Lizzy McFly

Mike and I just got back from an awesome camping trip in Long Point.  I’m going to provide the details in my next blog.  Firstly, I want to share a heartwarming story from last night. We were going for a walk down by the beach when we noticed a cute german shepherd frolicking about.  We figured it belonged to the couple who were sitting on the beach about 50 feet away.  He ran back up the hill and they didn’t say anything so we assumed it wasn’t theirs.  Almost two hours later, we walked over to the showers to de-stink.  As I’m usually done showering first, Mike said to just head back to the campsite without waiting for him.  As I was leaving the washroom, a guy approached and asked if I had a dog.  I said no and I asked if it he was talking about a german shepherd.  He said yes and it had been running around the campsites for a couple hours.  I saw the dog a few sites away and said I would call the front gate to report it.  I couldn’t get through and tried about six different numbers for Long Point and camp wardens.  I made a few attempts to catch the shepherd to see if he had tags, but he would jump away when I was within a few inches.  I decided to walk back to my site and get the car to drive over to the front gate.  About half way there, I came upon two cars at the recycling and garbage area.  The drivers were speaking to each other and one had a dog in his car.  I couldn’t hear what they were saying and I still have no idea what made me think the guy with the dog had anything to do with the one that was running around, but I stopped and asked them if they were looking for a dog. The guy excitedly said yes!  I couldn’t believe it.  I told him that I knew where it was and said to follow me in the car.  We headed back to where I last saw it and pulled over.  I asked the people at a nearby site (who initially asked me if I knew who owned the dog) where he was now.  They pointed over to the playground and look what we found:

The man told me that it wasn’t his dog, but his neighbour’s.  She was totally frantic and had already called the police, the campsite office and tried to reach a warden.  No luck.  I’m not too sure how long he had been driving around looking. We kept trying to call “Fergie” over but she would get close to us and run away.  The man phoned the owner and she was on her way over.  A couple other people passing by tried to help grab the dog, but were also unsuccessful.  We even tried to coax her into the back of “Bob’s” car, hoping he would want to be around the other dog, “Baxter.”  Again, close but no cigar:

Mike came over after his shower, wondering what was going on.  I let him know that we found the owner of that stray dog we saw earlier and she was her way.  A few minutes later, after we were completely swarmed by mosquitoes, we saw a car come along the back of the playground, then heard a woman calling “Fergie”.  Instantly, the dog ran toward the car.  The owner got out and Fergie was jumping all over her.  It was such an incredible and heartwarming moment.  Bob thanked me for my help and I said it was my pleasure, as I’m such an animal lover.  I then started walking toward the owner – that’s when I broke down.  It was so amazing to see a pet being reunited with an owner, who for the last couple hours wasn’t sure if she would ever see her dog again.  I felt like such a dork, crying like that but I was so happy and moved.  She gave me a huge hug and thanked me over and over.

When I was speaking with Bob while waiting for the owner to arrive, he said he can’t believe I first saw him and pretty much knew that he was out searching for the dog.  He said “Must have been woman’s intuition!”

Today’s symptoms: Very drained today after four days of one of the best camping trips ever!  I’m sure I’ll be paying for it tomorrow and maybe most of this week, but completely worth it.  I’ll blog about the rest of the camping trip soon…..stay tuned!