Well....yesterday started off much like the rest of our departure days with a picture of my good friend Dave and his good friend John saying our good byes....after these pictures were taken it quickly evolved into the scariest and most trying day of our 6 week journey.

Some of the wonderful decorating that Dave and Donna have done at their cabin.
This was shot right before I began to load the car to leave.

Not long after the last pictures, we ended up here...obvously not a schedualed stop.
You see while I was loading the car yesterday, Ruby was following me in and out of the cabin as she always does, making sure that I wouldn't leave her behind...if I leave with nothing else I leave with her!
I came out of the cabin with my last load and heard Ruby barking her excited bark...I thought he had found an animal or another dog...as I sprinted out of the cabin I found Ruby standing by the car chewing on something blue.
Ruby always shows me what she has found (if it's a new thing) to see if it's ok with me that she chews it, usually I don't have a problem and she continues to mouth it and chew.  As I didn't recognize what she had I yelled at her to drop it, which she did.  I ran to pick up the blue thing and tried to clean as much of the object already chewed out her mouth, fearing it something bad I shoved my hand down her throat tried to get her to vomit...she didn't.
Looking around I noticed that she had been digging in the mulch and she apparently found it buried underneath.
Being certain by this point that she had gotten into something bad I got on the internet (thank god for my iphone).  After searching the internet my worst fears were confirmed...she had found, chewed and swallowed rat poison.
Now in a full blown panic I considered taking her to the Quad Cities (about an hour and a half away) and finding a vet.
Realizing that time was of the essence I figured that I better take her to Ottawa (15 miles away).  I had a moment of brilliance and realized that my dear friend Bill Walsh lived in Ottawa and would probably know of a vet I could take her to.
I was fortunate to reach Bill immediatly, explained the situation and he said that he knew just the guy we should see.  He told me to head toward Ottawa and he would call me right back.  When he did he told me to meet him at a McDonalds in town and he would lead me to the vet.  When we got to Dr. Clayton's office ( Bill had already called and explained to him the situation)  he and his staff immediatly sprang into action.  Within moments they were treating my baby.
I'll spare you the details of how this is treated...it isn't pretty.
It took about 4 hours before she was recovered enough to leave.
She still isn't completly out of the woods yet as it may take weeks for the symptoms to appear (rat poison is basically massive amounts of blood thinner that ultimately causes severe internal bleeding, leading to an ugly death), if they ever do.
Dr. Clayton said that what happened after she ate it was an absolute best case scenario...She didn't eat it all...I caught it almost immediatly...realized what it was and got her to him within an hour of ingestion.
He believes her prognosis is good!
Thank God!

I went to get something to eat (didn't want to eat in front of the Rubes).  When I got back to the Doctors office Bill and Phyllis Walsh were waiting for me, offering to take me to lunch or even staying at their home if we couldn't leave that day...what wonderful, terrific friends to have.
This is Jaime who along with Dr. Clayton and the rest of his wonderful staff helped my baby from what have been a certain death.  I had asked Bill and Phyllis to be in the picture, but they somehow escaped my lens...very modest people!
My thanks and heartfelt appreciation go out to Dr. Clayton and the rest of his wonderful and caring staff...you guys are the absolutly the BEST!
THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!

Longer story than I have time to get into now..I'll try to get it in tomorrow...it's a very interesting story but has nothing to do with Ruby.

The 1st time Ruby woke up since leaving Ottawa...in the background, the mighty Mississippi...I think our 3rd time crossing it!
Ruby today is still very tired (she went through a lot yesterday) but is displaying signs of being her normal social self, stopping and meeting everyone in the hotel lobby

Since I couldn't get a picture of Bill I did the next best thing...taking a picture of his name on one of his dealerships.
After walking Bill and Phyllis to their car thanking them and saying our good byes I went back into the vet's office to settle the bill.  I was told by Jaime that Mr. Walsh had taken care of it...rushing to the parking lot I stopped them and told them that what they did was going above and beyond.
Bill simply said that "when you are in my town you wont pay for anything"
I will never forget any of you but Bill, you are a man above all men.
THANK YOU!