A couple months after picking up our German Shepherd Toby, we headed back to where we got him, our friends Cheryl and Ken near Quitman, TX. Calvin picked up some Moonshine Peaches – OMG! Gotta get more of those! And we met new friends Eric and Athena, a wonderful young couple that was staying at our friends’ through Boondockers Welcome.
One of the things I love about hanging out with Cheryl is we’re both absolute animal lovers and I get to hang out with her at the animal shelter and work with the dogs. One pup in particular, Hershey, a brown and tan shepherd mix, was there the last time I visited the shelter. It seemed I was the only one who could get him to heal without fighting the leash. We ended up taking Hershey home to work with him for the few more days that I’d be there and he is such a sweetheart. Super high energy, but so loving and eager to please. Calvin said if we had a bigger rig we would have taken him with us too! By the end of our time together he knew at least seven commands and I could walk him with just a finger lightly holding his leash. I hope he finds a loving home that will embrace his energy and his heart
We had the best visit with Eric and Athena, even passing on our unused mandolin to Eric so he could satisfy his musician’s heart. They were thrilled. And we had a fascinating conversation with the youngers (about 30), Calvin (40s), me (50s), Cheryl (60s) and Ken (70s). We covered the gamut of life experience, generational similarities and differences, current events, you name it. I think it’s the campfire that makes people dig deep and share honestly. I love those conversations.
Sadly, we had to bid farewell to our friends, and began the journey north to visit another friend in Oklahoma. We stopped in Oklahoma City briefly for a restock, sleeping in a parking lot for the night, then headed east on Route 66 to the town of Vinita, OK to visit our friend Marsha.
We spent about a week in Vinita, helping Marsha at the local food pantry, repairing the sheet rock in her laundry room, and enjoying nightly movies and visiting. Marsha comes across as crusty, but is one of the most generous people I know. I’m honored to be her friend.
Our travel day started with tornado warnings, so we headed in the opposite direction, northwest into Kansas.