Green Country

The peeps, with me in tow, rolled out of Nashville for a long day's drive to Grove, OK. Grove is in the north east corner of Oklahoma near the Grand Lake of the Cherokee's. It's very obvious why the area is call Green Country, lots of oak and maple trees, rolling green hills of farmland and ranches. Beautiful country, just one major draw back, smack dab in the middle of tornado alley. Every year the threat of tornadoes loom over the area. Joplin, MO is only forty-five minutes away and was a victim to a vicious tornado about three years ago.

However, the peeps like the area and are discussing the potential of living in Green Country after our stint in Panama. Housing prices are less than Colorado's, taxes are reasonable and lots of friendly humans. I've yet to make any new canine friends in the area but I probably will if the peeps settle here.

Uncle Karl has this very cool boat that we all get to ride in. I'm still not so sure about this water thing, so the peeps bought me a swim vest. I know it helps keep me afloat but I'm still taking puppy steps with the water. We cruised the lake one afternoon into the evening enjoying the sunset and the moonrise.

The peeps were invited to go on a river raft float trip on the Elk River in Missouri a few days ago. I didn't get to go, the outfitter doesn't allow dogs on the rafts, only in their canoes. I guess they had a good time because when they came home they told Uncle Karl (he had to work) that they would do it again. The peeps said the water was very clear and you could see the fish; catfish, bass, and trout swimming in the water, along with lots of turtles. They took a cooler full of water, soft drinks, beer, sandwiches and snacks, floated about six and a half hours, jumping in the water regularly to cool off and commune with nature.

Last weekend we took a road trip to Parkville, MO, which is just on the northern edge of Kansas City, MO. The peep's niece Kylie, her husband Al and their two kids Molly and Quinn live there. Also, they have a dog named Nikki. Nikki is a rescue dog, part lab and something else. Nikki and I played for two solid days. The most fun I've had since we left Indiana and Izzi. We're both the same age, but Nikki is bigger than me. I held my own and she is now one of my BDFF's. Friday evening all the peeps went to the neighborhood swimming pool for pool time, adult beverages, swimming and socializing with neighbors. Nikki and I stayed home, with the peeps out of the house we were really good and took naps. When the peeps came home the dance party started. Al and Molly started singing 80's songs, using wooden spoons for mics and playing air guitars. They rocked for hours on the kitchen floor. Bob and Kryss threw in some 60's music and eventually everyone was dancing, singing and having a great time. Saturday morning Bob and Al were out the door by 8am, Al had to check on his "poolies". He's the officer in charge of the USMC recruiting office for the Kansas City district. Poolies are USMC recruits that have yet to go to boot camp. Once a month the poolies get together and their physical conditioning efforts are measured. This way by the time they go to boot camp they have a much better chance of graduating instead of washing out. Bob said there were some fine young people preparing to wear the USMC uniform, they truly are getting a few good men and women.

When Bob and Al got home, with donuts, Nikki and I rushed them like Bronco linebackers. We didn't want the donuts, the kids did, we wanted to play in the backyard. We showed off our socialization skills; running, chasing each other, jumping over toys, and wrestling. I think they were impressed with our skills, kind of like poolies. I think the dance party took a little something out of Bob and Al, not to mention the early get up time. After lunch they took naps until all the peeps went to the pool again. Bob took his GoPro camera and let Molly and Quinn swim with it on. They came home with some fun underwater images that Molly downloaded onto her mom's computer. I think the dance party on Friday night finally got to Molly while they were at the pool, she fell asleep in a big blow up floating device. Even rock stars need their rest.

When we left on Sunday morning I was really exhausted. Nikki and I had really played hard and I couldn't wait to get into my bed in the back of the Pathfinder and go to sleep. One more picture of the Butler's and then we headed back to Grove, OK.