Boogerman February, 1995- August 30, 2012

It was a nice Spring day at our headquarters in East LA when  Kay Michelson stopped by my office. Kay was the Special Assistant to the Director of LA County's Animal Care and Control Department.  I had mentioned that I would like a  "previously owned, well trained Golden Retriever."  I guess I had also mentioned that my dear friend Ralph Cryder loved Cocker Spaniels.  What Kay had in her arms was an adorable, 10 week old Cocker Spaniel puppy.  Boogs had been adopted but returned by the two hapless teenagers who had no money and no landlord permission for a dog.    Kay explained that if I didn't want him she would take him elsewhere.  Right!

That day little work was done as people came by to see the new pup barricaded in the Executive suite.  He had many walks with admiring employees and then went to Seal Beach to settle in.

I hired a trainer to help but she was either inept or he was incorrigible-or both.  His energy and imagination were boundless and I swear, the arm that held the leash became permanently extended.  The down cushions, Dooney and Burke purses as well as shoes became victims.  Over the years, his keen nose enabled him to find food and stuffed toys, wherever they might be hiding.  His cousin Christina bought me Godiva dark chocolate truffles for my birthday and thought they were well out of reach.  Wrong.  A turkey baster and hydrogen peroxide, coupled with hand holding from the Poison Control Center averted disaster.  His early pictures have never been digitized but he had his professional portrait done after I adopted his brother Raggamuffin, again through Kay, two years later.

Boogs covered with mud, Raggie clean

These two boys could not be more different.  Boogs was carefree and completely his "own dog."  He is determined and not particularly sensitive to disapproval.  He has never been jealous of Raggie and will discover whatever mischief is possible.  Raggie, on the other hand, is very sensitive to disapproval and easy to manage.  His biggest worry is that Boogs is getting something he isn't.  His only naughtiness is his propensity to roll in disgusting things.  This picture, taken after the huge Hanukkah storm of 2006 says it all.

Taking up boating in middle age

Boogs had an adventurous life.  He has traveled in 4 different RV's to 25 states, six Canadian provinces and one territory as well as throughout Baja.  He has been been on a boat in Southern California and the Puget Sound.

On the beach in Mulege

Bryce National Park

Spring in Death Valley

Attempted Stick theft in Catalina

When Boogs was 10 he moved to Vashon Island in the Puget Sound.  The country living definitely agreed with him.  Unlike the 25' wide lot in Seal Beach, he now had acres in which to roam and interesting critters to smell.  He developed a taste for sugar snap peas right off the vine in his garden.

The cold weather and occasional snow necessitated a new wardrobe.

Boogs' Pharmacists, Dave and Myra

Boogs began losing eye function at least 10 years ago and has had an ophthalmologist ever since.  In recent years he has required 5 different eye medicines to prolong sight and avoid eye removal.  Vashon Island is very much a "small town" and in recent years he has had his own pharmacists to insure his continued health.

Dr. Dana and her sheep Lintzilla in the Strawberry Parade

These last few months have been bittersweet.  We knew the diagnosis of bone cancer meant the end was near but with the help of Dr. Dana, prednisolone and Boogs' indomitable spirit we eked out a few more months.  He and Raggie went pretty much everywhere with us and I found a wonderful Romney sheepskin for his comfort in the car. 

 After retirement in 2003 I spent most of my time with Boogs, Raggie and Himself.  Boogs has been so much a part of my life that  it is hard to imagine him gone.  Himself never had a dog before and has loved the boys as much as I do.  He has been so understanding lately as our life revolved around caring for my beloved Boogs, keeping him comfortable and as well fed as possible.  I think Boogs knew he was being cared for and was so trusting as blindness and the cancer too its toll.  He asked that his  favorite song be part of his remembrance.

Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine

New Mexico

The first stop in New Mexico is Silver City.  It is a bit off the usual trail, set in the mountains in the Southwest of NM, elevation about 6,000'.  It lies just east of the continental divide.

Like Bisbee, AZ it has a mining history, largely silver and later copper.  A handy RV Park in town makes seeing the sights easy.  We are enjoying the comfort of a larger RV, nice couch and reclining chair, easy to make queen bed, separate shower and loads of storage. This, coupled with a Mr. Toad, the go anywhere separate tow vehicle, makes slowing down and spending time much easier.  By this time on our last trip we would probably have logged 2-3,000 miles.  Now about 800.  Silver City is a delightful place, many preserved buildings because of the early insistence on brick for fire prevention.  I first heard of the place from an old friend who spent his first four years here with his Mom, living in a small home with grandparents while Dad was off fighting in WWII.  Back then the floor had a dirt floor and there was an outhouse.  Dad returned home and my friend became another incredible American success story, ending his career as an appellate court justice in California.

Silver City was established in the 1870's but had been an Apache camp and before that, home to Anasazi Indians.  The main street was washed out by a series of flash floods, dropping it 55'.  It is now the home of the lovely Big Ditch Park and serves as a flood control channel as well.  Raggie enjoyed a nice walk in the park while Boogs snoozed.  Boogs' limit these days is about a block.

Big Ditch Park

The 17 year old, blind dog's favorite spot in Bella

After a day in the city we took a tour of the nearby countryside.  The terrain is varied, from rocky pine forests to one of the healthiest ponderosa pine forests in the Gila National Forest to the now agricultural Mimbres Valley, home 1000 years ago to the Mimbres Indians and their famous pottery.  The last stop on the tour was the Santa Rita open pit mine.  We thought the Lavender pit mine in Bisbee was large, but Santa Rita is huge.

Mimbres Pottery

Santa Rita Mine

Santa Rita Mine

Of course the big attraction in NM is the food.  Different from CA and AZ
Mexican and I am told,  from TexMex as well.  We found two local places, Mi Casita which were were told was "on the dirt road just before the car wash."  We found it and joined the crowd for a wonderful lunch of Hatch chile rellenos and MN style red enchiladas with an egg on top.  Himself is forever on a search for good rellenos and found these to be among the best.  The next day we planned to have lunch there again but alas, the restaurant was closed.  I suspect that it was in honor of the Easter weekend though only Saturday.  Instead we had lunch at Fidencios where we enjoyed a carnitas burrito and tacos.  Only cooking in lard could make them that good.  We got local info and mining employment stories from the friendly, born in Silver City, Roberto.

Today was a trip in Mr. Toad to a place called the Catwalk.  It is a narrow trail in a box canyon about one hour out of Silver City.  The scenery was fabulous and the 2+ mile walk invigorating and scenic.  There were many families picnicking and hiking on Easter Sunday.  We do find the people here to be extremely friendly.

The catwalk was originally a water pipe bringing water to a town and mining operations.  The mining was no longer taking place when the CCC built the first catwalk for recreational use.  It has been upgraded over the years and now even includes a wheelchair accessible portion.

A nice chicken chile crockpot dinner and relaxing in the delightful 70's weather before we break camp tomorrow and head for Hatch and,  hopefully,  a freezer full of roasted green chiles.

The Catwalk

The Catwalk

Bella and Mr. Toad

Raggie entertaining neighbors, Eric and Rio

Much has happened since the last entry.  The LA RV market proved too hard to resist.  We found a nice, ten year old Bounder 32' motorhome.  The prior owners bought it new and there was little sign of use though there were 42,000 miles on it.  Funny, they had a slight accident and were then unable to match the original decal trim so had it painted in USC colors.  Those USC people sure need to label themselves.  I threatened to make changing it to Bruin colors a condition of sale but in the end, I really like the colors.  I have named the motorhome Bella (Bounder). Himself took the old camper to WA where it was quickly sold and he returned to prepare for the next leg. Seal Beach has a generous provision for newly acquired RV's, allowing them on the street for 2 weeks.  That was handy for outfitting the new rig though we only needed a week.

 A trip to the Mini dealer revealed a need for more work and $ than I was interested in.  Over the last year much thought had been given to the next car, one a bit bigger, weather tolerant, good for the boys and towable.  While himself was gone, I purchased Mr. Toad, a lovely red Subaru.  Both new vehicles were licensed in WA, not without some angst but thanks to the nice gentleman at the franchise license business on the island.  I can't even imagine what it would have been like dealing with the CA DMV from another state.

Boondocking at the El Centro Walmart

Yuma Territorial Prison

The picture above is from our first night out in the El Centro Walmart.  The first of the challenges came in the morning when the bedroom slide would not go in.  Much effort by himself finally allowed a manual retraction, probably risking a stroke or heart attack from the significant exertion.  The next stop was Yuma where a mobile technician replaced two relays which allowed both slides to again work.  Yuma is an amazing place.  If you like RV parks with lots of old people it is the place for you.  Restaurants are filled with gray haired patrons.  A visit to the Territorial prison, in operation from 1876 to 1909, was the highlight.  Each small cell had 6 iron bunks, and the conditions were brutal in the summer.

The RV park where we stayed was clean and without shade.  Like most in Yuma, it is adjacent to the freeway so the road noise is constant.  There were very strict rules for pets, the back half being entirely off limits.  I inadvertently walked the boys in the forbidden section only to be severely chastised by a woman with much time on her hands.  Apparently she is the self appointed pet warden, having called the police on prior offenders.  We were happy to leave Yuma.

The next stop was Tucson where we visited friends and more work was done on Bella and the tow equipment.  Despite buying one of the top end units,  Mr. Toad caused Bella to sway on the road, making driving quite difficult.  Also, some issues again arose with the slide and leveling jacks.  The guys visited RV and towing dealers, asked many questions and then fashioned a "fix" with metal shims, welded in.  They also developed a theory that the slide/leveling problem was attributable to a problem with the safety switch.  So far this theory seems to be correct though there is more to do.  I have no idea what one would do with an RV if not handy.  A friend described RV's as earthquakes going down the road.  While the guys were working, Sherrill and I enjoyed ourselves at the Tucson Botanical Gardens.  It is a wonderful place, once a private home that was donated upon the death of the owner.  Much is in bloom in the desert and the citrus blossoms were so fragrant.

View of the Lavender Pit Mine from the back of Bella

The next stop was Bisbee, AZ.  It is a small, funky mining town now taken over with artists and people with "alternative lifestyles" plus tourists.  We have visited before and it is interesting that it is on the foreign tourist route.  A couple from France was in a rented RV in the small campground, last time we met a British couple. The campground is next to the Copper Queen hard rock mine, no longer in operation but available for tours.  The mining claim for the Copper Queen was filed in 1877 The owners found the ore was 23% copper with silver and gold as byproducts.  Most mines of the era contained only 3-4% copper so the Copper Queen was extraordinary.  Mine operations were shut down in 1975 as the quality of ore declined. 

 The back of the motorhome looks out on the huge Lavender Pit mine, in operation from 1950 to 1974 by the Phelps Dodge Corp.

Copper Queen Hotel

The Bisbee trip was finished with a cocktail on the patio of the Copper Queen Hotel, often mentioned in J.A. Jance mysteries set in Bisbee.


Next stop, New Mexico.

Follow the Sun

A few weeks ago we left the NW by way of Eastern WA and Oregon, Idaho, Utah, NV and finally AZ to California.  The diversion from the usual I-5 run was to see an RV in Southern Utah.  Amazingly, there was little snow on the route, with clear and pretty weather.  We had enjoyed some nice weather in Vashon before leaving.

View from Vashon Island Deck in January

The RV in Hurricane, UT (the town was aptly named) was a bust, himself declaring that he would have added years to his life just driving it to LA and waiting for a breakdown.  The trip was fun however and topped off by a visit to the Valley of Fire state  park about one hour out of Las Vegas.

The scenery there is exquisite.

Valley of Fire State Park

Valley of Fire State Park, NV

Hoover Dam fro the Arizona side

It was a special treat to see petroglyphs at the state park close up.

We traveled on to Boulder Dam and Boulder city, where we learned a bit of the history of the dam and the city that supported it during its construction.  It is still an impressive undertaking and it was interesting to learn what a score it was to be selected for a a construction job during the depression.  We weren't able to take a tour as Nevada and Arizona laws prohibit leaving dogs in the car, even when the temperatures are in the 60's, there is a sun roof open and the parking structure is covered.  Another example of the idiot few prompting laws that are unnecessary for most with basic common sense.

From there we made the run on to Seal Beach.  We saw Henderson, with many vacant shopping centers and stores as evidence of the economic impact.  It was nice to arrive back in Seal Beach.  While it was chilly the first week I did not complain given the snow storm that hit Vashon at the same time.

While we are busy with the many catch up chores here at the house, we are trying to explore the LA area as well.  Our first outing was to the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda.  It and the Reagan library are so close but we had seen neither.  The Nixon library was lovely and included Nixon's birthplace.  The house was a kit built quickly by Nixon's father as Richard's arrival was imminent The home was surrounded by a citrus farm at the time, which never proved economically viable.  The family later moved to Whittier.  Whittier had the advantage of a larger Quaker community.  There was too much to cover in one visit as I have a 2-3 hour information absorption limit.   The Vietnam war, foreign policy as well as Nixon's early career were particularly interesting.

Nixon's Birthplace

A big treat when we come south is seeing friends, most who still live in the area.  Jane is close by so we enjoyed an outing and a couple of lunches with other friends.  Since Jane is a recent iPad owner and now in the Galapagos she needed to figure out how to blog using the device.  The narrative is easy but importing pictures a bit more complicated.  We worked on it together and discovered that her device that imports pictures from the camera or memory card wouldn't work.  We were going shopping near the Apple Store.  After explaining the urgency and discovering that there was a flaw in the iPad they just handed her a brand new one.  The wonderful service is one reason I am so high on Apple.  There are knowledgeable people easily accessible to help us old folks with our tech problems.

I told Jane that I look at these tech challenges as therapy for the aging brain, at least I think that on a good day.

Boogs is doing pretty well here.  The nice weather permits frequent short, slow walks.  His evening agitation is being handled with food bribes and patience.  The local vet prescribed a psychiatric medicine a couple of weeks ago which caused a seizure within two days.  No more such medicine.
A friend suggested beer.  While he liked it he was still agitated, just weaving.  Being blind is not a good

condition when inebriated.

We are also taking advantage of the better RV market here in SoCal to look and learn about the various options.  Today will be a trip to the San Diego area to look at a couple of RV's.  It should be nice as the forecast is 72 degrees, yesterday was in the 80's when your traveled inland from the beach.  It is scheduled to drop about 10 degrees on Saturday, still pleasant however.

View of Catalina (distant) from Seal Beach