My Journey

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
I spotted your rig the other day in Tucson in the Barnes and Noble parking lot on the NW side of town....my apologies for not stopping in to chat but I was in a hurry, dealing with a doctor’s appointment. I hope all is well with you, at least under the tough circumstances you’re dealing with.
 
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thedavidzoo

Member
Jerry, hope all is going as well as can be with Yukon and you.
Again, as you seem to be spending much time in Tucson, my offer still stands. If you want a place to hang out just outside of the city to give you a little more "stability" as you and Yukon go through your days, please don't hesitate. You have driven past my house at least once already.
 
REMEMBERING YUKON PART ONE.....

It was on Day 865 of our odyssey that Yukon finally succumbed to the pains of the cancer that had invaded her beautiful body.....

Yukon was born on May 26, 2008 in the small ranching & farming town of St. Ignatius, Montana. The first time I laid my eyes on her she was running out of a red barn with her little pack of yellow and black labs and in the background to the east I could see the towering rock cliffs and peaks of the Rocky Mountains.....to the south, the west and the north were the fields of Mission Valley.....so beautiful one might think that she was born at the entrance to heaven.....

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My guess is that pups from the valley typically find new homes here in the valley and they eventually become ranch & farm dogs for the remainder of their lives. But Yukons life was to be different.....people often have said that she was the "lucky one".....

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She had not reached two months of age when she crossed her first international border. At less than six months she had traveled as far north as the Alaskan roads were constructed.....and travel would soon define her life.....

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There were periods of her life where we took refuge in a home.....rest was good. There was the cabin in the Appalachian Mountains and it was here that she began to hone her skills chasing the white tail deer through the forests.....and eventually she moved back west where she continued to chase the deer and at times the herds of elk that roamed the mountains of Montana. She caused no harm.....it was always a game.....

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There were a few houses in the city.....these never lasted for long. The stays were brief.....the call of life on the road was much too strong.....

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She would return to Montana often over the years where she cherished the tall mountain peaks, the crystal clear lakes, the ice cold waters cascading down the mountainsides, and the forests that seemed endless with no boundaries in sight.....

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Yukon was truly an adventurer.....and Yukon was an explorer too.....but I think that Yukon could best be described as a wandering warrior.....and always my best friend.....

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RREMEMBERING YUKON PART TWO.....

It is often said that a dogs life is too short.....and it could easily be said that Yukons was as well but she used her nearly twelve years of life wisely. She traveled to the south to Mexico several times, and north to Canada many, many times.....she traveled to Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and of course Yukon ! She had planned to travel to the Northwest Territory in 2020 but those plans were stopped short.....

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She crossed the United States of America enough times to make your head spin. She traveled to Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. She never made it to Hawaii but that's just fine cause she was just like me.....we are not ones motivated to complete any lists.....she just loved to wander.....

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She traveled to Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Ontario. And she traveled to hundreds, if not thousands, of smaller lakes dotted across North America.....

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She traveled to the Mississippi River, the Columbia River, the Snake River, the Shenandoah River, the Colorado River, the Missouri River, and the Rio Grande River and like the lakes, she traveled to hundreds, if not thousands of smaller rivers, creeks and streams that criss cross North America.....

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She traveled to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean (Beaufort Sea), the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Alaska, and the Gulf of California. She loved the salt waters nearly as much as she loved the lakes and rivers. The waves were her playground and she showed no fear.....the outdoors is where she belonged.....raw nature was her true love.....

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She climbed all the major mountain ranges of North America.....the Appalachian Mountains, the Rocky Mountains, the Canadian Rockies, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Alaska Range, and the Cascades. She climbed many smaller ranges and I'd imagine that she was closing in on two hundred summits. The mountains of North America were her home.....

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REMEMBERING YUKON PART THREE.....


Yukon was loved everywhere she went and she loved nearly every human she crossed paths with. She was truly mans best friend.....and certainly she was my best friend.....the best friend that I ever had. I learned many things about life from Yukon.....yes, a dog can teach a man. And she never stopped teaching me.....moments before she took her last breath she looked up at me from the floor and had the most beautiful smile on her face that I had ever seen.....you see, she was trying to say "Jerry, don't worry.....live in the moment.....don't be afraid for me". She was also a fantastic teacher to Tanner.....Yukon loved to walk with her leash in her mouth and when Tanner saw that he immediately said "hey, where's mine ?". And she taught him to love unconditionally and she taught him how to be mans best friend.....I think she knew that he would be next in line to care for me.....

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I became a believer of the Rainbow Bridge when Montana passed away a few years ago.....I had to believe.....the pain was just too severe. And so it is now that I believe that Montana and Yukon are together again.....their bodies healed.....just awaiting my arrival where we will begin our adventures again one day.....

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Yukon passed away February 24, 2020 at approximately 2:50 p.m. in Tucson, Arizona. The loss has left a massive hole in my heart and I know that it will be there forever. The tears may stop flowing one day (they have not yet).....my longing to summit mountains with my best friend Yukon will never cease.....

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You see.....Yukon was and is one amazing dog.....

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REMEMBERING YUKON PART FOUR.....


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The Rainbow Bridge..........inspired by a Norse legend

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,

Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.

Where the friends of man and woman do run,

When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,

Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.

On this golden land, they wait and they play,

Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,

For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.

Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,

Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care,

Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.

All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,

Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.

For just at that instant, their eyes have met;

Together again, both person and pet.

So they run to each other, these friends from long past,

The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart,

Has turned into joy once more in each heart.

They embrace with a love that will last forever,

And then, side-by-side, they cross over and are together.

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