Petunia rambles on and on….

We’re getting near the end of the season for eating outdoors, so we took advantage of a beautiful day and headed to our favorite restaurant! JP’s in Bowers Beach!! Been going there for damn near 30 years, and I’ve never been disappointed with a meal. There is indoor dining, and a large deck and bar out back, right on the inlet. The view is gorgeous, and I love the smell of the salt water. I was raised within walking distance of the ocean, 2 different rivers, several creeks, lots of lagoons. So a visit to Bowers is like a visit home without having to deal with Jersey traffic!!

We got down there early – we had 11am appointments for our annual flu shots, which was a quick “in-and-out” visit, and we were in Bowers before the noon opening time. With the beach a 5-minute walk away, we headed down there, and took a nice walk north on the white sand. The tide was coming in, the water looked inviting, but I did not jump in (though I have been known to do that, after a few beers!).

Saw this blooming on our walk to the beach, and thought that the flag in the background would make a nice shot.

This is the view from our table. We’ve already gotten our cold beers, and waiting for lunch to arrive. What a wonderful view!

The restaurant will be open until about Thanksgiving, then they close for the season. Outside dining will be “weather permitting,” and indoor dining does provide large windows opening out to this view!

About 6 years ago, we were dealing with the loss of our beloved dog, Sophie, a beautiful, well-behaved black Standard Poodle. She lived a long life, healthy until near the end. Unfortunately, dogs don’t live as long as their human servants, and although we had dealt with this issue before, many times, it never gets easier. Each time, it rips your heart out. When we both agreed that it was time, Sophie took the last trip to the veterinarian, and peacefully went over the Rainbow Bridge.

We both said that this was the last time we would intentionally put ourselves though this pain/loss. We said this several times, to ourselves, and to each other. We were in agreement.

That lasted about 6 months, until we noticed that each one of us was looking at puppy pictures on the internet. When we realized that both of us were agreed that we missed having a dog in the house, we started openly talking about what we should do. The point I brought up was against getting another Poodle. As much as I loved the breed, I had to admit that poodles are expensive to maintain. All dogs, any breed, will have costs: food, vet bills, medication expenses, kennel bills as needed, on and on. That’s normal and reasonably expected. But poodles require haircuts – they don’t have to have ultra-fancy styles, like you see in dog shows, but still, if you haven’t got the skill to do it yourself, you have to take them to a groomer and pay a good price to have it done. Every 6-8 weeks. As long as the dog lives. They are expensive dames. When I was paying $12 to get my own hair cut, I was paying $75 for Sophie to be bathed, dried, combed out and cut, manicure/pedicure. The cost has to be considered. When I was still working, it was affordable, but I was very close to my expected retirement, and really didn’t want to carry these high costs over into a reduced income. And I had to admit that I missed having a DOG, not necessarily a Poodle.

So we continued our internet searches, looking at rescues. And one day, we found a picture of one poor little female puppy that looked so sad, looked like she really needed someone to love her. The info provided said she was part-Lab, and we were okay with that. We were used to large breeds. I had loved several Standard Poodles, and had raised Airedales – large terriers. So I contacted the lovely lady that ran the rescue, filled out the necessary application, and about 10 days later, I picked up the wee puppy. We bought a kennel/cage, a lovely dog bed (actually 2 beds, as she ate the first one), bags of food, doggie biscuits, toys.

She is a brindle color, a mixture of black and brown hair. And the little bit of white on her paws, chest, nose and chin looked so cute. We named her Cinnamon. It took both of us about 12 minutes to fall in love with her. As we were both still working, she stayed in the kennel during the day when we were gone, and again at night. She was quickly house-trained, and then, being poor puppy-parents, we brought her up onto our bed!! Cuddle-pup, missing litter-mates, she snuggled right in between us.

She helped us get over the pain of losing Sophie. She was content here and normal life resumed. The dog thrived, was cared for, grew, was loved and well-fed.

Uh, very well-fed!

And she grew!!

That is our 95-pound bed-mate!!

He had to have a new truck, to pull the travel trailer he wanted to have. I didn’t know all this at the time – I thought he was just upgrading his current vehicle, and once that arrived in the driveway, I thought we were done with “major expenditures.” Once again, I was wrong, and not for the first time! He always has a plan in the back of his mind, and it arrives in little drips, like a melting icicle. And then the next purchase arrived.

It is necessary to inspect every little gadget, thinking “What’s this do?” “What can I put in here?” or “Am I ever gonna need/use this thing?” Then comes “And we’re gonna need………” followed by a long list of stuff.

This was taken at the Enfield KOA near Rocky Mount, NC, about halfway between home and where daughter lived, mileage-wise. Lovely spot to stay overnight, all the sites were pull-throughs, so it was quick and easy to get in and out again in the morning: also very close to I-95!. Staff was very helpful. We immediately decided we’d stay in the same place on the way home.

This where we were heading on this first trip out with the new trailer!