Love, Wrapped in Fur

There's no easy way to say it: our Diesel crossed the rainbow bridge on August 11th.

He had a seizure last week and we immediately took him to the ER Vet. Not knowing what it was at the time, but knowing _something_ was grievously wrong, within 20 minutes, we were there; after a long 6 hrs, they weren't able to identify what could have caused it, and we were back home on watch in case another happened in the next 24 hours.

Looking back, it was no surprise that Diesel was a real kindness to the vet staff and doctor with his loving temperament that night, almost acting as a therapy dog with the snuggles and pets he was allowing (two life-and-death emergencies happened while we waited - one of them didn’t make it; the vet came in, sat down on the floor, and loved on Diesel for a while… it didn’t even register for me till after we left).  They checked him out and sent us home with instructions to watch and see, and followup with our normal vet, which we did.  

A week passed, and everything seemed fine, but Thursday morning he was laying in my office, and had a very hard time getting up.  

He became increasingly lethargic with pale gums and lots of drooling/diarrhea, so our regular vet sent us back to the ER vet where they discovered a large mass on his spleen that had ruptured and was bleeding internally; the odds would not have been in his favor to go thru surgery, blood transfusions, and a long, painful recovery at his age.  It's likely the seizure last week was related to the mass in his abdomen. 

We went back to Diesel's normal vet to put him to sleep, with Rich sitting on the floorboard of the back seat to love on him as I drove. I knew it was the right move to take him back to them rather than have this happen at a sterile and unknown ER; our vet's office was incredibly kind, having set up a soft bed in one of the rooms for him to lay on and staying late after their normal hours so we could have just a little more time with him. Several of the vet techs came in to say their own goodbyes; Diesel's been their patient, and a 'doggie daycare kid,' since he was a puppy.  

He was surrounded by love as he left this earth. 

We were blessed to have him his whole life - 10 and a half incredible years of road trips, room clearing farts, food boycotts, and the best bed-stealing snuggles.  From the very first camping trip with him, to the very last, Diesel was the best camping pup we could have wished for.  There will be a 95-lb doberman-shaped hole in our souls from having to let him go, but as I've said before: "we grieve deeply because we love deeply," and our sweet Diesel-dog was absolutely love wrapped in fur. 

Brockhouse's Diesel Tank
February 2nd, 2012 - August 11, 2022

A New Day Rising

New Year's Eve was so good, I'm still listening to the Foo Fighter's 3-hour-long concert from Madison Square Garden that our satellite radio station was rebroadcasting NYE; there's something to be said about the magic of music - and to bring it along while we're camping just makes the new year that much better. 

Happy 2022, y'all!  Here's to health and happiness, and leaving the hard times behind.  

It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again

We left for Purtis Creek Park Thursday afternoon; we were supposed to go towards the Hill Country, but I realized Wednesday afternoon that the pull thru site I booked at Inks Lake SP had a BIG branch overhanging the site (#76) and there were no other sites for us to move to, so I searched for another park, and thankfully, found availability here in East Texas.  Booking last minute trips i harder and harder these days!

We made a late night run into Tyler to pick up dog food (I forgot to pack Diesel's kibble!) and then settled in back at the campground for a nice long weekend.  Not much going on Friday afternoon, we made our way back into town again for dinner (at another Jalapeno Tree; I think we found our new East Texas favorite!) and a small surprise - a horse drawn carriage thru the brick-lined streets of Tyler's historic 

I found Hot Springs Carriage Company thru a Google search for "drive thru Christmas lights" in Tyler, which in turn lead me to Trip Advisor,  and eventually to their Facebook page.  For a small cost, they'll drive you thru the old neighborhood outside Bergfeld Park for 5, 10, or 15 minutes.  With two carriages going at a time, we waited less than an hour for our turn and really enjoyed the short ride around with Tanner. (If you happen to be reading this - best of luck as you pursue your dreams: rental properties are a great investment in your retirement and delaying marriage and kids till you feel stable enough to support them is a great investment in your self!) 

After that fun little adventure, we made our way back to the campground, to our mischievous little pup.  While we're gone, we have him 'kenneled' in the bedroom of the camper, with a Blink camera set up so we can keep an eye on him.  We noticed over the last few trips, that he was no longer on camera, laying in his bed where he's supposed to be, but when we returned, the door to the bedroom was still shut.

So, we bought a second Blink camera and set it up to catch a different view of the room... and catch a spoiled little Goldilocks who decided our bed was "just right."  

I mean, you can't blame him - the SleepNumber _is_ more comfortable than his Paws bed, even though he does have a heating pad turned on and tucked into that bed to keep him warm.  And keeping warm as a priority this weekend as the weather was going to take a huge drop to start off the new year.

Saturday was a beautiful day to sleep in for a bit, enjoy lunch at the camper and then take a short drive into Canton to walk the square and check out the Van Zandt County courthouse in the golden sun.  

We could literally see the temp dropping dramatically on the truck's dashboard temp gauge - we were getting ready to see a really cold night:

Diesel was just about as excited about the cold as he was about the fireworks from the night before.

With the heaters going, snuggled up and watching The Martian (that's probably #15 if you're counting), we kept our eyes on the cold front as it hurtled across the state and towards us.  Looking at the future-cast for wind speeds on Sunday, we knew it was going to be a late day in the park before we would be ready to leave.

But then, isn't that the best way to start a brand new year?  

I'm a new day rising
I'm a brand new sky
To hang the stars upon tonight...

It's times like these you learn to live again

We were at Purtis Creek State Park, Site #10 (30a/W). The site backs in and pretty much shares the fire ring and picnic table with the next site over (#11), so that could be great if you're camping with another family - not so great if the strangers int eh other site are avid smokers.  The entire campground seemed to clear out Saturday night - most campers not interested in staying over in freezing temps.  We'd already camped colder than this, so we weren't concerned and actually enjoyed having the place to ourselves.

For more camping photos, go here.

For a drive thru video of the park, go here. 

PS - if you want a serious goosebumps musical experience but can't commit to the 3 hrs of the Foo Fighters? Jump in for the last song before the encore, The Best of You, around 2:10. That's the kind of performance, and audience, that all we all long for. 

The Weary World Rejoices

We made it in to Goliad State Park just as the last rays of dusk slipped below the horizon in the west on Thursday night.  The cute little park would be our home for the Christmas weekend - with several other campers already in place, decorated with lights and projections to ward off the dark night ahead.  I was tempted to say "dark and cold night ahead" but let's be real here - its south Texas in December and were currently experiencing the warmest Christmas week on record.

84* for Christmas y'all.  Ugh.  Forget passing out hot chocolate after your candle-light caroling, you're going to want fudge popsicles. 

Christmas Eve morning we all snuggled in bed for a while - and by "we all" I mean "all."  If you didn't know already that Diesel is the most spoiled pooch on the planet, then you obviously haven't been reading my blog.  In fact, he's just about as old as the blog is - turning 10 in February; it's hit us hard lately to realize he's in his golden years now.  We sure love this puppy. 

I mean, how can you not love that sweet face?  We left our little critter at the camper and made our way over to the Texas Zoo in Victoria for the afternoon.  It was a small zoo, with an appropriately small entrance fee, and we enjoyed wandering around the different enclosures.  We must have timed it just right, though, because it sure felt like it was nap time that the local zoo, what with all the animals snoozing around us. 

I mean, even the peacock jumped off of his perch and walked over to the rest of the flock, who were resting in the shade.

There were a few creatures that were awake and roaming - the fox and raccoons, and the jaguars. 

The ring tail lemur inside the main building kinda looked at me like: what did you expect? It _is_ the holidays after-all?  Everyone is taking a break!

We left the zoo and drove over to De Leon Plaza in downtown, directly across from the Victoria County Courthouse.   Both the plaza and the courthouse were beautifully decorated for the upcoming holiday, and being Christmas Eve, we practically had the center of town all to ourselves. 

We got back to the camper and received the royal sniff-down.  Lots of random animal smells and Diesel was all about checking us out when we came back home. 

Joining the theme from the zoo, RDB and Diesel both zonked out for an afternoon nap of their own, and I a (very short) drive into town.   Goliad is the county seat of Goliad County, and y'all know I have a thing for courthouses.  The town square was all dolled up like a Hallmark Christmas movie. RDB and I came back over to get a few night shots, too, and once again had the town to ourselves.

Back at the campsite in the late afternoon, we enjoyed listening to Christmas music and had lox for an early dinner. Then watched a Christmas special about celebrations all around the world.  I've been pen-paling with Grandma G since the pandemic started, and learned this past year that we have Scandinavian roots. Looking up the traditions from Sweden, I realized there were some we already did, like celebrating on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas day. I partook in Advent this year, and kept decorations to a minimum (not just for sake of rediscovering heritage, but because I've just been, well, not in the spirit this year; work has taken its toll on me.)  It's been nice, actually, to keep things simple and focus on the light.  (Though, I am still trying to find a julbock.) 

Thinking of seeking the light, one of the main reasons I booked us at Goliad State Park for this weekend was their History in Lights event running thru the month of December.  Nearly 90 years ago, the Civilian Conservation Corp had rebuilt the mission that is located on the park grounds and over the holiday season the park uses displays with light and shadows to tell the story of the park and surrounding area.  With the sun setting in  the distance on Christmas Eve it was better than - more magical even - than I could have imagined.

Not a single filter or edit on any of those photos.  And it wasn't until I was uploading them here that I realized that second to last one - the one of the full mission from a distance away - actual has a faint 22* halo over it.  The blues and purples of the sunset behind the whitewashed walls of the mission... were truly magical.

Of course, we played around a little with the colored lights we purchased from Amazon, a tripod, and RDB's iPhone 13 Pro Max - it really takes stellar night shots. 

After walking back over to our camper, we settled down for the night, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. 

We set an alarm for (way too early) Christmas morning so that we could watch the live stream of the James Webb Space Telescope launch - a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this billion dollar piece of equipment sent over a million miles into deep space. What a gift! 

 

Right at the top of the launch window opening, the rocket achieved nominal trajectory and the birth of the next phase in space exploration had come. I am truly in awe of the power and ingenuity of human innovation, and that we can participate in this (literally from our bed!) from all across the world!  To add to the experience? There's a website up that tracks: Where is Webb? (as I type this, the telescope is 119,160 miles from Earth... and counting!)

After that early morning wake up call, we lazily lounged around the camper till lunch; I made a charcuterie board with some of the miscellaneous tasty tidbits we had in the fridge. Pretty proud with how this one turned out!  And no, Diesel, you can't have any!

We spent Christmas day mostly at the campsite, watching movies on NetFlix.  One of my favorites (The Christmas Chronicles with Kurt Russel as Santa), a few new ones that were interesting takes on the origin story of Santa Claus (A Boy Called Christmas, Klaus), a classic (White Christmas), and a typical "Hallmark" love story (A Castle for Christmas). RDB just jogged my memory that a few of those we actually watched at home this past week, but I'm bundling them in here anyway!

Christmas dinner was smoked steaks and some of our favorite side dishes: butternut squash with sage, roasted asparagus, and mashed cauliflower (yes, went went to H-E-B on Christmas Eve; yes, it was as crazy as you'd think it would be!) along with a bottle of cabernet from Rodney Strong.  We enjoyed a few glasses of eggnog (spiked, of course) to finish off the Christmas meal...  it was a perfect kind of laid back day!

Sunday we woke and enjoyed coffee and tea on the couch, deciding on how we wanted the day to play out. Wind speeds definitely play into it when we travel, and so we had our eyes on that.  That, and really? Neither of us really wanted the weekend to end!  So, we drove back in to Victoria to have lunch. 

The Pumphouse Riverside Restaurant and Bar was such a cool little local place to try out for Sunday brunch. Food was good and the view of the Guadalupe River from the patio was perfect; the service was lacking, but I'd give it another try at another time (would love to try their lunch menu).

On our way back over to the campground we stopped in to the newly renovated Visitor's Center set up in the Custodian's Cottage and had a chance to look around and understand a bit of the history of the CCC who, in essence, used the building of this cottage as a practice for the Mission de Espiritu they were charged with rebuilding.  The shell alcove over the window along with the log-hewn staircase were practice runs for the shell above the main door of the chapel and the staircase that led up to the bell tower.  

The camp host/docent at the Custodian's Cottage even invited us into the area reserved for their office while on staff - that being the dining room and kitchen of the surprisingly well laid out home.  I was so impressed with the incredible attention to detail that the CCC showed, even in the smallest things, like the clover carved into the top of the nailhead in the pantry door in the kitchen.  

I picked up a pressed tin heart from the park store to remind me of what a lovely time this weekend was.  Truly, a perfect Christmas that this weary heart needed. 

We were at Goliad State Park, Karankawa loop, Site #9.  It's a pull-thru loop of sites, but we made the decision to back in to this one, as the big tree to the right and the posts to keep you from running over the connections to the left were going to be a tight fit.  Though the reservation system online says this is a 50' site, it was plenty long for our rig and truck (we usually look for 60' sites).  Plenty of space between and behind the sites in this loop and so much to do at the park that we really didn't have a chance to do it all! (I'm already looking at booking another trip down here in the late spring next year!) 

We've been here once before: Going for Gold at Goliad

For more camping photos, go here.

And for a drive thru of the campground, go here (coming soon!)