The campground that helped save our dog

I've often been asked why we don't make more wilderness types of choices with our chosen campsites. And my stock answer is always, "What if we need help?"

I'm a sole parent that is relatively new to towing a travel trailer. 'Nuff said! However, this round I received help only a private campsite with heart could deliver. The story is below, however first I'll take you through a little photo tour.

 For the last week, my son, dog and I escaped to one of our favourite campgrounds for a little R&R.

We desired some privacy as well as being close to amenities, so our choice led us to Hope Valley Campground and RV Park, located in Hope, BC Canada.

This lovely campsite is family managed by Garry, his wife Marilyn and grandson Andrew. If they aren't in the office, they're cleaning cabins or delivering firewood via golf carts or 101 other things campsite managers do.

Here's Garry making picnic tables last year. The link to our 2010 stay is HERE.

What's special about Hope Valley is the fact that the campsite is massively huge with it's own forest that appears to be plunked right in the middle of wide open country fields. Would you like your site forest or country themed? Take your pick!

Where I'm standing was the view we had at our site. And it was extraordinary! Miles of mountain, trees, and when the moonlight illuminated the works at night it took your breath away.

Another massive highlight to this place is the pool. It is warm, clean, beautiful and the best babysitter you could ever ask for. :) This is the only place I can end up reading an entire book while my boy happily stays busy all day long.

One of our favorite things to do is indulge in an ice cream every so often and sit at this table. Isn't the umbrella skirt the flirtyest thing ever? We had plans on bringing the laptop here with us however there were glitches with the wi fi at the time, so we decided to put the electronics away this round and camp the old fashioned way.

You know, with cooking over real campfires alongside chatty conversation. Not all campsites allow real flames so it was an unbelievable treat to have a fire warm you up all day long if you so desired. We also had clouds so that fire stayed busy. Warm fire, blanket around legs, good summer read, fresh coffee... does it get any better?!?

And like any real forest, tall trees are part of that charm. Everywhere you turned, there was a magnificent display of big beautiful bark. They totally dwarfed our red chairs. All kinds of quirks and specialties had you analyzing every nook and cranny.

The campsite also has tenting areas, cabins, playgrounds, video game room, pool table, resident TV, and a store with groceries and treats. Honestly? When you stay here, you don't NEED to leave for anything.

And here's why I fell in love with this campsite all over again. The story says it all.

~ Jenna's close call ~

I got brave and chose a country site which is farther away from other campers as well as the front office. What made me decide to 'live on the edge' and choose no hookups and a more remote site was the fact that the managers were always making their security rounds with their golf carts. I wanted the view but I also wanted the security of knowing if we needed help, someone would be near.

Everything worked without a hitch! My son and I make quite the amazing team with trailer hookups and parking and such so I couldn't have been more pleased! But... something did happen that I would never have planned for.

We turned in for the night when it sounded as if Jenna our dog was going to get sick, so I quickly let her out. She darted from bush to bush in a real hurry with nothing transpiring. Then she took off. TOTALLY not her.

I got worried when she didn't come back so I got my flashlight and started hunting for her.

No luck. She disappeared. And I started to worry. I then heard Garry's golf cart coming down the pathway so I ran out and flagged him down. He insisted he'd find her and tore off. Even if he didn't, his determination comforted me like you wouldn't believe.

I finally found her deeper in the woods. She was racing through bushes and wouldn't come out. I tied her up and encouraged her back to our site. Then I allowed her to lead me to where she desired to go. She found a large clump of bush and collapsed.

And that's when I noticed her stomach. It was massively bulged and she started gasping for air. Garry came back and raced over to help.  He checked her out and honestly felt she was dying. Her paws went limp and I gulped. The deterioration was just that fast. We were saying our goodbyes to her when I had to take a chance and try calling a 24 hour vet.

Garry called Marilyn and she found one. I called and the vet figured it was a twisted stomach thing that would require immediate surgery to the tune of $2-4k to save her. Garry left and returned with Marilyn this time and they loaded Jenna into the truck for me (I couldn't lift her!) and off my son and I went for a midnight run 1.5 hours away.

Half way there, Jenna lifted her head. I was ecstatic! By the time we reached the vet, her stomach had much improved however she still couldn't walk. The vet took xrays, drew blood work and got her on an IV. The X-rays showed no twisting of the stomach so it could have righted itself or not have happened at all.

Which saved me $2-4 k. Thank goodness!!!!

Jenna stayed in for 2 days to receive meds and IV fluids. We went home for night but returned to the campsite and stayed one dog-less night in order to bring the trailer home. And it was upon that return that  the full impact on how fortunate we really were hit me.

Garry and Marilyn totally went beyond the call of campsite duty that night. Could you imagine if we went to a govt run campsite with no one or phone service around? I can't even go there.

Jenna is now home and resting. I was told her blood work showed a pancreatic infection and she's now on meds and special food and I will be getting advice from my own vet as well. But the vet said the twisted stomach thing could have occurred and sometimes they 'right themselves'.

"Right themselves.." hmmm... Garry and Marilyn sure twisted that dog to and fro when they lifted her. I wonder...

All I know is, my dog is alive, I 'only had to fork out $1000 (still ouch but better than 2-4!) and we were yet again watched over by some caring campsite owners.

So... would I recommend this campsite?

YES. And I have a feeling my little miracle dog would most definitely approve!

Hope Valley Campground and RV Park is located at 62280 Flood Hope Road, just off the #1 highway, on the outskirts of Hope, British Columbia in Canada. 604 869-9857 You can also find them on Facebook HERE.

Wanna go camping? Make sure you tell'em Donna sent ya. :)