Sammy Lu & Rosie The Rat Dog Together Again In Doggie Heaven

Sammy Lu & Rosie the Rat Dog

On the left, sitting next to the late Rosie the Rat Dog, is the equally late, Sammy Lu.

Sammy Lu passed away last week after a tough battle with cancer. Rosie the Rat Dog passed away in December from age-related aliments.

Sammy Lu was a well bred beagle, while Rosie the Rat Dog's lineage was not quite as well bred.

There has always been common agreement that Rosie the Rat Dog was part Chihuahua. The other elements of Rosie's lineage were open to speculation.

Sammy Lu and Rosie the Rat Dog were long time neighbors in Kent, Washington. Over the course of their charmed lives they often vacationed together, taking long road trips, to places like Mount Rushmore and camping trips to their favorite locations in Washington and on the Oregon coast.

Sammy Lu never managed to become internationally well known like Rosie the Rat Dog did, but, in her immediate neighborhood, Sammy Lu was well known as a sweet-natured lovable girl, just like the two girls she lived with.

Sadly, near the end of their lives, through no fault of their own, Sammy Lu and Rosie the Rat Dog were unable to see each other. When Rosie the Rat Dog died, Sammy Lu and her family sent a condolence card, but were not invited to the funeral services.

I really don't know why people can not just get along, at least for the sake of the children, of course, unless there is an actual good, rational reason for not getting along, which in this case, there is not....

I Hope Rosie The Rat Dog Can Now Rest In Peace

There is something about being a couple thousand miles distant from the place you still think of as home that makes getting the sad news that someone has passed on to the great beyond  that makes that news seem sadder than it might seem otherwise.

At least that is how I am feeling at this precise second in time.

A few minutes ago I got email from Spencer Jack's dad asking me the following question...

Did you get the news that one of my cousins passed away yesterday?

No, I did not get the news about Rosie the Rat Dog. Rosie's parental unit de-friended me a couple weeks ago, on Facebook, for reasons unknown to me, so I do not have direct access to some news I might otherwise have had direct access to.

Rosie the Rat Dog lived a very long life. She had to be at least 20 years old, likely older, when she died.

Rosie the Rat Dog was internationally famous. Way back in the last century I made a few, now antique, webpages about Rosie the Rat Dog. This led to a Japanese entity called dogmark.net declaring that Rosie the Rat Dog's website was 'cool dog site of the day.'

I don't think any of my nephews, including the oldest, he being Spencer Jack's dad, can remember a world where Rosie the Rat Dog was not in it.

I believe the last I saw Rosie the Rat Dog was way back at some point in time in August of 2008, at Bay View State Park, on the same day I met Spencer Jack for the first time.

In the picture with the Seattle Space Needle in the background that would be Spencer Jack's Uncle Joey holding Rosie the Rat Dog. Joey is Spencer Jack's dad's little brother and my second oldest nephew.

In this picture Joey appears to be 12 or 13. Joey is 32 or 33 now, give or take a year. Joey just had a birthday in November, but I lose track of numbers such as ages. But, this gives one a good idea of how old Rosie the Rat Dog was when she passed on to the Great Doghouse in the Sky.

I remember well that day with Joey and Rosie the Rat Dog in Seattle. We were all over town. I don't remember if the transit tunnel yet existed, or if one could have smuggled Rosie on to it.

I do recollect taking Rosie to the newly opened REI corporate headquarters on that particular day in Seattle.

A corporate headquarters that remains REI's corporate headquarters and has not been turned into a community college and was built without abusing eminent domain. Which are not statements one could make about Radio Shack's corporate headquarters fiasco in Fort Worth.

I must email my sister my condolences. I assume she is not blocking my email. I don't think you can de-friend someone on email. And you really can't de-friend relatives in any venue. You are just sort of stuck with them, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

I would be the Ugly, often Good, but never really Bad.

I Am Looking Through Prison Cell Bars At Rosie The Rat Dog Home From Alaska While Prince Harry Gets Naked Playing Billiards In Las Vegas

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell on this 4th Wednesday of August you can clearly see the sky is, once again, clear of clouds at my location on the planet.

A doctor appointment this morning in Euless has wreaked havoc on my regular repetitive schedule.

I did not go swimming this morning. An impediment is causing me to postpone my daily endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation until, maybe, later this afternoon.

Changing the subject from my woes to something else.

Reading Rosie the Rat Dog's Alaska! blog last night I was a bit confused. I thought Rosie and her Entourage were in far north British Columbia, making a slow return to the United State and their homeport in Kent, Washington. But, the blogging made it sound as if they were no longer in Canada, and that they were already home plotting their next trip.

This morning I learned that I was correct in my interpretation of the blogging. Rosie is safe and sound at home.

Changing the subject from Rosie the Rat Dog to Crown Jewels.

I was a little surprised, last night, to find myself looking at a photo of Prince Harry in a Vegas casino hotel room, wearing no clothes, and covering the Crown Jewels with his hands. Another photo was taken of Prince Harry's other naked side, with a big red star strategically placed.

Being a prince looks like a fun job, to me. I've never played strip billiards. I have been naked in a Vegas hotel room, a time or two, so I guess I have that in common with Prince Harry, except no photos showed up of me on TMZ, that I know of.

How much does it cost to stay in the Wynn Hotel's VIP Suite where Prince Harry lost all his clothes playing strip billiards? Does Prince Harry get an allowance from his Grandma, the Queen? Or his only income what he makes as a helicopter pilot in the Royal Air Force?

It seems like Prince Harry would make for a fun King of England. All that stands in his way is his grandma, dad and big brother. And maybe DNA testing showing that his dad is not actually his dad.

Rosie The Rat Dog In Stewart British Columbia Shopping At Dean's Groceries

This morning we learned, via a blogging on the Rosie the Rat Dog Alaska! blog, that Rosie and her entourage are no longer in Alaska.

The giant RV has now left America and is currently in Canada.

In Rosie's blog post titled New Beginnings we see a forlorn ghost town called Stewart. Stewart is in British Columbia. British Columbia is province of Canada.

In Stewart, Rosie came upon an abandoned store called Dean's Groceries. Under the picture of Dean's Groceries, Rosie added the caption, "Happy Birthday Dean!"

That someone would call me Dean might confuse someone.

My full name is Durango Dean Jones. When my sister, who Rosie the Rat Dog takes care of, was little, she could not say words with more than one syllable. So, she took to calling me by my middle name, which is only one syllable and really easy for a little kid to pronounce, unlike that Durango tongue twister.

I know it may seem hard to believe, but to this day very few of my relatives, or friends, call me Durango. They refer to me by that middle name. I blame this on my sister.

In Alaska Rosie The Rat Dog Finds Humpbacks, Orcas, Otters & New Words

An Otter On Ice In The Gulf Of Alaska

The latest update of Rosie the Rat Dog's Alaska! Blog has the best scenery yet.

In a blogging inexplicably titled Tails, Fins and Eyes you take a boat ride out into the Gulf of Alaska where you'll see giant glaciers, humpback whales, sea lions, orcas and otters, among other things.

The nicknames of the humans who Rosie the Rat Dog looks after are Otter and Penguin, hence the Internet handle of otterpengu.

I've never had explained to me the reason for the Otter/Penguin nicknames, but I can guess that it might have something to do with a resemblance to those cute critters.

I am enjoying the written commentary on the Alaska! Blog. It is written in a very purple prose style, like what a pioneer woman might write whilst crossing America on the Oregon Trail back in the 1860s.

I particularly enjoy the imaginative spelling and new word inventions. I think my favorite new word may be "fastination."

I am not certain, but I think "fastination" means being fascinated by scenery one sees when traveling at a high rate of speed.  I may be wrong about this.

Rosie The Rat Dog Getting Dirty On Top Of The World

Rosie the Rat Dog and her Entourage have blogged again. This time in a blogging titled Color between black and white that I don't quite understand.

It may have something to do with the fact that they finally made it to a place where they could wash the dirt off their vehicles, that being a place called Tok, Alaska.

I have been a bit confused by the tales of treacherous roads, with me thinking the Alaska Highway is not supposed to be all that treacherous anymore.

Well.

Rosie directed her entourage off the Alaska Highway somewhere around Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. This eventually had them on a road called the Top of the World Highway. I believe this was still in Canada. A couple hours after getting past customs and back in the USA the road turned into something called the Taylor Highway, eventually ending in a town called Chicken.

I'm guessing the name of the town has something to do with most people being chicken to drive the highway to get there.

There are some gorgeous photos on Rosie the Rat Dog's Alaska! Blog. There was a moose encounter whilst kayaking. More bear encounters. And other encounters.

I'm starting to think a roadtrip to Alaska sounds fun.

Rosie The Rat Dog & Family Are Now Heading North On The World Famous Alaska Highway

Rosie the Rat Dog with Bear

My Big Sister and her Big Entourage have made it past Dawson Creek and are now heading north on the World Famous Alaska Highway.

I did not know the Alaska Highway was World Famous til I read it on a sign in a picture on the Rosie the Rat Dog Alaska! Blog.

"YOU ARE NOW ENTERING THE WORLD FAMOUS ALASKA HIGHWAY DAWSON CREEK, B.C."

That is Rosie the Rat Dog in a confrontation with a bear, in the picture, above, that I swiped from Rosie's Blog.

Rosie the Rat Dog is sort of a famous dog, likely not as famous as the Alaska Highway, though. Years ago Rosie the Rat Dog won some sort of Dog Award from some Japanese entity. This happened back in the previous century, so my memory of details is a tad foggy.

I am fairly certain, though, that Rosie did not fly to Tokyo to accept her prestigious award.