Santana’s Bucket List Wish!

Jan 12-18

Getting to the Chinook Winds Casino was a short trip. However, the drive was beautiful! The road was lined with massive trees, and some must have had 6 inches of moss on every crooked and twisted limb.

We pulled into the RV parking area and as we stepped outside all you could hear was this constant roar! Looking over the Casino that is perched on a cliff above the ocean, we could see at least 20 foot swells, white caps, and waves smashing into rocks scattered along the coast line, It was everything Jennifer told us and more. Miles and miles of beaches! Santana knew right away where we were. Setting up was quite an ordeal when you have a strung out doberman trying to crawl over your heads each time you open the door!

For those of you who are not aware, Santana was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy, which is a terminal heart disease about a year ago. We were initially told we would be lucky to have her three months. Her lungs will fill with fluid when the left chamber is no longer able to pump blood, or she will drop with a massive heart attack with no warning. She is only 6.

I sort of made a deal with God….. if deals can be made. I asked Him to have mercy and let us have enough time to get her back to the Oregon Coast. Like salmon is for Free Willy, the ocean is Santana’s chocolate. In the past two weeks, although bright and happy on her walks, she is eating less and dropping weight a lot faster then I would like to see. However, God heard my prayers and all of those from my friends on Face Book. We made it!! We were warned by her cardiologist a couple of months ago that she is only allowed to run for 5 minutes or so a day, as she is at high risk of sudden death. Guess we will leave that timing in God’s hands. He got her this far, I have faith He will let her enjoy things a tad longer.

Outside, its grey, windy and cold today. As soon as we were settled, we took them off to the beach wearing layers of cloths to brave the chill, with the video camera and phone in hand. No way was I going to take down my good cameras down until I knew what was going on down there. Ocean spray is not cool on my gear. But I had the camera on my phone 😉

Forget all the dog training and leash manners…. it was like trying to hold onto rockets as we made our way down to the sand. Chicago was hilarious! She has never seen the ocean before. Her eye balls were bugging out of her head and she was barking and wailing all the way down the slope. When we went to take of the leashes, both dogs were trembling with excitement, and then the wild west show started!

My gosh. Those two dogs literally tore up the beach. For the first time that I can remember, Chicago was having trouble keeping up with Santana. That beautiful girl ran and ran and ran. A few times she got close enough for a wave to hit the shore line and blast her as she frantically tried to outrun it. I had to laugh… and something else we were stunned to see was Chicago EATING sand! Now whats with that?

We stayed down there for 2 or 3 hours, then headed back to the RV cold, and very wet. It was a good day! Tomorrow they are saying we will have a warmer day, and a lot of sunshine. For now, we will call it a day.. I can feel the burn on my face from the wind, and the girls are definitely worn out! They have hit the couch and are both sound asleep.

Around 2:00 in the morning I went outside for a bit to talk to MaryAlice and make arrangements for our visit in the L.A. Area. Now this was neat! I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and then saw something beautiful. Five feet in front of me, in the casino parking lot, a dear came up and stopped. Behind her was a baby, and a few others. They huddled in a small herd a few feet in front of me, and stared quietly for about a minute or so before moving on. They were beautiful. Chatting with a dear friend, and a visit from some local wildlife. How cool is that! A perfect ending to a very long day 🙂

Good night from the beautiful shores of the Oregon Coast!