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.

Blame it all on Princess?

Hi everyone

You have to read this! We could not believe what Princess got Sue into the other day. And I believe it was all her fault. If it hadn't been for her, Sue would never have gone on this walk.

I'm not so sure about that, Hunter. After all it was still Sue's decision and she doesn't want to blame any of it on our dog. As a matter of fact, she is quiet proud of how Princess did through the whole thing. So let's see what our fans think of this stupidity. A few days ago André and Sue were at the Grand Canyon and they had Princess with them. They enjoyed the view from the north rim and took a lot of pictures. When the time came to move on to another location and take more pictures there, Sue decided to take Princess on a 2-mile walk along a trail and meet up with André at the other end. So off they went, not really having prepared for this adventure. They had no water, no emergency gear, nothing but Sue's cell phone (which of course had no reception, duh!), thinking it would take them probably no more than an hour or a little more to get there. Americans are not exactly known for their love of walking so the trail couldn't possibly be that bad, could it?

That's what they thought anyways. It was supposed to go downhill and they've walked further than two miles many times before. The trail started out just as they had expected, no big deal, more or less level. Then they came to a steep decline. This made sense since the end of it was at a lower elevation and Sue estimated, that by now there was only about a mile left to go. Somewhere the decent had to come. It was really steep though, they almost had to sit on their backsides and slide down at times. When they arrived at the bottom, they could hear the road going by only meters from where they were. The trail then climbed up again and rounded a corner away from the road. Sue and Princess kept walking and came to some great view points were Sue took pictures. Then they kept going, around another corner, downhill and up again and further and further.

By now Sue was starting to think that something wasn't right here. Maybe they've taken the wrong trail but she estimated that they had long passed the two-mile mark and still no road was to be seen or heard. She figured that a decision had to be made: move on and see if the trail-head was around the next turn or turn around and go back to where they've come from. It would be a long walk back, they had been under way for close to two hours by now. But if they kept going every step they took now would add to the return trip if the road could not be found soon. Although Sue didn't exactly cherish the idea of walking all the way back and Princess was tired and thirsty, Sue made the call to turn around. So they started walking again, both of them tired and knowing that by now André would be worried about them. But what choice did they have?

When they came to the same gully where they had heard the road go by close, Sue looked up the embankment trying to figure out if they could make it up there. They tried one spot but could not get good footing. It was simply too steep. So back to the trail it was but after climbing up a small portion of it Sue had to use her hands to help her climbing and Princess almost didn't make it either. Sue once again looked at the embankment across the gully and saw that the road was only about 75 feet / 22 meters up from the trail. "Let's try this again" she said to Princess and went back down. They chose another spot and started climbing up towards the road. It was so steep that Sue had to help Princess by pushing her up in front of her. Princess could not find footing in the loose soil and Sue only managed by hanging on to small trees, roots and a big dead tree that had fallen down the embankment.

After finally reaching the road Sue flagged down the first car that came along. It was a small two-seater and they couldn't give her and Princess a ride. But the driver promised to continue to the top of the road and find someone with a bigger car to pick them up and drive them to the trail-head where André was waiting. He gave Sue a bottle of water, too, which she drank about half of and offered the rest to Princess in her baseball cap. After that the two got help from other people. First the driver came back (alone) to take them to the view point. There someone else tried to call André but André's phone had no reception and so he didn't answer. Finally a park worker who had come to collect garbage gave Sue and Princess a ride to the trail-head. Turns out the trail is actually 3 miles long (as opposed to the 2 miles the sign said it was) and they had been very close to the trail-head when Sue decided to turn around. André had been worried and had driven forth and back between the trail-head and the view point, thinking that maybe they had turned around for some reason. He was just about to make another trip to the view point when the worker dropped Sue and Princess off.

Thank goodness all ended well. André, Sue and Princess were reunited and made their way home, glad that everybody was ok. So now what do you think? Was this Princess' fault or not? Should we be concerned when Sue takes our dog some place or can we trust in Princess to take care of Sue?

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.

Our dog turns out ok

Hi everyone

We have to tell you, after having had Princess for about 20 weeks it turns out our dog is not half bad. I mean we put all our trust in André and Sue when they picked her out at the shelter but they did a good job choosing our new pet. Princess doesn't bother us a lot and we kind of got the rules laid down by now.

True, she still tries to play with Trapper here but she makes sure not to hurt him. When she jumps on him for example, she makes sure her paws land on either side of him and not on Trapper himself. He only gets scared a bit when she tries to grab on to one of his paws and pull him off the couch. Yeah, she is gentle when she gets a treat from André or Sue and so far she's never bitten Trapper, at least he's never screamed. But he does not like it a bit when she tries to get a hold of him by grabbing on to him.

Well, how would you feel if she would tray to drag you off the couch? I bet you would hiss and growl at her to let go. As a matter of fact you do that anyways to keep her at a distance. Then again Sue caught you on camera laying there on the floor next to her and all was well. No fighting or anything. Admit it, you are curious about her as much as I am. I've seen you sneak up to her and sniff her and you walk by her as if you two had known each other for a long time and settled into some kind of relationship.

Yeah, you got me there. I don't like to admit it and hiss and growl at her when André and Sue are watching but when they're not, I get along with Princess ok. It's not that she does much for us. I mean she's not serving us or something and she gets to go out with André and Sue a lot. It's is a mixed bag with her really. On one side she takes up space in our fifth wheel and she gets to go places with André and Sue all the time. They have gone out for hours or even days at a time a lot lately and she always got to go along while we had to stay home. On the other hand who wants to drive around in the car just to see stuff? Not me! I actually prefer to stay here and snooze away and I know you do, too. Princess going with André and Sue means that we have the fifth wheel to ourselves and can do whatever we want.

Right. And you just said it: André and Sue are going out all the time lately and we used to be a little concerned about them. What if they didn't find their way back home or something happened to them? Who would take care of us? From what we hear Princess has become somewhat protective of them. Now we have to worry a little less. She's gotten into the habit of trying to chase big animals away when they come too close to André and Sue. Just yesterday for example she barked furiously at some wild buffaloes in Yellowstone National Park. They came to within a few feet of the two and Princess decided this was close enough and tried to chase them away. Not bad if you consider how big those beast are! So even if she doesn't do anything for us directly, she at least tries to make sure our servants are save. That's one of the benefits of having a dog and we are pleased that we didn't get her for nothing. Now if only she would learn to take our food dish and drop it in front of André or Sue to make them fill it like she does with her own, that would be a nice touch.

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.

Grooming by Sue?

Hi everyone

We have to file an official complaint against Sue today. Really, what she did to Hunter is unacceptable.

Yes, it is really bad and I don't know what has gotten into her. Just look at the picture. This is our proof of the abuse I had to suffer. First she left us for almost 2 weeks and flew to Switzerland on a joy-trip. Not that we had a bad time. We were on the road from Chicago to Delburne Alberta with André and if it wasn't for the fact that we usually lay under the couch while driving, we would have seen a lot. André also took very good care of us and Princess was kind of nice, too. As a matter of fact Sue thought that our relationship with the dog had improved quiet a bit by the time she finally returned.

So André was doing a lot of driving and it isn't surprising that at the end of those days he was tired. And while he looked after us very well he didn't have the time to comb us every day. This led to Hunter here having a big knot in his fur right at the neck. Probably from wearing his necklace. Anyways, Sue found that knot and quickly decided there was no way of combing it out, she had to take the scissors to it.

She did so, leaving me with a huge bold spot on my neck! I can't go out looking like this, it's hideous. And I am kind of concerned that I might get a sunburn on the exposed skin if I lay in the window or outside for too long. How could she have done that to me? At the same time Princess got the royal treatment at the doggy spa at Petsmart in Red Deer. Bath, manicure, ears cleaned and some trimming of fur.

Yeah, and she got all this done by a professional groomer! Now that is a double standard right there. We get disfigured by Sue and Princess gets spoiled at the spa. At least Sue took us out for almost an hour today probably to make up for her behavior. But she better watches out. If she keeps doing this kind of thing to us, we just might decide to pack up our stuff and leave! Seriously!

Now, slow down a bit, Trapper. It was me getting disfigured so I should decide on what to do about this. And threatening to leave might not be the best way to deal with the situation because it would mean that we have to walk all the way back to Ontario and I'm not sure I want to do that. It would be a long walk with no certainty of food, water or shelter. I'm pretty sure that we would arrive with pretty sore paws, too, if we manage to get there in the first place. So some different action may be required here. Let's think this through and not jump the gun - it might backfire!

If you say so, pal. But she better not do something like this to me or ...

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.

Take two

Hi everyone

Yep, it is official: we are back on the roads for another season of traveling. For some time there we had hoped this would be over but André and Sue are determined to go see the West coast. So here we go again with all the shaking and rocking in the fifth wheel while they travel comfortably in the truck. And if that wasn’t enough, Princess the dog gets to enjoy the ride in the car as well. We are the only ones who have to put up with all the being tossed around when we hit a rough spot in the road.

It’s just not fair! On the other hand we have the whole space to ourselves and don’t depend on André and Sue for letting us go to the bathroom or having a drink or a snack. We don’t know how that works for Princess but we are pretty sure that she has much less room and has to put a cork in it until they let her out to relieve herself. And in André and Sue’s defense we have to say that so far they’ve chosen better roads than last year. That trip across Labrador was murder and we sure hope they will never do something as stupid ever again. We were both lucky to get through this without concussions and broken bones.

Maybe it will help a little that Sue stayed with us in the fifth wheel the other day when it was moved around the lot of Sicard RVs in Smithville where they had some warranty work done on it. She got to experience first had what it is like to be in here when the thing is moving and from the look on her face she had not expected all the moving and noises. Let’s just hope, that she will keep that experience in mind when they choose the roads they want to travel in the future.

I sure hope so, too. After all we are looking at yet another several thousand kilometers this summer alone and who knows what they will come up with after that. I mean traveling is nice and we get to see a lot of new places and all but there is something to be said for the comforts of a steady home as well. Until we (maybe) will have one of those again, we just have to make the best of the situation. We will also tell you about our 2013 adventures. So check in with us, with all the kilometers on the road will come more blogs again, 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.

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.