Monday, 19 through Wednesday, 21 September 2022
I planned to spend my birthday here and decided to splurge on a campsite with a patio and a swing. The weather was forecast to be fairly warm and pleasant, and I hoped we might be able to sit outside. Since Dext's behavior has changed so much without Gracie here, I hoped he might be calmer about other dogs passing by - instead of the way he used to charge after them with all his strength and barking ferociously.
And that's what happened - I mean the new, calmer behavior. Actually, we didn't have many dogs pass us because these 3 days are typically the lightest of the week for people staying at campgrounds, and anyway we only sat out during the day (no bugs) when people are often off sightseeing or something. And Dext was very well behaved.
Unfortunately, some of that may have been due to the way he felt. One day he woke me up very early in the morning to take him outside immediately. And for the rest of the day he had nothing but very loose stools and he vomited all his breakfast. And even after he had nothing left inside, he still discharged some kind of bloody material from his rear. And also unfortunately, I think I might have caused it. I bought him a bone at the grocery store - a real bone, according to the packaging - not rawhide or something. But still, he ate most of it (those are powerful jaws he's got), and when I woke up to this problem early in the morning, I figured it was my fault and felt really bad for him.
One day I decided to cook a steak, which I hadn't done since my birthday in Colorado 2 years ago. I still had the bag of charcoal from then - the kind that already has the lighter fluid in it - but it turns out it has a shelf life. I only had 3 matches and they were definitely not enough to get the stuff to ignite - especially not with the strong breeze that was blowing. So I walked across the campground to the camp store and bought a box of matches. Walked back. And discovered that wasn't enough - I really did need some lighter fluid. Back across the campground to the camp store; bought a container of lighter fluid; walked back; drenched the charcoal (I was tired of fooling around); waited 15 minutes for it to soak in; and finally got to cook my steak. And after all that I was really worried I'd mess that up too, but it was perfect. By then, though, I was afraid to give Dext the t-bone bone, which I'd bought especially so I'd have a bone to give him. I decided to wrap it up and save it for later.
I'd figured if Dext didn't show signs of improvement by the next day I'd call a vet, but he managed to make it all though the night, though he did need to go out pretty early in the morning.
Dext did seem to get back almost to normal, thank goodness, so I figured he didn't need a vet but just a little more time. On the other hand, for 2 mornings after that first one he woke me up at 2:30, urgently needing to go outside. He's really good about it, though, holding it until I can put on boots and a couple of jackets over my robe. And once outside, he doesn't try to turn it into a walk but just does what he needs to do and heads back for the door.
I was very sorry to discover that I had a really poor internet signal on my hotspot and essentially no signal at all from the campground's network. I did manage to wrest reservations at a series of state parks for the coming week but found the process extremely frustrating. And after the reservations I had to get driving directions from Google. It seemed like a lot of work - and they promised us computers would be labor-saving devices.
David and Anna knew they'd be out of town for the couple of weeks right before my birthday and sent me birthday cards with that batch of mail I got several weeks ago in Roundup, MT, and I've been carrying them unopened all this time. But it was really nice to have birthday cards to open and so thoughtful of them.
The weather went from pleasantly warm to very warm indeed and back to much cooler. But Dext and I did get to sit outside a couple of days, which was nice and not something we've been able to do.
I met a nice young couple from Queens who were staying in a tent. They said they'd been on an epic journey for the last month and were gradually heading back home again, via the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, which I assured them they'd love.
So aside from the internet frustrations and the worry about Dext's innards, this was a very pleasant relaxing stay.
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