Camping with Eddie - The Royal Visit

(If you are arriving at this blog for the first time, read the two posts below, and this older post here, for the full story of King and more photos of the visit.  Please note, all photos on this blog are copyright;  some may be used for noncommercial, noncompetition purposes by contacting the blog owner for permission and giving credit to the photographer).

On our fourth day of camping, we were visited by royalty:  a King, a Princess, and a Lady.

King
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Princess MollyDawg
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Lady May
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

With them they brought their two human servants, Del and Mark.

King had travelled far - from his life roaming his kingdom in the north, to Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue in Topley, to his new kingdom in Lillooet.  But like any King worth his weight in dog biscuits, he adjusted well to change, listened to what the commoners had to tell him, and acted kindly to others with a benevolence as befits a King.

And, like any King, every now and then he went on a Royal Tour to meet the people of the land.  And took his entourage with him.  The paparazzi, of course, were in his face the whole time, trying to catch that perfect shot that would get the royal seal of approval.

Paparazzi Jean
Photographer for Mylifewiththecritters

Paparazzi Del
Photographer for King Survives

Unlike a certain British human Prince who made headlines last year, King did not party hard and he kept his clothes on at all times.

King, wearing his Turtle Gardens bandana, his leash
and his poop bag holder

Lady May:  But nothin' on his butt!
The Emperor has no Pants!
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

MollyDawg:  I call that a Butthead shot -
King's butt and Lady May's head!
ROFL
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

They stopped at an historic old town, now campground, near the banks of the Fraser River.  There, they met Anxious Eddie, a character of some note whose tales are told on the pages of this blog, and his story-teller and personal paparazzi, Jean

Anxious Eddie,
worrying if he has enough liver treats to go around.

as well as the feudal land owners, Ann and Ken.

Welcome!  Welcome!

 The royal entourage were welcomed with some bits of dried liver and other offerings from Eddie's meagre supply.

You are so kind, Anxious Eddie.
We humbly thank you for sharing your treats.

Lady May:  Your Highness!  Your Highness!
I see a squirrel!
Wouldst thou permit me to catch him for thee and me?

MollyDawg:  Forget it, Lady May.
We have to stay on leash and guard the King,
starved though we may be.

The humans, however, had a whole feast of goodies, a banquet spread upon the table by hosts Ann and Ken.

Wish we could get some of that!

Lady May:  MollyDawg, quit grovelling!  It doesn't become a Princess!
MollyDawg:  I'm not grovellling, I'm saying grace. So there!

When the commoners had feasted, they sat around the fire and talked.  And talked.  And talked.  And talked.

Do you think they've forgotten we're here?

Boring.  This is so boring.  

Patience, my friends.
They will get back to us soon.  

Sure enough, soon the paparazzi picked up their cameras once again and the royal entourage posed for the obligatory media shoot.

King:  I do believe we must press on.
(Heh heh - I made a pun.  "Press on".  Press.  Media.  Get it?)
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

The photo shoot, your Highness.
The media wish more photos for their press releases.
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Then can we go for a walk?
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Patience!
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Perhaps we should pose by the bushes over there?

Lady May:  Hey, hold it!  He's not part of the Royal Portrait!

Perfect!
We shall give it the Royal Seal of Approval!
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

NOW can we go for a walk?
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Lady May:  I bet I can beat you, Dad!

All energy!
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Oh youth!  

And suddenly, it was time to bid farewell.  A King's schedule is always full.  But, like any benevolent ruler, he took the time to thank his servants for their dedication in arranging the Royal Visit, and his hosts for inviting him.

King:  I love you, mom.
Thank you for bringing us to meet Auntie Jean

Bye, King, Princess MollyDawg and Lady May!
Thanks for coming!

And they all lived happily every after.  Especially King, who found his happy-ever-after ending through the help of some Good Samaritans, a wonderful rescue group named Turtle Gardens, a blogger, and a very kindhearted family.  A family he now calls His Own.

Camping with Eddie - sneak preview continued....

Where the heck is Auntie Jean?
She said she'd have the rest of the post about our visit up
"tomorrow or the next day".
That was on Tuesday.  Today's Friday.
What's going on?

Anyone see her?  We shoulda kept her on leash!

Is she over there?
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Auntie Jean!
COME!  SIT! BLOG!
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

I don't think she knows any commands.
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

I'm sorry, guys.
Sometimes my mama can be so lazy busy. 

I'll get the clicker and some treats
and herd her over to the keyboard later today.
She's very food motivated.
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Me:  It's coming, it's coming!  Meanwhile, King has written a great post about our visit on his blog, which you will find here.

Camping with Eddie - a sneak preview of our visitors

I wonder how many readers have been following this blog since November 2008, when I wrote a post entitled "Needed:  One 'Happily Ever After' Ending" about a stray dog, his pack, his broken femur, and some very wonderful good samaratans from Alberta who found them, picked them up, and travelled 7 hours out of their way to take the pack to Turtle Gardens?  If you haven't read it or don't remember it, please click here (then hit the back browser to return to this post).

The post was read by  another couple of wonderful people, Del and Mark, who live about two hours north of where I was camping.  They tell me that post convinced them to inquire about King, the leader of the pack.  And shortly thereafter, they adopted him.  So now you know why I feel so very connected to the visitors who came to our campsite on Saturday, and especially to this sweet, sweet, sweet boy:

King
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

He came with Del and Mark and his two canine siblings, Lady May (a recent adoptee from Turtle Gardens) and Princess MollyDawg (who has lived with Del and Mark for most of her life and graciously accepted King and Lady May into her home.

Lady May, King, and Princess MollyDawg
at Emory Creek
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Of course, I took hundreds of photos.  Hundreds and hundreds of photos.  But these two are all I'm showing you today - just a sneak preview of what's to come.  I'll post some more tomorrow or the next day.  Del will also be posting a photo/story of the visit some time in the next few days - when that happens, I'll link to it on my blog.

Their visit was the highlight of the week.

Camping with Eddie - the first couple of days

We arrived at our camp in the late afternoon.  First things first, we put up the tent and Eddie made himself right at home.

Eddie makes himself at home

We also put a crate outside so he would have a comfy, safe place to chill when we were sitting around the fire.  Eddie would be tethered, on leash, or crated during our holidays.  No taking chances on a lost dog in unfamiliar surroundings!

This is the life!

Then it was time to relax.  As soon as we sat down around the fire, the wildlife appeared.

Stellar Jay

Stellar Jay

Squirrel

Fortunately, Eddie has no interest in squirrels.  Very fortunately, because at one point he was lying next to some gray and white rocks and a squirrel ran right over and hopped on his back, thinking he was just another rock!  Eddie didn't even seem to notice, but the expression on the squirrel's face when his feet met fur was priceless - as was the speed with which he raced away!

Do I look like a rock to you?

There was just enough time for beer and peanuts before dinner.  The Stellar jays and squirrels thought so too.

Beer and peanuts!

Hey Mr Squirrel, can I have that?

Go get yer own darn peanut!

After dinner, a walk down to the creek

And a few more photos,

Get yer own peanut, squirrel said.  How do I do that?

I'll show you!

They're in here.

Jackpot!

Thanks, buddy!

And soon it was time for bed.

G'night!

And for the next couple of days, that was all we did.  Eat, sleep, walk, photograph.

Until Saturday.  When our very very very very very special guests arrived from Lillooet.  But that's a topic for the next post.

Camping with Eddie - The journey

We left at the crack of dawn, headed for the early morning ferry to the mainland.  The day was dry but not too hot - a good day for travel.  The ferry trip was uneventful, and we snoozed in the car much of the time.

Are we there yet?

Because we left so early, I hadn't had time to take Eddie for his walk.  An hour in the car and two hours on the ferry is a long time to wait, so as soon as we arrived on the mainland, we stopped for some exercise and fresh air.  There's a perfect strip of shoreline right near the terminal.  After a nice walk, I spent some time photographing this heron on a rock:

I guess he needed exercise too, as every now and then he shook himself up,

Stretched his wings,

Shook some more,

And resumed his post.

As we drove out of the waterfront area, I stopped to drop Eddie's poop bag in the garbage can and was distracted by the constant chattering sounds from nearby trees.  A heron rookery!  How many hundreds of times have I taken that ferry and not realized it was there?  I pulled the camera back out - there were dozens and dozens of herons, many with chicks just learning to fly.  They were a bit beyond the range of my zoom, but if you click on the photo you can get a better view.  How many herons do you see in this picture?

One very small part of the rookery

 Here, a young one takes his or her first flight, amid the coaxing and cajoling of the parents:

Help! I'm falling!

The youngster flaps awkwardly down to a branch,

Can I stop now?

and mama calls encouragement to continue with the flight:

That's it! You can do it!  Go Johnny Go!

I could have watched them for hours, but I'd told my mom I'd bring a picnic lunch to share with her on the bench outside her care home, where Eddie could sit and beg for crumbs from us and pats from visitors and other residents.  He also learned how to walk nicely beside her wheelchair as we all went for a walk together.  Then a quick photoshoot of mom, and we were on our way again:

Mom, age 94,  outside her care home

Next post, the first couple of days at Emory Creek.