Such a Good Dog.. more in the Eight Legs and a Tail Series

 In my last post, I called out my traveling companion, aka the rule following, closer-upper, driver/husband.  See previous post- "My Husband is Driving me Mad".

In this post, I am going to sing the praises of my other traveling companion, my dog, Smooch.  Fair warning.  If you are not a dog lover you might as well stop reading right now, as I'm going to talk about my extraordinary dog and how much I love her. 

What is better than a traveling companion that never complains, is always up for a good meal, will take any chance to make friends with strangers and likes to end the day with a good smooch and a cuddle.  That's my girl, Smooch.  She will turn six next week and still has the very best combination of qualities in a dog- lots of playful exhuberance, and also the ability to just chill for hours, sometimes even days if the situation requires.  In addition to her many charms she has serious skills.  She is a stage manager, a camp counselor and we have almost completed her training to be a therapy dog. Heck, she's even written her own blog.

We will have driven nearly 5000 miles on this road trip. We have stayed in all manor of campgrounds.  Sometimes our sites have been spacious and sometimes, pretty darn tight.  Today, at our last stop of the trip, we are right next to a beautiful creek. Is there anything more fun for a labrador retriever than being next to a body of water with fish in it no less?  In every campsite, we have let off steam by throwing our bright orange chuck-it ball so that Smooch can do her "retriever" thing.  This will entertain her endlessly.  But today probably takes the prize for a lab friendly camp site.

 For much of our trip we were in Denver visiting our daughter and her adorable children.  Smooch got her training with the first grandchild three years ago when I drove out to Denver and stayed for a couple of months to help after Mabel was born.  She proved then, as now, that she loves babies. There is nothing that will rufffle her- not a climbing, poking, hair-pulling baby, nor a rambunctious, almost four year old who will climb on her and rough her up.  No, this dog is the model of unflappable.  In my humble opinion, all babies should grow up with a dog like this

At every turn in the trip, I have hugged her and kissed her and told her that she is "such a good dog". I have done my best to provide her with a great dog life- (remember my off-leash philosophy?)  We visit our friends in the dog park as often as we can (shout out to the Kilowatt gang!) And we have a collection of boyfriends in different places-  Finn in Center Sandwich, Ripley in Ipswich, Ollie right in Thetford and of course her relatively new cousin, Bagel, who she is quite taken with.  Smooch is a dog who loves babies, people and other dogs.  I guess she's kind of like me. The only thing she doesn't do is sing and dance, but there's always time for new tricks. We often anthropomorphize our dogs.  And why not?  We couldn't love them anymore, even if they were special people in our lives.  They are the best kind of family.  I'll take mine on a road trip to anywhere, just about any time.  

My Husband is Driving me Mad... part of the 8 legs and a Tail series

My Husband is Driving me Mad!

 

My husband is a rule-follower and a closer-upper.  I, on the other hand, am a rule-breaker and an opener-upper.  This we have learned on this trip.  What rules you might wonder?  Well, mostly the rules around pets.  There is a leash law almost everywhere.  Smoochy is a country dog who is not used to being on a leash or tied up and I like it that way.  I fundamentally believe in the maximum amount of freedom for everyone always. However, when we arrive at a campground, Michael immediately puts Smooch on a line and I pretty quickly thereafter take her off.  Granted, some campgrounds are very tight and it would feel dangerous to let her loose.  In Santa Fe, there was a healthy bunny population and Smooch is a hunter through and through so we kept her tied up there.  Last night in Tennessee, we were in a beautiful park, the Natchez Trace State Park which was nice and wide open.  We were near a lovely lake where Smooch got to swim and we were able to be a bit more relaxed on the leash rules. Yes!

 

The closer-upper vs. opener-upper issue has to do with the shades in our rig.  Remember, our Mini-Max is only 18’ long so it is tight inside. I am in favor of having the shades and the windows open as much as possible.  Michael, on the other hand, keeps closing them up.  I mean seriously, who’s going to be peeping at us through our windows?  It’s almost impossible to see in and even if you could, so what?  Maybe it’s all of the time I have spent backstage in the theatre with clothing flying in all directions and actors in various stages of dress and undress. (La Cage Aux Folles comes to mind).  Maybe it’s the skinny-dipping that I learned to love at my summer camp.  Or maybe it’s the time I have spent at Burning Man in the Black Rock City where clothing is definitely optional.  I simply don’t worry about people looking in at us.  Peep away people!

 

I guess Michael and I are a classic case of opposites attract. He, an introvert.  Me, most definitely an extrovert.  We were talking recently about how introverts have trepidation about rejoining society as the pandemic (hopefully) winds down.  Michael actually thrived during the many months of quarantine.  He loved the quiet and solitude.  He prefers to drive in silence.  If I were driving on my own on this road trip, I would be blasting show tunes, listening to NPR and audio books and podcasts.  But I appreciate that he is doing the driving so I nap a lot.  I did not thrive during quarantine.  I missed my friends terribly.  I enjoy quiet times too but also come alive from the energy of being with people.  This is why I love the theatre and my camp.  It is also why I miss my working life when I had a wonderful team with which to share my days.

It is also well-documented that I am the sunnier personality in this combo.  My cup is always half full and I always expect the best from everyone and everything.  My husband is the complete opposite.  Of course, being locked up together for over a year during the pandemic and then spending every second of every minute together on a six-week road trip is a good test for any relationship.  Fortunately, we still make each other laugh and hopefully, mostly, bring out the best in each other.  We are pretty evenly matched in Quiddler.   We both love to create things- culinary masterpieces, theatrical sets, gardens, and of course, a loving family.  We will probably avoid each other for a week or so when we return home but then we’ll start planning our next adventure.  

Eight Legs and a Tail- My Friends are Along for the Ride.

There is so much to share about our wonderful visit to Denver.  I could wax poetic for days about my grand-nuggets.  They are both delicious and it was pure joy to get to spend 3 + weeks with them and of course their parents too.  I also got to spend some precious time with my sister Amy and her wonderful husband Andy.  It was a delight to see how they are becoming full-time makers between Amy's felting creations and Andy's wood-working masterpieces.   I will write more about that leg at a later date but now we are back on the road.  I want to talk about the friends who are along for the ride.  We left our dear ones in Colorado and I wept for most of the drive to Santa Fe.  I cannot even describe how sad I feel to leave these precious children on the other side of the country.  For more on that, read my blog from a few years ago- The Dirty Secret About Grandparents. It doesn't get any easier.  But our first stop was a total blast when we had dinner with my old and dear friend Peter Zandan in Santa Fe.  My my.. the years slip away.  It felt so utterly comfortable to be with him and his friends, despite the almost 50 years (gasp) since we were in high school together.  Good grief, how is that possible? With a visit to Meow Wolf and a stop at the Agora, the shopping center that my family company owns, it was a very full trip. 

And then it was back on the road again to our next stop in Oklahoma.  We traversed a good stretch of Route 66 today.  On each leg of the journey, I have thought of my dear friends who come from this part of the country. When we traveled through Kansas on the way out, I thought of Mary Gaetz who comes from Salina.  From New Mexico today we drove into Texas and I thought about my wonderful colleagues Ally Fluke and Bryan Farrington who live in Texas. Tonight we are in Oklahoma and I’m thinking of my lovely friend Jenn Langhus.  Next we are on to Arkansas, where my talented friend Memory Apata comes from.  In Tennessee, I'll be thinking about Chris Kohn.  We will drive near Memphis where Michael designed their public library so that will be a treat for him.  And then onto North Carolina to visit with our in-laws.  What is better than in-laws that you LOVE to spend time with.  

So how lucky are we?  We are on an adventure.  We are still speaking to each other.  More on the trailer woes in another post.  We have dear friends who we visit and/or remember along the way.  And at the end of the trip, we will return to our beloved Vermont and so many friends who we can't wait to see.  For me, hugging my friends is at the top of my list.  I can't wait to return to a beautiful Vermont summer and re-connect with so many folks that I care about.  

We'll keep trying to capture the adventure.  So stay tuned.  And thanks for joining us on the journey.