A Most Excellent Adventure by Bill and Carmen

In February 2003 (days 11-14) Bill and Carmen drove down to 145A grandview for fun and thrills. Prelude:

(From Dave to Bill)
   We anticipate you and Carmen's arrival with high expectations. Might
do pig stuff PA style for you- stuffed stomach, pickled feet, braised
snout and fried anus.  (kinda like crack-lings)
J is at 'high alert' and is wondering if Carmen laps from the toilet
bowl. "Of course" I told her. "The dog is a Bergmark." If so we shall
remove the blue tablet before her arrival. The lid is normally up around
here and the tank has a sweet smelling blueing in it so the H2O is blue.
Not bad stuff with gin. Does Carmen like gin?

A great picture of father and son
There are a few shots of Carmen in this collection.

Drinks and a huge dinner of ribs that night. The next day Dave brought us up to date:

     Carmen is doing fine. Still uncertain about TF. I cant blame her.
No barking in the night as different people moved about the house. YW
reported C did have to take a dump at 4 am. I am glad C is his dog. YW
had to put on his clothes and do his duty so C coulddo her duty. I never
heard the movement in the house.
YW and I will prep the pig stomach this am. Will place in oven and
set the timer and go to the Sport show.

Dave enjoys playing with the dog.
He also gets licked a lot.
He shares a drink with the dog.

Dave writes:

YW and I
are back from an afternoon of hiking at the Sportspeople
show. Put in a least four miles I would guess.
     C was cabled to the Cabin Room bed when we left. When J got home
the dog was on the cable but with TF. TF and C have bonded. C stilll
barks but it does not matter. All is well at 145a.

Dave writes "C enjoyed her new toy last eve. Already broke it so she now has two toys."
YW said that looks like way too much stuffing for those pig stomachs. He had to eat his words.
" Two pig stomachs are filled. Look like two footballs."
"Stuffed with onions, carrots, smoked sausage, fresh sausage and taters ."

Here is a note written around 9:30 PM, after the feast was over:

(from Dave)
    We are getting by. TF and  C have been a hoot. TF waves his hands
and talks to C and she barks at him. TF went to bed a bit ago and C is
fine. WE have some good photos of C doing stuff. C seems to be content
with UD and AJ. 
    We just fnished dinner of hog maws with gravy and brocolli. The hog
maws were a good product. Several second helpings by all. Burp. J is
doing dishes. YW and C went out to void. DB voiding presently. 
   Donna plz forgive us. WE are greatly enjoying your husband and dog.
Both have been well behaved. C responds well to niblets. YW responds
well to gin. Both could use some work but they are coming along fine.
DB, J, YW, and C

YW and C could use work????

"C and YW have done well this eve. YW got a few faces but C was perfect."
"Your gang is up tp pee and to go to bed now."
C has been a perfect dog this eve. She slept on the couch and then next to me while YW listed. All is well."

So ended day 2. Thursday (Feb. 13) Dave reports on the morning activities:

     All is well at 145a. YW and C did rise at reasonable hour. Dump run
started bout 6:15 am. C was first. YW second. Then DB followed by J. TF
was last. C has adjusted well. She thinks she owns the house now. Toys
destroyed with pieces all over. Couch sleeping. (She does like a big
sofa)

Time for some more food. " Bagels and cream cheese with half a grapefruit for the boys this am. Rump roast sandwich spread made for lunch this am. A good off the leash hike will start later. Now off to the fish shop."
something...
What is this? Somebody's spleen? brain?

Thursday's main treat was a hike. Dave reports:

     Nice six mile hike for the boys. C probably put in 24 miles. C's
looping and running up and back the trail adds mileage for her. 
    YW just started cocktails. I started a fire. J will soon arrive. TF
is surfing the TV. C is acting like a pleased content puppy. She did
that ear nip move Donna has told us about to me this morn. Kinda cute. C
has come to visit me in the Cabin Room with her ball in her mouth.  No C
no email for you....We are actively awaiting
Scott. Drinks have been flowing. Good conversation has been flowing.
     C tried to get a nap on the Cabin Room bed. YW put a stop to that.
No napping before sleeping tonight.

This is the critter Scott describes as follows:

   "Upon on knocking and entering the house where I grew up I heard
someone say " She bites." I froze in my tracks. Niblets were handed to
me for my own survival as C was barking and spitting while evil eyes
challenged my manhood.
Niblets saved me. While leaving the br I was again challenged by the
shadow of death. Niblets saved me. Nice dog.  S"
(Scott then left the house, and Dave reports that "The shadow of death 
is at my feet being a wonderful groaning puppy.")

Later, Scott remarked that Carmen makes "a bad first impression".

Bill finished Thursday evening by listing on the couch in the livingroom. This was after a dinner of crusty-skinned salmon, 40 oysters on the half with crusty bread, no vegetables. Dave: "Wonderful evening of fun and meaningless conversation."
Another view
Friday morning: bagels for breakfast

Around noon on Friday, Bill and Carmen reached home at 7 Hickory Trail, while Dave remarks " Still picking up the debris from the Bergmark visit. Musta ran the dishwasher five times while they were here. Good eaters and drinkers." It sounded as though they dined on wonderful food, and apparently Carmen does like gin. This is what Bill wrote:

Thank you for having me and the Carmen.  Much enjoyed by us. Carmen and
I are at home now having lunch.  Saltmobile is resting in driveway. 
Traffic was light today.

YW & C

And when I (Donna) got home from work, I found a very tired puppy:

Carmen is not speaking;  Carmen, in fact, seems to be  
completely exhausted.  When I came home she got up and wagged her
tail a few times, but otherwise has been soundly asleep (sound
asleep is when she wiggles her feet and yips under her breath).

I also heard the real stories that Dave had missed telling during the 4 days:

Loved the story of the 5 hours that Ted and Carmen were 
together and the resulting hookup.  I had not heard from Dave that
(1) Ted unhooked Carmen from the bed (at the bed end), (2) removed
Carmen's collar, and (3) hooked it back up again in such a way that
it was dangling from her other harness (or something like that).

An elegant summary by Dave:

Memorable times for the last few days for me include: 1) nice hike
and seeing C off the leash- zooms around like she has a rocket up her
ass  2) YW story about not having toilet paper at or near the comode
while he was taking a dump  3) YW saying that looks like way too much
stuffing for those pig stomachs  4) Scott telling YW that Carmen makes a
poor first impression 5) finding two of my cast iron fry pans this am
with fish residue still in them  6) walking/hiking at the sportsmens
show with YW and him enjoying how nutz guys can be.

Friday was the beginning of a long weekend, the weekend of the President's Day snowstorm. Dave and Janet spent the nights in a tent, just for the joy of it.