Back in North Dakota

I'm back in Buffalo Gap National Grassland campground.  I've pretty much seen the area since I stayed three nights in June on my way west, so I am spending the time bringing my journal up to date (where was I on July 19th for instance), working on my bookkeeping, and putting my legs up to read.

I did inventory and found out I am out of shirts.  The closest laundromat is in Dickinson, 60 miles away, so I am trusting Gary who says that clothes automatically clean themselves if they are in the laundry basket.  I will stop at a resale shop tomorrow to see if there is anything there I can buy to get me home by Wednesday. 

I have ten matches left. I am almost out of cappuccino powder.  The oatmeal is gone but I have enough Cream of Wheat to finish the trip.  Not much in the way of canned goods.  I will use them up the next two nights, then likely eat out the last night.

Meanwhile, I keep wondering why people think it is a good idea to bring their dogs on camping trips.

Last night, there was a constant yapping from a dog a few sites away.  This has been the case in most campgrounds I've visited.  The owners tie up the dog and go off to restaurants and bars leaving a lonely and scared little mutt.

This one started to sound like it was in pain so I went over to take a look.  The owners had tied the little female (a chihuahua-rat terrier mix I found out later) to a bush, probably figuring she would get some shade there.  Instead, she must have crawled in and out of the shrubbery, winding her string around and around until she was tight against a prickly bush., with thorns jamming into her side.   I untangled her enough to get her away from her painful predicament, and brought over her water.  No one had left that for her and it was still in the 90s.  She slobbered it up as fast as she could.

Then another camper and I reported the situation to the campground host who came over and finished the untangling job, gave her some treats and waited there with her to keep her from barking any more. 

He must have given those people a tongue lashing because this morning everyone of the four children and four adults took the dog out for walks.  She was limping, but other than that she was in good spirits.  When she spotted me she came over, laid on her back and let me scratch her belly.

I hope her people learned their lesson.  But experience in campgrounds has taught me that most campers never catch on.