Topo!

I would like to introduce the newest member of our family, Topo, pronounced Toe Poe, as in Topographic Map.

Here is a long story with a happy ending. Since the hike with Nelius, Tyler has been wanting to replace Issy with a new hiking partner (a tough task since she such a great hiking partner). Tyler has been visiting the humane society on a regular basis and had our friend who works there keeping an eye out for a dog that would make a good hiker. Tyler went into the shelter in north Phoenix early this week to check out a couple candidates in the "Hospital Kennels" (which means they had just come in to the shelter, and weren't available for adoption, or for the public to see). In the hospital kennel Tyler spotted a 2 month old Border Collie puppy that had come in as a stray. It looked perfect, but he wanted to check the other shelter first.

Fast forward two days. Tyler went into the south Phoenix shelter and found another dog that seemed like a perfect fit. We even went through the dog introductions with this candidate. Over a night of "thinking about it", we went in yesterday morning to pick up our new dog. To our surprise and disappointment it had been adopted the night before while we were "thinking about it". Unbelievable. The lady at the front, who knew Tyler from his frequent visits said there were 7 more dogs coming in from North Phoenix any minute and that we were welcome to wait for them and see if any of those appealed to us.

Claire spotted him first, and said she thought she might have a winner. When I walked up to the kennel I couldn't believe it. There staring back at me was the 2 month old Border Collie I had seen a few days earlier at the other shelter. He had just come off the truck from the North Phoenix shelter and they hadn't even posted his paperwork yet. It was meant to be.

We adopted him yesterday from the Humane Society. We made his birthday March 23, 08 but he could be anywhere from 2-3 months old. His paper work said "dog came to house, could not keep, friendly with dogs, cats and children". He slept in the kennel last night and didn't have one accident or make one peep!

Now it's time to strap a back pack on him and get him into hiking mode!

Even the animals like the trailer!

We had to drag him out. I think he might be just as obsessed about the trailer as the 4Runner. Bentley loves it!

another touch up on Pop Up

We added carpet to cover the old 80's vinyl flooring and what a difference! Now Claire would like to figure out how to replace the orange curtains and paint the cabinets and it will look like new!

Bulldog pot

Ok So most of you know we love Bulldogs and I found this unique pot out shopping one day and couldnt resist! I probably carried it around the store for 15 minutes just trying to figure out where it would look ok in the house so I could buy it :) At first it I thought it could go in our London themed bathroom but when I got home I saw my bamboo plant in the corner of our kitchen and thought that would be cute there! It was such a great find, that I just had to share!

Pop Up Update

Well, the last two days have been productive! In my opinion, this thing is ready to go camping! We should have time to get a few more things completed before we leave for our first outing. Yesterday I redid the water system from the ground up, new tank, new hoses, works perfect now. I also updated the propane tank, regulator and hoses. So we can cook and do dishes now.

Today we went out and purchased fabric...one of the things that was farther down the "to-do" list, but it go rushed to the front when we found a super cheap fabric store in Tempe. We went with a fabric that we thought was both exciting, but didn't kill the resale value if we decide to part with the trailer down the road. All we have done so far are the dinette sets. We bought a nice solid khaki color for the beds, but that fabric is being shipped to Idaho were my Grandpa is going to sew new bed panels for us. Here are some photos of the before and after photos over the last couple days.


note: I don't have before and after photos of everything, like the water and propane.

FOR MORE PHOTOS:
http://s66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/Dirt4dinner/Saratoga/


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1980 Coleman Saratoga Limited

Claire and I decided that after several years of talking about it to pull the trigger, and buy our first RV. It's a 1980 Coleman Saratoga Limited. Amenities include a sink (hand pumped water), 3 burner propane stove, and interior and exterior lights. It sleeps 8 people! A king bed on one end, a queen on the other, and then there are two dinette tables that each fold down into a full/twin. It's not much to look at, but for $500 we didn't expect much! It needs a serious bath on the inside and outside, as well as new tires, new propane tank, and a little canvas work but nothing that we can't handle! It's perfect for us! We bought it from a family that had bought it in 1981 after the original owner only took it out a few times. It has been handed around their family and used on and off over the years, with the last outing being about 5 years ago. It's time to get it back out and in use. I will get some pictures of it set up tomorrow when we start cleaning. Here are some teaser photos from tonight. We take it out on it's maiden voyage May 17th. We have that long to get it road worthy.