Health Food, Internet and PEOPLE!

Just got here to the Health Food store here in Lumby where everyone and anyone comes to chat, eat, meet and greet...maybe like Starbucks back in CT??? We are being interviewed for a story in the local paper...how exciting! Mom has met so many interesting folks while doing her computering stuff, like Rick, who lives down the road from the Cherryville Lodge where we are staying...he is a nice big man, with leather vest and tattoos...kind of biker looking and has a house with a question mark shaped tree that holds a sign saying "Skunk Hollow". Rick is a pipe fitter who works in northern Alberta.

Betty, the owner here has introduced us to so many folks! We have met more people in Lumby in one week than the 11 years we lived in the place we just came from. It's the small town thing!! Everyone friendly, and everyone has a story to tell. It's our goal!

Woofing it in Cherryville, BC

Well friends, it has been awhile. We are sitting here on the stones of the Cherryville, BC golf course parking lot (closes early on Thursday) using their wireless internet. We had to drive 15 KM to get here, that's about 10 miles Americans! There is no high speed internet or cell service where we are staying at the Cherryville Lodge since Sunday, July 11th.

Mom is now an official WOOFER! Here in BC that means exchanging work for room and board. We were in Lumby for nearly a week and met so many interesting folks...still have to figure out how to make our videos smaller so we can upload to YouTube and this blog which was always our intention. Even when we go down to Lumby (30 KM) from the Cherryville mountains, the official gateway to the "magical Monashees", and use the wireless service at Betty's (really cool lady) Health Food store it takes hours to upload one video. This is now our primary mission as we have some great footage of many interesting and unique people and experiences to share.

I have not been doing too well since we got up here. The heat is incredible and there is no AC in the lodge. I am weak and mom is very worried about me. Yesterday, Princey got out and ran away...so we are both worried about him!!!

Last night we moved into the basement of the B & B which has a cement floor and is very dark, but it is cool and there is one little room with carpet and some pics hanging on the walls...it is downright homey!! Mom works hard as there several buildings and lots to do, but we are able to stay for free and get some great meals as well. It is very raw, green rugged mountains and even if it is 35-40 during the day...thats in the 100 degree F range...it goes down to 55 or 60 F at night. Mountain weather is interesting here as we are very far north...still light out at 10PM and yet it is hotter than CT!! But NO HUMIDITY! All of our friends thought it would be freezing cold up here as we are so far north.

Tomorrow we are going to write lts of blog stories about our many adventures.

You will love our videos!!

Beautiful Montana Morning

SUNDAY MORNING: WOWOW!! What a BEAUTIFUL DAY! Perfectly clear, bright, bright blue sky, sunshiney mountain morning here in Montana at United in Light. Today we leave and we will definitely bring the energy of this place with us wherever we go as this sanctuary has touched our hearts in so many ways. Mom went down to the area where the horses are this morning and lay down in the middle of all them grazing with her arms outstretched hugging the earth as the horses walked around her. Of course I began my hoarse woofing as I wanted to get up and go down with her, but I need a helping human hand to get up these days so I am here waiting for her to come back and help me.

LAST NIGHT: Do you know it doesn't get dark here until 10 PM??? And then...a million stars!! Because it was 4th of July we saw fireworks going off all over the valley...what a site!

We surely will miss this place, but we'll carry the love of Deborah and her mission with us to BC. What a great way to land in the place of our dreams!

United In Light

Would you believe me if I told you I am looking at snow covered mountains in Montana? In July???

And we thought it was a cold Spring in CT! I am in the company of some very special new friends, rescued draft horses. They are sooooooooooo BIG! Wait til you see the cool video mom is making all about this sanctuary, "United In Light", and the amazing woman who started this rescue, Deborah, a true 'horse whisperer'.

Do you believe in accidents? WE DON'T! Yesterday Kelly, who works at the motel we were at, stopped us I was trying to do my business and asked about the artwork on our car. After a brief conversation, she said she wanted us to meet someone. It just so happened that when Kelly texted Deborah, she was in town buying supplies, as her sanctuary is 20 miles away. She only comes to Bozeman, where we were staying, once a week. How's that for some serendipity!!?!

We came out here yesterday to meet the horses and for me to receive an energy healing session...boy was that ever GREAT!!! I felt soooo good last night, and walking was easier, so we came back to go to a parade with the horses and hand out cards for their upcoming fund raiser...the Mane Event, July 24th in Livingston, MT.

ABOUT THE HORSES! When you see the video, you will see me kissey faced with a horse sooooooooooooooo big, I look like a shrimp! These creatures are magnificent, gentle giants with an aura of regality that is undescribable. I was walking amongst them...me...a dog...their hooves are as large as my moms thighs! They are huge beings and as mild and sweet and awesome as can be! It's very healing for us to be here...mom is finally relaxing! YAYAY!

I have always known it will work out and we will get to BC and build Clyde's Sanctuary.

on Clyde 9 in St Cloud

It really does feel good to be riding across the country on our way to building Clyde's Sanctuary. Getting used to the long hours in the car. As long as the AC is on, I am HAPPY! My old body cannot take the hot weather. It's cooler where we are now in St Cloud, Minn. Mom is finally getting the video camera charged up...she missed so many great moments the past couple of days.

SUNDAY: Mom took a bike ride with Michelle in Ohio and saw a race track and horses. Michele is part of a gardening group as well and she took mom on a tour of all their gardens. They even have a special rain catching roof that waters one of the gardens...this is the kind of environmentally friendly thing we want to do on the sanctuary!

MONDAY: MINN is such a BEAUTIFUL state! The trees are sooo big and dark green. We drove for hours through country that was spectacular! I told mom we have to get the camera rolling...after all...we want to record our trip. So we will start today!!

We are ON OUR WAY!

Finally we are leaving today. We have been so busy helping friends and getting our car detailed! A beautiful donation of our logo and other fun stuff!

FIRST STOP: OHIO to visit mom's friend from HS. I am soooooooooooooo glad we got the AC fixed in the car as it has been soooooooooooooo hot and I cannot take it! I will enjoy sleeping for 10 hrs on the cool back with the Big Prince in his crate while mom does all the driving. Of course it is really crowded back there as mom piled all the clothes, towels, blankets and stuff in front of and on top of the seat...we are RIDING HIGH!

A BIG THANX! to our special friends and family: Kathy and Stephen, Linda...the famous cat lady...Lance our crazy electric guitar playing genius, Rudd and all the loving generous people from the church where mom worked as pianist, Dot who hauled lots of stuff, Simon with his big heart and big washing machine and Nick and Camden and their cooling off swimming pool for all the incredible help they gave us. Nick will be running The Clyde Fund USA from Ridgefield, CT as we work from BC, Canada.

We were so delayed in leaving on our trip, but its all good. We got a lot done and mom is feeling better about my cancer...we are all REALLY EXCITED! Wave if you see us on the road...you can't miss our car with my logo on the door!

CT to BC "Chaotic Times to Beyond Chaos"

Has it really been 2 weeks since we started this blog???? We've been living in an alternate reality...moving crisis and turmoil...it was sooooooooooooooo NOT what we thought it would be. 11 years in the same house and 30 years in the same town...mom had accumulated too much stuff and she's been lightening up over the years! That's why we didn't worry about it when she was working so much and not cleaning out all those closets and drawers full of things...so many things that one never uses, but never throws away and never knows exactly what to do with it! Even the many boxes of old tennis balls I'm too feeble to play with now, went to several canine friends. That was good!!!

So the stress of moving and quitting jobs and getting rid of all our worldly possessions was a bit much. We had night after night of no sleep, only worry, which had begun as excitement at the prospect of going to BC to fulfill our dream and build Clyde's Sanctuary. The dreaming part and the visionary part is toe tingling, thrilling joy! But the reality of dealing with all the life stuff...was so long and intense. 4 days before we had to get the house cleaned out we worked and never slept. Many friends came and went, helping when they could, an hour here, a few hours there. We tried to sell our stuff 2 weeks before on Craig's List but after reams of emailing back and forth, noone showed up! We tried to do tooooooo much in tooooo little time.

HIGHLIGHTS of the move: mom standing on the car, stuffing garbage down into the sunroof to fill it up as much as possible to go to the dump. Mom's sister and her hubby coming up from the city (that's NEW YORK for those of you not from around here) armed with huge black plastic bags to do a "HOARDING INTERVENTION". Even so...after all that, on the 7th, when we were supposed to be leaving for BC, we were hiring a moving truck to haul all our possessions to the dump, from furniture to everything small...what a sight! What an expense! And we could have sold our many old and funky, unusual possessions.

MOST DIFFICULT of the move: selling the piano so we would have funds to leave. The only real valuable possession of mom's and as a pianist and musician by profession, that was the worst. Mom cried for 2 days, but we both know as hard as that is, that the joy we will feel when we get to BC and do all that it takes to build Clyde's Sanctuary, there will be another piano and so many heart warming experiences to fill life with joy. It will all be worth a million times over!

So here we are, 5 days later, still in the motel in Ridgefield finally getting it together to leave. My cancer is back and we needed to get some holistic medicine and be more organized for the trip.

I don't really like being in this tiny room, but Prince seems to be taking it all in stride. Mom and I miss cuddling on our water bed. I have to sleep on the floor as the beds are way too high off the ground for me even with mom's help to get up on. We are bringing a blow up double air mattress to sleep on when we get there...wherever we live. Then I can get it on it and we can cuddle again. I LOVE THOSE middle of the night back, belly, head scrathes!!

TIME FOR BED. HOPE SOMEONE IS READING THIS AS WE NEED SOME HELP GETTING TO BC. Can you put us up for a night?? It sure would help...the motel and vet costs have been really high and are using up all our funds.