Keep Calm and Camp on seems to be the catch phrase for this year’s camping season. It certainly was the way of the campground at Medicine Lake while we were there. We were there for a full 9 days and during that time we found fellow campers were calm and taking things in stride, as well as practicing social distancing…Sort of. Most people were in there family groups but when out and about the distancing was minimal. Even I forgot to distance at times as I met other dog owners on the trails walking their dogs. It was so easy to forget that there was a global pandemic going on as we relaxed in the back 40 and enjoyed the rainy weather and sunny mornings that Mother Nature gave us. Of course the light show that was associated with the multitude of thunder storms that came through the area during the time we were there were also awesome! Yes we had so much rain that our rig sank 2’ to the right and our living room slide leaked water into the RV. Now it was not a lot of water that got in but certainly we had to throw down a few towels to mop up the mess. During our time at Medicine Lake we had five days of Thunder storms and two days of steady rain. On our last day 1/2 in the area we had sun. sigh…

Regardless, we made the best of a wet situation and enjoyed the sunny mornings and played games and watched movies during the rainy afternoons and evenings. It allowed us to once again become familiar with the interior of our RV and realize the joy we still have living in our RV as a home versus a temporary shelter.

Finn on the other hand had a great time playing in the lake and the rain and really enjoyed being a soggy doggy! Annie not so much. He slept most of the time but did come out to socialize when he had to go to the bathroom or when we forced him out to get some fresh air. The two dogs are becoming brothers and seem to share the RV and us fairly well, though Finn is a jealous dog, and often will force his way in between myself and Annie or even Lorraine if he feels he is not getting enough attention. Something we are working on, but he is a young dog and this behavior is expected.

We did have a couple of bad incidents with Finn and his overreacting to people within our sphere. The first one was when Lorraine and I were outside with the dogs and Annie decided to wander off on a walk by himself. Now Annie hardly ever does this, instead always staying close to me, but this time, when I was not looking off he went! Well once I realized he was nowhere to be seen, I left Finn with Lorraine and off I went in search of Annie. Well he had not traveled to far afield just up the road a bit, but out of sight.  So once I caught up with him I turned him around and headed back to our campsite. It was just about then that some cyclists came by and that got Finn up in arms, so much that he lunged at them while Lorraine was trying to hold him back by the collar. Well Finn is a very powerful dog and you guessed it, Finn pulled Lorraine off her feet and dragged here a few feet while she desperately held on to Finn’s collar, refusing to let go. Well when I got back to the campsite with Annie there was my poor beloved on the ground face first in the dirt with a Dog firmly in her grasp. What a sight to see. Well I wanted to take a pic, but I figured I better help Lorraine out first, otherwise I would be in the dog house if I laughed and took pic’s. Yes I made the right decision!

The other incident was in the morning of our fifth day as I was trying to get the dogs out to go pee Finn broke loose and raced out of the RV and out of our campsite and ran to the garbage receptacles where he challenged the Campground operator. Boy was Finn aggressive and protective. He went after the operator and snapped at his ankles. Needless to say the operator was not happy, and as I leashed Finn and pulled him back to our site the operator gave me a stern lecture and warning. Of course I deserved it.  That was the worst thing to happen on this trip, and I learned a valuable lesson, Finn is not to be trusted off leash in a campground even if he is in the RV. Note to self, leash fin before opening the RV door.

Since then we have been busy with life back to normal at the homestead. Finn and I have been walking everyday twice a day at the off leash dog park and walking the river. Which has been a lot of fun. Finn is no longer afraid of the water and now joyfully and gleefully jumps in and races around the water up to his chest and will even stick his head under water to chase the ball. Finn has learned how to blow bubbles this way and keep his airway open. The other day I was amazed, because I threw the ball a bit too far out in to the river and it was over Finn’s head, but that dog amazed me when he went after it and swam for his first time! Now it was not graceful by any means, but he splashed and paddled his way out to the ball and back again. Way to go Finn!

Another thing that Finn has woken up to is bird chasing. He is now interested in ducks and one day he chased a duck around the pond three times before I called him off. It was incredibly funny and amazing to watch as this mother duck led Finn on a wild goose chase around the pond while her mate took the ducklings off in another direction. Smart ducks!

Finally we are getting ready for our big drive to my brothers property in Campbell River. Yesterday I took the RV in for servicing where they will do the brakes, flush the brake fluid, service the tranny, flush the coolant, and lastly perform a 120 point inspection. It was hard to believe that it has been three years since the RV was last serviced beyond regular maintenance and oil changes. Hopefully this will give us a worry free trip to the coast. Only three and half weeks till we leave for this epic trip.

Well that is about it for now and I will leave you all with some pics I took on our last camping trip as well as a video of Finn chasing the Duck.

Cheers,

Happy Trials,

The Glampurs