Rapping it up

Hi everyone

Well, here we are with quiet a change to our plans. After telling you that we were considering to make Princess a partner in this blog, we have bad news for you: our lifes have once again settled into a comfortable routine and the same goes for our dog. We are currently in Florida where we will spend the winter and while we do greatly enjoy the nice weather and temperatures here, nothing much is happening outside that routine. André and Sue are telling people that their traveling time is coming to an end and they just rapped up their travel blog. This of course means that we, too, will be staying put more often and for longer periods of time than tramping the world and you know what that means.

Yep, we will settle down, retire if you will. We all have a pretty good life and kind of like the idea of not being thrown around in our fifth wheel anymore while on the road. This hopefully will only happen twice a year from now on. In spring when we head home for Ontario and in fall when it's off to the south for the winter. This is André's and Sue's plan anyway and we will have to wait and see if it comes together as they wish. Of course they didn't ask us (again) but we would have agreed with them this time anyways. So just like their travel blog ours will come to an end, too.

We both agree on that, only Princess was not too happy about this. She had gotten it into her head that she would soon become a famous writer and now that will not happen. It took us some time to make her understand that with a quiet and comfortable routine in one's life there also comes a lack of new and exciting things to write about. There are always two sides to each medal and while we like to see things slow down there simply will not be as many adventures in our future - or hers. Not enough of them to justify a blog, keeping our fans' hopes of a new story up and then disappoint them. We rather quit at the highpoint  of our game. Even Princess had to agree to that after some convincing her.


So this it then, our friends, we take a bow and let you go on your ways. It's been a great pleasure letting you share our lifes for a while and we hope you enjoyed the ride.

So long and thanks for coming back to read about our adventures time and again.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Difficult decision

Hi everyone

Since our last blog we had to make a very difficult decision: Princess keeps nagging us about getting in on our blog which we had denied her when she first brought it up. But things have been and are still changing a little bit with her and we have to admit that after having had her for 6 months, she is becoming more of a family member than just a pet to us by the day. At first we had thought that we would never accept a dog in our home. Then we got to kind of like her to the point that we decided, she can stay. Then there was the incident where she protected André and Sue at Yellowstone National Park. That made her some points with both of us. But then there was that other thing, too, when she and Sue went on that walk in Grand Canyon National Park, which sparked some doubts again.

So we sat down with her in a meeting to determine what to do. And we came to an agreement on how to proceed, which is more than what can be said for the US government at this time. Those guys should all get cats and learn from them how to make things work. But let's not go into politics. That is something smart beings such as us stay away from whenever we can. Anyhow, we decided to let Princess join us in our editorial meetings. We will hear her points and opinions and then decide if and what to include in our blogs. Then we will review that agreement in a few months and if she turns out to have made some valid contributions, she will become a part of our team. Fair? We thinks so.

See, we actually think she's smart. Just recently she has learned the proper response not only to a command but to a hand-signal. Now André and Sue can make her sit down either with a word or by showing her this signal. Sue even thinks of teaching her more commands and more hand-signals, too. She would like to teach Princess a certain response for a "yes"-signal and another one for a "no"-signal. This way she could impress people by asking Princess questions and Princess giving the correct answer, making our dog look really smart. We have to see that before we believe it of course but hey, crazier things have happened!

It would help us find out just how smart our dog really is, though. I mean is it intelligence to do what one is being told, or signed for that matter, or does it mean Princess is too stupid to have an opinion and a will of her own? Gee, she now even sits without André and Sue having to tell her to. Before you know it she will be doing all kinds of stuff simply because Sue wiggles a finger or André farts (sorry for the language).

Now, that is a very ill chosen example, Hunter! We all do something when André farts (sorry for the language), whether it is putting a paw over our noses or leaving the room. But you made your point. That's why this new trick / hand-signal thing will be so helpful to us. It will let us know for sure if we should be proud of Princess or embarrassed at her. I put my money on proud.

I'm not betting against you, Trapper. I, too, think our dog is really smart but I still like the idea of her proofing it to us. And once she's done that we can try and teach her some stuff of our own, like snuggling up with you. Yes, don't act so surprised! I know you would like that especially with the weather turning cold again and Florida still a few weeks away. I saw the way you looked at her the other day when you both were laying on the couch.

Well, ok. As for now here is Princess' first contribution: "Thanks for giving me a chance, guys." Well said, Princess! That's one point for you.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Why?

Hi everyone

Guys, we need some help here. We are somewhat confused about several things and just can't figure them out. Maybe you can help us.

Yes, it all started in Florida. We had a great time down there but it was so different from what we used to know. First of all it was supposed to be winter but it was warm all the time and we didn't get to see snow. Not a single flake worth! Still our winter fur did grow in and so we figured that maybe winter in Florida was coming latter. So we waited and waited and waited but no snow was coming. And now we're shedding our winter coat and our summer fur is growing. I mean, we don't mind the warm weather but what if now that we soon will have our lighter coat the cold will arrive? We will be freezing! Does this have anything to do with climate change? People make a big fuss over that and now it has us worried, too!

And if that was not bad enough, we simply can't figure out what's happening with our walks. Again it started in Florida. Sue would take us out on a regular basis, almost every day to tell the truth, and we did enjoy that. Over time she became more and more reliable about it, too. Then she and André adopted Princess and we got the feeling that our frequent walks were kind of a bribe to make up for that. Though we are getting used to the dog, we still much prefer not to have one. Problem is, there is nothing we can do about it. Princess is here to stay. So we thought that maybe this would mean continuous daily walks and we sure would take those. I mean take a little, give a little, right? Less space for us in the fifth wheel, more time outdoors. Not as good as having no dog but still not a bad deal I would say. But in the last week that did not happen anymore either! What is going on here? The dog gets to spend a lot of time outside, tied up to a small tree and on at least two long walks per day and we are stuck inside except for a couple of times a week. It just isn't fair!

Sue says it's because the ticks are out and she doesn't want us to catch any. As if she ever let us catch anything! If it moves, she hightails it. Especially if it's a snake or a big spider. But we are very worried that the ticks are just an excuse. Maybe she is too tired to walk with us because she does that with Princess now. Then again we think she would be fair enough to let us have some fun times outdoors as well, wouldn't she? But why then make such a fuss over ticks. We don't even know what those are. Could somebody please explain that to us or better yet, talk some sense into her? We really like the outdoors and don't want to be stuck in our fifth wheel forever! Please help us!

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Something is going on

Hi everyone

Something is going on in our fifth wheel. The weather is getting even warmer than what it was all winter long and it seems that the season is changing. Spring is in the air and with this come some changes around here. André and Sue seem to get antsy to hit the road again. They have been talking more and more about travel plans for this summer and the other day André washed the whole fifth wheel down while Sue went golfing. She sure took the easy way out there. Anyways, they are getting ready to leave Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park and head North. So far as we can tell, it's still pretty cold in Ontario and so we hope they have enough smarts to take it slow. We don't want to go see snow!

That just might be wishful thinking, though. As you may know by now, André and Sue went off the deep end a couple of weeks ago and adopted a dog! What were they thinking?! And not just any dog. I mean not one of those small ones called one sort of toy breed or another. No! Princess (what's up with that name anyways? Is she going to get the royal treatment while we have to share our space with her?) is a Shepherd/Collie mix and weights in at about 60 lbs. She is huge, I mean like 10 feet tall or so. At least it looks like that from where we stand.

Don't go over board there, buddy. She's no more than 7 feet if you ask me. The good thing about her is that she has all green lights from the vet, all her shots, a micro chip and is spayed. André and Sue got her at the animal shelter in Inverness. An animal shelter is the same as the human society which means she is a rescue dog. André and Sue are all excited about her and claim that she is very well behaved. To us the only thing that really matters is that she leaves us alone for the most part. Even to the point of outright ignoring us. We still don't trust her all the way though and will keep an eye on her for the time being.

I don't think we have anything to say about her living with us. She is here to stay so we better get used to it. Meantime we enjoy that Sue takes us out for walks almost every single day. Must be the bad conscious although we must admit that we got to go outside regularly lately. We'll see how that is going to play out once we're traveling again. So come back and see - we will keep you posted.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

We could really get used to this

Hi everyone

Yeah, we really could get used to living the life we're living right now. This is just about the most relaxing  lifestyle we know. We get to sleep whenever we want, eat whenever and as much as we want, get all the treats the heart desires and go for more frequent and longer walks outside. I mean really: what more can one ask for?

I completely agree, Trapper, we have it made down here in Florida. And with André and Sue having nothing more to do than to take care of us, we can't ask for anything more. Except maybe that André and Sue would be around a little bit more. You see, they have developed a lifestyle of their own which means they go out and do stuff without even asking our permission. Just in the last five days for example they have constantly been doing fun stuff. Last Saturday they went for lunch then had a golf lesson. Sunday of course they had to rest and, from what I gather, recover from being a little sore from Saturday's activities. I never quiet get how humans enjoy things that make them feel sore and not just once but repeatedly.

Exactly. Would you believe that they went back to the golf course on Monday to shoot some balls on the driving range? One would think they've learned their lesson, but nooooo! Right back at it they go. Tuesday they decided it was too hot for more golfing and went to the pool instead. Obviously they met some nice people to talk to there because they seemed to take forever to come back home. And today they even did both. Or at least Sue did. She went golfing with some other ladies and after she came back, she and André went to the pool again. We had a really hard time getting her to write this blog for us.

In their defense we have to say though that they are not just all fun and no work, they also do their chores such as taking care of us, doing dishes and bringing out the garbage. André goes shopping and cooks and once in a while Sue cleans up a little and does the laundry. Still I'm wondering if they too are getting used to this new lifestyle. I for one wouldn't mind if we just kept going like this forever. What about you, Trapper?

Oh yeah, bring it on. I could go like this for the rest of my life but I think that's not going to happen. André and Sue are talking about the coming summer and from what I hear, they plan on traveling again. Well, as long as they don't go back to the Trans-Labrador Highway, I guess we can live with that, too.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Jewelry and such

Hi everyone

Once upon a time jewelry used to be for women, or so we've heard. And tattoos were for bad guys in jail or motorcycle gangs. We have to tell you though, this seems no longer to be the case. How do we know? Well here in Florida it is so warm, and we absolutely love it, that just about everybody is dressed in T-shirts and shorts. Many guys also wear tank-shirts and many women spaghetti-strap shirts which expose tattoos. Jewelry is supposed to be seen anyways so it is not hard to spot guys with necklaces, bracelets, rings and even ear-studs. We, too have some necklaces. As a matter of fact we each have two of them since Sue bought us a new one about a month ago.

That's right, we now each have one with a pendant that has our respective names on one and Sue's Canadian phone number on the other side and one with our names and Sue's US phone number both on the same side. If I recall correctly we explained that to you in an earlier blog. The second pendant became necessary because Sue for some reason has a different phone and phone number here in the US. We think it has something to do with roaming although we can't figure out how her phone would wander off. It's a thing not a being and we have never seen it move all by itself. Anyways, it seems to be perfectly normal for guys to wear necklaces, André has one too.

He also has two tattoos, a bracelet and an ear-stud and while tattoos and bracelets seem to be fairly common, he is the only guy we know who has had his ear pierced. It looks good on him though, we have to give him that, and somehow he can carry it off. Sue has had her ears pierced which is common in women but she also has a tattoo, something one doesn't see so often. Would you ever get an ear-ring or a tattoo, Hunter?

Are you nuts?! Why, for crying out loud - literally - would one go through all the pain to get poked with needles? Sometime we can only shake our heads. Besides who would see a tattoo under all our fur? You are not seriously suggesting to first get one and then have to constantly shave our coat for it to be visible? We would look just ridiculous. And we both dislike needles. Let's stick with our necklaces and leave other jewelry and tattoos to the humans.

Agreed, and we are so good-looking that wearing all that stuff would actually take away from our stunning looks. Let's forget about it and go play-fighting for a while and then we should be entitled to some treats for writing this blog.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Sorry

Where Hunter and Trapper have been just a second ago

Ok, we apologize to all the parents who now have to explain to their children that while they are turning one year older each day, they can not have a party and presents every day. As much as we would like to help you with that - you're on your own.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

To be or not to be

Hi everyone

That really is the question here, isn't it? You heard that right, genius here is going philosophical on me. When he realized that a few hours ago a new year has started, he asked me if that meant to be or not to be a year older. I wonder where he go that idea from and so he tried to explain it to me. In his logic 2013 minus the year he was born in equals one more than 2012 minus the year of his birth. So, he concluded, we both just turned a year older. Ooooook or as dear old Shakespeare would say: no, duh! But then Trapper made a very good point and now I am the one wondering if he isn't right - kind of.

Don't take it that hard, Hunter, I know you're good at literature but I'm good at math and logic. So far nobody has explained that specific question to me or finished it for that matter. To be or not to be WHAT? It could be any number of things, right? My math adds up and so I can't be far off except if I accept your reasoning that one turns a year older every 365 or 366 days after ones birthday, depending on whether or not we have a leap year. Then again I say: today I am exactly one year older than on January 1, 2012. So we both are right, are we?

Yeah, I guess we are. Why do humans have to make things so confusing? I for one don't feel any different than what I did yesterday or the day before. I think they just make that stuff up to confuse us and try to make us think they are so much smarter than we are. They have no idea! We, that is you and I Trapper, just found the answer to the question everyone has been asking for over 400 years. The correct answer to "to be or not to be" is "depends on how you look at it".

With that thought (and added wisdom) we wish you all a happy 2013.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

What are we supposed to do now?

Hunter come quickly, we have an emergency!
What's wrong, buddy? Did you hurt yourself?
No, but take a look at what I just read. It's Sue's latest travel blog and she says in there that it is only five days until Christmas!
Oh no! What are we supposed to do now? Are you sure? The weather sure doesn't feel like winter. There is no snow, it's not cold and André and Sue are running around in shorts and t-shirts. No wonder we didn't realize that Christmas is just a few days away. On the other hand this explains the funny little tree on the table. How could we have not picked up on that?!
Do you think Sue could be wrong about that? I mean sometimes she doesn't exactly strike me as the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. She has been wrong in the past and done some pretty dumb things in her days. Maybe Christmas in the US is not at the same time as in Canada. Kind of like their Thanksgiving is later. Maybe there is still time for the snow and cold to come?
Never mind that, Trapper, I'm more worried about the presents. I didn't even start thinking about them!
Presents? You are not going to give them gifts, are you, Hunter? We have never done that before.
No, silly, not giving - getting! I haven't sent my wishlist to Santa yet and now it might be too late. And even if it wouldn't be too late, how would Santa find us down here? I sure hope you are right about their Christmas being later than in Canada so we can make up our wishlists and send Santa a Change-of-address card.
I have an idea: why don't we use e-mail for that? It's supposed to be real quick. Let's go get Sue and type up our mail to Santa right now!

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Hard work for us

Hi everyone

We had a blast traveling around with Alice, André's mom, and to show her what life with cats is all about. Though we are not sure if she is going to adopt one herself, we sure hope she is considering it after her experience with us. I mean, who could resist. After the pleasure of spending time with us anybody just has to turn into a complete cat lover!

True, but Alice says she travels a lot and she does not have a fifth wheel like we do, so having a cat may be impossible for her. She surely would want to take him or her (or maybe she would get more than one in which case it would be "them") along but can you imagine a cat traveling on a bus or a big ship? And not traveling anymore because she wouldn't want to part with her cat seems not to be what she has in mind. At least not at the moment. So I guess we just have to wait and see how she is going to resolve this grave conflict of interest.

André and Sue also enjoyed the time with Alice. They took her to places they had been before and at times they were astonished, how things had changed since they have been there last time. Let's face it: they are getting old! Some of the places we're talking about, they have visited 20 years ago. We don't think many cats even get to live for 20 years and these guys are talking about past trips. Do you think we should be concerned about whom we will be living with in the future, Hunter? André and Sue are as old as Methuselah and who knows how much longer they will make it?

I wouldn't be too concerned, Trapper, they still look pretty fresh to me. But maybe we keep an eye on them, just in case. Meantime we will have to get Sue to get back to work. Boy this is getting harder and harder all the time. Since we have been traveling she seems to think she is retired or something. She is all play and fun but no writing blogs or updating the web site. This has to change - we have followers who expect to read about our adventures and we cannot let them down. Besides, I have heard that in humans being mentally active will keep them younger. So getting Sue back to work may just help with that age concern we have.

Good thinking, Hunter. We could also keep her busy by nagging her for more walks outside, more treats and more attention in general. At least we don't have to worry about André. Sue is keeping him on his toes plenty.

So you see, we have our work cut out for us. Keep your fingers crossed for us and maybe send some requests for our blog. This would help in keeping Sue writing it.

See you around

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Looking for trouble

Hi everyone

In our last blog we told you that we are expecting company from André's mom. She has arrived and is just as nice as we had thought she would be. She even lets us use her bedroom during the day and talks and plays with us. Only at night are we not allowed in her room but that is because André and Sue don't want us to go in there. Anyways, here is a story which happened during preparations for her visit and which I want to tell you: the day before André and Alice arrived, Sue cleaned our fifth wheel, did the laundry and got everything ready for our company. And that day I got myself into a jam I was lucky to get out as quickly as I did.

Yeah, nosy here has to go wherever there is a hole big enough for him to fit. I was wondering how he would get himself out of this one. You see, Sue very seldom uses the couch in the living room but that day she not only opened the drawer underneath it but also sat down on the couch later on to read. This was Trappers good luck. When Sue had opened the drawer he had to get in there of course. Only Sue didn't see him do this and closed the drawer again without giving it a second thought. She had taken out an extra blanket which she would use while Alice would be using her duvet during her stay with us. Sue then took that blanket to the front bedroom and put it into a duvet cover. That's really interesting by the way. We had not known that the couch in the front room can be turned into a bed! It's a pleasant surprise: another place for us to go sleep. But back to the story. Trapper gets under that drawer and when Sue had put the blanket in its cover she returned and closed the drawer not knowing that he was in there.

Exactly, and she wasn't missing me since I make a sport of  frequently disappearing and letting André and Sue look for me. Now I found myself trapped not in the drawer but between the front panel and the actual storage space. There was no way out of there unless Sue would open the drawer for me. And there was no telling when that would be. We had never seen that drawer open in all the time we have been living in our fifth wheel. It could take weeks! So I'm lying there trying to figure a way out of the situation.

And then Trapper got lucky: after finishing with her work Sue did something she seldom does, she sat down on that couch to read her book. All of a sudden I see Trapper pawing at her feet. The gap between the front panel and the floor is just big enough for him to reach under it but by far not big enough to crawl out. Boy Sue sure was on her feet  quick and, realizing what had touched her, she let Trapper out. Who knows how long he would have been trapped in there if Sue had not chosen the couch that day over her usual place.

So you see there never is a dull moment here.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Living THE life

Hi everyone

We have to give it to André and Sue: they learn and they follow instructions pretty well. Well, most of the time anyways. I mean they took their sweet time to take us to our chosen winter destination. After we spent two weeks back in North Bay we had almost given up on our dream of a warm, sunny climate, palm trees and endless beaches but they finally came around and headed south. It was about time, too you know. In North Bay we had to cope with cold and nasty weather and we even saw some snow. No thanks, we've had enough of that in past years.

Yeah, especially now that we live in "Escargot", our fifth wheel. In the house it was not too bad. There we had a good furnace which kept us warm. But here it kind of stayed a bit nippy even when André and Sue turned the heat on. I even had to find something to cover me when I wanted to take a nap. Really not our idea of comfortable retirement. So we were very happy when we finally drove south and the climate improved by the day. This is more like it. We enjoy temperatures in the mid to high 20s and all the new sights. Sue has not taken us out as much as we would like lately but this will hopefully change soon, too. We're working on her.

Trapper is right. Florida is a great place to spend the winter. We can lay by the open window or look out the open door (too bad they always close the screen door, though) and feel as if we were on vacation. The days go by leisurely, we snooze whenever the mood hits, get lots of treats (I think Sue has a bad conscience about not going out with us), we even got a new food which tastes sooooo good. On the campground we are right now there is also another cat. She is roaming free and was very interested when she saw us. Must be a female, they just can't withstand our good looks and charm. So she actually walked towards us but then Sue closed the door and ever since we can only see her (the cat) through the window. Who knows, maybe one of these days we'll get to meet her.

Now we have some more traveling ahead of us and then we will go to our destination for the winter. We are curious to see what it will be like there but first we expect company. André's mom is coming to visit and we will do our best to make her feel welcome. Like visiting her in her bed in the middle of the night, sleeping on her cloths and letting her give us lots of treats so she will feel like a member of the family. Company sounds like a lot of fun! We'll let you know how that turns out.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.