Life Adventures

One of our favorite trips we've had as a family over the years is the trip to Carova - a 4x4 only beach area - where we stay at Running on Faith.  Our first trip was in Dec 2008, then we returned in Dec 2009, May 2010, and December 2010.  When we bought the RV, we stopped coming, only to return now, 8 years later. View in 2018 The crew at the house 2008 Same house 2018 Me with Logan on the dune 2010 Me on the same dune 20018 with the new crew - Braddock and Gracie After Logan passed, we were desperately trying to find out where to go to finally take a vacation this year and get out of the house - like we had done when we lost Phineas and Noel.  The difference in the past, however, is that the trips were already planned.  We had a tentative plan to do something in November on the way to the Concord trial, but decided to make something happen now.  We debated whether to return to Running on Faith or go to Cape Hatteras.  It came down to comfort - Running on Fait

This was a hard trial for a couple of reasons.  For one, it was our first trip without Logan.  We had planned to bring him up one more time to see Patti.  It just didn’t work out that way,  People at the trial were so compassionate in sharing condolences and I was touched by their kindness.  The second difficulty was the weather.  The rain from a hurricane stayed with us Friday evening through the majority of Saturday, and the weather was cool.  Walking the dogs was miserable. We stayed at little Bennett campground again -  site 55, which has become our new favorite (site 70 previously), but we didn’t really get to enjoy the trails.  On Friday night, in the rain, we walked the Big Oak trail, which had been decorated for Halloween.  The only dog scared by this haunted trail was Gracie, and she quickly got over it.  It was a short walk as we only connected to Beaver Creek, back up Acorn, to Big Oak to make a small loop. The rain was still horrible Saturday morning so the dogs on

The feelings around the loss of a dog unites many of us together.  Grief is a very raw emotion and is so powerful that there are even stages associated with it - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.  Add to this that our beloved dogs generally live a decade, if not longer with us.  How does one lose a 12 to 15 year old child? The answer is - not well, not well at all. Those who don't know this kind of love and connection may not understand.  But for those of us who live this life, we all relate.  What complicates and differentiates this process even more is that the owners have the responsibility to make the right decision - all the way up to the bitter end.  This responsibility creates its own wave of emotion ranging from anxiety in wondering when to make the decision, stoicism to not let the dog perceive any hint of sadness, fear of what is to come, depression that more can't be done, concern if they are in any pain, regrets of not spending more quality

Every weather channel said this would be the worst Hurricane to hit the east coast in a long time.  We worried we'd lose power and we couldn't get Logan's food prepped.  The band of potential devastation was so large that we'd have to travel to Ga to miss it.  We agonized over making such a long trip and in the last moment, Tuesday evening, decided to head out.  We drove all night - taking 11 hours to get there.  When I checked the weather again, the storm had taken a hard left, heading for Ga, but stalling in NC and losing momentum.  We were safe to stay for a few days and rest from the travel, but, Va now wasn't going to get a drop of rain or gust of wind, so we could have just stayed home.  The trip was hard on Logan - he started to swell.  Needless to say that we were tired when we arrived - we took a trip to Helen, Ga - about a 45 minute drive.  Not the best decision - too hard on Logan and we were just too tired for that.  Helen wasn't as interesting as I