Thursday, March 27, 2008

Scenic Route, A Waterfall & A Lost Dog….


One of the things I love most about Wayne is that he's adventurous, just like me! Neither of us can resist a good gravel road! So yesterday we head off to "Pisgah National Forest" for a hike. We decided to take the "Summey Cove Trail", but instead of starting the trail at the end where there was actual pavement, we took a gravel road up three miles of gorgeous forest-lined creeks and roadside waterfalls. At one point, we had to cross a bridge that had recently been swept away by the creek and then hap-hazardly repaired with big chunks of rock. At first I was a little skeptical about crossing it, but before I could even think to hard about it, we had already gone over it {thank goodness for all-wheel drive!}. When we got to the end of the road we had to park and then walk about another mile up to where the waterfall was. This was the most amazing, gorgeous walk I have ever taken. One of my favorite places in the world, for sure! I have all my pictures on "Flickr", so please take a look when you can:


I'm hoping to take my Mom, Step-Dad & Sister up there next week when they are here to visit ~ I know they will love it! Especially my Mom.

So when we got back to the car there was this little beagle dog there and she ran up to us to get some attention. She had a collar on and there was a truck parked nearby, so we just assumed she belonged there and was with the people in the other vehicle. Her collar had a phone number, a man's name and "Balsam Creek", which was the name of the little community where we were. But the tags on the vehicle were from "Virginia". So we think, well maybe they are visiting, or something and were still thinking she was with them. So we get in the car and start back down the gravel road and she was following us and whimpering. I made Wayne stop the car and I got her and put her in. I noticed that her little feet were bleeding from the rough gravel of the road and wondered how the heck she got all the way down to the end of it. She immediately lay down, sighed a huge sigh and fell asleep {a lot better behaved than Lita or Ozzy In a car!}. So we go back through the little town and finally find a convenience store so we could call her owners. I just knew they were probably heartsick over her being lost like that! So I go in the store and the gentleman working there is eating a huge {I'm talking gorganteous} pile of chili cheese fries and licking his fingers while he's talking to me. I asked him if he recognized the person's name on the tag and he says "oh yeah, mam – he lives right up the road". So I called the number and a young girl answers and I tell her that I found her dog and she's like "well, she wonders, so she was supposed to be out". And I'm thinking what! Way down at the end of that gravel road! She was at least 6 miles from home and her little feet were bleeding from the rocks. I asked where she lived and she gave me directions to the house! I tell her the name of the store where we are and it just so happened to be the same as her last name! I asked the "chili cheese fry man" if everybody in the town had the same last name and he said "near about". So we head off to where the little dog lives and drive up a dirt road and there were at least 10 dogs, some sheep, a few goats, several cows, a couple of horses and 3 men with no teeth! On a scale of 1 to 10 to the resemblance of the town in "Deliverance", this ranked a 9.8 – I almost got scared, but then remembered that we had a hunting knife & some mace in the car with us. So I ask these men if this was their dog and they just looked at me like I was talking another language and then one of them "grunted". We just backed up and went to the next driveway where there were 2 young girls on a 4-wheeler. At least they "spoke" and had teeth! They knew where the dog belonged and offered to take her home. I had a hard time getting her out of my car – she was quite comfy in there. I have a horse blanket in the back, where Ozzy & Lita lay, and that's where this little dog was sleeping. Like Wayne said "it's the closest thing to a bed that poor little dog ever saw". I almost felt guilty for leaving her where she "belonged". Nobody seemed to care that she had been lost, or that her feet were bleeding. About that time another man walked up and said that he was the "brother" of the owner of the dog and thanked us for bringing her home. As we drove away they were all just standing around staring at us and probably thinking "bunch of city slickers, picking up a hunting dog and thinking it was lost". I don't really care what those people thought, because I know that little dog certainly was thankful for the ride and that's all that matters.

I hope you are having a wonderful week – Happy Thursday!

Xxoo & peace always ~ Kathy

"Humankind is drawn to dogs because they are so like ourselves – bumbling, affectionate, confused, easily disappointed, eager to be amused, grateful for kindness and the least bit of attention" – Pam Brown (1928)

6 comments:

  1. Awwww... I enjoyed that story. Poor little dog. Not every doggie is as lucky as Lita and Ozzy :O)

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  2. Yes, I'm looking @ Lita right now, snoozing on the couch with the sun shining through the window on her :)

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  3. We live in the Ozark National Forest and have hunting dogs running loose all the time...sigh. I think 2 of them killed one of my chickens the other day. I also have one dog that was dropped out here, we've had her for 13 years now...she's the best and many times people have dropped dogs, cats, you name it.
    What I particularly like is when the hunting dogs have no i.d.
    Have a great weekend...I am hosting 5, 8 & 9 year old girls for my daughter's 9th birthday sleepover...yikes!

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  4. Gosh! You sure are brave with that many girls for a sleepover. I'm sure you have fun things all lined up for them to do, so they won't be bored :) I guess being from Louisiana {at least in Baton Rouge}, we didn't have hunting dogs running around loose. "Mr. Chili-cheese fry man" told me that when I see them with little boxes on their collars it means that they are hunting bears, so I shouldn't pick them up because they are being tracked! Poor little dogs ~ I guess I think they should all live inside and sleep on beds & sofas :)

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  5. Yeah - every once in a while it's difficult to believe that not everyone who owns an animal does it because they love them.

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Thanks for your comments ~ ♥