Andie LaComb's Blog, page 15

Introducing Sunny

Sunny joined our family fifteen days after we said goodbye to Karlie. I wasn’t really ready or even remotely over Karlie, but I needed a furry friend to love. So shortly after saying goodbye I looked for another dog to join our family. I was looking for a Catahoula/Australian Shepard mix just like Karlie. I’ll admit I was trying to fill the hole in my heart with a dog that looked like Karlie, hoping she would be just like Karlie. What I found was a dog that looks like Karlie, but has her own personality.

After searching the internet I found Sunny just outside Los Angeles. After several conversations with her foster mom, a video walk through of our condo, and providing information about our Indiana home they selected us to adopt her. I was so excited! A few days later we met her foster mom at a park halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. Sunny wasn’t yet fully vaccinated so we had to stay in the back of our SUV getting to know her. It was quite a challenge to keep this little wiggly, rambunctious, silly puppy from leaving the vehicle and chasing the leaves in the parking lot that she was so fascinated by. Despite, or possibly because of that, we thought she was adorable and decided she would make a great addition to our family.

Meeting Sunny at the park.

We spent a couple months at our condo getting to know each other and working on potty training. Eventually she was fully vaccinated so we started taking her on adventures including to the beach. She LOVED getting out and especially enjoyed watching the ocean and sniffing all the smells at the beach. And then, just after she turned five months old, we drove across country to our home in southern Indiana. She was a superstar on the trip and in the hotels.

Watching the waves in Bird Rock, La Jolla, CA.

Now we are fast approaching the one-year anniversary of saying goodbye to Karlie and Sunny’s gotcha day. A lot has happened in the past year. Sunny has grown up, but is still a rambunctious, silly girl. Sunny loves to chase leaves. Her best friend lives next door and they love to wrestle and chase each other. Sunny likes to snuggle on the bed after breakfast and her morning walk. She also likes to end her day by snuggling on the bed. Sunny does a celebratory dance when she finds a treasure in the yard – sticks, nuts, and leaves. She has learned how to spin, rollover, sit, come, lay down, go to her mat, find it, and leave it. Sunny is doing great at walking without pulling on her leash at least until she sees a blowing leaf.

Sunny playing in the leaves.

Sunny is a wonderful addition to our family. She is not Karlie; she has her own personality, favorite toys, and favorite things to do. We are so lucky she is part of our family. We can’t wait to continue taking her on adventures and exploring new areas. Sign up to receive weekly updates of our posts detailing our adventures.

The post Introducing Sunny appeared first on Live Like Karlie.

I Feel Like I am Forgetting

I have been thinking about Karlie a lot recently and I’m sure it’s because the one-year anniversary of saying goodbye to her is approaching. Not to mention that Facebook keeps showing me memories of her last few months. While those bring a smile to my face, they are bittersweet because I know what is coming. I’ve also been looking back on pictures of our life together. I love seeing her smile and remembering all the fun we had, especially with Anna. It was such a good life, but it seems like a lifetime ago.

Anna and Karlie in the backseat after a fun adventure to Lake Grapevine, Texas.

Despite all our adventures and memories, I feel like I’m forgetting things about her and our life. Yet I can’t even articulate what exactly it is that I can’t remember or what I’m forgetting. It makes me feel so guilty to think I am forgetting anything about her or our life together. How could I forget when she was my everything?

But maybe I’m not really forgetting her or our adventures or our life. Maybe my life has just changed so much since she left. Karlie was a senior dog and we spent a lot of time going on adventures and managing her health issues. Now we have a one year old dog, Sunny, who we spend a lot of time helping become a great little family member. We have new schedules and routines and we are still learning about each other, while Karlie and I knew every thing about each other. Despite Sunny’s resemblance to Karlie, she has her own personality, favorite toys, and favorite things to do. So I guess I’m not really forgetting Karlie, but living a different life with a new furry friend. My goal is to keep Karlie’s memory alive while creating a life as wonderful as we had with Sunny.

Playing in the leaves in Bloomington, IN

The post I Feel Like I am Forgetting appeared first on Live Like Karlie.

Adventures With Karlie

Have you ever had a dog that was your best friend?  If you have, this love story between Andie and her furry best friend, Karlie, will resonate with you.  Adventures with Karlie is not only the story of their relationship, but also the story of going on adventures with your dog and overcoming adversity.  

The book starts shortly after Karlie’s older sister, Anna, crosses the Rainbow Bridge and continues until Karlie joins her nearly three years later.  During that time, Andie and Karlie explore canyons, hiking trails, and parks throughout San Diego County and Monroe County, Indiana as well as some locations in Arizona, Indiana, New Mexico, and Texas.  They do all this while battling a debilitating disease that slowly takes Karlie’s ability to walk on her own away from her.  Despite that, they adapt to the changing situation and continue their adventures.

Not only does Adventures with Karlie tell their story, but it provides information and ratings on each adventure so you can follow in their footsteps.  For those not in the San Diego or Bloomington areas, Andie hopes to encourage you to get outside and find fun and interesting areas to explore with your dog.  It also provides information about Geriatric Onset Laryngeal Paralysis Polyneuropathy (GOLPP), a progressive disease that causes breathing issues and hind end weakness.  Andie shares details about the progression of the disease and what she and Karlie did to adapt and treat the disease while maintaining Karlie’s quality of life.

Where to Buy the Book

Get your copy of the book from Amazon, Applebooks, and Kobo. It is available in e-book, hardcover, and paperback formats. It will be available from Barnes and Noble (online) soon. We hope you love the book and will leave a review on whichever platform you purchased it. Reviews are the lifeblood of authors and help readers find it. Thank you!

The post Adventures With Karlie appeared first on Live Like Karlie.

Bloomington Rail Trails

If you like biking, running, or walking Bloomington has several scenic paved trails to explore. There is the B-Line, Bloomington Rail Trail, Clear Creak Trail, Karst Farm Greenway and the Limestone Greenway. Many of the trails connect with each other so you can piece together a long excursion. Karlie and I enjoyed these trails, even though they are mostly asphalt. We explored all of them and now Art and I are sharing them with Sunny.

Our favorite place to access the trails is the Clear Creek Trail parking lot located off Church Lane in southern Bloomington. This parking lot allows access to three different trails – Bloomington Rail Trail, Clear Creek Trail, and Limestone Greenway. Once you walk up the path you can turn either right or left. To the left is the Limestone Greenway and to the right after crossing the bridge is both the Bloomington Rail and Clear Creek Trails.

The Bloomington Rail Trail is a two mile path that is dirt, asphalt, and gravel. Shortly after Country Club Drive it connects with the B-Line Trail which adds another 3.1 miles. The Bloomington Rail Trail section is quite nice with stone cliffs, trees, and vegetation, however once it connects to the B-Line Trail it is not as scenic. The B-Line Trail is our least favorite trail as it travels from southern Indiana toward the city and through Switchyard Park. We have encountered off leash dogs in Switchyard Park making it a less desirable place to hike.

Karlie on the Bloomington Rail Trail

The Clear Creek Trail, which is one of our favorites, is a 2.4 mile path that winds behind some residential homes and also borders some open, grassy areas. The best part for us, though, was the ability to get down to the creek. Karlie loved to put her feet in it.

Karlie by Clear Creek

The Limestone Greenway, which is another of our favorites, is a 1.7 mile path that is surrounded by trees and vegetation. It’s fairly flat and in one section traverses over a ravine. The trail is mostly shaded making it perfect on summer days. Even on rainy days the tree canopy prevents you from getting too wet. The trail is popular with those riding bikes as well as walkers and runners. It’s a quiet, peaceful trail.

View of the path on the Limestone Greenway

The Karst Farm Greenway is located off N. Loesch Road and is a nearly 4.5 mile trail. There is a parking area off Loesch Road, but it can only accommodate two vehicles. The trail is asphalt and runs alongside the road. There are trees between the path and road, but it’s not as scenic at the other trails. This was our least favorite trail.

Karlie on the trail at Karst Farm GreenwayOur Rating

Although Karlie preferred to hike on dirt or sand, the rail trails were a good option when we didn’t  want to drive too far. We give the Bloomington Rail Trails three paws up since they are mostly asphalt, but still scenic and wonderful places to take a nice walk and feel like you are in the woods.

The post Bloomington Rail Trails appeared first on Live Like Karlie.

Miramar Reservoir

The trails at Miramar Reservoir is one of the best places to take your dog hiking in San Diego. The funny thing is Karlie and I would not have known about it had it not been a fellow volunteer with whom I walked dogs at the San Diego Humane Society. But once we knew about it, we returned many times, including one last walk after we said goodbye.

The Miramar Reservoir is located in the Scripps Ranch community of San Diego. There are two trails that travel around the reservoir. One is a dirt trail that overlooks the reservoir in many areas and the other is an asphalt road that is used by walkers and cyclists. There is a large parking lot, clean restrooms, and a small grassy area with some park benches. Everything you need for a great adventure!

I think our first trip was my favorite. It was just Karlie and me and we had such fun exploring and taking pictures. We took the dirt trail and enjoyed checking out all the vegetation, climbing on rocks, and seeing the views of the reservoir. Shortly after the start we found a large rock that extended into the water. This became a spot that I took a picture of Karlie every time we visited.

Karlie on the rock that extends into the water.

On this first trip I later found out that we didn’t even make it all the way around the reservoir. Despite that we walked nearly six miles that day. After about three miles we came to a spot that had a porta-potty, small parking area, and a fishing dock. I thought that was the end of the trail so we turned around and headed back to the parking lot. On a later visit we explored a little more and found where the trail continued and walked all the way around the reservoir ending by crossing the dam.

Our last trip together was as fantastic as the first. Despite the weakening of Karlie’s hind legs she was able to walk the nearly one mile to the large rock that extended into the water without her wheel chair. We took many pictures and videos of her including walking out onto the rock. We decided that was as far as we would go on the trail since by the time we returned to the car we would have walked over 1.5 mile. It was a far cry from the six miles we did on our first visit, but was the longest walk she had taken without her wheelchair. I was so proud of my sweet girl.

One last time on the rock into the water.

I took one last hike around the reservoir before we left San Diego in April 2022. Sadly on that walk Karlie was with me only in spirit. I carried her collar in the backpack that I took on every one of our adventures. I retraced our steps from our first visit and turned around at the half way point. At first I couldn’t find “our rock” where we had taken so many pictures, but then I realized it was hidden under water. We had received quite a bit of rain and it had covered the rock. I was sad because I wanted one last picture on the rock. Instead I captured a picture of the water covering it. It was such a bittersweet hike, but I felt like Karlie was with me the whole way. We haven’t returned to San Diego or to the reservoir since that last trip, but I hope to take Sunny there the next time we are in San Diego and get a picture of her on “Karlie’s rock”.

Karlie’s rock under waterOur Rating

Karlie and I loved hiking on the dirt path around the Miramar Reservoir. It gets four paws up from us because there is water to hike around, the trail is long and scenic, parking is plentiful, and bathrooms/porta-potties are plentiful. In our book this is a not-to-be-missed stop in the San Diego area.

How do I get there?

The best way to locate the park is to use “Lake Miramar parking lot” as the destination. The directions will have you follow Scripps Lake Drive and then turn near the water treatment plant. Follow the road to the large parking lot. Either park or walk along the sidewalk in the opposite direction from the dam. Eventually you will come to the start of the asphalt road. Look to the left and you will see the somewhat hidden entrance to the dirt trail.

The post Miramar Reservoir appeared first on Live Like Karlie.

Winter Hiking

Anyone who knows me knows I hate winter and cold weather. After living in Texas for 18 years and then San Diego for nearly 7, I no longer tolerate cold weather well. Despite that, we moved to Southern Indiana a few years ago to be closer to family, but continued to spend the winters in San Diego. Except this year, we decided to stay in Indiana while we have a new home built. Thankfully it’s mostly been mild so we’ve still been able to get out on adventures. Then this week the weather turned bitterly cold. In fact it was downright arctic with windchills 20 and 30+ degrees below zero. That ended my winter hiking for a bit.

Being the wimp about cold weather that I am, I hunkered down and mostly stayed inside except when Sunny needed to go out. Then I bundled up and looked like the abominable snowman walking her around the yard, but that was our only adventure.

Finally, today, the weather was sunny and in the low 40’s. The snow is melting and it just feels good to be outside. Because of the improvement in the weather we decided to get out of our neighborhood and go on an adventure. We ventured to Car Top Park on Monroe Lake which is where we launch our kayaks. Needless to say, we did not bring our kayaks. It’s a good thing since the lake was frozen. The water had receded pretty far so we had a lot of shore to walk on. Despite that we did not let Sunny off leash since we were afraid she would run out on the lake and we weren’t sure if it was frozen solid. No matter, she enjoyed getting out of the house and neighborhood and smelling all the smells.

Sunny watching my husband.

If the rest of the winter is as nice as today, we will get out on many more adventures and do some winter hiking. Even when it isn’t I hope to convince myself to get outside. I’m finding that the snow changes the way the trails and parks look and it’s a different type of beauty. Now if I can just bundle up enough to get out and enjoy it.

For more information on Car Top Park check out my previous post Car Top Park.

The post Winter Hiking appeared first on Live Like Karlie.

Don’t Cry Because it’s over, Smile Because it Happened

I love this quote because it is the essence of what Live Like Karlie is all about. It’s about having fun with your dog, enjoying every moment, and celebrating what you have. We did this with Karlie despite knowing she had an illness that was going to slowly take her from us. Despite that we went on weekly adventures, did her favorite things, and tackled each advancement of the disease with a smile. That’s not to say there wasn’t frustration, grief, or that we never felt sad. Despite that we continued to adapt to what was happening and made the best of it. Even on her last day, we tried to give her the best send off by doing her favorite things.

When I look at the pictures from the final three months of Karlie’s life, what resonates is how happy we were. It radiates from the pictures. When we returned to San Diego in November 2021, I knew she likely would not make the trip back to Indiana. For this reason, I tried to make every day special. We revisited some of our favorite places and made new memories. We took countless pictures to document the fun we were having. These became the basis of our book Adventures with Karlie (available on Amazon in February 2023).

Now I look back on those pictures and it brings back such good memories. That doesn’t mean I haven’t had a lot of sadness and grief over her passing or that I haven’t cried rivers of tears. It just means I try to remember the joy and happiness she brought to me every day. I was so lucky to have her as my best friend. I will forever be grateful that she came into my life. So when the grief over your loss feels overwhelming, remember the fun you had, the great life you shared together, and smile because it happened.

Want some more help on dealing with the loss of your furry best friend? Check out our other posts – Celebrating the End, Got Tennis Balls?, It’s Okay to Love Again.

Another great adventure – Olcott Park in Bloomington, Indiana

The post Don’t Cry Because it’s over, Smile Because it Happened appeared first on Live Like Karlie.