Tomorrow morning we start on our first long trip - 2 weeks in a camper van. I have most of Seymour's things packed. we have:
1. Canned and dry dog food (his favorite kind) - and bowls.
2. Chicken tender strips (the only treat he will eat)
3. Purse/carrier - this is a "must" to be able to sometimes take him places he may not be allowed to go - in an emergency.
4. Picture of him
5. Immunization records
6. Small airplane-sized soft-sided carrier. He sleeps in that when he's not sleeping with me.
7. Clothes - sweaters, shirts,and Velcro vest (that often replaces his collar when we walk since he seems to scratch no matter which collar I try)
8. Blankets
9. His water bottle - can't leave home without it.
I made sure he had his heart worm treatment already so I don't have to worry about giving it to him on the road. I'm also going to give him a bath today and later do the preventative flea treatment. He had his nails clipped last week and although they grow quickly, he should be fine for another couple of weeks.
I just paid for 30 days on my Broadband2go. It was only $20 compared to a cost of $10 for 10 days. Hopefully the reception will be good and we can blog about our trip regularly.
I checked the weather for the next 10 days on www.weather.com for places we might visit like Savannah, GA, Baton Rouge, LA and Virginia Beach, VA. just so I had the appropriate clothes for both of us. Chihuahuas do get cold, but more importantly, they look cute in their little sweaters and tee shirts.
Anticipated leg one of our trip will be from home to Houston to Lake Charles, then on to Baton Rouge on Day Two and then I'm not sure. It doesn't matter to Seymour because there are good smells everywhere!
Showing posts with label camper vans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camper vans. Show all posts
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Monday, November 9, 2009
Cross Country Car Travel Comes to An End
I took Seymour on two more cross-country trips in the car and found the same issues both times:
1. Some hotels made me pay extra for having a pet.
2. None of the hotel rooms were as good as the ones I stayed in when I didn't have a pet.
3. People in hotels usually aren't friendly toward people with dogs.
4. When I stopped at highway rest areas, I didn't have a place to sit and eat lunch because the area that allowed pets most often didn't have picnic tables.(although I found positive changes in that during my trip this past summer)
5. I had to really plan on where I was going to stop in the evening because otherwise I couldn't find a hotel that allowed pets.
Because of these problems, I decided to try taking Seymour on trips in a camper van. I bought a VW Eurovan because I was too nervous to drive anything bigger. It has plenty of room and included a sink, stove, frig, a porta-potty, and a pop-up so that I could have picked up a couple more people along the road who needed a place to stay (or a person with a pet who didn't get lucky when looking for a hotel)
The gas mileage was pretty good, at about 19 mpg and I could park in a regular parking space when I toured. If I needed to - and I did once - I could park in a parking space and camp for the night without plugging in.
It cost me less than 1/2 the price of a hotel room to stay in a camp ground. I knew how clean my bed sheets were and could easily stumble the few steps from my bed to my porta-potty during the night without walking into a door. I also loved waking up and looking out the window to see nature and not a parking lot.
When we stopped at a rest area, I could eat in the camper and then take Seymour for a walk in the small "pet areas". Many more people talked to me in the camp grounds than in the hotels. I decided that the camper van was the way to go.
I took weekend camping trips for about 6 months and then took my first cross country trip in the camper this summer. Mostly it went well -- more details to come.
1. Some hotels made me pay extra for having a pet.
2. None of the hotel rooms were as good as the ones I stayed in when I didn't have a pet.
3. People in hotels usually aren't friendly toward people with dogs.
4. When I stopped at highway rest areas, I didn't have a place to sit and eat lunch because the area that allowed pets most often didn't have picnic tables.(although I found positive changes in that during my trip this past summer)
5. I had to really plan on where I was going to stop in the evening because otherwise I couldn't find a hotel that allowed pets.
Because of these problems, I decided to try taking Seymour on trips in a camper van. I bought a VW Eurovan because I was too nervous to drive anything bigger. It has plenty of room and included a sink, stove, frig, a porta-potty, and a pop-up so that I could have picked up a couple more people along the road who needed a place to stay (or a person with a pet who didn't get lucky when looking for a hotel)
The gas mileage was pretty good, at about 19 mpg and I could park in a regular parking space when I toured. If I needed to - and I did once - I could park in a parking space and camp for the night without plugging in.
It cost me less than 1/2 the price of a hotel room to stay in a camp ground. I knew how clean my bed sheets were and could easily stumble the few steps from my bed to my porta-potty during the night without walking into a door. I also loved waking up and looking out the window to see nature and not a parking lot.
When we stopped at a rest area, I could eat in the camper and then take Seymour for a walk in the small "pet areas". Many more people talked to me in the camp grounds than in the hotels. I decided that the camper van was the way to go.
I took weekend camping trips for about 6 months and then took my first cross country trip in the camper this summer. Mostly it went well -- more details to come.
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