Friday, June 29, 2012
No internet available since I am camping tonight – so I will type this up and then download in town tomorrow. When I called Dennis earlier today, he was really pleased with this site so I want to leave a little bit each chance I get.
Woke up in the cabin this morning at the Metolious. Birds singing. I slept on the couch as that’s where all the windows are and I don’t want to miss even a few minutes of seeing those trees. Ha! I just heard a ‘crash’ and Tampa took a leap up. It was a bird flying into the window. It will lay on the ground for awhile appearing to be dead… but it won’t be. Like in life when we feel we are so far down that all is over – life begins anew and he flies off in search of new adventures (or food).
Tampa is excited to go outside without her leash again. I get dressed and go for her new collar and she disappears. It takes awhile before I can find her – hiding behind a chair with ears and tail down. Obviously, she doesn’t like the collar. Yet, I only ‘beep’ her. However, she doesn’t like the intrusion. But, as my little training manual says, I am trying to show her that everytime she puts it on we get to do something fun – like run through tall grass without a leash! This may take awhile to convince her. I do know this, she LOVES this cabin!
I sweep the floors of the cabin, shake out the throw rugs, wipe down counters and then attempt to vacumn. I say I ‘attempt’ because the vacumn cleaner she has in the cabin is horrible. It would pick up nothing. I even swept it all into a pile and tried to suck up the pile and, instead, it blew the pile all over the rug and I had to sweep it up again. Now, we all know that vacumn cleaners do not take a genius to operate them. You simply turn it on and push over the rug. So, I evenutally just gave up on it.
By 9 am I am heading to Sisters for breakfast. I prepared a little table on the outside of a coffee shop for Tampa and I to sit at and had one of the best croissant sandwiches ever! Canadian bacon, spinach, tomato, cheese. People kept stopping at our table and asking about Tampa. She was fairly impressed with the attention.
10:15 am we are in Prineville and heading for the campsite. I searched 4 campgrounds on the river and ended up returning to the campsite I stayed at the last time I was here. It’s secluded a bit from other sites. By that, I mean that if someone wants to walk by my site, they have to go out of their way. I set up my hiking tent which I bought the summer I broke my leg in Mexico – I’ve never been able to use it.
Went to an estate sale and a man insisted that he and his wife spoke with me last week right there in Prineville. Well, with my memory, I really thought through before denying it. But, he kept insisting. He said they had spoken with a blonde women who liked to camp on her own and loved fishing. In fact, she was heading to the Crooked River by herself to fish. He then asked me if I ‘carried’ and I, foolishly, said, “Yes, I pack.” He told me that was great to hear and I left. I’m sure I was not in Prineville last weekend…
Tampa just tried to sneak out of the campsite and I ‘beeped’ her. She stopped immediately and returned with ears down. She went over an dpicked up her stuffed monkey, carried it over by the van and laid down by the tire with it. She then just looked dejectedly at me with ears down, eyes sad and her chin resting on her stuffed monkey as she pouted. I just took a picture.
Tonight, Tampa and I are sitting here just looking over the river. Every once in awhile I can hear a far-off sounding voice – but not enough to intrude or understand. A lady a ways down called out asking if I was from here. I told her that I wasn’t. She said, too bad as she was looking at a lizard and wanted to know what kind it was. Ha! I lit up at the idea of there just being a lizard there. Love those things.
Well, time to get back to my reading. Or maybe back to my daydreaming. Hmmmmm, it’s nice not having to decide right now which I feel like doing the most.

The attached picture is one Brett sent of Caleb going from Green to blue belt. So proud of him!!