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Our Dog Flirt has Died

2012 – Flirt at 8 weeks

Jan and I knew this day would come. This is our 4th Golden retriever . . . Wrigley was our first, Jack our second, and Ellie our third. All four died from cancer – the golden curse.

Over the last couple of years we could see Flirt age . . . she couldn’t jump up on our bed anymore, long walks became difficult, and so on.

However, her death was so sudden. The morning we couldn’t get Flirt to get up to eat. A bad sign as she loved food. Since none of local vets would see her, we ended up going to the Southern Oregon Veterinary Specialty Center, a 24-hour emergency center, in Medford, Oregon. They were great, professional and very sensitive.

Flirt could no longer walk, so the vets lifted her into the center. After an ultrasound scan, the doctor gave us her diagnosis – Flirt had a large mass in her abdomen near her spleen and fluid in her lungs. All of it probably cancerous. Because of her age, treatment was not an option.

So we’re cutting short our summer trip and heading home in a few days.

We’d like to share a number of movies and photos of Flirt over the years . . .

2012

After our dog Jack died, we decided to get another Golden Retriever. We visited a golden breeder in Wisconsin in June 2012 to put our name in for an upcoming golden litter.

In the following video, Flirt’s father is the last dog on the clip, a 10-year-old male, who melts in Jan’s hands . . . just like Flirt did.

2012 – Flirt’s father is the last dog on this clip
2012 – Flirt and Ellie playing (Jan is worrying in the background)

2014

After getting Flirt in late 2012, we adapted another 7-year-old golden, Ellie, a short time later.

The following video was taken on the porch of our park model in Lake Havasu, AZ of the two girls playing:

2014 – Flirt & Ellie in Lake Havasu, AZ

2016

When we lived at the Crazy Horse Campground in Lake Havasu, AZ, Flirt met two dogs who she played with from time to time . . .

2016 – Flirt and Katie

2016 – Flirt and Ollie

2016 – Flirt loved fetching
2016 – South Lake (elevation 9,000′) outside Bishop, CA

2017

During our summer 2017 trip, we stayed at a seaside campground in Port Aransas, TX. From there, we could Jeep along the miles long Padre Island and play in the Gulf.

This was Flirt’s first time off leash in the water. We’ve never seen her happier. Her tail wagged continuously. Flirt was so excited that soon after running into the water, she took a poop in the waves.

2017 – One happy golden

Flirt loved air conditioning . . .

2017 – Lake Havasu park model

2017 – Lake Havasu park model

2018

2018 – Flirt watching “Isle of Dogs” on TV

2019

Flirt loved the porch on our Lake Havasu park model. From it she could look down on the park and watch . . . everything.

2019 – The porch of our Lake Havasu park model

2019 – Flirt loved everyone

2019 – Flirt loved taking off-leash walks on the old airport runway near Crazy Horse Campground

2019 – The consummate beggar during an off-road Jeep trip
2019 – Swimming in the Virgin River in Zion National Park’s Watchman Campground

2021

2021 – Watching TV in Mariposa, CA

2022

2022 – Sleeping in Mariposa

2022 – Taking a walk in Barrett Cove Campground
2022 – Flirt walking me

2023

2023 – Barrett Cove again
2023 – and again

2024

2024 – after a hard day swimming in the Rogue River at Lucky Lodge Campground, OR

2025

2025 – Flirt’s last swim in the Rogue River, a few days before her death

THIS IS HOW WE WANT TO REMEMBER FLIRT

Summer 2025 – Juniper’s Reservoir RV Resort

Elevation: 4,899 feet

Most of our trip so far has been up Highway 395, but now we take a left turn off 395 towards the coast.

The geology along Highway 395 has been remarkable in its beauty and variety.

Click to enlarge (it’s huge)

Juniper’s Reservoir campground is about 10 miles west of the town of Lakeview on Highway 140. The campground is reached by traveling a few miles along a dusty road off Highway 140 . . .

Almost every campsite, including ours, has a birdhouse nearby . . .

Our birdhouse is in front of the tree above

The birdhouse is about 3 feet away from our front window

A bird’s eye view of the campground . . .

Summer 2025 – Likely, CA

Elevation: 4,449 ft.
Population: 0 (2023 census).
Location: Northeast California about 60 miles from Oregon state border.

Likely Place Golf & RV Resort

We’ve been here 4 days and it has been one of the most relaxing stays we have ever had. Mellowville.

Flirt agrees

LOCAL FLAIR . . .

Likely General Store (it does have everything)

The Likely bathroom (seriously)

Antonio’s in Alturas – very good food, very reasonably priced

Antonio’s spumoni (yum)

Summer 2025 – Week 2

MONDAY (June 16) – Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

Last time we were here was 2015 https://rvseniormoments.com/2015/04/05/ancient-bristlecone-pine-forest/

We started at 4,100 feet and ended up at over 10,000 feet . . .

Midway up, this was the view of the Sierras . . .

At the top, we took the shortest trail . . .

However, because of the altitude, we couldn’t walk very far . . .

The way back to Highlands RV Park . . .

Nancy, this video is for you . . .

Summer 2025 – Week 1

Currently, we’re in Highlands RV Park in Bishop, CA (elevation 4,140 ft) until Thursday.

Here’s how we got here . . .

MONDAY (June 9) – Our first campground was Three Rivers Hideaway in Three Rivers, CA. This was a new campground and area for us. The trip from Visalia up Highway 198 into the foothills was beautiful. It reminded us of our drive from Merced to Mariposa. However, Highway 198 was much more lush and touristy.

When we arrived at Three Rivers Hideaway, we were taking Flirt down the RV steps when she decided to jump the last two steps. Bad idea. She face planted on the ground and hurt her leg so that she had to limp. Maybe no big deal for a young dog, but Flirt’s pushing 13. So . . . . . .

After driving for three and a half hours, we took Flirt to the Emergency Vet Services in Fresno – about an 80 mile one-way trek.

Our Limping Girl

The Emergency Center vet checked her out pretty thoroughly and gave a thumbs up with advice to keep her activity to a minimum for a week. He also gave us some powerful pain killers.

After a day, Flirt was back to watching traffic from her RV perch.

After returning from Fresno, we medicated Flirt and went out to eat . . . and drink. Below is the view of the Kaweah River from the Gateway Restaurant where we had dinner. Lovely.

WEDNESDAY (June 11) – Kern River KOA. Just an overnight.

THURSDAY (June 12) – arrived at the RV park where we used to work. Interesting. New management, but the park looks exactly the same. Weird.

FRIDAY (June 13) – a drive up mountain Highway 168 to Aspendell (elevation 8,400 ft) to the Cardinal Village restaurant for breakfast.

Highway 168 going up
Up here temperatures are 15 – 20 degrees cooler.

Try the French Toast. Seriously.

Looking down on Cardinal Village

After breakfast, we drove to the end of Highway 168 . . . Lake Sabrina.

Then on the way back to Bishop, we took a side trip to South Lake . . .

Haven’t been this high for a while

In one of the parking lots, we found what was left of last winter’s snow . . .

South Lake was the fullest we have ever seen . . . when we were here in 2015 and 2018.

In fact, a ranger at the lake told Jan that after all the snow melts, the lake may crest the dam . . .