On the Road Again!

​

Hello and happy end of October! Here in the Pacific Northwest (US), we have had a glorious display of fall colors amidst a lot of rain. Everywhere we look, bright yellows, oranges and reds mix with the evergreens and it's truly remarkable. With the winds and rain, I suspect we hit the color peak this past week and soon we'll be looking at bare trees and evergreens.

The highlight of my recent life is that last week we went on our first real trip in our new RV. It was a 5-night trip to the coast, which is a couple hours away from us and we stayed in a campground situated right next to a cute little seaside town. The campground wasn't much to talk about, but we loved the time spent in the RV! This was our first real getaway for more than just a couple nights in a very long time, and we really appreciated quite nights watching TV, reading and playing games by our fireplace. How cool is it to have a fireplace (electric) in an RV?!

We managed to find what truly might be one of the worst movies of all time - Day of the Dead 2. No, not Dawn of the Dead. Day of the Dead. Two. It had it all, bad acting, goofy effects, weak plot and spoiler - there really was no ending. It appeared the budget ran out and they just ended the movie where filming stopped. It's kind of fun to feel like we found a "best of," even it it was best at being terrible.

Below is a fairly long list of my recent essays. Since we were on vacation last week, these were published over the past two weeks. I hope you'll get a few laughs and find yourself nodding along in agreement with these mostly pet tales. For you travelers, there's one essay about RVing for you.

---

This Week

​

​A Big Secret About the Glamorous Life with Pets​

Is it really all designer clothes and oversized sunglasses? You decide.

​How to Effectively Wash Your Pet's Bed​

This piece was written out of frustration with the entire process of washing Kola's bed. Hopefully a laugh or two will be the positive outcome of my wrestling match with a pet bed.

​5 Ways to Detect if Your Cat is Approaching Middle-Age​

Middle-age is really underrated, and in cats, it could even go unnoticed. There are signs though. Do your cats exhibit any of these sometimes cute, sometimes baffling behaviors?

​Does Your Cat Live on the Exciting Extremes?​

Does your cat have two speeds - stop and go? Love me or leave me alone? Life at the extremes can be interesting, so in this article, I share some extreme cat records and behaviors.

​Is Your Perceptive Pet Playing You?​

Sometimes it seems like we exist for the amusement of our pets. Maybe some of these antics will feel familiar...

​8 Unexpected Essentials for New RVers​

In this article I share what may actually be some useful tips about things to do or include in your RV for smoother travels. If you are a seasoned RVer, please feel free to send me an email including your favorite tips that I missed.

---

Behind the Scenes

​

Most of our trip was rainy, but we did have manage to have one night where we were able to build a campfire, cook burgers and roast marshmallows. As you can see below, we even had enough sun that day to charge up our solar torches. I really like how realistic they look.

Halfway through our trip, we were driving around looking for the entrance to a state park, and look what we came across in someone's front yard. This bull elk was guarding his whole herd, many of whom were laying down sleeping. You can see one on her side along the right edge of the photo. This was truly spectacular and I feel so fortunate to have witnessed it.

On the home front, as some of you know, I have been redoing our bedroom - built a headboard, refinished a dresser and desk, and ordered new valances. Last weekend, we replaced the floral pattern valance than had been in our room since we bought the house. What a difference! This feels more like us. I finished the desk this week and just have the chair left to go. Next week, if we get enough light into our room, I will share some pictures of how it all turned out.

---

Favorite Fun Stuff

​

If you are anything like me, you love the animal stories on The Dodo. They are generally heart-warming glimpses of someone rescuing an animal in need. In this story, we see an orphaned baby otter being taken care of by a woman at the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital. Warning: This video contains high levels of cute, be prepared to go, "Awww....."

Photo by Third Idea on Unsplash. Not the actual orphaned otter.

---

Confession Time

​

I enjoy eating a spoonful of chocolate frosting right out of the tub as a special treat. Is it really that much different than a piece of fudge?

---

I hope you have had a good week with just the right balance of productivity and relaxation.

Wishing you peace,

Dakota Duncan

​

You can support me by sharing this update with a friend. If you received this from someone else, go ahead and sign up for a free subscription of your very own here:

I Want in on the Fun!

If you want to find about about my graphic novel or children's chapter books, visit my website: dakotaduncan.com​

​

​

​