September 20, 2008

Today We Lost a Family Member and a Friend

Today we lost a very special friend of nearly 16 years when Sammy passed away.

Marlon rescued Sammy from an animal shelter in St. Joseph, Missouri as a kitten. Within a few months, Marlon and Sammy moved to Raytown, Missouri.

There Sammy met her new friend, Gypsy.

Sammy liked visiting the outdoors.

Sammy and Gypsy learned how to eat out of plastic bowls...back then we apparently couldn't afford actual cat dishes.

Sammy enjoyed lounging around on the couch in the downstairs family room.

Then everyone moved to Colorado and soon lived in a house.

And Sammy loved to sit by the upstairs railing looking down on the rest of the house.

Sammy always posed like a model with her right paw extended like this.

In 2002, when Sammy was 9 years old, all of a sudden she stopped eating. Suffering from fatty liver, she had a tube inserted into her stomach so that we could feed her through it until she got better.

And six months later, Sammy WAS better. Thank you to Deer Creek Animal Hospital in Littleton, Colorado and especially Dr. Markee Kuschel.


She always liked to rub against her gargoyle on top of the fireplace.

Sammy loved it when we got a paper shredder.

She could enjoy herself for hours with a single strip of paper.

Here's a video of her having fun with paper.
Sammy loved to sleep above Marlon's head when he was napping.

She loved playing in boxes before they went in the trash.

Sammy always worshiped the sun.

She trusted Marlon and always looked like an acrobat on his arm.

Here she is practicing sun worship again.

Sammy always loved lying in a warm pile of laundry.

Sammy and her new buddy, Chatfield, began their RV adventure a little over a year ago and we hope she enjoyed it. Because we really enjoyed having her with us.

To see Sammy featured in our blog, type her name in the blogger search box at the top of the screen.

Dedicated to Sammy...we miss you.

To be continued...

July 15, 2008

St. Louis, Missouri

Heading west from Bloomington, Indiana, we quickly entered Illinois.
Then we quickly left Illinois and were once again in our home state of Missouri.

We spent three nights in the historic St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, Missouri at the Sundermeier RV Park.


We drove by the famous St. Louis Arch.

We visited friends Matt and Jeff at their business, Four Muddy Paws.
A complete mutt store must include gourmet doggie treats...
resident dog food connoisseurs...
and self-service doggie wash bays.
We had a barbecue at our friends' mansion. It was a little bigger than our motorhome...

and the cat even had its own apartment!
The next day we took a bicycle tour of a new development nearby called New Town.
New Town features traditional homes, as well as housing inspired by cities in America and around the world, brought together in a small town community.
Row houses feature front stoops of yesteryear.

To be continued...

July 12, 2008

Wylie House, Bloomington, Indiana

Today we visited the Historic Wylie House Museum.
Built in 1835, it was the home of the first president of Indiana University, Andrew Wylie.

Using an inventory taken in 1859, the house is furnished as it would have looked prior to 1860 with Wylie family heirlooms and other period pieces.

Take a look at some of the furnishings...



Space-saving trundle beds provide two beds which can be made into the size of only one when not in use.
Marlon decided he wouldn't fit it this chair. They must have been shorter and had smaller rears in the 19th century.
An herb garden dominates the Wylie House Museum's backyard.

To be continued...

The Bodyguard at Theatre Winter Haven, Winter Haven, Florida

Tonight, we attended the next to final performance of The Bodyguard: The Musical at Theatre Winter Haven. The curtain call for the four main...