We're home!

JODIE: We got home last week and things have returned to normal. Dad says the whole trip was 5827 miles, but that's PEOPLE miles. That's over 40,700 dog miles!!! Coco and Sandy sleep, but the long ride stresses me out, and it doesn't start when we start moving. The stress actually starts as soon as I recognize that a move is coming. The awnings go up or the basement is packed or the slides come in. Any of those will start me on the road to stress. Then, when the rumble of the engine shakes the camper I really go into overdrive, huffing and puffing. But, it's over for now.

Now we're back to fetching the ball in the yard or spending time in the pool. I love the pool. I mean I REALLY love the pool, but now that we've been exposed to the surf of the Pacific Ocean, the pool is not quite the same. Oh, we can swim and romp in the water a bit, but we can't take the long runs down the beach and chase a ball or a stick into the surf. I miss the long runs in the shallow water, too.

SANDY: At first, I didn't understand what Jodie and Coco were raving about when they talked about he ocean and the waves. In fact, the very first time I was at the ocean I jumped out of the Jeep and ran full speed to the water. Jodie and Coco just kept running and swimming until they were in the waves, but I came to an instant stop when my paws first hit the water. Remember, I was very hesitant to go in the pool, where the water was nice and calm. To see the breakers and surf, I was dazzled, but only for a moment.

JODIE: That's true. She came to love the surf as much as we do. Coco and I were concerned the first time a wave broke over her head, but she came right up and continued chasing a stick. The waves and the surf never fazed her. Here's the truth about Sandy, when we she moved in she was a tad smaller than Coco and me and we thought she was full grown. That was not the case. Sandy is now taller, longer, and a lot faster than us two slow old Labs. On land or in the water, she is ALWAYS the first to reach anything thrown. In addition to being fast and strong, she's as agile as can be.

By the way, Coco will not be joining in this blog because she won't come out of the motorhome. Whenever someone is working in the camper and the door is open, Coco moves right in until she eventually gets thrown out when they lock the door. She always was a bit of a doofus.

SANDY: We had visitors for a few days recently. Lorena, a friend from Canada was down for a couple of days and though she has no dog, she showers all of us with lots of attention. The Barbara from Homographs came and she ALSO gave us great amounts of attention. After that, Mom's cousin JoAnne from Massachusetts came for a visit in their motorhome and they had two dogs, Molly the Golden Retriever and Riley the Dachshund. Unfortunately, they were used to being on a leash all the time and we didn't get to play.

JODIE: I guess that's about it for now. We think that Dad's brother may be over in a couple of weeks and they should bring cousin Mya, not sure of the spelling. Then later in April we're expecting Riggs, the Missouri Wonder Dog to stay for a couple of weeks.

That's it from Jodie and Sandy. Coco will have to come in tonight.

Finally got Dad off his behind

COCO: We haven't posted for a while because we couldn't get Dad to do anything!

JODIE: That's being a bit cruel, Coco. You know that he's been without a good internet connection for a while.

COCO: Well, I was just trying to make sure that we didn't get blamed.

SANDY: I think Coco is just frustrated because she can't work off her excess energy.

JODIE: That's probably true for all of us. We haven't played fetch since we left the Hacienda and we haven't been in the surf since Perula. Let's take some time to bring our blog up to date.

When we got back to Hacienda Contreras there were some changes. Donkey Hotay is still there, but Ossa is gone. Neko is new and so is Bella. The Contreras have a house as well as the campground. Ossa was the campground dog and Neko was the house dog. Then along came the new puppy Bella and Ossa couldn't get along with the pup, so Ossa and Neko changed places.

This is Bella! As you may recognize, a Labrador Retriever.



Another picture of the pup.



This is Neko!

Neko is Barb's personal guard dog.

JODIE: Bella is a Lab like me and she looks just like I did a long time ago. She started out pure white, but we can see the yellow starting to come out on her back. Barb brought Bella down to see us a couple of times, but when she saw us three strange dogs she made a beeline back to the building. I'm sorry if we scared her. I'm sure we'll be great friend when we return next winter as she'll be almost full grown and as big as we are.

SANDY: Neko is a good dog, but she seems very quiet and shy.

COCO: She'll get used to all the campers and their dogs. She doesn't seem at all aggressive. Have you mentioned your sore foot, Jodie.

JODIE: Not yet. I guess I hurt my foot during some rough play at the Hacienda and it seemed to be getting worse. Mom and Dad took me to a Vet in Patzcuaro and he was very nice. I never even growled. He poked and prodded and said there was nothing serious and gave the folks some medicine for me. I'm feeling much better.

COCO: I also want to tell everyone that we have a lot of area around here, but we're always on the leash since I escaped the first day. There's PLENTY of room to play fetch, but the folks are afraid of the steer, the cow, and all the horses that walk free around here. I think they are over reacting to the steer that was going to butt Tilly. They're also afraid we may chase the animals.

SANDY: I'm the new girl on the block, but even I know that Coco can NOT be trusted. She got away the first day and the folks have taken no chances since then. We don't know where we are headed next, but are hoping for surf or at least an area where we can run and play.

JODIE: I guess that's it for now. We'll try to be better about the blog if we can get Dad and the internet to cooperate. Bye from all of us!

More from the beach

SANDY: I saw an appledater!! I saw an appledater!!

JODIE: Hold it Sandy, you're too excited. You're thinking of alligator, but even at that you are wrong. It was a crocodile.

SANDY: Appledater, alligator, crocodile.....who cares? What's the difference?

COCO: Gosh, people think that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I know the difference between alligators and crocodiles. Heck, I'm a Florida dog and I thought that all Florida dogs knew about alligators and crocodiles.

SANDY: So how come you guys know so much about alligators and crocodiles?

JODIE: Well, Sandy, alligators are a fact of life. That's why we NEVER get to go swimming in a lake or stream at home, we always swim in the pool.

COCO: Ya know Jodie, Sandy wasn't with us when we went all over the country, swimming in all kinds of lakes, rivers, and oceans. She missed out on swimming into the current of a river and letting it bring you downstream. Then we get out, run up along the shore and do it again.

JODIE: You are 100% correct. Mark this down......on this date Coco was right. I think we aught to explain what we're talking about.

COCO: OK, I'll go first. Nearly every day for the last several weeks we get to romp in the surf. We chase tennis balls or sticks and have a great time. Mom and Dad are very patient and let us stay out until we get tired.

SANDY: Actually, they let us stay out as long as we stay engrossed in the water. When one of us turns our attention to grubbing along the high tide line looking for fish bits, the day is OVER.

JODIE: They don't like us to roll in dead fish either.

COCO: Yes, yes, but the point is that we have been going out every day and each day is about the same as the last. That's why we've been behind in our blog. Now we have something new to add.

SANDY: Yup, the appledater.

JODIE: No!!! The crocodile! Dad puts us in the Jeep and drives way down the beach so we can play rough where there are no people. He drives beyond the place they call "The Lagoon", which supposedly has a crocodile in it.

COCO: Supposedly my paw! We saw that sucker on the way home. Dad didn't have a camera so there was no picture to prove it.

JODIE: Aha!! Today he had the camera and the crocodile was there and we have proof.

This is the "Croc". Dad says that if you look at the distance from the nose to the eyes, it seems like a lot of his tail is underwater and others have estimated his length at 10 or 11 feet.



This is the "Lagoon". It doesn't connect with the ocean except when extremely high tides was a wave or two far enough in to add to the lagoon. It really backs up to a swamp.



Here we are frolicking in the surf.

And here we are running back to get a stick or a tennis ball.

JODIE: So we just wanted you to know that there is a little excitement down here and we want to make sure that Sandy knows that crocodiles are not dog friendly. Crocodiles EAT dogs. Thankfully, Dad and Mom keep and eye out and don't let us get too close to danger.

SANDY: OK, I get it. What ever else we do, we do not get near alligators and crocodiles.

COCO: Now you've got it, Sandy. As time goes on you'll be swimming in a lot more places and you can be sure that Mom and Dad will make sure they're safe.

JODIE: And they always end up the same way, we go back to the camper and get washed down and well dried with a number of towels. AAAHHHH, what a life!

To the river and the beach

SANDY: Yesterday was kind of an unusual day. Dad dressed in his shorts and sneakers and that's generally the key to going to the beach.

COCO: Oh, Yeah!!! And we create quite a ruckus. We're going to the beach!! We're going to the beach!!

JODIE: It didn't go quite as we thought. Oh, we three girls were in the back of the Jeep and we were making a lot of noise. We REALLY like going to the beach and we DO get all excited. But when Dad drove out of the campground, he drove past all the streets that lead to the beach. That came as a shock and Sandy, Coco, and I got very quiet as he drove out of town and then took a left on the highway. Perhaps we were just going for a ride.

SANDY: A ride is OK, I like a ride. I like the beach better, but I like a ride, too

COCO: It wasn't just a ride. Dad took us to a river a few miles from the campground. He left us in the Jeep while he checked out the river. We could see the water and we were in an uproar, waiting to get in the water. The noise inside the Jeep was deafening!!

JODIE: The younger girls have no patience!

COCO: What the......you were making as much noise as Sandy and I were!

JODIE: I must have gotten caught up in the excitement, I don't quite remember.

SANDY: I'll continue if they're going to argue over nothing. Dad came back and started the car and drove the Jeep right down to the water. When he opened the rear hatch, the three of us FLEW out of the back and raced to the water. It wasn't quite what I expected.

COCO: No, me neither! The water was shallow, never getting up to my chest and the bottom was muddy. The water was nice and cool, but there was not enough to swim.

JODIE: That's right! Upstream the river was narrow and deeper and there was a nice current, but we couldn't get there because the land was fenced off. Where we were the river was very wide and very shallow.

COCO: Then Dad called us back to the Jeep, but I pretended that I didn't hear him. The river wasn't great, but it was better than going back to the campground.

JODIE: I'm ashamed to say that I didn't return to the Jeep either.

SANDY: I didn't hear anything!

COCO: I'm not surprised!

JODIE: Girls..... Dad solved the problem. He started the Jeep and took off. As much as we like the water, we DO NOT WANT TO BE LEFT BEHIND. AS he drove away, he left the rear hatch open, and when he stopped all three of us very quickly jumped in. I thought our swimming was over for the day, but Dad had one more surprise for us.

SANDY: Yup, on the way back to the campground he took a left turn and drove to our spot on the beach. We were in the surf in a dash, then we played fetch with the balls.

Here we are on the beach chasing sticks. Dad didn't take any pictures at the river. We did have a geat time, though.

This is Archie and we have an amazing story to tell about him. Some time before we got here he was hit by a car and his back end was pretty broken up. His people were sure that he would have to be put down, but they brought him to a local Vet. The local Vet couldn't help them and referred them to a vet in Puerto Vallarta. Xrays showed a lot of broken bones in his rear, but not his spine or legs. I guess it's the bone that connects the hips and legs and spine. There was no way to put a cast on it. The Vet put on rubber gloves and went in through the butt and very carefully put the broken bones back in the proper position, without surgery. A week later they went back and the Vet had to make one minor adjustment and now Archie is a lively pooch. To see him run and jump, you'd never think he had a problem. Amazing!!!

COCO: I don't know about tat kind of treatment, but I suppose that if it works........

SANDY, COCO, and JODIE: Hasta luego from the Perras at Punta Perula

We're back at a beach

SANDY: We're at the beach!! We're at the beach!! We're at the beach!!!

JODIE: OK, we're at the beach. Calm down a little. It was only a few short weeks ago that you didn't even know what a beach was.

SANDY: Yeah, but now that I know, it is AWESOME!!! I LOVE THE BEACH!!!

COCO: What a goof!! Was I ever like that, Jodie.

JODIE: Oh, Coco.....you're goofy about almost everything. Now, how about showing some pictures. Also we'd like to say "WOOF" to Riggs, Tucker, Sadie, the other Sadie, and all the other canine friends we have.

These three bathing beauties are US!!! Having the greatest time.



A couple of things about this picture of Dad tossing sticks. First, Mom is SO PLEASED to see dad get some exercise that she wants him to play wit us more often. Second, you can see Sandy on the left as she takes off after a stick, ears flying.



Sandy has a lot of energy as she is the youngest of us, but Coco is still the fetching champ. Even when Sandy gets the stick first, Coco will often take it away from her and return it to be thrown again. What Coco may lack in energy, she make up for with pizzazz!



This guy came a long the beach walking with a group of people . After a controlled smellathon, he joined us in the water. I think his folks were surprised to see him in the water. He was in the company of three beauties, why would he not follow us?



Unfortunately, we girls take fetching seriously and he couldn't keep up, so when he couldn't get a stick, he went back to his people. Males!!!

Dad got this picture of these two in the campground. We've heard them bark, but have yet to meet them. Dad says the one on the left is friendly and likes to be scratched, but the one on the right is protective of his people.

JODIE: It's mid afternoon and it is warm, so Coco, Sandy, and I are spending the time in our siesta, lying in front of the fan.

JODIE, COCO, & SANDY: Adios!

It's us again, and so soon!

JODIE: Yes, it's us again and I know a lot of you will be shocked. The truth is that Tilly and Osa didn't care for the pictures that were in the last blog, and we don't blame them. Sometimes when we want Dad to do something we get the bare minimum, and this was one of those times.

COCO: Yup, we asked for pictures of our friends and we got pictures all right, but they were hardly flattering.

SANDY: I couldn't believe it when Jodie told Dad to "take a hike and bring back some decent pictures this time. The last batch embarrassed us!!" Even harder to believe was when Dad grabbed his camera and walked out of the camper muttering something.

JODIE: Well, girls, you can't let things slide. If we let him get away with those poor pictures, we would have to resort to standard imaged from the internet or no pictures at all. It's not as if he didn't have a camera and the ability. He was just lazy.

SANDY: He still plays ball with us and walks us doesn't he?

COCO: Sandy, if you were paying attention you would notice that Mom walks us every morning and gets our breakfast. Sometime later on the Old Man drags his carcass out of bed for a cup of coffee.

JODIE: Coco's correct, but I didn't want to bring it up. I'd like to turn this blog into a new introduction of our friends. OK?

COCO, SANDY: OK.

JODIE: Very well, then. I'd like you to meet Tilly and Osa.

This is Tilly. She's a dool and here she's looking for direction from Brian, one of Tilly's wards

Here's another one of Tilly. Same situation. Tilly has a very sweet disposition and apparently likes to travel.



This is Osa, named for a bear. She is furry and might look mean, but she's a real pussycat! She'll bark at people coming into the park. That's her job, as the guard dog for the campground, but she is as sweet as can be.

Here is Osa again with Barb, the woman she has befriended and cares for. Fortunately it's often very quiet in the campground and you can see Osa taking a nap in the sun.

This last picture shows just a small part of our running area. As usual, Coco is returning a ball, Jodie is keeping Mom company, and Sandy is lying in the shade chewing a tennis ball.

JODIE: I hate to say it but this is the last of our stay at Hacienda Contreras for a while. Mom and Dad have decided to move to a spot on the coast. It will be good to get in the surf again, but we'll miss our friends here. If I'm correct, we'll be coming back here sometime in February, so we'll get to see some of our friends again. Osa will be here, but we're not sure where Tilly will be. Our next blog will be brought to you from some beach south of Puerto Vallarta, where ever that is.

Hello from Mexico

JODIE: Hello all! I'm sorry that it has been such a while since we posted, but we've had a hard time getting the Old Man to do his share. He moans and groans and says he's too busy to transcribe our thoughts, but he seems to have plenty of time for other things. He reads to much and, between you and me, he eats too much.

COCO: Aren't you getting on dangerous ground, calling Dad the Old Man?

JODIE: Who cares? He has been negligent in his duties as a blog writer and someone has got to give him a kick in the butt.

SANDY: I just want everyone to know that I have nothing to do with this mutiny. I love Dad just the way he is and I would NEVER refer to him as the OLD MAN.

JODIE: Sandy, you are a wuss!!!

COCO: I'm with Sandy, I love Dad just the way he is!! Think I can have another cookie, now?

JODIE: Oh, if I was only a biting dog, I'd latch onto a couple of butts around here. However, I want to bring things up to date. We've been having a pretty good time here, playing ball every day, sometimes twice. We've got some friends that we associate with.

This is Osa, which means bear, and she looks kind of like a bear. But, she is the sweetest dog. She is the guard dog for the campground but I don't know how that works out because she doesn't have a mean bone in her body. She gets along with everyone and everything. There is a donkey, visitor's dogs, cats, and even cattle over the fence. She gets along with everyone. She does bark when someone new arrives and I guess that's part of her job, to announce new guests. She roams free and will sometimes join us at the far end of the campground.

This is Tilly. She takes care of Brian and Sue. Tilly is definitely a low key dog and though she will occasionally offer up a woof, there is nothing aggressive about her.

This is Donkey Hotay (Don Quiote, get it??). He got here after us and is apparently part of the campground staff, working in the landscape crew. Most of the time he wanders the campground trimming grass here and there or getting rid of the old corn stalks. He's very quiet, as we've never heard a bray out of him. Trimming the grass seems to be his only interest as he never wants to play.

This is part of the gang next door. They are quiet and mind their own business, but they're nice to have around.

COCO: What about those three little dogs??

JODIE: Patience! I was just getting to them. We had a family of three cuddly little dogs here for a couple of days. What is interesting is that we first met them at Celestino RV a month od=r so ago. I'm not sure what kind of dogs they were bit they were very small compared to us. There was the Mama dog, the Papa dog, and the little Boy dog. Sounds a lot like Goldilocks and the three bears, doesn't it? They came up from the coast for a few days, but their family decided to move on.

SANDY: I've been having a great time in Mexico. I thought that down here the other dogs would bark in Mexican, but that's not so. I guess dog-speak is a universal language. Osa is Mexican and we've met other dogs from Quebec and we all get along just fine. We have been getting in some trouble with Dad and Mom over.........

JODIE: STOP!!! STOP RIGHT NOW!!! WE are not going to discuss this with the public. It's bad enough that Dad and Mom are upset with our dietary supplements, we don't want to upset our readers.

SANDY: But I just wanted........

JODIE: ENOUGH!!! Don't bark another word!

COCO: Yeah, Sandy. We're in enough trouble already. Don't make matters worse. Besides, they may be taking us back to the beach to get away from Donkey Hotay and the cattle.

JODIE: No, I think that Dad is cold and want's to go where it's warmer. Anyway, at the beach we can supplement our diet with fish remains.

SANDY: You two are leading me astray!!! I was perfectly happy with the food Dad and Mom provided. Then you got me on fish remains and that wasn't too bad, but here........

COCO: If you say anything else, Jodie will bite your butt and if she won't I will. Just shut up about what we eat. Nough said?

SANDY: OK, nough said.

JODIE: I guess that will do it for now. The days have been pretty much the same for the last few weeks, but I understand that we'll be heading back to a campground right on the Pacific in a few days, so we'll have more to report. Hasta luego!

COCO: Yup, hasta whatever.

SANDY: Good bye until later, aloha, adieu, and caio!