We have a new friend to share our lives

I know it's been a long time since we've posted any blogs but a lot of things have happened in our lives, making it difficult to find the time to sit and write our blog.

Tonight I'm trying a couple of new things, first, we hit the black Friday sales and learned that at Staples they had Dragon Naturally Speaking software at a great price. The software enables you to just talk into the computer any transfers addenda type for you which is what I'm doing right now. I'm still getting a little used to the software and how it works in some of the different little quirks ago with software but it seems to be working pretty good.

I wanted to bring you up-to-date on something that's been going on around here at the Fretts household though over the last month or so. After a couple years of being without a dog we were asked to take a serious look at a new pointing griffon dog. This is the same type dog Mark as his beloved Hans who is one of the best hunting dogs that I've seen around in a long time. Griffon dogs are normally pointing dogs used for field work such as pheasants quails and things along those lines, but after seeing pictures of the dogs we fell in love with one's very special dog that seem to really want to come home to Western Washington. These dogs are located just outside of Spokane a day at a kennel and breeder and they happen to have two litters of pups at the same time from the kennel and were looking for ways to get rid of or I should say to adopt out a lot of the dogs fairly quickly.

So we get this call from Mark who tells us about these dogs that are available and how they are rather the cutest thing that ever has been seen. He said several pictures and there was one that seem to stand out throughout all the pictures. I was very hesitant to take a dog as we get ready to go to Hawaii again and in January and didn't really want to take on the responsibility of having a small pet in the house that was good to require a lot of care. Then there was one picture that was sent and that's all it took, we found the dog or should I say the dog had found us even though it was through pictures.

We asked Mark to do a couple puppy tests to make sure that she was the right pup for us. She seemed to do very well on the puppy tests and was passing with flying colors. I get a call from Mark and he's sold on the dog and fallen in love with this particular little female and wants us to consider adopting her. I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and give it a try.

So Mark picked up the puppy and brought her home to his house for the first night and agreed he was coming over the next day and so he would bring her with him and we would get all set up and see how things worked out. Now what we name this pup? There so many names that come to mind but that one picture stood out and maybe want to call her Maggie so we talked about it and we shared it with the grandchildren. After long consultations and a little bit of bribery Maggie it was! I don't know why but she just looked like a Maggie dog to me.

We got numerous reports throughout the evening and night from Mark as to how she was doing and he was amazed at how smart she was for just being seven weeks old at the time. The next morning he set off from Spokane and headed west with our new little treasure.

Maggie seem to get along well with his two dogs both Hans and times but Tubbs seemed a little bit kicked out a joint because he was having to share his bed with her but everything seemed to work out that night and she was doing okay going out go to the bathroom. The next morning as Mark was headed west he told us the story of when they went out to go to the bathroom in the morning that all sudden Maggie went on point and just stood there while the other two dogs went out about their business. Soon Maggie will move forward and went into the brush and up comes a Quayle out of the brush on the back of his property. Mark was both proud and disappointed because a seven week old puppy had just shown up his dog on who is this grizzled veteran at bird hunting.

Soon Mark was in Western Washington but he had to stop and can't wear his fiancée Amber was staying for the time to introduce her to little Maggie. It seemed like it was a little bit of a struggle to get her away from Amber as they fell in love immediately. Once we finally convinced him that it was our dog and that she needed to come further west Maggie made her last little trip towards the coast and her new home was soon to be found.

The second she came out of the truck it was love at first sight. What a beautiful little puppy she was and she was so affectionate and seem to be what seemed to want to be friends so much. We let her explore the property and the backyard and get used to her new surroundings she seemed to fit right in. But now the work really started.

I guess this brings me to the reason for this blog and why am keeping track of everything that's going on. It's not so much to inform people about what's what took place the first few weeks in and/or months with Maggie but kind of a way of keeping track of things for ourselves, and why not share our fun adventures with Maggie and I have to be honest there some not so fun memories so already.

Day one was interesting to say the least when you have a seven week old dog or should I say she turned eight weeks the day we got her, her attitude and personality was already coming through. It was fun to watch her explore and to see how her attitude was while she explored the surroundings of the new home. Then there was the cat's we had to introduce her to both ki ki and Darrell. Neither seemed all that impressed nor excited to have somebody else getting in on their attention.

That first day was very interesting as we tried to figure out how she was doing things and what was going on with potty training we knew that it was good to be a little bit of work with her but I know how much. I was very surprised to find out the shortly after she's got settled into the house she was still having a little bit of problem let us know about going potty but she already was going to the door wanting out to do her business outside. What a smart dog Maggie is.

Day two was Saturday and we had things we had to do that day. This may be very nervous as she had just traveled across the state had even got settled in yet for an eight-week-old pup she has a lot of learning and socialization to do before she really feels comfortable being around her new home in an surroundings.

But with things the way they were, we needed to attend a memorial for a good friend who passed away a short time ago. But we had no supplies whatsoever for our new found puppy initiated only been a matter of about three days since she had come into our lives we needed a kennel for her, dog food, toys, and just about anything else you can think of that a young puppy at that age would need.

So we left a little early for our our trip down to Raymond, and stop by Dells Farm supply in Montesano. We found a crate for dog treats and several other little toys for her to play with and soon it was off to Raymond. Maggie didn't seem to like being in the crate that much in China wind a little bit for a part of the trip down. But soon she settled down and laid down with some of her toys and can arrested, after all it is been a tough couple of days for her and she didn't know what to expect from here.

We attended the memorial and Raymond and after the service was over we immediately went back out to the car to get her hooked up and take her for a walk. Lori decided to go out and grab her hooker upping bringer furl take her for a walk to try to get her to go to the bathroom. I soon came out of the memorial to find Maggie on the sidewalk next to the front door with approximately 15 people standing around giving her all kinds of attention and what was even worse was she was accepting it and just enjoying every moment. I knew this dog was good to be very social from that point on because she had no idea what was going on but yet she really enjoyed being around people.

Over the next few days Maggie settled in and got into her routine but it was soon time for work and trying to figure out how we were going to do this with a new puppy and both of us working full-time. I decided that I would come home whenever possible for lunch in an attempt to get her out before she would have of accident. First couple of days was a little rough but soon she was get the hang of it issues get used to her new surroundings and getting used to trusting me to get home in time.

We jump to spring 2013.  Maggie has become part of the family and is one of thos dogs that are very special to their family.  Her constant energy is a problem sometimes, but with a couple trips behind us, she has become our camp dog.  She does very well and enjoys her many walks.  Life is good and we hope to share many adventures with Maggie.

Maiden voyage of our new pickup

Maiden voyage of our new tow vehicle

Couple weeks ago I was minding my own business driving around the Centralia area. I happen to drive by that Dodge dealer and noticed to brand-new Dodge pickup sit and out front I had been wondering for quite some time about my old pickup truck you it wasn’t that old but I was having problems with it. It seemed every time that we went somewhere or traveled somewhere a trouble light came on her there was some kind of a problem.

I guess the final straw was when we went to Wenatchee to watch Peyton’s baseball tournament. On the way over the truck seem to perform just fine but on is soon as we pulled out to head for home yet another trouble light came on.

I called the Dodge dealer here in Aberdeen and asked them take a look at my truck and of course they couldn’t get me in for an appointment for several days. So on a suggestion from a Shawn I stopped to cut rate auto parts and had them check the trouble like to find out what was going on with it. It showed that I was having some kind of a fault with the thermostat which made sense because my temperature Going up and down in the truck. Now why am I telling you all about my old truck.

Brings me back to driving through Centralia and I spot these two new Dodge pickup sit in on the lot.

I noticed they had a special price in the window and it seemed like it was awfully good pricing. Almost too good to believe so I figured there was a bunch of rebates and that I would be able to qualify for. I noticed one was silver and the other one was the dark mineral gray which is always been my favorite color as I decided to give him a call the next morning and see what they had to say.

While on the phone I learn about all the different rebates that they were offering and a couple of factory incentives back to the dealership as these were 2012 3500 pickups. I did some calculations and crunched a bunch of numbers and realize that this was a very good opportunity in a very good deal. The dealership promised that they would give me a fair price for my trade-in so I went for. We drove down Saturday morning and within a couple hours we were driving our new truck home. Now all I have to do is get ready for camping.

It seems that a lot of dealerships want to sell you new trailer hitches a new fifth wheel hitches but not many want to put in an existing hitch to there’s not a whole lot of money in it. After several calls and a lot of frustration I finally found a dealership for Paul right in the Olympia area. They agreed to install my hitch for $300. They also had the electrical plug relocation kit in stock so I went ahead and bought one of those also and put that in myself. Now the truck is ready to go at all we need to do is have a decent weekend to be a will to go try it out.

Mother’s Day weekend was fast approaching and we decided that it was time to drive back down to Woodburn Oregon and stay at the Portland Woodburn RV Park. We love this park because it’s just right across the fence from the outlet stores and Lori can just shop all day if she wants to. It’s also not that far from Washington Square which is a huge mall and has lots of different types of stores. Now to just find the time to go down there and guess what, the weather started get in better pretty soon they were forecasting 80° weather it was time to go.

As the day neared I realized I had drivers training scheduled up in Auburn Washington that day. It would be a long day as I had to get up at 5 o’clock in the morning drive up to Auburn, take the take the course, drive back home, and then hook get the trailer ready to go in head South.

I got back home at 3 o’clock Lori had everything loaded and we were ready to go Maggie was running around the yard just wait for opportunity to get the truck. She loves to go traveling and loves to camp. Soon we were on the road headed south and 75 to 80° temperatures depending on where you’re at.

We stopped at a rest area just down south of centrally and took a couple minutes to check out the truck in the make sure everything was working right.

My initial observations on the new truck were great I’m very happy with what I’ve got now, the truck rides well, it has a lot more power, and the gas mileage seems to be a little bit better than my 07 Dodge was. I wasn’t sure why there was so much difference but I soon realized I had made a good decision in buying this truck. Lori and I both were enjoying the trip is as wasn’t Maggie she had a full backseat now to sit on and relax.

It was very surprising as we went to Portland, you it’s usually very busy through that entire area and it takes quite a while. Today there was hardly any traffic we stated the freeway speed all the way through town and state on I5 all the way south. It was a welcome surprise as we are still getting used to how the brakes worked on the new trailer controller. Soon we were pulling into the Woodburn RV Park and had our site all set up. The truck was easy to hook up and unhook. Not much difference from the other truck except for’s it’s a little bit taller. It was nice that they put us down on the end of the park near the dog park giving Maggie a lot of room to run around whenever she got the chance.

It was just a little after 8 o’clock and Lori thought the store stayed open until nine so we walked across to the was a very nice evening and decided to just check things out. We found out the stores a closed at 8 o’clock in the sidewalk over see if we could find ice cream at any of the fast food places right there in that little area. But it was for not because none of them had ice cream, one fast food place carries milkshakes all the time had a broken machine which upset Maggie quite a bit she was seen at the door waiting for somebody to come out that had a uniform on so she could take a bite cheek out to show her appreciation for their broken machine.

We settled in a relaxed for the evening and soon were your embed but it was pretty warm still and difficult to sleep for a while till the trailer cool down. Bright and early the next morning we were on the road after breakfast and headed to Washington Square.

Lori and I went to Macy’s and we found a dress for Lori and also some clothes for grandma Munson in the store. Lori was pretty happy about her fines wanted to continue looking just in case there was something else there. It was nearing lunchtime so we walked through the mall over to the cheesecake factory. It was already nearing 2 o’clock in the afternoon and as we walked and we could see the place was completely crowded with people. When I checked in it was good to be at least a 40 minute wait which was not something we wanted to do. We are Lord our heads walked off and decided that we were ago just get a quick sandwich back at the trailer.

After a quick lunch Maggie went there kennel and we walked across to the outlet stores had to do some serious shopping. It was now in the upper 80s but there was a lot of humidity now because of the approaching storm front. It didn’t take very long walking between the stores before I was pretty well worn out had relegated myself to sitting on benches wait for her to continue going through the stores. She did pretty good but she too was getting tired because of the heat. After spending a little bit more money and finding some neat buys we decided to call it an afternoon and headed back to the trailer.

Shortly after we returned to the trailer some people pulling a toy hauler pulled into the site next to us. We notice the plates on the truck and trailer bowls from South Carolina and we were intrigued that they could be that far away from home at this time of year. As they were setting up we engaged in some casual conversation a course Maggie played the routine of the outcome pet me and beautiful. We learned that this couple kneel and Mary were on a 49 state Odyssey. They had set out a little over six months ago and were going to ride the motorcycle which happened to be upon the Gold wing in every state in the in the 49 contiguous states.

Lori Maggie and I cooked up some nice hamburgers and enjoyed a nice Dinner that evening it was still in the 80s but it was very nice nose a light breeze made it very comfortable to sit outside and enjoy the evening. Soon we were talking again with Neil and Marion they came over and sat told us their stories of their travels with their trailer and truck and motorcycle. Seems right after they bought their toy hauler and set out on their journey, they started having all kinds of issues. It seemed like one thing after another would break down requiring more warranty work as they traveled. They driven up from southern Oregon today and while in route lost their water pump. As a were setting up they turned on the air conditioning and went for a ride on their Gold wing. Upon their return they found out that the air-conditioning was pumping out hot air instead of cold and now they needed more repairs. We had a great conversation with him throughout the night and was amazed by some of their stories as they traveled across the United States. They’re going to stay around this area for a while and then there headed to Alaska to be part of the caravan before they start to work their way back across the top of the United States and some portions of Canada. We realized it was getting late and everyone was tired so was time to turn in for the night and said our goodbyes.

Sunday morning I made Lori rectus for Mother’s Day, and sat enjoying our coffee for the morning. It was still warm outside almost 70°, so made it hard to leave. We can see the clouds on the horizon a new that the reins and some when were coming our way but were really surprised at how nice it was outside. We got all loaded up and as soon as we were leaving the park Maggie was already asleep she’d had a very busy weekend.

I guess the only problem that we had all weekend was Saturday afternoon when Maggie and I decided to walk over to Starbucks is was just on the other side of the parking lot from where we were staying. We went into the drive-through lane to order a copy to take back to the trailer and nobody would answers on the intercom. After several minutes finally somebody yelled from the other window that they don’t serve pedestrians in the drive-through lane even though there were no cars nobody around no problem. I walked up to the lady and asked her what the problem was that I couldn’t come inside because of the dog. She explained that their liabilities will not allow us to be served at the drive-through window and went on in quite length about the rules and regulations at which time I stopped or said you know you could of had our drinks ready by the time you got finished telling me this. The lady smiled and told me that I can come in with dog and if anyone asked I could to say it was a service dog. I told her that after two seconds anybody would realize that Maggie is not a service dog if she is still a little wild being so young. I also explained her that I feel comfortable saying something that wasn’t true just to get in the order coffee she turned and walked away for me at that point. I intern walked away from her and didn’t buy any coffee I was now in a pretty foul mood. I got overwritten later we went and had a cup coffee anyway Maggie did find she said outside well or a wedding got our coffee it just was aggravating with the way she was acting.

On her way home Sunday, we always like to stop in Hazel Dell, at the Safeway store. I fueled up Lori and Maggie walked across and got there walk out of the way before I was done. At the other end of the parking lot is a nice Starbucks or we can sit outside watch traffic and enjoy the company of each other. We enjoyed our coffee and soon it was time to continue heading north we could tell we were getting close as soon as we started to head back for the truck there were a few sprinkles dropping on her head. It was still pretty warm outside the mid-70s and that surprised me. But of course as you get closer to Grays Harbor you start noticing the temperature gauge dropping like a rock and soon we were in the upper 50s with heavy rain as we neared our home. It only took a few minutes to get everything unloaded and soon we were inside relaxing and reminiscing about our fun weekend on her maiden voyage trip of the new truck.

Next trip is over the Memorial Day weekend were hauling supplies over to Mark and Ambers house and Cheney and can spend four days over in that area when I can spend it all with the those two because we have some other things we want to see.  See you on a road in be safe.