It was a tough week. Since we have spent the last 3 1/2 years with Molly with us 24/7, so much of our daily routines revolved around her. Everywhere we turn in the boat, RV, and house are reminders. We know, in time, those reminders will hold happy memories, but right now they leave an empty feeling. One of the things Molly taught us: never say never. This hurt is real, but we both hope that the right circumstance will come up one day that will bring another furry kid into our lives. Ahead, there are coves to explore, sunsets to toast, and memories to share.

For anyone out there who has seen and enjoyed the Captain Jim comic strips, we asked Dan to keep Molly as a main character in the strip. It's a nice tribute. He is a very thoughtful and compassionate guy; we know he was concerned for our feelings.

It's over.

Rest in peace, Molly.

When the vet opened her up, she was full of cancer. I promised her we'd take care of her when she adopted us. We did... right up to the end.

She was an amazing cat... followed me around like a puppy. Came when we called her. She would walk on a leash, but it was just for looks, 'cause she always walked alongside us. The house, the boat, and the RV are full of reminders of all the great times we had. Right now, I feel like my heart has been ripped out, but in time, we will celebrate the life and the spirit of our furry kid.

Jim

Well, it's been a while. We are back home in Texas. Along the way, our gray furry family member started getting sick... not able to keep food down, not wanting to eat at all. We took her to the vet last Friday; they took blood and gave us some antibiotics. Following up today, we found that our sweet Molly has a bowel obstruction, most likely lymphoma. The prognosis isn't good, and we have a tough decision to make: surgery that she may likely not come through, or putting her down. Doing nothing is not an option - it would mean death by starvation.

As you can imagine, our hearts are torn apart. Molly is an amazing furry family member - great spirit, independent but lovey. I look into those eyes, and I know I have to do what I can for her. She has always been able to count on us.

We'd like to think that we have added to the adventure in her life. She adopted us; actually, we "dated" for a year before she became an official part of our family. She had never traveled before... she has been coast to coast, border to border with us. When things are stressful, she lowers our blood pressure. Yes, we have been able to count on her, too.

The odds are this will be our last day with our sweet Molly. My apologies for unloading here... many of you have followed along with us on our travels... good times, tough times... this is certainly tough.

Six months before Molly came to our door, we had to put down a sweet kitty that had been a part of our family for almost 22 years. At that time, I said, "Never again." It just hurt too much. I didn't count on meeting a personality like Molly. No matter how much this hurts, the time we've had with Molly has been enlightening... our lives are better for the experience.

Jim

HOT!

We are in the Phoenix area, visiting our daugher and son-in-law. Saturday was 103º, with similar temps predicted for the next week... hot, hot, hot. The single a/c in our new 5th wheel seems to be up to the task of keeping us comfortable, though.

We'll likely be down for a couple weeks here; plan to spend some time visiting our daugher's school, time around the pool, and just enjoying our daughter and son-in-law. I'm thinking outdoor activities, like bike riding and walking are going to be best done first thing in the morning.

Molly isn't so sure about this place: gravel as landscaping isn't her style... she misses being able to lounge in the grass. While there's no grass to be had in the RV park we're in, the daily rental sites have small trees... in time they may provide some shade. As RVs get wider due to slideouts, these small bits of greenery in the gravel may prove to be a limiting factor. Plenty of length (room for our truck in front of the 5th wheel and their car behind), but we just barely fit between the trees.

We've been traveling about with our new 5th wheel. After some time back at the dealer to take care of our shakedown items (nothing major), the remnants of Hurricane Ike hit the SW Missouri area - we got hammered with rain and wind! Rocked and rolled us all night - the horizontal rain blew in through the furnace vent and we got some water inside. No damage, but it was a pretty sleepless night.

From there, it was up to Lake of the Ozarks. Beautiful area, lots of water. We looked around, considering future potential homebase. The plan from there was originally to head south to Arkansas, but changed... we decided to take a bit of a detour - off to Arizona via Iowa. Going to visit family. We are happy with the 5th wheel and comfortable doing some distance.

At Lake of the Ozarks, we stayed in the State Park - skinny roads made for some interesting maneuvering. It was "roughing it" for us: electric only; no water/sewer/cable. We couldn't get satellite TV because of the thick forest and the cell phone coverage (and our wireless broadband) was non-existant. From there we went to Basswood RV Resort outside Platte City, MO. ALL the amenities, including a pool, nice store, cabins, and fresh made pizza - delivered right to your RV. Yeah, that's more like it!

After a couple days there, we are now in the Sioux City, Iowa area, visiting my dear ol' Mother. Even though we sent her photos of the 5th wheel, she seems to think we are living in a pop-up camper (must be the idea of the slideouts). There is some discussion that I may have been switched at birth... and there is a Gypsy family out there with a kid who doesn't like to wander about. ;-) OK, that's my theory, and it would explain a lot. Anyone else ever visit home and think "I must be adopted."

We'll spend a couple days here... that may be as much as my poor tongue can take (bite, bite, bite). Then we're off to the desert southwest to visit our sweet daughter and son-in-law.

Hurricane Ike...

4 days ago, it looked like Hurricane Ike was heading for our area. With each passing day, the weather weasels moved the prediction further north in the Gulf. Now, we are just hours from Ike making landfall near Galveston Island. It is a HUGE strong Category 2 storm; winds are currently 110 mph, which will cause a great deal of damage. But the real situation here is going to be the storm surge. There are predictions of the surge running in excess of 20 feet in the Galveston Bay area. This is sure to create major havoc with the oil industry, driving fuel prices even higher. Galveston Island is already flooding (7:30 pm local time). Sadly, the worst of the surge is going to hit very near the time of high tide. This is going to be ugly.

Also, with the size of this storm, the affected area along the coast is going to stretch close to 300 miles from the eye.

We are now at a point where we can pretty safely say the Tropical Tip has dodged the bullet on this one. There is some surge predicted, 3-6 feet. We talked to neighbors today who said the water is already high (around noon today). It's not likely that it will top our seawall, but the beach on South Padre Island is seeing very large waves that are topping the sea wall in the Isla Blanca Park area.

We left Branson this morning and are back at the RV dealer in Ozark, MO, getting some minor shakedown stuff taken care of. Our experience with NuWa and this dealer have been very positive. We area going to stay here for a day or two... the lot is paved and sloped. Heavy rain is predicted for this area... yes, the remnants of Ike will come over this area on Sunday, bringing 8-12" of rain. The campground we were staying at in Branson was just a bit too close to the water for our comfort - the RV dealer's lot should be a good place to be until this rain spell passes. In the meantime, we have hookups, our satellite TV, and wireless broadband... even if we don't get out for a day or two, we're pretty self contained.

Our thoughts go out to those on the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast... it's going to be a long, nasty night for those in the path of Ike.

Deja Vu All Over Again...

We've been keeping an eye on Hurricane Ike... it's now in the Gulf and heading towards the Texas Gulf Coast. Two days ago, it had its sites on our area; now the predictions are that it will go in somewhere just north of Corpus Christi. Looking at the size of this one, it's going to affect several hundred miles of the Texas coast and inland.

We are back in a holding pattern, waiting to see what happens with this storm. We're hoping we can stay in this area for a while, but will head for home if/when necessary.

While the hurricane is still a couple days off and the exact area of landfall is not certain, one this is a certainty: this is an ugly situation and it going to affect a lot of people.

Our best wishes to all along the Texas Gulf Coast.