You might be wondering where Gizmo is this summer.  It’s been a busy one for us.  I have gone back to work at MidCoast Hospital for a temporary summer job.  I decided to return to the bedside and worked full time in the Emergency Department.

First day back at the bedside full time

I had been a Nurse Director for the 16+ years before we started traveling.  I have had a great time caring for patients again and plan to continue to do this for the remainder of my career as a nurse.  I’m currently in Skowhegan, Maine, at a great little campground, Two Rivers Campground,  preparing to take the TNCC (trauma nurse core curriculum course) over the next two days.  We are planning on spending a minimum of 18 months on the road when we leave this fall.  I am planning on taking 1-2 nurse travel assignments in this time period.  In preparation for this I am making sure that all of my certifications are up to date, and I even got my California nursing license.

The main reason we have not written a blog for the summer is we have a new puppy.  Her name is Sierra (yes after the Sierra Nevadas) and she is keeping us very busy!

The day we picked her up! Just 9 weeks old!

She is a Shih Tzu like Gizmo, but she is going to be about 1/2 his size (8-9 pounds) when she is fully grown.  Gizmo is tolerant of her but is still not thrilled to have a baby sister.  She is already looking like she is going to be a great hiker.  Of course we have to take it slow since she is still a puppy and she can’t do big hikes until she is done growing

Why can’t I hike the big mountains yet?

It is definitely hard to hold her back.  I think she will keep us and Gizmo (he won’t admit it) a lot of company on the road.  She has already taken several small camping trips in the RV and definitely loves riding and the RV life style.

Sierra’s first trip in the RV

We have spent the last month trying to nail down our route west.  We think we have finally nailed it down this past week.  We have decided to take the northern route (I80 to I90).  We do not leave until October so we will not be able to make it to Glacier National Park before it’s too cold.  We will be able to visit South Dakota and we are looking forward to all of the sights near the Black Hills.  We will spend the winter in the South West and return to many of our favorite locations.

Wish they all could be California Girls

In the spring our plan is to travel North up the coast of California, into Oregon and Washington.  We cannot wait to get back on the road and get blogging about our travels.  We think we will be visiting over 25 national parks and monuments in the coming months.  In addition to that we will visit numerous state parks and other interesting locations. Of course, we will continue to write about the most dog friendly locations.

Our latest adventure pup- White Mountains National Forest

Franconia Notch