A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}

[Dixie_Flyer]

Went camping this weekend at a campground on the lake, had not been there for a few years. Once there I began to walk around looking at the different sites when I noticed a very old dog. He just lay there until I got too close then he got up on three legs and hobbled away. Just judging I would say he is at least 11 years old. Well back to my story. The next afternoon he wanders into camp and just sits there looking. He looked so sad, so the wife got a bowl of our dog's food and put it down for him and he came over and ate. He then walked over to our dog and the two of them sniffed each other over and then they lay down together for the rest of the afternoon. That night he disappeared.
The next morning he was back and was a little more receptive of me. I looked at his injured leg and found that half of his rear foot was gone. It had healed and was not causing any problem except that he was walking on the stub that was left with no foot pad which causes him to limp. His front teeth were gone except for one canine tooth and it looked decayed. His eyes were tired looking and showing his age. He spent the rest of the day just laying around looking for a handout and by afternoon the campground host came around and saw him. I enquired about the dog and was told he had been there for three years and that most of the campers were tolerant of him and gave him food.
So what to do? Do you pick him up and bring him home or do you let nature take it course. He can't harm anyone, he has no teeth and he isn't a nuisance unless you don't like dogs, and no one seems to mind him being there. He is gentle and likes other animals as seen by his interaction with our dog. He still would not let me touch him but he would eat from my hand. Enough said, what would you do???

On June 28th 2008 Old Fella passed away of complications caused by bone cancer. Fella spent almost three years with his new family and became the icon of rescued old stray dogs. He will be greatly missed but his foot prints have been left in our hearts forever.

Now Charlie, the ten year old rescued Golden Lab has come to be a part of the continuing Old Fella story. (*Note, Charlie took his journey to Rainbow Bridge unexpectedly September 30, 2008)Suzie continues to charm her way into our hearts with her antics as she has grown from a puppy into a young lady. Togther they will carry on the Old Fella legacy. Come join us in their daily lives and be a part of the best feel good thread in RV.NET history. The legacy lives on.


HIghways Article Puppy Love

Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue

[MetalGator]

Good Morning FOOFs

Still lots of clean up work going on here from hurricane Milton.  It really did a lot of damage to our area.  My house made out fine but my two big oak trees look terrible.  About half the branches are gone and most of the leaves were blown off the trees.  They finally came down my street last Saturday and picked up all the limbs and branches that were piled up next to the Street

We haven't been on a motorhome trip in about 2 months now.  We have a weekend trip coming up in two weeks.  I need to get the motorhome out of the garage and get it fueled up this weekend.

The fur kids are doing well but Monty is starting to show his age.  He has developed a cough and the vet says it's congestive heart failure.  He is 14 years old and still beautiful and gets around good.  He is still full of life and personality.  I hope we have another few years with him as I love him to death.  

I hope everyone is doing well.

Burch

[Scottiemom]

There's a lot of cleanup to do yet down here as well, Burch. In our motorhome community, we had about 20 houses damaged. Considering that we are all manufactured houses, we only lost ports. Most homes have RV ports and carports. The ones that were damaged typically didn't have anything under them, like RV's. There was one port that was twisted all to heck and the one next to it got the same treatment. The one was a total loss. From the looks of it, that may actually have been a small tornado that ripped it up. The people were not there. That would have been scary. The only damage to homes themselves was mainly facia, skirting, but no windows blown out or anything. The residents who stayed said it was the worst they had every seen, and many have lived here for 30+ years. I lost some panels up high at the transition from the carport to the RV Port. Most of the panels were laying on the floor of the port and my neighbor picked them up for me. I had a guy put them back up for me, but about half of the panels are totally missing, so I will have to have someone finish that for me. At least with what was put back up, the rain cannot blow through down onto my cars. We were flooded and I had water on two sides, but since I am not sitting on the ground, it did not get into my house or my shed. That was lucky. The canal is right behind my house. I don't think any house was flooded inside. My neighbor lost all his ductwork underneath his house. His was the flexible pipe with insulation and it all got saturated from the water under his house. It took him a couple days to get it all pulled out and replaced. We have some trees in the community, but only lost branches. Our white plastic fencing around our community was damaged and some residents  got together and got it all fixed back up. There are some posts that need replacing which we will have to do, but at least we are all enclosed again. We only lost power for about 9 hours one day, then 3 the next, so all the food in my freezers is okay. I keep a pan of ice cubes in each freezer, so I know if there has been a big thaw, but all was good. One neighbor down the street lucked out and had no damage, but their house in Augusta, Georgia, got hit by Helene the week before. They lost 15 trees in the back yard and almost as many in the front. In the front yard, uprooted trees pulled up their water pipes, so they had no water, and no power. A tree fell on their one garage and destroyed his shop and a car. The bus garage, however, that has his Tiffin Allegro Bus and his custom Prevost was not damaged. They were on a cruise at the time and it took 3 weeks of nonstop work with heavy equipment to get things back in order once they got back. Their house itself was spared. 

I was in Virginia with my daughter, but had I been in Florida, I would have gone to my son's over in Melbourne. His house is concrete and his roof is strapped down. After a certain year here in Florida, all new houses built had to meet stronger standards. They did get the storm there, mainly tornados, but he fared well. Hopefully we won't see any more storms of that magnitude any time soon.

Glad you and yours were safe, Burch. Hug those furbabies!

Dale

[Scottiemom]

So, Burch. Are you evacuating this time with Milton on the way? I guess you could say I am. Rather, I'm in Virginia visiting my daughter and not planning on going back this week anyway. Milton shows a track going right through Polk City, so I may not have a home to go back to. When I left I made sure all my stuff was up. No outside furniture, etc. I always do that when I leave anytime during the summer. I didn't the first year and my son had to run over from Melbourne to do it for me. I decided that was something I should do so no one has to take time out of their hurricane prep to take care of something I should have done before. If I had known another one was coming (I was home for Helene) I might have thrown in a few more momentos, but it's too late now.

Best wishes and take care.

Dale

[Wanderlost]

Hope you and Burch came through okay.  Cousin and uncle were fine.  A number of Army buddies checked in, some out of power for a few days, but otherwise fine.

[MetalGator]

We are OK.  This was a bad one.  I have lived here my whole life and never seen anything like this.  I thought it wasn't going to be a big deal when it was coming right over us on the north side of the eye wall.  Was windy and rainy but not terrible. Got into the eye and things calmed down.  But the south side of the eye wall was bad!  I have a weather station on a 30 foot tower at my house (I am a ham radio operator) and around 8:15pm on Wednesday, we had a 77mpg gust.  Five minutes later, the power went out.  By 11pm, the wind was crazy.  Since my power went out, I don't know the wind speeds but it was bad.  When the weather station went out, we had already had 11 inches of rain. House took no damage but my two oak trees in the front yard look terrible. Spent the weekend with a chainsaw cutting up large limbs that came out of the trees.  At least the trees didn't get uprooted.  My ham radio tower survived with minimal damage to the antennas.  However, others in my neighborhood didn't fair so well.  Lots of roofs gone, car ports gone, etc.  Power was off for 3 days for me but I had a generator.  Areas around here look like a war zone.  I feel bad for so many people but feel really blessed.  Hopefully we are done with storms for the season.

Burch

[Scottiemom]

So glad you and yours made it through, Burch. People who stayed in my community said the same thing you did. We are a manufactured home community, but the damages were confined to the bus ports/carports and some skirting and facia. I haven't seen any windows blown out or trees down, but a lot of tree/bush debris. Fortunately no home damage. We were flooded as well and my house looked like it was sitting in a lake. Water came within about 10 feet of entering under my ports, but it didn't. Even though I had water all around, it didn't get into my house or into my shed, which sits right on the ground. My back yard slopes to the canal, and my house is up on blocks and anchored there, so I didn't have any damage from water. That was a miracle. I did lose some pieces of skirting up high where my carport transitions to the bus port. My neighbor picked up pieces that were laying on the ground, but I am missing some that blew away. I had a guy who was working around the community re-tack some pieces still up there that were loose and flapping in the breeze and then he reattached the ones that had been picked up. I'm still missing some and will have to have some new pieces put up, but at least everything up there is secure now. A friend came down with his tall ladder and inspected my roof. It is fine. He also reattached my TV antenna which had pulled out on one side and was interfering with TV reception. That affects my kitchen TV which isn't hooked up to cable. But all seems well. Overall our community feels very lucky since we aren't living in hurricane rated homes. It will be weeks before we get the debris all cleaned up. Plus we had major damage to our plastic fencing that secures our community. Several of the guys in the "hood" were out the next several days and reset the fence, so we are once again enclosed. Our section (we have 5) only lost power for about 9 hours total, so I didn't lose anything in my freezer. I keep dishes of ice cubes in the freezers. If they melt and refreeze solid, I know the food is toast. But I still had ice cubes!

My son in Melbourne got hit as well. His house is poured concrete, though, and his roof is tied down. He had his truck pulled across in front of his garage. He had his garage door open and was standing leaning on his truck and saw a tornado rip down the street in front of him. He lives on the edge of a cul-de-sac and he saw it swoop down in the circle, then speed down the street. He estimated it was an EF0. He felt it was definitely a small tornado from the spin and the damage it was doing. Some other neighbors saw it as well. If I had not been visiting my daughter in Virginia, I would have been at his house. I would not have stayed here. One couple down the street had no damage here, but Helene hit their house in Augusta, Georgia. They lost 15 trees in the back yard and more in the front. Trees uprooted in the front ripped out their water lines going to the house. They have it mostly cleaned up now. One tree fell on a garage that had his workshop and a car in it totaling all that. He also has a bus garage with his custom Prevost and Allegro Bus in it that was unscathed. 

Prayers for those still cleaning up and recovering from losses.

Dale

[MetalGator]

I am not evacuating.  I have 3 dogs and have an 82 year old father in law in a mobile home and my mom is 77 and lives in Zone A flood zone so they come to my house when we have a storm.  I am zone E which is 33' or above so I don't have to worry about storm surge.  However, this thing is a monster right now at 180mph winds with 200+ gust.  It's still a long way off but it's starting to concern me.  I have plenty of supplies and have a generator with plenty of fuel so I should be good as long as the roof doesn't blow off.  

I have lived all of my 53 years of life in this general area of Florida and have lived though many storms but this one could be bad.

I have a weather station on top of a 30' tower here at my house and it updates every 3 seconds.  You can monitor it by going to www.k4qxx.com.  It runs 24/7/365 days a year unless the power and internet go out which is a possibility but anyone can look at it if they are interested in the local weather at my house.

Burch

[Scottiemom]

Totally understand Burch. If I was in Florida I would be over at my son's. Stay safe and thanks for the info on your weather station.

Dale

[Toolguy5]

We hope you stay safe. 

[MetalGator]

The wife, doggies, and I spent labor day weekend at Fort Wilderness in Disney.  It's expensive, but we really like it there.  It's only about an hour and a half drive for us.  We have booked it again for Superbowl weekend in February.

The doggies are all doing OK.  ZuZu is still a crazy Pomeranian.  She is two years old now and has so much energy.  Monty is 14 and is starting to slow down but still gets around well and it still such a beautiful dog.  Pinto is 11 and is doing fine.  They are all such good travelers.

I don't have another motorhome trip planned until Thanksgiving but I am sure my wife will want to go to the hard rock in Tampa before then so I am sure there is another trip before Thanksgiving.

Burch

[Scottiemom]

Burch, how are you doing up there? We are still waiting down here in Polk City, but I think you are further north and may be closer to the path of this monstrous storm. Stay safe. I was supposed to leave for a rally today going to St. Augustine. Cancelled for today, but going to try and go tomorrow.

Dale

[MetalGator]

So far, so good.  Storm was supposed to go pretty far west of us.  I am a couple of miles inland so I won't have to worry about storm surge.  However, the last radar image I just saw showed the storm jog to the east.  That is not good for WCF.

Burch

[MetalGator]

We made out fine.  Didn't even lose power.  However, the areas on the river and the coast got a big storm surge.  Lots of flooding.  

[Toolguy5]

Stay safe