Good-bye Handsome Boy

Today was the day every animal parent dreads...the day you have to love them enough to let them go.

Titan was a one in a million dog.  He never went to the bathroom in the house, never chewed up things that didn't belong to him, never counter surfed, never got into the trash, loved to go for a walk and ride in the car, was a very good "talker" and a total bed hog.  

The past year he became quite a whiner and he recently had x-rays to be sure there wasn't anything going on that we needed to know about.  He was in great shape, other than a little arthritis, which is to be expected in a dog that just turned eleven.

such soulful eyes

After a trip to the vet on Thursday for routine vaccinations and an aspiration of a lump on his face (just a lump, no cancer cells) he came home and slept most of the day, which is his usual MO, since the anti-anxiety meds he takes before a visit last awhile.  He had dinner, went out with Bill, got a treat and went back to sleep on his pillow in the living room...all very normal.

He woke up at 10:00pm and he acted as though he was high on speed.  He paced, sniffed and sniffed and sniffed, panted, cried, seemed disoriented and unable to relax.  I took him out to pee before bed and took him to bed with me.  He jumped up, as he always did, on Bill's side and although he laid down, he didn't settle down.  He was just alert and unsettled.  

The next 36 hours were painful for all of us.  He didn't sleep except for three separate hours where he totally crashed; therefore, we didn't sleep either.  The rest of the time he spent pacing, panting and crying from deep inside himself. We took a trip to the emergency vet in Portsmouth (45 minutes) in the rain at 1:00am.  He was quiet for the trip there and back and was well behaved with the vet.  We came home with an antihistamine prescription because we felt he was having a reaction to his anti-anxiety meds, as well as a sense of optimism.  Got home at 4:30, he went to his pillow and promptly fell asleep.  We climbed into bed and promptly fell asleep, too.

His nap lasted only until 7:30am, when he awoke and was howling/ barking nonstop while sitting on his pillow.  He ate his breakfast and went outside with Bill to wander the yard and do his business, then back to howling/barking.  It was heart wrenching and we decided to call our regular vet.  Thankfully, we were able to get him right in.

We didn't go to the vet for the specific purpose of saying good-bye, although it was a consideration if we couldn't come up with a resolution, so we wrestled with what to do...let him go or give him a sedative and see if he wasn't better after some good rest.  Ultimately, we decided the best solution for him was to let him go in peace, as we had always promised him we would never let him suffer and it was clear, he was suffering, although we were unable to determine the actual cause of the problem.

This was completely unexpected and took us by surprise, which made saying good-bye so much more difficult.  Both of us weren't  able to go into the office with him because of Covid, so they were understanding enough to come to the truck for the procedure.  The Dr. gave him a sedative to relieve his anxiety and they brought him out to us, where he immediately relaxed for the first time in nearly two days. 

They told us to call when we were ready to say good-bye, allowing us to have as much time with him as we needed.  It was a little crowded but Bill sat on one end of him and I sat on the other and we petted him and talked to him and told him how special he was and how much we loved him and would love him forever.  

The actual procedure was calm and unhurried and he slipped away from us and over the Rainbow Bridge, just.like.that.  The Dr. and her assistant left us again to spend more time with him until we were ready for them to take him inside.  

We are devastated and our hearts are broken.  Our lives  revolved around Titan and there will be a great big empty hole which is going to take quite some time to heal.

Thank you Sir Titan of Nottingham for sharing your life with us.  You will never be forgotten, instead you will live in our hearts - forever...

Rest peacefully handsome boy, you were one in a million and will be missed beyond measure.  We loved you to the moon and back!

Titan McGovern 

aka 

Sir Titan of Nottingham

9/01/09 - 10/17/2020

 

Hiking and Biking

 A picture perfect morning!

Got up at 8:00, it was already 55*.  We left the cottage at 10:35 and it had warmed up to 68*.  We drove to Beech Mtn. for an easy, fairly quick hike.  We had to wait for someone to leave before we could park.  We left the trailhead at 11:15 and took the left fork in the trail.

While there still wasn't a ton of fall color, these leaves caught my eye.

We stepped off the trail to enjoy this nice view and I was able to take off the bottom section of my hiking pants.

We glimpsed this view of Long Lake, looking the other way.

This is the only summit with a fire tower.  It is occasionally occupied by volunteers, but not today.  

It only took us 35 minutes to reach the top and we could have done it faster except we were following a family with a super cute little girl, maybe 3, and that slowed us down a little.  We passed a little brown snake at one point but it was too fast for me to get a picture.

We hung out for about 15 minutes enjoying the view and the nice warm day.  Although the parking lot was full, it wasn't that busy at the summit.

Cranberry Islands (maybe)

Somes Sound

We headed down at 12:05, found a little color and spent some time with one of my favorite views of Long Lake.  Although I remembered this view, I wasn't sure this was the hike.

We ended up following the same family DOWN so, again, it took us a little longer, even though we passed them twice.  Arrived at the car at 12:45, the temp was somewhere between 69* and 72*.  

From there we drove about 20 minutes to a place on Echo Lake called Ike's Point to have lunch.  I thought it was a picnic area but it was not...hahaha  It was a boat launch but there were enough larger rocks that we were able to sit on the rocks and eat our lunch.  

The water was super clear and a woman walked down while we were there and went for a swim, although she did have a wet suit on, so I don't think it was very warm.

We changed into our bike clothes in the car...easier said than done and drove to the Brown Mtn. Gatehouse for our only bike ride of this visit, the Hadlock Pond Loop.  It's a 3.9 mile loop, crosses four beautiful stone bridges and took us about an hour.  We chose to take the loooong, gradual ascent, thankfully, rather than the short, steep one.  We would probably still be riding.  I didn't take pictures of the bridges because, quite frankly, we have done this ride a few times so I already have plenty of bridge pictures.  I did manage one picture of the only time we could see Hadley Pond.

Kind of a joke that it's called the Hadley Pond Loop since you hardly ever even see the pond.  Anyway, it's a nice ride and it did get out heart rates up.

We drove back through town and reached the cottage at 4:30.  Still 69* ;o)  We sat outside in the sun for awhile, came in when we got chilly.  For dinner, we went to Pat's Pizza in town and used our gift card for a small pizza and beverages.  The sunset was around 6:30, so we were practically eating in the dark by the time we finished, although there was one light which didn't do much to illuminate the outside eating area.  

We got back at 7:30 and started packing because we have reached the end of our stay.  We agreed it was a really nice day, we got a lot of exercise but didn't beat ourselves up too much.  

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Wonderland and Ship Harbor

 How did we not know about these two places in Southwest Harbor?!  We probably still wouldn't know about them except for the numerous posts on the I Love Bar Harbor Maine FB page.

It was still cloudy, cool 57* and windy when we got up.  

We left at 10:44, it had warmed up to 63* and the sun was trying to rid itself of high, thin clouds.  It's about a 30 minute drive to the Wonderland Trail, an easy 1 mile in and out walk to a rocky shore.  This is only minutes from Seawall where the waves were pretty impressive yesterday.  It's amazing how much calmer the water was today.

Pano...Wonderland Beach

My Man...Magellan

Another possible Christmas Card photo

It took us about 15 minutes to walk in and 20 minutes to walk out on the loop trail.  The temp in the car read 67*...lovely ;o)

We drove down the road just a few minutes to the Ship Harbor Trail, another easy 1.3 mile walk.  The trail forms a figure eight, one side going along the water and the other side through the woods.  One of the nice things about this trail is the restroom at the beginning!  

We absolutely fell in love with this place.  It rivals Two Lights State Park; it's beautiful but more quiet and serene and you're closer to the water.  We sat for 35 minutes just watching the tide come in and listening to the small waves against the rocks.  

Our first view of Ship Harbor

I found a couple of heart rocks but I only took photos then left them for someone else to find and enjoy.

Stairs from the "heart" beach

You don't often see water this color around Maine.  It was a beautiful turquoise.

The channel leading to the harbor

Looking into the harbor

Harbor entrance to the right, ocean to the left

Leaving the channel and heading into open waters

Reminds us of Two Lights

Beautiful day for sailing

Pano photo of Ship Harbor by Bill

It took us 30 minutes to walk all the way in, including time spent at the "heart" beach and maybe 25 minutes to walk out.  We could definitely see the fall colors in the woods.  The temp had reach 75*...woohoo!

We ate lunch at Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound, which we had driven past three days in a row and vowed to try.  I had a haddock sandwich and Bill had a clam roll and french fries.  Everything was delicious!  Although it was out first time there, it won't be our last.

There is no inside seating but there were plenty of tables available and the weather was perfect.  We took a look at the small cemetery located in the field next door before heading home.

It needs a little attention

We stumbled across a small coffee shop (Saint Dreux's Coffee) in Southwest Harbor and stopped for iced coffees.  It was the end of their day and we got the last of the iced coffees but they were actually quite good.  

Once we got back to the cottage, we took our coffees, our books and our Keepin' It Local cookies and sat in the sun, by the water.  I got tired of the wind and came in about 5:00, Bill stayed till the shade overtook his spot.  We drove to the Hadley Point beach for the sunset.  We always enjoy watching the sunset, even when it's less than spectacular, like tonight.

We had a super great day, found new favorites and didn't kill ourselves.  We found we can enjoy the area without needing to hike or bike every day.    That being said...tomorrow's our last day and we are going to burn some calories ;o)

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)