Elemental Journey is a journal sent to Honda every two weeks to show them how much the Element is appreciated and how it is touching the lives of many people, kids, and animals.

ELEMENTAL JOURNEY - Part 10 (7/01-7/15/08)

7/2 to 7/12: Groucho and I dog sat for KC in Huntington Beach.

7/8 Groucho and I attended ENLA (Emergency Network of LA) for Noahs Wish.

 

7/8 NW is deployed to Butte County again because of returning fire in Paradise area.

 

 

ELEMENTAL JOURNEY - Part 9 (6/15 -6/30/08)

Simon and Sylvia went to Pam's for spay/neuter and then will go to adoption events looking for permanent homes.

6/25 Loaded up the Element with all my gear and headed for Oroville where Noahs Wish was helping with evacuated animals at a temporary shelter at Spring Valley Elementary School.  500 miles in seven hours. XM Radio is a lifesaver - listened to George Carlin comedy the entire way.

Check out the tail wagging through the top of the crate!

We took care of about 200 animals including dogs, cats, a pig, birds, a bunny, a rat, and two chickens.

Rufus

6/29 Eight hours to get home (25 MPG!).  The evacuation order was lifted that night and most of the animals are safe at home, as long as the fire doesn't backtrack least for the time being. Noahs Wish is also deployed in Indiana to help with the animals in the floods.

 

ELEMENTAL JOURNEY - Part 8 (6/01 -6/15/08)

6/1 Pam (LB Felines) and I went downtown to pick up bottle baby kittens - turns out they were about four months old (not 2-3 weeks) and very feral.  We took one for the woman and hopefully Pam can socialize the cat in the hope of adopting it out. We named her Pilikia (which means Trouble in Hawaiian).

 

Spent time with Pam's fosters and fell in love with Diesel (he must weigh at least 15 pounds!)  Total lap cat.

 

6/2 Set traps to catch a momma and her baby kitten near Pam's house. Caught two (Simon and Syliva) the next morning.  Sylvia is still a bit hissy.

6/5 Picked up donation of gigantic dog crate (biggest I've ever seen) and linens from thrift shop.  Sent crate to George, a fellow rescuer, and took linens to Hemopet.

 

6/8  Pam and I caught two more feral kittens (4 mos old) and took them to Clinico for spay/neuter.  Total so far is 3 adults and 4 kittens.

 

6/9 Licorice has a home!  He will be living in Los Feliz with a man who previously had shar-pei.  YAY!!!

 

6/9 & 10  Book Buddies provided 550 Pirates of the Carribean books and 650 Green Eggs and Ham books which BARK delivered to Bryant Elementary (Long Beach) and Foster Elementary (Compton). 

 Groucho still had a little bit of room with one of the loads of books.

6/10 While at Foster, I was asked to take a newly-born baby bird to Long Beach Animal Hospital.

 

6/12 Bryant Elementary School students all received either Green Eggs & Ham or Pirates of the Caribbean books on the last day of school.

 

 

ELEMENTAL JOURNEY - Part 7 (5/16 - 5/30/08)

Took pictures of Licorice, a dog that has been living in the kennel at a vet's office for two+ years.   Hopefully, he'll find a home soon.  He is part shar-pei and part unknown.

5/20 Groucho attends Junior Golf Day for special needs kids at Skylinks Golf Course.

5/20 Groucho and I attended a meeting of First Book - a nationwide volunteer group thats fundraises to provide books to low income children.

5/24 Picked up donations of blankets and towels and delivered them to Harbor Shelter in San Pedro.

5/26 Manny, Moe, and Jack are now off the bottle and on soft food.  They went into foster care so they can be neutered and then adopted.

5/29  Groucho and I went to Family Education Night at Foster Elementary in Compton where we distributed spay/neuter coloring books and answered pet care questions.

5/30 Picked up donated linens and delivered them to Hemopet.

ELEMENTAL JOURNEY - Part 6 (5/1 - 5/15/08)

5/01 Picked up 15  wire crates (provided at a discount by Harbor Freight Tools) and delivered to Lori at Downtown Dog Rescue to be used during spay/neuter clinics.

5/04 Picked up huge load of blankets and towels and delivered to Hemopet in Garden Grove.

 

5/06 Renee caught three kittens in a huge wire crate.  They are seven weeks old (born the day before the last s/n clinic) and, although the parents are feral, we'll try to socialize them.  

5/7:  Groucho went out in the yard, came back in, went back out, came back in.  I went to see what was going on and there, in the yard, was a bird that couldn't fly.  We captured it and took it to Long Beach Animal Hospital where, hopefully, they will be able to repair its wing.  It is a Grosbeak in the Finch family.

 

5/7 The three 7-week-old kittens went into foster care with LB Spay/Neuter and I took in three 3-week-old kittens that need to be bottle fed.

 

5/7 Picked up brand new books that were given to BARK by Book Buddies!  These books will be given to the children after they complete six-week session with BARK.

 

5/14 BARK (Rusti and Groucho) attends Roosevelt Elementary School Open House.  Brought treats and toys for fundraising.

 

ELEMENTAL JOURNEY - Part 5 (4/14 - 4/31/08)

4/14-18:  Picked up more donated items for BARK garage sale.   Everything  came by way of the Element.  I was even able to transport an upholstered loveseat!   When organized in the yard, it looked like this:

Grand total raised for BARK:  $1,545.00!! 

 

4/23: Picked up bookcases at Ikea.  Previously, all BARK supplies were in plastic containers.  Now we can find everything when we need it.

 

4/26: Brought cases of treats to and worked free spay/neuter clinic in Compton - 58 dogs fixed and 100 scheduled for future clinics.

 

4/20:  Facilitated presentation of books and materials from Geena Gelbart to four Long Beach elementary schools for Be Kind to Animals Week.

 

ELEMENTAL JOURNEY - Part 4 (4/1 - 4/15/08)

 4/2:  Groucho thinks he can drive now!

 

 4/5: Drove to the valley to pick up a free large yard box to store rescue supplies. 

 

4/5: Picked up shelving for BARK garage sale.

 

4/11, 12, 13: Load in and work Noahs Wish booth at  Pet Expo in OC. $900 was donated for the volunteer transportation fund! 

 

4/12:  Brought crates and worked spay/neuter clinic in Compton where 97 dogs were spayed/neutered!

 

 

 

ELEMENTAL JOURNEY- Part 3 (3/16 -3/31/08)

 

3/19:   Picked up donations and Maggie for dogsitting.

 

3/26:  Sonya at LB Honda showed me to how to put the rear seat back in – piece of cake!

 

3/27:   Chesapeake Bay Retriever Rescue posted a request to have a rescued Chessie transported from So. Cal. to the Sacramento area. Since we were heading up there anyway and had the room, we brought Luke along with us.

 

3/27:  I picked up Linda in  Long Beach and Amanda in the Valley.  All of our gear AND Luke fit in the Element!  At 1:00 pm, we headed north to Sacramento.  By 7:00 pm, we dropped Luke off with his new owner, Walter.

  

3/28:  Drove to Placerville where we attended a 3-day Noahs Wish Animal Disaster Training seminar.  Gave a presentation regarding service and therapy dogs AND played the Honda video (which everyone loved!)

 

 3/30: Drove home to Long Beach – wow is the Element comfortable for long-hauls!

 

 

ELEMENTAL JOURNEY – PART 2 (3/1 to 3/15/08)

 

3/4:  picked up donations for BARK garage sale from Kate.  Maggie (Kate's dog) wanted to come with Groucho, but we decided she should stay with her mom.

3/7: Read Across America Day at Bryant Elementary

 

 

3/11: picked up donations for Bark garage sale from Katy and Karley. 

 3/12: 4 feral cat traps and linen donation

 3/13: borrowed six feral cat traps.  I could only carry two traps in my old car. On 3/11, one of the traps fell over and made a loud sound which scared Groucho; so when I loaded these traps into the E, Groucho jumped into the front seat (which he NEVER does)

 3/15:  trapped six cats at Christine’s house in Signal Hill

 3/16:  Caught six cats and took them to Stray Cat Alliance feral spay/neuter clinic in Beverly Hills

 

ELEMENTAL JOURNEY – PART I (2/12 to 3/01/08)

 

2/12:  Received the new Element from Long Beach Honda!

 

 

2/13 Returned to LB Honda to have the seats taken out for me.  I don't know if they'll ever make it back inside!   

 

2/15: Picked up a full load of donated Freshies dog treats and distributed them to various rescue organizations throughout LA County.

 

2/16: Loaded up a table, chair, treats, and supplies for a BARK booth during the Bubble Bath event at Hemopet.   

 

2/18: Picked up a full load of huge bags of donated linens and took them to Hemopet (an organization that rescues greyhounds after racing at tracks). 

 

2/21: Picked up more linens and delivered them to Hemopet.

 

2/22: Pre-packed the E with eight crates as well as the linens and some dog beds. 

Left the E at Ann's house while I went to Slidell, Louisianna with Noahs Wish to help build a house for Habitat for Humanity. The first day, I was assigned to nailing bracing straps that keep the windows/doors attached to the house frame (this required 560 nails!).  The rest of the week I moved to a house requiring finish work.  I helped with cutting and fitting all the base-boards with mitred corners, installing door handles, and hanging doors.   I may not have used the E for this event, but by not having to save money for a new car, I was able to take time off to go! I returned home at 10 pm on Friday night. 

 

3/1:  6 am Saturday morning, took the pre-packed E to Compton where we spayed and neutered 85 dogs.  I finally left at 6:45 pm and, not surprisingly, slept ten hours that night! 

 

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