The Wild Blue, Black and Tan Yonder (Not Necessarily in That Order)

Chapter 13

Walter gunned the engines, and said, “Hang on!”

With the wind behind them, they roared down the beach, and into the water. The waves were growing ever more choppy as Walter shifted power from the tires to the propellers. The wind was still at their backs, but was growing stronger. Rain was pouring down hard on the canopy.

They could hear the roar of the waterspout, and the visibility was fading fast. Before long, the fog horn at Squeaky Toy light started sounding.

Keeping his eye on the compass, Walter fought to keep on course. Beside him, Snoopy was keeping his eyes on the blimp. So far, it seemed to be above the bulk of the storm, but was still being blown along by the tail wind. He guessed its ground speed was nearing 100 knots.

Up above, Tasha was standing beside the open door of the control car watching the DUK make its way through the waves, while Shasta struggled to keep the blimp under control. She was also watching the air speed increase. Suddenly, Tasha said, “I see a light flashing below!”

Shasta looked out the side window, and said, “That's Morse Code!”

“What's it say?”

“Charlie.......Quebec. Charlie Quebec.”

“Who's he?”

“That's flashing light code. It means they want our attention." 

"What are they saying?"

"'If.......you.........understand........turn.......on........the...........happy............birthday.........display.'”

"Where's the Happy Birthday display?”

Shasta looked around the control panel, and saw a button marked 'External Banner'. She pressed it.

Down in the DUK, Snoopy saw the Blimp light up with the message “Happy Birthday.” As everyone else cheered, he aimed the paw blinker as best he could, and flashed, “We.....are........going......to...... Blogville.....to.........get......the.....rescue....copter.....turn.....off....banner....if.....you....understand.”

Snoopy breathed a sigh of relief as the display went dark. But then, he heard a sputtering noise, and the DUK started slowing.

News- Read all about it!

So much is going on in Blogville right now we don't even know where to start!

First up- the auction for AMber Da Weenie's sisfur!  Check out the fabulous finds at http://auctionsforpetz.blogspot.com/  and BID to WIN!!!!

Second- today is Walter's Gotcha Day!  Walter is our cussin as he lives with Tasha's Aunt Cindy and Millie!  

Third- Frankie and Ernie have a great post up!

Auction for Petz in Need!!!!

 Blogville is being asked again to support one of our families in ned!  This time it is AMber Da Weenie and her pack in FLorida.  Her Human sister is having serious medical issues due to Lupus and has lost one leg and will require more surgery before she can finally begin the long road to recovery.  We the DWM are having WHN donate a quilted placemat, a stocking and a quilt to support AMber and her family.  Lin ks to the auction item will post once they are available, so we hope that Blogville will pawticipate.  A goFundMe page has also been set up

The Wild Blue, Black and Tan Yonder (Not Necessarily in That Order)

Chapter 12

By now, a heavy rain was falling, and the sirens continued. When they all reached the ground, Walter pulled a tarp off the DUK, and they all hopped inside.

Walter started up the motor, and they began driving. 

"Where are we going?" Easy asked.

"We've got a Tsunami alert", Snoopy said. "We're going to try to drive to Blogville."

"Why do we have to ride in this contraption?" Easy asked.

"This is a DUK", Ernie said. "It can run on land like a jeep, or on the water like a boat. We're using this in case the Tsunami hits."

"Is that like a tidal wave?" Easy asked.

"Yeah", Snoopy said. "We don't call them tidal waves any more, because oceanographers get mad."

"Why?"

"Because they have nothing to do with the tide."

"So why do we call them tsunamis?"

"It's a Japanese word", Snoopy said.

"What's it mean?"

"Tidal wave", Ernie said.

The rain was getting harder, and so was the wind. Walter hoped it wouldn't blow the canopy off the roof. As the neared the beach, the tail end of the blimp came back into view.

Snoopy looked up, and said, "Here's the plan. We take the DUK to to Blogville, and we pick up Ranger and the Jet Jeep, and take him to where he's within a safe distance to the blimp."

"Copy that", Walter said.

"Why do they call this a DUK?" Easy asked.

Walter blew the horn. It went "Quack quack!"

Easy then looked out the rear of the DUK and said, "What's that?"

Ernie looked, and saw a big funnel cloud. "It's a waterspout!", he said. "Let's get out of here!"

The Wild Blue, Black and Tan Yonder (Not Necessarily in That Order)

Chapter 11

Tasha looked out the front window of the blimp, and said, "How are we going to get down?"

"Until that storm clears, we're going to be in a holding pattern", Shasta said. "How does it look?"

"Still dark."

Suddenly, a jolt ran through the blimp, and it looked like they were picking up speed. Tasha grabbed the seat, and said, "What's happening?"

"We caught a tail wind. Our ground speed is up to 300 knots, and it's getting faster."

"Can't you do something?"

"We don't have that kind of power. I'll let go some air and see if we can rise above it."

Shasta reached up and pulled out the air valves. They could hear a hiss, and the altimeter turned green, but the ground speed was still increasing, and the airfield was now getting farther away. Within seconds, the ground below gave way to the beach, then the open sea.

At Squeaky Toy Tower, Walter said, "This doesn't look good."

"Where are they going?", Easy asked.

"It looks like they have a tail wind", Snoopy said.

"Is that bad?", Easy asked.

"It'll conserve their fuel", Ernie said. "But they won't be able to control the blimp until the wind dies down. By that time, they might not have enough fuel to return. Where is that Jet Jeep?"

Suddenly, they heard a loud siren. Walter pulled off his headset, and said, "Clear the tower!"

Up in the blimp, Shasta momentarily rested her paw on what she thought was the deck. Suddenly, the blimp seemed to be going into a turn. She looked down, and saw two pedals. 

Pushing down on the left one turned the blimp to the left, and pushing the right one turned the blimp to starboard.

"I found the rudder controls", she said. "Now, let's see if we can steer away from the tail wind."

WHN Pupdate

We want to clear up the situation concerning WHN.  Dad took her to the hospital last week for an MRI and an endoscope to see if she had ulcers in her stomach or if gall stones were floating around in her abdomen.  both procedures were done as outpatient appointments.  WHN does not have any ulcers and was not able to do the MRI due to claustrophobia and she could not be sedated due to the type of MRI.  


WHN is fine and has very little pain- the doctor thinks the pain has been a ghost- similar to when a person loses a limb and still feels the lost limb.  Her body still is acting as if she has a wonky gall bladder and hernia.

WHN was in Hospital today........

Dad had to take WHN to the Hospital Today for some outpatient work.

The Doctor gave her a clean bill of health, but Dad is a little exhausted, so we will see what's up with the Blimp Tomorrow.