Memorial Day weekend was set to be a big one for Butch and I. We whole-heartily figured that since our spot on the Lochsa produced so many mushrooms last year...well, they'd have to be back this year.
So we promptly took some time off, well...I did, and we headed out. It was almost all we could do to not cross the bridge that night and check things out...but after a cup of coffee in the morning, it was on! We rapidly split up...four the next five hours, and found___________________10 morels. TEN?!?? WTF?
Hmph, well then. And it wasn't for lack of trying / looking....between the two of us we crossed a lot of ground! So we looked around elsewhere for a bit without finding anything and then just ended up in camp. The next day, Saturday, we tore down camp took off for the big Lolo Creek fire, CONVINCED that was going to be crowded but worth it. And...nothing. Nothing at all. All I found was one old, burned up antler. So there we were, BACK over the hill to find a place to camp. We had a failure of communication with Butch wanting to push on downriver (we were going to see if anyone was selling salmon) and me thinking we were going back to country camp (what we named it.) But, in the end we set up exactly where we were previously.
That night I was happy to be present when Butch saw his very first snowshoe hare in Idaho! No kidding. Then there were TWO messing around on the road into camp.
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| Well, a hare butt and ears.... |
We were sitting there thinking that was pretty cool when Butch looked up the road and said, "HEY! That's that little weiner dog I saw up here last week." No flippin' way Butch, a dumped / lost weiner dog would be dead by now...it's getting down to 33 degrees at night! Well it was there and it didn't belong to anyone nearby so I said, "Butch, throw it a hotdog! It looks starving."
Long story short, after about $10 in hotdogs in three hours and it was still skittish as hell, Butch said, "You're going to have to start being a little more friendly or just get lost." So it left. No big deal, at least it's full. Later...he said quietly, "Looks like our friend is back." I darn near jumped out of my skin because it was right next to my feet! Then she jumped on my lap and laid down. Hmmm, uh oh.
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| Scared! |
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| Hotdog? |
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| Not gonna be good.... |
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| Definitely not going to be good |
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| Tired puppers |
So that night I made a nest out of coats in my tent and she stayed there for a bit. But, pretty quick there was a little hairy worm squirming into my sleeping bag where she stayed all night. Uh oh.
Sunday in Kamiah we stopped at the grocery store and bought some puppy food to try and fatten her up (plus, she was eating all our hotdogs.) We ended up camped outside Clarkia, after finding no one selling fish, and settled in.
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| Camp in an old landing...any port in a storm |
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| Not bad though |
That night we finally came up with the name "Lochsa Lucy" and then went to bed. This time she was staying with Butch. Again with the nest, then again with crawling in the sleeping bag.
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| Sweetie pie |
We left fairly early Monday and made it home around noon. Boy, she sure did keep her eye on Butch and I while she was exploring. I'll tell ya, it was tough driving off with that little shit staring at me like I dumped her. BUT, Butch agreed to hold onto her until Wednesday when he was going to take her into Sarah's clinic and get her checked out. Everything was find, they thought she was about a year and a half old and a cross between a chihuahua and dachshund....a "chiweenie."
But shortly after the visit, Butch had found someone that wanted to take her in so he went over and dropped her off. The lady is looking at her and petting her and says, "I think I'm going to name her Lucy."
Butch stared at her and said, "you've got to be shitting me. That's what we named her. Lochsa Lucy." Some things are just meant to be I guess.
I talked to Butch later that night and asked how things went (that's when I heard the story.) After leaving her in her new home...he also got the staredown.
*sigh* We shared similar stories of almost being in tears driving away....
