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“Get off your butt, move your mutt” …and join this blog hop! Join Pets Move to help track your progress!
Cello and I are joining the Resolve to Move Your Mutt Blog Hop hosted by Slim Doggy and Keep the Tail Wagging.
Cello and I resolve to get up, get out, and get moving each and every day (even on dreary days)!
No more napping!
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Rescue mission #2… 4 dogs in Kentucky in awful situations…
This past Saturday Brian and I took another road trip to pick up one of 4 German Shorthaired Pointers found abandoned in Kentucky.
The first, and eldest, “Eve” (Christmas Eve). Eve was found wandering, and thought to be a discarded puppy-mill dog. It was very obvious that she had been bred over and over again. Another volunteer from the GSP Rescue of NJ, Ally, kindly adopted this loving senior (assumed to be about 9 years old).
“The Three Reindeer”, “Prancer, Vixen, and Blitzen” , are three 1 year old litter mates, also abandoned in Kentucky. They were transported as well. Prancer and Vixen were picked up and being fostered by two other rescue volunteers, and we picked up Blitzen to foster.
Prancer has already been matched up with an approved adopter, has been renamed Belle, and will be moving into her new forever home!
Vixen is at her foster home and awaiting a forever home.
Blitzen (now referred to as Whiskey) came home with us, and will stay with us until tomorrow morning, when I will drive him to another volunteer’s home to be fostered closer to where the approved potential adopters they have for him reside. This will make it easier for meet-and-greets to be sure that Whiskey is matched up with the right family.
Whiskey has been such a joy to foster these few days. Despite his past, he is an affectionate boy who enjoys to give and receive love! He is just adorable!
Here are the “Three Reindeer” at our pick-up spot:
Here is Whiskey:
Both Vixen and Whiskey need some basic training, but are two beautiful and affectionate German Shorthaired Pointers. They are now in their foster homes, and up for adoption through the GSP Rescue of NJ. Pray that these wonderful dogs find their forever homes quickly!!
Thinking of a GSP? Think rescue! The National GSP Rescue lists regional GSP rescue groups across the United States and Canada. If you are interested in adoption, volunteering, or would like information on how to surrender your dog to rescue (Please do not surrender GSPs to a shelter or abandon them!!!!), please contact the group that covers your state or region. If there is no contact listed for your state, you can email the National GSP Rescue at rescue@gspca.org .
A GSP rescue will help match you up with the perfect GSP for your family!
UPDATE: ALL DOGS IN THIS POST HAVE BEEN ADOPTED!! YAY!
Cello is joining the Sepia Saturday Blog Hop hosted by Ruckus the Eskie!
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German Shorthaired Pointers are often discarded, given up, abandoned, and returned due to their high energy level and strong hunting drive. Some are discarded by hunters because they won’t hunt, or they may be “gun-shy.” We have fallen in love with this sometimes misunderstood breed. ..So…Cello, Brian, and I have been volunteering for the GSP Rescue of NJ. We have made phone calls to vets for background checks and references, visited GSPs in shelters to evaluate them and offer the help of the GSP rescue, called potential adopters for initial screening, and to go over their application, and have done home inspections for potential adopters. Cello has even volunteered as a donation dog, wearing a donation vest and “working the crowd” with her cuteness at events such as the Ocean County Gunning and Decoy Show in Tuckerton, NJ. We recently decided we could help out a bit more…so we signed up to pick up and/or transport GSPs to their foster homes, and to foster a dog if needed. This past weekend, we were able to help two GSPs who were on the “urgent” list in Kentucky …they were scheduled to be euthanized. Here is the story of the rescue of Penny and Perry…
Meet Penny and Perry…
About two weeks ago, A regional GSP rescue group in the Kentucky area contacted the GSP Rescue of NJ about Penny and Perry because the rescue’s foster homes were full, and they would not have been able to save Penny and Perry from a kill shelter in Kentucky. Penny and Perry were found roaming in Perryville Battlefield State Park, in Perryville, Kentucky.
Penny and Perry were brought to a kill-shelter, and held for the required amount of days to see if their owners would come forward. No one claimed them after the hold-period was over, and they were placed on the euthanization list. We received an email from the GSP Rescue of NJ to see if anyone could foster these two sweethearts, or to help pick them up from transport. Two members quickly offered to foster. When I had seen the email, no one had responded to do the pick up and transporting, so Brian and I volunteered to do this. Just after the regional GSP Rescue group in the Kentucky area contacted the GSP Rescue of NJ, a woman in Kentucky came in to the shelter and adopted both Perry and Penny.
…But not even two days later, the woman returned Penny and Perry to the kill shelter because they were “too hyper.” The regional GSP rescue in the Kentucky area got back in touch with the GSP Rescue of NJ, and foster homes in NJ and pick-up and transport was again set.
Early this past Saturday morning, Brian and I took an 1hr and 45 minute road trip to pick Penny and Perry up from their Kentucky transport. I cried as soon as I saw them – – both were skin and bones, and severely dehydrated..but as Brian brought each one out of their crate to put a slip-lead on them, each dog stood up on their hind legs, put their front paws up to Brian’s chest, and kissed Brian with appreciation. These two dogs were so sweet loving!! It was heart-wrenching to me that no one claimed them in the first place, that they were returned to a kill-shelter by someone who didn’t understand the breed – -and that these two loving dogs were close to being euthanized!
Brian and I had no crates to transport them with , so I rode in the back of our truck with Penny and Perry…for an hour and 45 minutes, these dogs smothered me in love and puppy kisses. Here are some pictures from the ride home… and then when Perry got to our house.
We arrived back to our house with Penny and Perry, and walked them around the yard and provided plenty of water for them both. Penny’s foster family picked her up right away (I bawled my eyes out, as I had already became attached to these two wonderful dogs!!) Perry’s foster parents could not pick him up until Sunday, so Cello was going to have her first sleep-over!
We bathed Perry, gave him plenty of access to water, and fed him. Although extremely affectionate, Perry knew no basic commands, and did not have leash or house manners. Brian took Perry out on the street in front of our house, and I brought Cello out to meet Perry… both Cello and Perry were very happy to see each other! We walked them together down the street, and then back to our yard. When we were back inside our fenced-in yard, we let Cello off her leash…but Perry had already tried to leap our fence while on his leash, so we were unable to let him wander the yard off-lead. Luckily we had beautiful weather and were able to spend the day and most of the night outdoors. (Perry was not house trained, and had a bad case of diarrhea!) While outside, Perry saw other dogs, people, bikes, and cars go by our yard, and he did not once bark – he was such a good boy!! My aunt and uncle came to visit, and Perry greeted them gently, without jumping, barking, or being rough. Perry’s tail did not stop wagging from the time we picked him up from transport, until we saw him leave with his foster family!!
Perry
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Perry finally settled down and took a nap out by the lake!
When we came inside, Perry got a visit from my mom, who brought him over some nice treats to enjoy.
Perry immediately became attached to Brian – and became upset if Brian was out of his sight. …So Brain loaded up a crate with nice soft fluffy quilts and blankets, and put the crate right in front of our couch. Brian slept on the couch so that Perry would not be upset or alone. Perry did very well throughout the night. He was very content sleeping next to Brian, and whimpered each time he was about to have an accident (Brian ran him outside about 6 times that night due to his loose bowl movements). Overall, Perry did great!
In the above picture, check out the bottom quilt…my mom had given us some quilts and blankets she was going to get rid of so that we had some bedding for Perry. One of the quilts she gave us was mine as a kid (and has to be over 35 years old at this point!!) It’s a Life Savers candy quilt… but how cool/coincidental is that?!?!… LIFE SAVERS, and we are using it to help this GSP who would have lost his life if it wasn’t for the volunteers at several GSP rescues! I thought the Life Savers quilt was just too cool!
Cello was a polite hostess, and Perry was a great house guest. Perry’s foster family came to pick him up Sunday morning (more tears and sobbing on my part…!)
Both Penny and Perry need some basic training, but are two beautiful and affectionate German Shorthaired Pointers, and are now in their foster homes and up for adoption through the GSP Rescue of NJ. Penny has been renamed Casey by her foster family, and Perry is now referred to as Chester (short for Winchester) by his foster family. Pray that these wonderful dogs find their forever homes quickly!!
Thinking of a GSP? Think rescue! The National GSP Rescue lists regional GSP rescue groups across the United States and Canada. If you are interested in adoption, volunteering, or would like information on how to surrender your dog to rescue (Please do not surrender GSPs to a shelter or abandon them!!!!), please contact the group that covers your state or region. If there is no contact listed for your state, you can email the National GSP Rescue at rescue@gspca.org .
A GSP rescue will help match you up with the perfect GSP for your family!
UPDATE: BOTH PENNY AND PERRY HAVE BEEN ADOPTED!! YAY!
UPDATE ON “PERRY” (NOW CHESTER) on 02/20/2014: Here are some pictures of a very happy and healthy Chester at his forever home sent to me by his loving family!
Cello’s Canine Candy Canes
INGREDIENTS:
INSTRUCTIONS:
NOTES:
Garbanzo bean flour: Although a great alternative to grain-based flour, this flour is SUPER sticky and can be difficult to work with. Keep adding flour until dough is at a consistency you are comfortable working with. Allowing the dough to cool in freezer will help with handling this sticky dough.
Broth/Stock: No matter which stock you choose (Chicken, Beef, or Vegetable), be sure to check that it does NOT contain any form of onion, or onion powder
Food Coloring: rather than use artificial coloring, I chose an all-natural vegetable base coloring made from beet juice (India Tree brand vegetable colorants). Beet powder is also another great alternative to artificial coloring.
Yield: will depend on how long/thick you make each “worm” when you are twisting the candy canes. My batch made 15 candy canes.
Storing: Remember, these treats do not have any preservatives, so they will need to be refrigerated, or frozen for use at a later time. These canine candy canes will keep fresh for approximately two weeks in the refrigerator, or for about 6 months in the freezer.
JUST A DOG
From time to time, people tell me, “lighten up, it’s just a dog,” or “that’s a lot of money for just a dog.” They don’t understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for “just a dog.”
Some of my proudest moments have come about with “just a dog.” Many hours have passed and my only company was “just a dog,” but I did not once feel slighted.
Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by “just a dog,” and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of “just a dog” gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.
If you, too, think it’s “just a dog,” then you will probably understand phrases like “just a friend,” “just a sunrise,” or “just a promise.”
“Just a dog” brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure and unbridled joy.
“Just a dog” brings out the compassion and patience that makes me a better person.
Because of “just a dog,” I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future. So for me and folks like me, it’s not “just a dog” but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment.
I hope that someday they can understand that it’s not “just a dog,” but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being “just a woman.” So the next time you hear the phrase “just a dog,” just smile–because they “just don’t understand.”
~Author Unknown
I have a Smart-Board in my classroom. The projected background photo is always the latest-and-greatest adventure of Cello. The students enjoy watching for the picture to change, and always ask about Cello and her great adventures. After one of Cello’s dock diving events, I had set a picture of her jumping off the dock as my background photo. The kids were so intrigued with the idea of Dock Diving, the topic became a part of our daily conversations before and after class…so when it came time to teach the skill of creating and interpreting a line graph, I thought, “Why not incorporate something they are really interested in into the lesson for Line Graphs?”
During the lessons of line graphs, we talked about Cello and her dock diving, and watched videos of her jumping. The kids could not get enough! We created a huge line graph on our bulletin board, and the students learned to graph points as they recorded Cello’s dock diving results from her past 3 events on our big bulletin board line graph. To show the students just how long she was jumping, we used a measuring tape, and measured from one end of the classroom to the length of her longest personal-best jump to date ( 22′ 7″ ). The students were shocked, and then became very curious how far they could jump…hmmm…good idea!
The students made predictions about their jumps, then we took a trip outside to the track next Math period. We measured 40 feet of running space (the same distance Cello has to gather up her speed on the dock) to the sand pit area of the long-jump. Our principal came outside with us to be the official judge of the students’ jumping distances. The students ran as fast as they could for 40 feet, then jumped with all their might into the sand pit. We had so much fun that day! I recorded all the jumps of the students, and took pictures of them jumping, as the principal called out their scores. The next day we took their jumping results and made computer-generated line graphs using Microsoft Excel, displaying the student’s jump distances. They students were able to personalize them with color and background pictures of themselves.
After the computerized line graphs were complete, I held an Awards Ceremony in class. The principal called the names of the students, and shook each student’s hand as he presented them with participation certificates, and pinned them with 1st, 2nd 3rd, and so-on ribbons as well. We had ceremonial music playing in the background, thanks to my friend and co-worker, Grace, who pulled up the Graduation Song on her iPad! The students were so excited about their awards, and were glowing with pride as everyone clapped for each student as they received their ribbon! We took lots of pictures of both the students jumping, as well as the ceremony, and added them to our Line Graph Bulletin Board.
After all was said and done, one of the classes asked if I could bring Cello in to school so they could meet her. I shrugged-off the idea, and told them it was not possible…but they weren’t convinced. They took it upon themselves to go to the principal during their lunch period, and asked for permission…and he was so impressed with the effort they had put into the lesson, that he granted it! They came to class after lunch that day screaming with excitement about the principal saying “YES!” I sent permission slips home to parents, and Cello’s first day at school was planned!
Today, Brian followed me to school with Cello in his car, and when the students arrived to school, they met me at my class to go as a group to to meet Cello! The students got to spend about 20 minutes getting to know Cello, and asking questions. They gave Cello treats, made her do her “tricks,” and gave her lots of hugs and pets. In return, the students got lots of puppy kisses and tail wagging from Cello!
The principal also made a “deal” with the students of my math class… if they meet their homework goal, Cello will be permitted to attend their math class for one period as a “guest-student” as they do their class-work!
Here is Cello this morning waiting by the door with her school bag, ready for her first day of school!
I have so many wonderful pictures of the students engaged in this lesson, the bulletin board, students jumping, student generated line graphs, and the meet-and-greet, but am unable to post them due to the students visibility in the photos. You’ll have to trust me on this one- – it was a fun lesson that students could not get enough of…and so cool to have Cello at school with me!
Just a few days ago, on Thanksgiving, I began a running challenge that I accepted from fellow WordPress blogger and Delmarva Dock Dogs dock diving friend, Annie. This challenge is Holiday Streak! I really needed something like this to get myself up and moving again!
Around the same time I accepted this challenge, I came across a really cool pin on Pinterest… It was about a site called PetsMove.org. This site encourages people and their dogs – of all ages and fitness levels – to get out and get moving. Their motto is “Get off your butt, workout with your mutt!” (Love it!) The site offers goals, prizes and and a supporting member community. The site is free, has no intense or intimidating guidelines, and is really neat! I decided I would register myself and Cello to help record our Holiday Streak efforts. I also submitted Cello’s picture and bio to be considered for a spot in their Featured Dogs slide show. I just found out Cello made the slide show!
Check Cello’s full bio out at http://petsmove.org/slide/cello/ …then register yourself and your dog, and “Get off your butt, workout with your mutt!”
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Cello is also featured on PetsMove.org’s Facebook page!
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Cello visited Santa Claus in North East, MD ! …She’s on the Nice List… are you?!?
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Cello is mailing a letter to Santa 😉
We had never been to this park when we camped at Elk Neck State Park in the past, so we decided to explore! North East Community Park is a waterfront park – it has a walking path along the water, dock, playground, covered pavilions for rent, picnic tables and restrooms.
North East Beach is located within Elk Neck State Park. Dogs are allowed on the beach on the “off-season.” Cello loves to run in the sand and had a blast chasing her ball!
Playing ball on North East Beach!
Only a short out-and-back walk in Elk Neck State Park will get you to Turkey Point Lighthouse. Once at the lighthouse, there is an amazing view!
Turkey Point Lighthouse in Elk Neck State Park, MD
We camped in Elk Neck State Park in North East, MD for Thanksgiving with our friends, Brandi and Stan. Cello and I kicked off the day with our first mile of the Holiday Streak Challenge! (Thanks Annie for getting us motivated and moving!) …then Brian deep-fried the turkey….YUM! We had a great trip – lots of fun, and lots to be thankful for!
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Deep fried turkey…Delicious!
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What an awesome sunset!
Cello has had recurring ear infections lately. It was suggested to us to try her on a grain-free diet for 30 days to see if her ear problem ceases. Her dog food is of very high quality, and is already grain free. However, all of the treats I was making her had whole-wheat flour as an ingredient …so – this is the first grain-free treat to be made in Cello’s Cucina!
We are going to go camping for Thanksgiving, so I decided to make these treats to bring on the trip for Cello… I chose Fall cookie cutters…a turkey, 2 different shaped leaves, an acorn, and a Squirrel (Cello’s favorite!)
Fall cookie cutters
Cello is licking her lips waiting for her treats to be done! 
INGREDIENTS:
DIRECTIONS:
1. preheat oven to 300 degrees F
2. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients until completely combined
3. The dough will be very sticky – so generously flour everything – including your hands. Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness.
Use cookie cutters of your choice to cut out the cookies.
4. Place cookies on a parchment paper-lined cookie tray, and bake the cookies for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. The cookies will
come out a pretty pumpkiny-brown! Let cool on a wire rack for soft treats, or turn oven off and let treats sit in oven for 1-2 hours or more if you want crunchier treats. I baked mine at night, so I just shut the oven off and left treats to cool overnight. In the morning I put some in the refrigerator, and some in the freezer to take on our camping trip.
Cookies can be stored in an air tight container in refrigerator for approximately 2 weeks – or in the freezer if you would like them to last a bit longer, or if you wanted to save them for a later date.
NOTE: have lots of extra garbanzo bean flour – the dough is REALLY sticky…so you will need to add flour to the dough, the cookie cutters, the roller, and the work surface (I used a glass cutting board – which worked the best with this sticky dough)
Made with healthy real pumpkin, these biscotti are yummy!
INGREDIENTS:
**egg whites (SEE NOTE BELOW)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, stir the pumpkin, honey, water, oil, egg, and vanilla
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and cinnamon
4. Using a mixer, slowly combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, a little at a time
5. Knead the dough with your hand in the bowl until the dough forms a ball, and divide in to two equal parts
6. On a cookie tray sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, form each ball of dough in to a slightly rounded rectangle, about one
inch thick
7. Place loaves about 2 inches apart, and back for 35 minutes
10. Leave loaves on cookie tray, and place tray on a wire rack to let cool for 30 minutes. At the same time, LOWER the oven
temperature to 300 degrees F
11. Place the loaves on a cutting board, and slice into 1/2 inch slices
12. Place the slices, cut side down, back onto the cookie sheet
13. bake for 20 minutes. Turn slices over, and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until hard and crunchy
14. Let the biscotti cool on a wire rack until cooled completely.
Yield: Depending on how thick you cut the slices, you should yield about a dozen biscotti from each loaf.
Note: (OPTIONAL): using a pastry brush, apply an egg white-wash to loaves before baking the first time. This step will not change the taste of the biscotti, but it will take away any trace of flour, and give the biscotti a slight “shine.”
The kitchen has been the longest-running project. We built the cabinets all by hand – with no plans to follow, and no idea what we were doing! We get complements on them constantly – they really came out great – and fit right in with our cabin!
The kitchen is mostly completed as of today (11/16/2013)…but we still need to complete the ceiling (we are going to do a tin ceiling), get hardware for the cabinets, and complete the chinking on 3 walls of the kitchen and adjoining pantry.
The kitchen when we originally looked at the house…
The kitchen during the demolition…
Building the cabinets
…and the kitchen as of 11/16/13
Copper farm sink…Brian’s pick!
Other end of the kitchen
Adjoining pantry/laundry room (still needing the chinking in between the logs down as well as the ceiling)
2019
Chinking (white stuff!) getting done in the kitchen:
2018: The “tin” ceiling going up!
2019
One of the walls in our kitchen was nothing but rotted logs (from old roof leakage) and a very tiny window. We had the logs on hand, but hadn’t gotten around to replacing the wall. Friends of ours called us one morning to tell us they were removing a large window from their home to replace with a larger window, and that they thought we may be able to use it…well, it was a perfect size, and we dropped what we were doing that day, and ripped out the wall and old window!
Rotted logs and old window removed
New window in and trimmed, and new logs installed…just need to stain the logs, and chink in between logs
2019: Farm table and chinking/trim complete
More paneling on walls and ceiling to rip out… this room was a “treat”…we discovered to bats behind the paneling while ripping it out…quite the experience – and something I will NEVER forget!
The bar before…
Bye Bye paneling….!
Bats…YIKES! Brian brought them safely out of our house!
With the paneling gone, it’s on to stripping the bark off the logs, sanding them down, staining the logs, securing loose wires, repairing the chinking, and painting the chinking!
The exposed ceiling in the bar…
The bar after all the staining and painting…
We love wood carvings! Have you ever seen someone carve a tree stump with chain saw into a work of art? If not – it’s a must-see! These people are really talented! Here are some of our cabin “residents”….
This one was a gift…he greets people at our front door
Brian surprised me with this one for Christmas one year!
This guy awaits visitors as they make their way to our lake
This was the first carving we ever bought. This bear keeps us company in the lodge room.
Brian gave me this one for our 2013 Anniversary gift. This bear watches over Cello and Loki’s water and food bowls. You can see behind the bear that part of our kitchen wall is not yet completed with the white chinking…
This little guy can be seen “climbing” up a tree in our front yard
Brian came home from Home Depot one day and said he had bought me a surprise…a wood burning tool that was on clearance… he thought maybe I could do some burnings on some of the logs in the house. …With great fear of sparking a flame on such “seasoned” wood, I gave it a try anyway. The result was a pleasant surprise! The burnings looked really cool! I think the burnings make for nice, subtle details that are discovered sometimes by accident by visitors to our cabin.
Goose in the kitchen
Bass in lodge room
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Indian by stairway
Bass in the making…
Turtle in the Lodge Room
Made with real pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling!)…pumpkin is known to have several health benefits for dogs!
Picture from dogtreatkitchen.com
Doughnut Ingredients:
Glaze Ingredients: (Optional)
Doughnut Instructions:
Glaze Instructions:
Storing – Baked doughnuts, like these pumpkin dog treat donuts, will be good in the refrigerator for about one month. Keep them fresh in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Yield – Using a mini donut pan, you’ll have 3 dozen little pumpkin doughnuts.
Warm cinnamon and pumpkin dog treat donuts make a sweet smell. Reward your sweetie with a batch of glazed or plain doughnuts that will satisfy a sweet tooth, and be healthy, too.
November 2013
Cello was participating in a dock diving contest in Easton, and Holiday Park was the closest campground to Easton. We had been here before (our first camping trip with our travel trailer almost a year ago) and enjoyed the campground, our view, and the location (close to St. Michaels, Easton, and Annapolis). Friends Brandi, Stan, their daughter, Payton, and their dog Guinness joined us for this trip. Cello won her first 1st place medal while dock diving, and for the first time won 1st place overall in the Masters Division of her dock diving contest!
Our campsite
View from our campsite
The “champion” on our campsite 🙂
October 2013
…Lake in Wood Resort…Probably the coolest campground we’ve been to yet! Also one of thee prettiest, and well-kept campgrounds! This campground also had wood carvings and totem poles everywhere! In addition, the “cabins” you could rent were not cabins at all – – they were a double-decker bus, tee-pee, caboose, etc! Cello rates this one 5 paws!
We had lots of company on this trip! Friends Brandi, Stan, their daughter, Payton, and dog, Guinness (they just bought a travel trailer and this was their very first trip with it!!) , Aunt Joyce and Uncle Johnny, and friends Chris and Cindy with their dog, and Cello’s boyfriend, Memphis!
Our campsite
Some of the totem poles and wood carvings around the campground
“Cabin” rentals
Cello and Memphis inn the fenced-in dog run!
September 2013
Cello’s first dock diving contest! This wasn’t really a “true” campground, but they had camping spots for events such as Fido’s Festival.
August 2013
Making our way back home we stayed a few nights at Cape Cod Campresort & Cabins. While here, we visited the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Cello was allowed on the ferries, and on public buses on each island!
Our campsite
August 2013
Next stop in Maine was Mt. Desert Narrows. While here, we visited Stephen King’s house in Bangor ME, Bar Harbor, Bass Harbor Head Light, and Acadia National Park.
View from our campsite
August 2013
First destination spot in Maine was Megunitcook Campground by the Sea. We went to Lobster Festival in Rockland, and visited the town Camden, Maine, as well as Camden Hills .
View from the campground
Our campsite
Cello is all set with her Maine- themed trailer buddy!
Cello is ready for some lobster!
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August 2013
On our way to our longest trip ever! Aunt Joyce and Uncle Johnny joined us on this great adventure to Maine, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket! First stop: Boston Minuteman Campground for some sleep to recharge ourselves for the rest of the drive to our first destination in Maine!
July 2013
Aunt Joyce and Uncle Johnny went with us to Conewago Isle. Allthough when we pulled in, we were not impressed with what we saw, our site was right on the Conewago Creek, and we wound up having one of the funnest camping weekends!
Our Campsites (Us on the left, Joyce and Johnny on the right)
View from our campsite
Cello likes to watch Uncle Johnny set up his trailer from the window!
June 2013
We went with Jerry, Russ, and Dixie to Delaware River Family Campground. We hiked, visited NJ’s tallest waterfall, Buttermilk Falls, historic Millbrook Village, Crater Lake, and Four Sisters Winery.
Our campsite
View from our campsite
Cello…enjoying the camping life!
May 2013
We were invited by friends Jerry and Russ and their dog Dixie to got to The Depot Travel Park for Memorial Day weekend. We had a blast visiting local wineries (all dog friendly!) and sitting around the campfire at night.
Our campsite (Us on the right, Jerry and Russ on the left)
Cello met another (bigger!) female GSP at the campground.
April 2013
Aunt Joyce and Uncle Johnny, and friends Chris and Cindy and their dog, Memphis (one of Cello’s boyfriends) joined us on this trip. I had a great birthday – we hiked, then had a little birthday party around the campfire with cake and cupcakes!
Our campsite
View from our campsite
Happy Birthday to me! …camping style!
Cello pondering over the blue rocks…
March 2013
On our way home from Myrtle Beach, we decided to try another stop-over location. We stayed the night at South Forty Camp Resort. It was a quick visit, just to get some sleep before continuing on our travels home. I forgot to take a picture of our campsite at this campground – but here were our views from the campsite…
March 2013
Our Easter destination with friends Jerry, Russ, and their dog Dixie, was to Ocean Lakes Campground. Ocean Lakes was quite the experience! It was like it’s own little city – over 2,000 sites, on 310 acres! It was HUGE! And everyone there had golf carts – it was quite the experience! Cello got to walk on the beach each morning, and we took day trips to Conway, Georgetown (lots of dog friendly bars/restaurants!), and Murrells Inlet. We ate Easter dinner in our trailer – Jerry made lasagna roll-ups, and I made meatballs, sausage, and gravy. What a great time we had!
March, 2013
We didn’t want to drive all the way through, so we decided to do a stop-over on the way to our Easter camping trip to Myrtle Beach. If you are every passing through this area and need a stop-over place to stay, I highly recommenced staying here. The sites were pull through, level, clean – and some (like ours) even had their own gazebo! The facilities were immaculate!
February 2013
We decided to get away for Valentine’s Day weekend, so we took a trip back to Elk Neck State Park, since they are open year-round. Spending Valentine’s Day in the trailer was fun and dinner was great! Cello got to run on the beach since no one was there!
November 2012
This is our first time camping for Thanksgiving…we went to Elk Neck State Park with friends Jerry, Russ, and their dog, Dixie. Russ deep fried a turkey (our first time having deep fried turkey…YUM!!!) We visited Turkey Point Lighthouse and the town of Northeast, and went on a nice hike to see the white clay cliffs.
Our campsite
Cello gearing up for the chilly weather
Happy Thanksgiving 2012!
October 2012
Aunt Joyce and Uncle Johnny joined us on this trip to Gettysburg Family Campground. We visited a dog friendly Irish pup/restaurant, O’Rourke’s, Gettysburg National Military Park, and the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Brian and Johnny played a round of mini-golf before we left (Johnny won!)
October 2012
Our first trip with our new travel trailer was to Holiday Park Campground. Aunt Joyce and Uncle Johnny bought a travel trailer as well, and they came with us on this trip. The campground was nice, and we took a day trip to St. Michaels. This campground was not full hookup, so it was also our first experience with a dump station… (Gross!…Definitely Brian’s job!)
Our campsite (Brian designed our camping sign!)
View from our campsite
Lamb Chop is enjoying her new GLAMper
September 2012
Hickory Run State Park was our last tent-camping trip. The campground was very nice, and the hike was enjoyable.
Our campsite
View of the rocks at Hickory Run
Cello’s new “camp-buddy” Lamb Chop
August 2011
Our anniversary trip to Big Meadows Campground was such a memorable one! Deer had no fear and would walk right up to the campsite, drives on Skyline Drive, great hikes, bear sightings, and anniversary dinner, camp style!
Our 5th Anniversary, Camp-style!
July 2012
North/South Lake was another favorite trip of ours. The campground was beautiful, our site was right on the water, and we had a bear walk right by our campsite each night! It was so neat to see, but very scary to have a bear only 15-20 feet away from us! We had to sign a waiver at this campground about the bear, and agree to take the necessary precautions – which luckily WE did – because that bear that walked by our campsite ransacked another tenting family’s tent who didn’t follow the rules, and had food inside their tent! Great hikes here as well.
Our campsite
View from our campsite (on the water)
June 2012
Boyfriend Memphis, and his parents Chris & Cindy joined us for this trip to Dingmans Campground. It was a great weekend with a trip to Bushkill Falls for a short hike. Our campsite was right on the Delaware River. Right after we retired to inside the tent the first night, we had what sounded like a pack of wild coyotes run by – it was so scary to hear something like that so close by!
Our campsite
View from our campsite (on the water)
Having Boyfriend Memphis on the trip was a real treat for Cello!
May 2012
Ricketts Glen State Park – one of the most beautiful campgrounds with one of our favorite hikes ever – we hiked a short while and saw over 20 waterfalls – beautiful! My Aunt Joyce and Uncle Johnny joined us on this trip – THEIR first tent camping trip ever! (They were hooked after just one trip as well!)
Cello had a crate inside our tent just in case… looks like she enjoys her camping crate!
April 2012
Back to Blue Rocks Family Campground for our second camping trip ever, and for the first of many camping trips in the 2012 camping season. It was also for my 40th birthday (am I really that old??) It dropped down to 29 degrees the first night, and snowed… We had a below-freezing rated sleeping bag, and sat around the fire for as long as we could before retiring to our tent. To go to sleep in the tent, I had a layer of Under Armour on, a layer of thermals, a layer of sweat pants, a winter coat, a winter hat, and hand/foot warmers jammed every which place I could find! Oddly, Cello slept in our sleeping bag for only a short time before working her way out to on top of the covers! Crazy dog! Luckily, the rest of the weekend was warm, and we had an enjoyable time.
We had to pack Cello her own chair for around the fire since during our first camping trip she “stole” Brian’s the first time he got up out of it!
Cello loved being in the tent! We brought some of her “bed buddy’s” from home to keep her company 🙂
Originally, the lodge room walls and ceiling were covered with painted-white paneling, and the ceiling was dropped down far enough where we could reach up and touch it. (The actual original height of the lodge room is 21 feet). You could only see half of the 2 story stone fireplace. After we tore all the paneling off, we had to strip the logs of the bark (by hand), sand the logs, stain the logs, re-run the wires to hide them, repair the chinking (white stuff in between the logs), and paint the chinking… it was quite the project!! In the middle of us doing this project, we had people asking us where we are living when all this is going on… the look on their faces when we told them we were living “right here!” in the middle of this construction zone was hysterical!
Lodge Room fireplace before…
Ripping out the paneling…
Windows behind the paneling! Awesome…light!
After the ceiling was exposed, the logs were stained, and the chinking was painted…
The original cabin had a log rail stair case that led upstairs… but when we bought the house, you’d never know it! We were determined to rip out the wall leading upstairs, and build log railings …
Stairway leading upstairs
Where the log railing SHOULD be…
Cutting down the wall leading upstairs…
YIKES!
AAAAHHH….that’s more like it!
When we first moved in , I kept hearing “noises” in the lodge room…after some careful inspection, and some helpful hints from our cat, Loki, we discovered a family of squirrels were living in between the paneling and the logs. We trapped the squirrels and relocated them (mom and 3 “kids”), and removed the paneling…to find that we were left with a log wall that hand been gnawed down, where you could see through to the outside! With some help from family and friends, we removed a window, replaced the chewed logs with new ones, and reset the window.
Lodge Room wall with chewed logs
–
Lodge Room wall after all the work…
This is another “Good-n-Plenty” pink room to match the bathroom! I couldn’t WAIT to rip this paneling down! When we did rip this paneling down, we had a couple of unexpected discoveries… a fully intact mouse skeleton (I’ll spare you the sight, and leave that picture out!), and an inactive but huge bee hive…aaah, the surprises keep coming!
This picture was taken after we had ripped down the drop-ceiling to expose the beams
Bee hive
This picture was taken in the middle of the job, while we were still taking paneling down on another wall, but here you can see the logs have already been stripped of the bark beofre the paneling covered them – – so one less step down the line for us…YIPEEEEE!
When we bought our cabin, there was already a dock on the property. However, in July of 2004 (before we owned the cabin) a huge rain storm (known as the 1,000 year storm) hit Medford Lakes, NJ, and three dams broke due to extreme lake swelling. Within a span of 14 hours, Medford Lakes took on 12 inches of rain. Three dams could not take the pressure, and burst. Two of those dams were at either end of the lake where our cabin sits. Here is what was left of the damn closest to our cabin:
You can get a picture of just how high the wave of water was traveling right through homes and businesses by looking at the picture below. The below picture shows an aluminum canoe wrapped around a tree at the level of the flood waters. This canoe remains here today, as a reminder of what this town went through in 2004.
The Flood of 2004 had taken it’s tole on the dock, so the only safe thing to do was to knock it down, and rebuild it.
Here is the old dock:
Ripping out the dock:
You can see how the force of the flood waters had pushed the pilings:
The new dock:
