We stopped through Fayetteville for a few days. We were able to wrap up some projects that we ran out of time to finish back in May.
First on the list…build a CATIO!!!
Yeah. One those. We had no clue what a freaking catio was, but we used that Google thing on our phones and figured it out.
Hannah has two terrific guard cats that have been relegated to being indoor cats. However, both have freely tasted the wide open outdoors in their pasts and they very much enjoyed it. Based on their constant small wounds and skittering back to the house under duress, they must have really sucked at it from a self defense and self reliance perspective, but they insisted they enjoyed it and they kept going back.
But they are indoor cats at heart and Hannah intends to keep the little dumbbells around for a while.
So, we committed to creating her dream catio (we told her not to dream any bigger than 3’x5’).
Remember the old window air conditioners of yesteryear, with the little accordion thing on each side so you could keep it somewhat insulated? They make the same thing but with a pet door in it. So you open the window wide, place the pet door thing in the bottom sill, extend the two accordion sides to each side, and then close the window down to the top of the pet door thing and you are good to go.
So, our job (Ben’s job) was to build the screened in platform that the cats could then access through the pet door window. It had to be large enough to hold two sprawled out cats, secure enough to keep them from escaping, and roofed enough to keep the platform dry.
And that is what we did.
We also spent time working on some other interior and exterior projects and had fun hanging out!
Best of all, we had no tornados in the campground this time!
Wrapping up in Fayetteville, we headed down the road to Hot Springs Village to spend time at Ben’s folks and with David, Katie, and Peter for the 4th of July!
We got to reunite with Charlie and Bailey which was great.
We were able to help with a bunch of projects around the house and we got some lake time in, but before we knew it, the 4th of July was upon us!
As long as the area has been rainy enough so as not to pose a fire risk, we have a little tradition of heading up to our mountain acreage we call Razorback Ridge, to set off some fireworks the day before the 4th. The fire risk was low this year, so we had fun with some new and old friends watching our own private fireworks show, complete with a finale and everything! (The finale was just setting off two of the multi shot boxes at the same time lol).
The evening of July 4th, we went over to the real deal Hot Springs Village fireworks show and watched from the water on a friends boat, and it was one of the best fireworks shows we have ever seen. Especially the finale! The whole show was set to coordinated music ranging from Toby Keith to of course the Star Spangled Banner. Really a well done show, other than a couple of unintentional grass fires by the shore.
We wrapped up the time in Arkansas with a couple more projects, and then headed out on our last leg of the trip back to Florida, via Mississippi and southern Alabama.
Charlie and Bailey were fantastic travelers on their first time back in the Airstream since early May. They rode quietly in the backseat, just content to be part of the herd again. It was so massively helpful and thoughtful that Ben’s folks wanted to dog-sit while we made the big loop, and the dogs really had a great time there. Not surprising, since the dogs have spent most of their summers in Arkansas. They have to do a lot of varmint hunting and guarding to make up for the time they aren’t there.
However…
Something in their diet certainly didn’t 100% agree with them. Bailey was mostly fine, but oh boy, Charlie was cutting some major muffins (meatballs is probably more appropriate).
The first one happened about two minutes after we pulled out of the driveway.
We got to the very first stop sign before leaving the neighborhood, when a perfectly silent cloud of purple death floated forward from the back of the cab. It hit us both at the same time and we scrambled for the window buttons, clawing at the numerous switches and locks and mirror adjustments, all while holding our breath against this most noxious of vapors surrounding our heads and infesting our sinuses.
We finally got the windows down, and sweet, fresh, unfart-y air filled the cab and we could finally breathe again.
After we cleared the truck cab of the offending odor, we rolled the windows back up and just looked at each other in silence. The glance we shared speaks to the time we have spent together over the last 33 years. Without saying a word, we acknowledged that we are now locked in a confined space with this gasbag for the next 1200 miles, that we will have no warning when the next release escapes, and one of us would need to keep one finger on the window trigger at all times. Or at least until we could purge the dog of his intestinal woes. That was the only way to make it through this.
We turned back to the road ahead, and set off for Hattiesburg, 390 miles down the road.
We developed a pretty efficient system.
Whenever one of us “smelt it”, we already knew who “dealt it”, and we would race to get the windows down as fast as we could. One of us, “accidentally” hit the window lock button a few times (naming no names but we all know where the window lock button is located and we all know who drives this rig), causing the other to experience a dog-fart-nado on the closed side of the cab. The victim was assured this was an accident, but after fifteen or sixteen times, this victim is starting to have suspicions.
We made it to Hattiesburg, and while Ben windexed the inside of the windshield to get the purple off, I set up camp for the night. We only have a few more nights to go and we’ll be home! Off to Madison, FL tomorrow and then home!
Hopefully, this guy has gotten it out of his system. Thankfully the airstream has a pretty good ventilation system, but we may still have to trade her in after this… 🤢
TaterTotTales 