Travel is the best education

I woke up this morning in a hotel room in Marion, North Carolina.  When I looked out the window, I saw a woodchuck.  It was huge, like the size of a pot-bellied pig.  When my dad took me out for my morning walk, I was determined to track down the woodchuck or at least go comb the Sonic parking lot near the hotel to look for food.  I spotted the woodchuck almost immediately and got about 170 yards from it before it bolted into the brush.  I decided to wait it out .

After the big sit for the woodchuck, as you can imagine, I ended up in the car again.  When are we going to get to wherever we are going?  Dad thought I’d be excited to go to the highest point in the eastern United States.  This place is called Mt. Mitchell.  We drove on a really car-sicky road and we had one really cool view where you could see something besides clouds.  I took it all in and enjoyed my brief respite from the backseat of a car. 

We kept going up and suddenly these three mythical creatures emerged from the clouds and appeared on the road before us.  I had seen something like them before on an episode of Grimm and I was scared to death.  They were right outside of my window and showed no fear.  One of them looked at me with pure evil and hatred in its eyes.  My window was down and I was petrified with fear.  A whimper escaped my jowls and then I thought I should bark to protect my dad and mom.  My dad told me to calm down and said they were just deer but I know better.  They were helgen-beasts and prey on mixed breed dogs.  Shortly after this encounter, my parents drug me up a hill to not see anything because of the clouds.  I was forced into a bunch of pictures and I worried about being ambushed by deer the entire time.

My parents found a Dunkin’ Donuts in Asheville, North Carolina and I was secretly encouraged by this development as I knew I’d at least get to stretch my legs in the parking lot and then get to stop again in 75 minutes when their bladders were full.  I was shocked when our next stop was a Starbucks in Georgia.  I have 2 words for my parents: “Get help.”

We made it into Alabama at stayed in a hotel in Jasper.  It was friendly for dogs and some people really like that.  I met 5 new friends who were staying with their parents in the room next to ours.  They were talking to me through the walls for quite a while when we first got there.  I couldn’t understand anything they were saying, but it sounded like, “Woof! Y’awl!  Woof! Y’awl!”  My dad said the place was a kennel disguised as a hotel.

They say traveling is the best education you can get.  I have learned three things.

1)      I’m pretty scared of deer/Helgen-beasts

2)      I’m pretty concerned about rumble strips and grooved pavement

3)      I’m not a big fan of 14 hour days in the back of a car.

Day 2:  My Trip Continues

Friday, April 27, 2012, Kill Devil Hills, NC

Today does not start off well.  I’m sleeping on a strange floor that smells funny and I’m rousted from my semi-slumber by this annoying buzzing sound.  It is 6:30AM and about 2 hours before I usually get up.  Apparently we are sleeping on the top floor of a building that is burning down! My parents have no sense of urgency and tell me to relax and lay down!  Finally they hear the fire trucks and start moving. I see fire trucks and people standing outside!  I’M FREAKING OUT! 

We go downstairs and I seek comfort in the arms of children. 

I get to meet a few fire people and we go for a run on the beach.  That is more like it!  Just when I’m starting to relax, I almost get arrested!  The Nags Head police department tells me I have to be on a leash on the beach.  I respond by running around the police truck twice and bark at the lady, before succumbing to restraint.  We continue MY walk and I find a dead thing on the beach.  I decide that if that thing came out of the water, then I’m never going in the water again. 

I’m pretty damned hungry at this point because I haven’t eaten yet and I got paraded all over the streets of Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head, North Carolina while my addict parents seek a Dunkin’ Donuts.  They get coffee and I take a drink out of a pond.  I feel like there is a very good chance I’m going to get ill, dehydrated, and starved.  I’ve already met the police and fire people this morning and suspect I’ll soon be meeting paramedics which would complete my Outer Banks First Responder trifecta.  Fortunately, I make it back to the hotel and I get to eat.  Shortly after, my dad says, “OK, Cooper, let’s go!” I had to go for a run on a full stomach, 2 whole miles.  It was actually kind of fun.  After that, I rode in the backseat of a Kia Optima for 413 miles.  We are in Marion, NC and I’m being tortured by the smell of woodchucks and a Sonic outside our window.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Tuesday, April 24, Salem, MA

11:00AM  I knew something was going on when I got hauled into Petsmart .  I was all excited to pick out some toys and treats, but I didn’t even get to walk around the store.  I had to go to the barber.  They gave me a bath and made me get “furminated.”  I do not like the blow dryer and barked at it.

2:36PM  Mom and Dad keep petting on me because I’m “so soft and shiny.”  I’m pretty upset.  I have worked hard to maintain my odor.  Everyone knows me by my odor.  Now I smell like tick spray with a hint of lavender.  I don’t even smell like a dog.  I kept getting told things like, “you don’t want to meet people when you’re all stinky” and “now we can stand to ride in the car with you.”  I should’ve known then that something was amiss.

9:39PM  I can’t get comfortable.  My skin itches and tastes like soap.  My parents watch the Biggest Loser and ignore my suffering.

10:02PM  I go for my final walk of the day and I get a chicken meatball treat that dad got for me at Petsmart  while I was getting tortured by a blow dryer and the aroma of a million dog treats.

Wednesday, April 25, Salem, MA

5:25AM   My mom leaves for work, thoughtlessly waking me.

7:59AM   I go for the same 3-4 mile walk I’ve been on thousands of times with my parents.  The boat isn’t even at the wharf.  It hasn’t been for months.  Real exciting, dad.  Yawn.

11:14AM  My dad has been cleaning the house for awhile now.  Mom must have yelled at him.

2:00PM  I walk past my dad and try to hint that it would be a good time to go outside.

3:36PM  My dad walked by my leash, but didn’t touch it.

3:44PM  My dad says, “I’ll be back in a bit, buddy,” and leaves.

4:02PM  I still haven’t went for a walk since this morning.  My bladder feels large.

6:00PM   Mom is home!  Much to my chagrin, she neither walks nor feeds me.

6:11PM  Dad is home!  Why is there a different car in the driveway?

7:05PM  I’m fed and walked.  I should be going out again in an hour or so. 

8:00PM Some of my stuff gets put in this strange new vehicle outside.  

9:18PM  My parents are definitely going somewhere.  They are putting things in bags and putting the bags in the strange car.

10:00PM   The ‘rents watch Survivor.  I still smell like shampoo and wonder what the heck is going on.

11:59PM   My parents are still up and consequently, me as well.

D-DAY, Thursday, April 26

1:00AM  Go to bed already you fools!

Seriously?  It is 4:30AM.  I feel like I just fell asleep.  This sucks!

5:10AM  My parents drag me into the strange, cramped vehicle downstairs and I feel like it is an out-of-body experience.   I think I’m being abducted.

6:20AM  I feel like I’ve been in the car forever and we are only in Connecticut. 

9:00AM  My parents are all excited for me and keep saying, “You’re going to get to see New York City.”  I was pretty disappointed with the view. 

We then go all the way across New Jersey and drive the mysterious  car onto a boat.  Again, my view wasn’t very good.  

After the boat ride, we drive through Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and into North Carolina.  I’m pretty cranky.  I wonder how many stupid pictures I can be posed for.

A Beach Day in Gloucester

I went to Good Harbor Beach with my mom and dad today.  I mostly chased tennis balls but was able to get this totally killer whale picture.

My mom made me pose for a few pictures with her, too.  YAWN!

It was a beautiful day at the beach and I got stuck taking pictures for half of it.