Full-Time RVing Is A Life In Phases

This is our new rig, part of our very busy Phase II season! Does anyone have a name for her?

One of the best things about RVing, and full-time RVing in particular, is that there are endless different ways to do it! Common terms you may see are “full-time stationary”, “snowbird”, “weekend warrior” and even “full-time traveling”. They each describe the approach that camper(s) have taken for their RVing life. Within each traveling style, there are additional descriptors, such as “retired”, “remote employed”, “work-kamper”, “volunteer RVer” and more!

RVers, including full-time RVers, come in all shapes, sizes and groups! In our travels, we meet retired folks like my husband, part-time small business operators like me, families with children, young singles and even single travelers of a “certain age”! There is as much diversity among RVers as there is in all of society! What is most remarkable to me are the many people we meet that had little or no experience with camping before they launched their travels (like my DH).

It has been two years on the road – When will it end?

My dear husband and I are cautious planners, so we developed our full-time RVing plans over a number of years, researching the perfect rig (there is none!), the right tow vehicle (you don’t wanna get this wrong!) and developing our camping style (boondockers, state and federal parks, membership camping, etc).

All of this camping diversity is important to know about so that if you have ever dreamed about FT RVing, you also know that it can be done in a wide variety of ways! Just don’t end up with the “shoulda, coulda, wouldas” and fail to ever take those first exploratory steps or set a concrete goal. If you fail to set a goal and make a plan to get there, you will miss your FT RVing target every time.

We recently celebrated our 2nd FT RVing anniversary, and like last year, we took some time to reflect upon our lifestyle and touched base with each other to see “how we are doing”. The consensus – two years in and we aren’t yet ready to come in off the road.

So today I thought it might be good to share our “state of the RV union”, so to speak, looking at how our travels seem to have changed from our original vision, and how our traveling life has made its way through different phases, giving us contentment in our nomadic lifestyle.

Phase I – “Pandemic-Modified Plans”

We launched our FT RVing adventure in July of 2020, in the middle of the infamous worldwide pandemic, so whatever plans we had made for travel, needed to be modified before we ever left our driveway. Our campground membership with Thousand Trails saved us a lot of money and gave us a reliable place to stay that first fall and winter, since sightseeing was highly restricted and many campgrounds had limitations as well. While we had planned to explore Florida and the southeast during those first months to stay closer to my youngest child, Ella, who had just left our nest after high school, we instead found ourselves “hanging out” in central Florida most of the time with limited sightseeing because of our Covid cautiousness (thankfully, we stayed safe and well!).

Our Thanksgiving and Christmas campsites were close enough to Ella that she had a holiday place to visit (a goal of mine for those first holidays), and we decided to postpone our first big “kid visit” to Disney that January and instead, made a quieter visit with just the two of us. As the pandemic took its course, we felt most comfortable remaining in this Phase I hiatus until the vaccine became available. It was a great time to shake out our nerves and plan for Phase II.

Look here for our months of memories during Phase I:

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2020/07/

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2020/09/

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2020/10/

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2020/11/

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2020/12/

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2021/02/

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2021/03/

Our backyard view at TT Clerbrook
A little open air roadside shopping for our next visit to MD
I guess he should fish more often
A happy, modest, Thanksgiving table
A beautiful Tybee Island Thanksgiving
Christmas on the FL panhandle
Dog on a beach is certainly Covid safe!
Disney lost a little sparkle b/c of Covid
We missed the kids on our first visit together! (but we will solve that problem!)
VA historic triangle was lovely

Phase II – The “Honeymoon”

Phase II began in spring 2021 as we emerged from the worst of the pandemic, drove north and swung by the PA/MD area to visit our family members before heading west on a summer adventure. It took weeks to make all the reservations and build our itinerary, because as our country re-opened, RVers were ready to move once again!

This is the romantic side of FT RVing that we all dream about – seeing amazing sights and having tremendous experiences of a lifetime. We traveled across the midwest through Illinois, Indana, Missouri and Kansas, out to Colorado, and then circled up into Wyoming, Idaho and Montana before making our way back east in October of 2021.

Throughout the extended summer season, Andrew’s adult children took us up on our invitation to visit, along with his brother and family and his best friend, Steve!

Another state, anotherfriendto visit
Mining history remembers
Not just passingthrough, but exporing
Colorado beauty
Resting atGarden of the Gods
More Garden of th Gods
Surprising fun days in the midwest
Kansas dress ups for fun
Mountaintop achievements and sibling time
Love is in the air at Glacier NP
Glacier NP beauty
A CO hike in the woods for two
Our first official bison sighting…
…was a herd in Kansas
Morning beauty out west.
We loved Denver!
That CO hike was gorgeous!
Ahhh, what a summer.

Phase II continued with a great visit to Myrtle Beach for Thanksgiving, where we were blessed to be able to entice five of our six children to visit, followed by a return to Florida where we celebrated a quiet Christmas and ramped up for a big visit to Walt Disney World in January 2022. We spent ten days preparing for, hosting and recovering from visits from five of our six kids and our future SIL as well.

A little Disney magic returned on our 2nd pandemic visit
Awwwww!
A return to Disney – this time with “kids” in tow!
Myrtle Beach, SC in November
The sibling tree of life
Holiday decorating is easier in an RV – but fun!
A Thanksgiving feast for ten
Step-sisters hanging out
Some moments are iconic

Just to keep us on our toes in Phase II, we managed to stumble upon a new Grand Design Solitude fifth wheel layout that we fell in love with (Solitude 346fls), which we ordered in August while in Montana and picked up in February in Missouri. Finally, the honeymoon was over, and we slowly headed back east and into what we now call our Phase III of our FT RVing adventure in March 2022. Look here for our memoirs from our months in the honeymoon phase:

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2021/06/

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2021/07/

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2021/08/

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2021/09/

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2021/10/

https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/2022/03/

Phase III – “Reality Reset”

With many new state stickers on our travel map and a brand new RV in our possession, we initially thought that the time we had in the spring of 2022 would be spent planning our next big summer adventure (who doesn’t want a second honeymoon?!). But we found that doing too much “go-go-go” may not be the best approach. As we looked at our calendar, where we had already scheduled a summer exploration of the New England states, it became apparent that it was time to make another adjustment.

Our Phase II “honeymoon” really fille up our map – but there is sooo much more we want to see!

Our nephew, Jonathan, was getting married in March. Andrew’s youngest child, Abby, was graduating from college in May, my brother, Mike, was set to celebrate retirement from a 25 year career in law enforcement (good riddance!) in July, and our favorite future son-in-law, Chris, was scheduled to become part of the family in early September. At the same time, we found good reasons to visit our mothers and children for a while, helping where we can and reconnecting in a way that is best done with more regular in-person visits and fewer video calls.

So we took advantage of our best asset as FT RVers – we can be extremely FLEXIBLE. The New England plans were canceled and we made reservations for the entire summer via our Thousand Trails Membership and our recently acquired Coast To Coast membership. As we pass our “two-year mark” and head into the fall, we change campgrounds every two to three weeks, sticking in the Gettysburg/Hershey/Lancaster region of Pennsylvania. In doing so, we eliminated nearly all campsite fees for the summer (C2C costs us $10 per night, TT is free).

We have used this time that is sort-of stationary, to schedule dental cleanings, wedding-prep shopping, health check-ups and oil changes, dinners with the kids, visits to our moms and day trips to Princeton, NJ, New Hope, PA and every farm market and thrift shop I can shake a stick at (there are soooo many of both in this Amish/Mennonite/tourist parts of the Keystone state).

One part of our FT RVing life that gives us an advantage is our vacation rental business. We have two properties that can give us some travel downtime if we need it occasionally. But it wasn’t until this summer that we first came off the road for a week and stayed at our rural Pennsylvania cottage (www.CloversCottage.com), where we hosted Abby’s graduation party with family and friends. It was nice to have some time to spread out a bit, take care of some property maintenance, and most of all – TAKE A BATH in our antique claw-footed bathtub (perhaps the thing that I miss the most because of life in an RV).

Before our Reality Reset Phase III is complete, we will also visit our Cape May Beach cottage for a combined maintenance and fun stay. When complete, and as the autumn leaves flutter to the ground, we will wrap up our visit to the area and move on to wherever we decide is next! In the coming weeks, my stories of our new semi-stationary reality will be posted as well! In the meantime, here are some photos:

Fun with fam
ATV R&R
Rural PA getaway
Day trip to Princeton – recognizing the enslaved in their history
Ivy league beauty
Flea Market bargains
Wedding prep purchases
New Hope PA roadtrip
Celebrating family
cloverscottage.com
Doggo loving a yard
A farm to table dinner date in Lancaster
Love is in the “Air Supply”
My girls at our relaxin’ place
Another roadtrip!!

Phase IV – To Be Determined

As we look ahead to this fall and winter, we are still deciding where the road will take us. Where do we want to visit? How close to Mom should we be? When is our next medical appointment? How much cold weather do we want to face? How will we next be able to see the kids? Will we finally make it to New England next summer?

No matter our direction or destination, we have learned that the journey will be special and our time together will be treasured. I have my love by my side and though the plans will vary, and we must be willing to make adjustments for the challenges in life, we know we are blessed to live this life and can make it through to the end of the road, wherever that may be.

Beauty and serenity can be found in many ways in your RV life.

POSTSCRIPT

We often get questions about “where or when does it end”. For us, we went into FT RVing with a general exit strategy in mind, but we had no preconceived notions about how long it may last. There was always the possibility that we could hastily return to “sticks and bricks” living after only six weeks on the road, but we also knew that it was quite possible that this lifestyle could be open-ended.

There will come a time when FT RVing is no longer our first choice, but we envision a hybrid in our future, while our health permits it, where we can both travel and have a “sticks and bricks” home base. We dream of a nice little mountain plot of land out west with RV hookups or a lakeside cottage on the east coast that may be big enough for family to visit. I would like to once again find a community that we can really feel a part of, with a little church family where we feel like we are a part of something bigger than just our little home on wheels. We don’t yet know how our story ends, but we welcome the journey every day.

Safe travels, and be sure to make all your RV dreams come true!

Our Dog Bug Journeyed Joyfully All The Way

Once our daughter, Ella went off to college, every time we saw her, she would implore our old dog, Bug, to please live long enough for her to see him again. “Just live another four months, Buggy, so we can see each other again”, were her words to him as we said goodbye. Her sad farewell was during a brief visit we made in the Gainesville, Florida, Walmart parking lot where we saw her on a work break as we were passing through the area in January (since becoming empty nesters, we have been traveling full-time RVers). For several years, it was clear that Bug was showing his age and slowing down, so this visit, like the last several, ended with tears in Ella’s eyes and a crack in her voice as she nuzzled his face before returning to work.

Now it was suddenly four months later, and Ella had to accelerate her travel plans by a day just to increase the likelihood that she and Bug could keep their promise to see each other for a final visit. He had just turned 13 years old two days earlier, and just days before that, had taken a turn for the worse. It was clear now that he had lost his pure and innocent joy in living and that it was now our duty as his family, to relieve him of his earthly pains and send him on to “greener pastures”.

Fortunately, we were already camping in Pennsylvania, in a region near all our family members (except for Ella). With kids, siblings and parents living in Pottsville, Felton and Hanover, Pennsylvania and Parkton, Jarrettsville, Towson and Baltimore, Maryland, so everyone had the opportunity to visit with Bug (and us) in the weeks leading up to his last days.

But it was Ella that had always expressed strong feelings about being with Bug at the end of his journey. Unfortunately, she managed to sleep through her alarm and miss her early morning flight! She spent the next 18 hours in airports – booking, canceling and waiting on standby for a number of flights, finally arriving, with the help of her brother, Lorne, just before midnight on the evening before Peaceful Paws Passage was to arrive to help us send Bug over the Rainbow Bridge.

Lorne and Ella slept overnight in our fifth wheel trailer where we live full-time as RVer travelers. They were both exhausted from a long week of worry and sad news, each on one of our two guest beds in our home-on-wheels, and each with a dog (Calvin and Bug) beside them to quite happily keep them company.

Once we gently lifted him into bed, Bug waited patiently for Ella to join him in our guest bed for their final sleepover together.

Morning arrived too soon and it was a pleasing, sunny day at Gettysburg Farm Campground (full of earthly “greener pastures” we knew Bug to love). Ella and Lorne took Bug and Calvin for a final walk around the working-farm-turned-campground while their sister, Adalie, drove down to meet us all for Bug’s looming appointment (Lorne and Adalie had already visited Bug for the afternoon two days earlier and they were able to take the doggos on a nice walk through all the sights and smells as well).

Lorne visiting Bug in his last, tired days…

…but no matter how tired he grew, he ALWAYS wanted to go take a walk!

Bug was always a dog that was led by his nose, and in his final weeks of life, taking a walk was just about the last remaining happy part of his day. Now that he was older and slower, he would lead us out to the farm fields that surrounded the outer edge of the campground and we would let him off leash, allowing him to fully follow his nose and natural inclination to sniff his way along the path. Because he was slower, he finally listened to us well; a little verbal cue from me was all that was needed to slow him down until we could catch up to him. With his head covered in as much grey fur as black and white, and now hanging low and slightly to the right from his disabilities of age, he journeyed joyfully through the fallow fields.

When Bug was younger, he was more likely to “turn off” his ears once his nose took over, so his off-leash time was strictly limited (outside of our fenced back yard at the time) to days at our weekend cottage, and even then, he couldn’t be completely free to roam. Instead, our country-bumpkin solution was to attach a lead to him on one end, and a bucket or large piece of pvc pipe to the other. It was just enough drag and resistance to cause Bug to not wander too far too fast while we enjoyed the rural acreage of our cottage property. It was ridiculous, but highly effective in giving him both freedom and protection.

All three of my kids gathered together, along with me and my husband, Andrew, for the first time since Thanksgiving. Now that we all lived in separate states, such get-togethers were extra special, but today, while special, was not going to be easy. We laid out a blanket in the lush green grass, offered Bug some of his favorite treats, and encouraged him to lay down and relax on the ground. Relaxing had become difficult for him in recent weeks and he often looked disoriented and unsure of how to settle down, rotating in circles a number of times, or trying to dig a little hole in the dirt before finding his place.

The kind and gentle veterinarian waited for our signal, and after about ten minutes of the five of us crying and giving Bug encouraging words in an effort to not cause him concern, the vet gave him a sedative that would render him unconscious over a 10-15 minute period. It was in those minutes that I could see the pain and worry slowly melt away from his body. Bit by bit, he got lower to the ground; first his tail, then his chin, and slowly his body settled softly and peacefully into the blanket on the grass in the breezy sunshine, with Ella lying beside him, Lorne sitting next to him, and Adalie standing, and then sitting nearby, all three kids petting and touching him.

It was at this moment that I realized just how tense Bug had been these last weeks. Even while sleeping, he was always unsettled, and seemed slightly distressed. A dog seems to know, often better than his humans, when his time and purpose on earth is ending, and his sleeping moments in recent days, weeks and months now contrasted greatly with how relaxed and calm he was with a little help from the sedative. His body was finally, truly resting, and he breathed quiet breaths in absolute serenity.

The vet waited patiently again, and having already explained clearly how the process of pet euthanasia worked, we knew that the next injection would be unfelt and would result in a quiet cessation of Bug’s breathing. Each of us took a moment to speak to Bug as the sedative quietly helped him fall asleep. Adalie told him what a good dog he had been for our family. Ella reminded him that he could soon see our old dog, Jake, who had passed several years earlier. Lorne sat next to Bug on the blanket and quietly petted his soft, gray ear. Andrew stood nearby with our ten year old dog, Calvin, who soon would be a “single dog” for the first time in his life. I stood beside my loved ones and tried to absorb this “life moment” that somehow represented something much more than the loss of a loved family pet.

By the time Bug came into our family as a puppy, it had been 18 years since I had a puppy. I had not forgotten about the work and commitment it takes to raise a puppy, but for my husband at the time, Dave, having “one last puppy” was a dream fulfilled. He reminded me what a treat it would be for our three young children to have the “puppy experience” now that they were old enough to understand the responsibility of having a family dog. So Dave insisted, I relented, and Bug became a part of our family as a puppy in the fall of 2009.

Bug’s first puppy outing to Knoebels Grove Amusement Park for a scouting event.

October, 2009 – Ella and Bug Halloween camping in Hershey, PA

Bug was there for all the big moments, including this first day of school in the fall of 2010.

Adalie, Lorne, Ella and Bug enjoying the outdoors at extended Thanksgiving weekend at our cottage in Hegins, PA, 2009 (at the start of hunting season, thus the orange woodsy outdoor attire).

His mom was a Beagle mix, rescued by a non-profit organization made up of foster families for dogs saved from high-kill shelters, and Bug was a part of her litter. He had his mother’s Beagle bay, and certainly the strong “nose” of a Beagle, but he was black and white, perhaps the colorings of his unknown father. He joined our family at the perfect time, when life was a full and busy family of three children, ages 7, 10 and 13. It was the best of times for our family, and my husband finally had his puppy companion to ride in the truck with him and be his most loyal friend.

Bug took up his role quickly, as he was clearly a “man’s dog”. He was not needy or outwardly adoring of his humans, and showed little overt interest in other dogs, other than to give them a quick sniff, but he was rather a relaxed and friendly buddy to his favorite man. Always interested in his next meal or playing with his dog toy (usually a squeaky plush toy whose insides could be disemboweled in a matter of minutes), he was neither high strung or overly affectionate. He played his love a little cool, and as such, Bug fit in well with our family. My husband finally got to have “his puppy” for what he promised would be our “one last time”.

A year and a half later, the promise of “one last time” took on a new meaning as tragedy struck our family and my husband of 18 years died suddenly. Bug was with him that day, and it was Bug’s panicked barking that alerted a neighbor nearby to the accident that had taken Dave’s life on a small acreage of wooded land we had purchased only months earlier. “Dave’s puppy” was brought home to us that day as we suddenly tried to figure out how to now be a very different family than any of us planned for or wanted.

Bug was with us through those terribly difficult years and the innocent and pure love of that dog helped to normalize our life that felt anything but normal. He would cuddle with Ella as she no doubt cried herself to sleep, missing her dad as only a nine year old little girl could. He ran around the yard chasing bunnies as Lorne tried to find his place as the “man of the house” at age 11. Having just turned 15, Adalie worked her way through high school without her dad to help guide her, as Bug’s care gave us a simple unified purpose. Bug remained the ever-present family member with a playful and contented demeanor in our home, modeling a pleasure in life as only dogs do, and giving us hope that we each might someday find the same for ourselves.

Don’t stress – roll and relax!
Ella and Bug at our Hegins cottage
Joe Cool
The dining room and kitchen were perhaps his fav rooms in the house!
Ella’s 8th birthday party – AKA Bug’s naming party!

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My father (the kid’s “Morfar”, Swedish for mother’s father), quickly became Bug’s natural next favorite man. Morfar was a great source of excess treats and “people food” that Bug probably shouldn’t have been eating, and in those years, my parents and siblings did their best to be more present in our lives, even though we lived hours apart. My dad picked up where Dave had left off, and they had a special bond that benefited my dad as much as Bug. Each visit began with Bug wiggling with excitement as he realized that Morfar was nearby. Even after my father’s death two years before Bug passed, Bug would show great excitement each time we visited my childhood home, no doubt because Bug expected Morfar to be there to greet him.

Bug shows his loyalty and preferences for Morfar

Eventually, although not easily or elegantly, we made it through our most difficult years, with Bug by our sides for each challenging step we took. The children grew older, we moved from our home in Pennsylvania to my home state of Maryland, and I remarried. The children grew into young adults, leaving home one-by-one to pursue their adulthood dreams and to build their independent lives.

Cape May with our dog pack
Apparrantly, Bug became a Ravens fan
June 2020 at Ella’s “home graduation”
Always of fan of sleeping places he shouldn’t
Ella the doggo trainer
What a great scene to come home to
Ellas love bug

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My new husband, Andrew, quickly became Bug’s new favorite man, and as we joined our families together, Andrew’s two dogs, Jake (Golden Retriever mix) and Calvin (Bassett-Plott Hound mix), became Bug’s “dog pack”. As had happened each time our family changed, Bug picked a man to which his loyalties and love were placed. Andrew was that “best man” for Bug for the remaining eight years of Bug’s life and they were great companions, with Andrew always ready to show love and affection to our furry family members and Bug ready to go absolutely anywhere with Andrew.

Our last vet visit – and they were so good!
Laying outside was always his fav – in the sunshine for as long as he could stand it
The retired life of an old-man dog
I wonder where we get to go next?
RV life is more cuddly
The RV sofa belongs to the doggos
Sandy paws were more favored than wet paws
They would drive if we let them

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Bug continued to be the steadfast yet lovingly standoff-ish part of our ever-evolving “family life” with a wagging tail and a happy nuzzle to come home to; he was our only constant in the 13 years we loved him. His life corresponded to the best of our lives, the worst of our lives, and a return once more to goodness and pleasure in life as Andrew and I, newly empty nesters, took our family pets (Bug, Calvin and cat, Stencil) on the road to see the country from our cozy home base fifth wheel RV. He had been through it all with us – riding the wild adventures of life at its worst and best. For nearly two years, Bug saw many states in the United States with us, always thrilled to ride in the truck anywhere our travels took us.

Northern Idaho, near the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park, Summer 2021

When the time seemed right, I gave the vet the go-ahead to send Bug on his way, and as we all felt the pain of loss, we knew that Bug was in good hands for his entire journey. “Tell Dad and Morfar we said ‘hello’”, I said as I smiled through my tears and imagined Bug crossing over a beautiful, colorful archway to the heavens. The five of us wept openly, and despite feeling a sense of loss, we knew this was the ideal way to say goodbye to our beloved family member. In a matter of minutes, we watched Bug leave our lives, and move on to a perfect eternity to be reunited with others whom he had loved.

Pet euthanasia is a gift we give to our pets – a thank you for their unconditional love and devotion to us. It was an honor to help Bug cross over that Rainbow Bridge, feeling peace and love as he trusted us to care for him his entire life. We are grateful to have had this little, sometimes ornery puppy to walk through the highs and lows of our family life for thirteen years. He was a gift of unconditional love that we will always treasure.

Safe travels, to Bug and all our furry loved ones – from here to eternity – until we play again.

Safe travels, Bug, and have a joyful journey!

Outtakes

Bug got his name at Ella’s 9th birthday party just a few days after we brought him home. After narrowing down to a few final choices, we asked all of the party guests to drop a name in the jar. Guests added their own suggestions, and after all the votes were in, there was no clear winner. We sort of defaulted to “Bug”, as it was just quirky enough that it fit his personality. He was “as snug as a bug in a rug”, “as cute as a bug”, and sometimes, he just seemed “as dumb as a bug”. But he was our Bug, and we loved him.

Food was a big motivator for Bug, so from an early age, he was always ready to help “clean” the dishwasher when we weren’t looking (a pre-rinse cycle, of sorts). He also loved empty peanut butter jars, unattended garbage bags, broccoli stumps and carrots. We called him our mountain goat, because it wasn’t unusual to enter the kitchen and find him standing on top of the kitchen table in an attempt to see what we might have left behind.

Bug actually was an old dog that could learn new tricks! He was abiyt 7 years old when he learned to “speak” or and ten years old when he learned to roll over on command (both for treats, of course). Speaking generally took several attempts…at first, just an awkward sneeze or two, followed by a little snortle, and eventually a full-fledged “bark” on command!

Bug loved his toys and treats! He would eagerly unwrap gifts of a squeeky toy, would tear apart a stuffed toy with sheer joy, or delicately nibble off the fuzz on a tennis ball. When younger, he would even chase a toy or ball, but he would NEVER bring it back to us. Instead, he would reach the toy, then stay in that spot to enjoy it all by himself.

What kind of mom gives her son only half of a birthday cake? The kind of mom that has ornery Bug as a family pet! At Lorne’s surprise 13th camping themed birthday party with friends, Bug was put in the camper to stay out of trouble…except Mom forgot that the birthday cake had been placed in the camper as well, ironically enough, for safe keeping. Several minutes later, after Bug had found and enjoyed much of the cake, we needed to cut away the dog0destriyed section to be able to sing Happy Birthday and salvage something for Lorne to make his wish!

In all the years that Bug eagerly chased bunnies and squirrels, there was only once (well, sort of twice) that he struck it rich. As Bug came into the house in fall 2011, it was clear he was hiding something from us in his mouth. I grabbed the camera while Adalie (the brave one), donned gloves and pried his prize from his mouth in the kitchen. Minutes later, out fell an ENTIRE RABBIT HEAD! Through screams of disgust, we saw that Bug had found what must have been a very slow bunny (or perhaps an already dead bunny) in our back yard. After the head, he spat up a little bunny kidney, some more fur, and for the next 10 ours, managed to throw up MANY times – both inside and outside the house.

His second infamous bunny incident was hardly “catching” a bunny, but it did nearly cause Lorne to excommunicate Bug from the family. Lorne came into the house upset because he believed that Bug had found a mouse nest and was upset to see him tossing the poor little things all around the yard like play-things. Upon investigation, and to his increased horror, what Bug had actually found was a nest of day-old baby bunnies. He had decimated the entire nest within minutes, and from that day forward, the rabbits in our back yard got smarter, placing all their nests safely under the children’s playhouse – out of Bug’s reach yet close enough to give him hours of fun sniffy and chasing.