to be here for the movie/treats, and will come back in the morning for cereal and fruit. :)

I'll be posting more about Kennedy in a future post.  She's starting her own Internet business, and is continuing the entrepreneurial spirit of her Grammy, Dad and Mom.  She's going to be a dynamo as an adult!

I have some new Followers to welcome, but I'm going to do that in the next post - I'm rushing to get ready to go to the movies.  Much busier lifestyle in San Diego than in the Arizona desert or New Mexico State Parks and I've got a schedule to keep!!

From me and Katie, Happy Valentines Day, everybody!  :)