“It wasn’t my first tick rodeo.”

As dusk turned into nighttime, the field behind my tiny Airbnb twinkled.  “Lightening Bugs!!!! 

I texted to my daughter and then to my husband Larry.

My daughter replied, “omg!!! I love them.”  Compare that with “yes, they have them there,” from Larry.

Who would you run and chase fireflies with?  Not Larry, just saying.

Lightening bug euphoria was short lived when Summer dog bolted out the door and into the surrounding woods after a rabbit.  Then she ignored my calls to return.  ‘Damn dog, Now what do I do?’

I grabbed a leash and went hunting, while Elliott, the good dog, stayed by my side.

She was missing in action five minutes, maybe ten at the most.  All the while I was trying to think of a way to break it to Larry that ‘his sweetheart’ was gone, somewhere near Lincoln, Nebraska.

Good Dog

Bad Dog

The evening’s excitement was only beginning.  Getting ready for a shower, I noticed a brown spot of dirt on my inner thigh.  When I brushed at it, it moved.  What?!  I tried to brush it off and it moved again!  A Tick!!

  *  *  *

I used to live in Atlanta.  For a camping weekend, I drove two hours to Jackson Lake and set up a tent.  Drove back home and collected my children after school ended.  Drove again to camp, had dinner, s’mores, and snuggled in our sleeping bags to read a bedtime story.  Somebody had a tick on them.  I think I removed three or four total by flashlight.

“I want to go home now,” my daughter cried.

“No, I’m not packing everything in the dark.  You’ll be ok.”  I told her.

*  *  *

I grabbed my glasses and a pair of tweezers to inspect the dogs.  There was another tick near Summers eye.  Ugh.  On my way to flush it down the commode, it leaped from my tweezers and I lost it.

Elliott was next and cowered when I searched his fur with my hands and a flashlight.  “You think this is bad, wait till tomorrow when we get home and I give you both a bath.”

It was then that I noticed another brown spot on the wall behind a reading chair.  I’m in a tiny house with two big dogs and three ticks, one still unaccounted for.  I went from ‘what’ to ‘ugh’ to full blown ‘heebie-jeebies!’   I’ve been bitten twice, both times I got Lyme disease…I wanted to go home (which would have been 7+ hours of night driving, which I don’t do).

After lightening bugs came lightening cloud to cloud and cloud to ground. Took this pic at 4 am.

After a fitful sleep and the realization that what goes around comes around, I understood my daughters panic.  (Just for the record, she still has anxiety about blood sucking creatures.  But she loves fireflies!)

Relaying my adventures to a friend, I heard these words come out of my mouth, “It wasn’t my first tick rodeo.” Sometimes, I surprise even myself!

Now you probably want to hear about Larry.  It’s what you tuned in for.

(See how clever I am…talk about myself first)

First night’s camp

He had a good nights sleep.  No bad weather, no ticks either. 

He started his second day in fog.  “It was super dense at the campground, visibility was about 200 yards.”

Dear readers, I apologize profusely.  Without my presence and support (driving a comfy camper, insisting he ride 100 miles daily, and taking good pictures), there’s not much I can add to that fog report. Sincerely, Larry’s jock-strap, formerly known as George.

Note: He made it to Hayward, WI for his second night.  Opted for a hotel room because there were no campsites.  (This could be a problem as he heads eastward.) He was in good spirits and I have no idea what his mileage was today.