Heading Home from PA

I don't know how we did it, but we fit 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 dogs and all our luggage in my Prius! But just barely. Here is the trunk:



We headed out Sunday before noon. Shan's husband noted that one of our tires were low. We thought it was due to the extra weight in the car - we did eat a lot while we were there. But, it turned out to be a leak from a nail or something. Within an hour or so of leaving, my car showed the low tire pressure symbol. I pulled over and checked. It was at 20 pounds where it should have been about 35 pounds. We tried to use Shan's iPhone and Siri to find a tire place but finally pulled in to a gas station to ask. They sent us to an auto parts store that didn't fix tires but told us where the Good Year shop was. I bought Fix a Flat to help get us there. At Good Year, I decided to just get 2 new tires, since I had been worrying about the tread on my tires. Probably over kill but when you have 1500 miles to drive with an important group of people and dogs, you want to be safe. It took about an hour but was worth it. The grand kids were pretty good but Gibby was tired and cranky so there were fits of crying.

I had the dogs in a crate and bed on the floor in the back seat and asked the boys not to throw things on them. What was I thinking? By the time we got to the tire place, Zooey was so stressed, she was panting and trying to get away. I had never seen her like that. So, we put the dogs in a bed on the floor in the front, taking up feet space for Shan. She was nice enough to let them share that small space with her and Zooey and Seymour calmed down.
Luckily they are small dogs!


The weather was dry and sunny so driving was pretty easy, but we only drove about 180 miles total. Still had 1201 miles to go when we stopped. We ended up at the Super 8 where I got us separate rooms. I was tired and needed some rest and the dogs appreciated a little time away from the rambunctious boys. Unfortunately, Shan's room was on the second floor with no elevator but we were on the first floor near the exit door - and a nice grassy field for the dogs to walk. And they didn't charge us extra for the dogs although it was posted that it cost $10 extra per pet. Seymour and Zooey both slept with me instead of in their bed and I sure didn't mind. This was the first bed I had slept in in over a week. I had been couch surfing in PA.

BTW, our gas mileage coming to PA was about 45.2 mpg for the first 2 tanks of gas and went up to 48.5 for the last 2 tanks. Coming back, so far it is about 43.5. Heavier load and wind coming back.



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Summary of Pennsylvania Visit

With no wireless access in Pennsylvania, I will summarize the trip. Overall, Seymour and Zooey were a big hit. Both my friend and my sister would take care of her, if needed.



I had to constantly watch Zooey especially so she wouldn't walk around my Dad's feet since he has very poor eyesight, but he seemed to like them.



Zooey was a little afraid of all of the kids and hid behind chairs when she could. All of the grandchildren were sweet and good with the dogs, except for a few flying balls and cars!

We loved getting together with everyone. This was the first time we have all been together so there was much talking, laughing and just catching up. This is a family picture we took after my Dad's 90th Birthday party.
It includes my parents, my brother and sister and their families and me and my family. Great memories.



My sister and her husband got in on Friday and they enjoy gambling. So, Friday night we were celebrating my daughter's Birthday and I mentioned wanting to go to the casino, which was an hour away. Of course they agreed so we stepped up the pace of the cake cutting and headed out. Only my sister won, but we had a great time; didn't get home until 2:30 am. Shan took care of the dogs.

I have a few more Pennsylvania stories I'll cover later. We are on our way home and need to get moving. So glad to be going home!

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USA Made Dog Treats

While visiting family and friends in Pennsylvania, we found that we needed more doggie treats. Because of the problems some dogs had with the treats made in China, I have been on a quest to not only find treats made in the USA, but treats my dogs like.

The first thing I noticed was that the words "Made in China" have become a little more difficult to find. But when I product is made in the USA, it is often written in big print on the front of the package. Here are a few treats we found and how my dogs feel about them:

Champion Breed Chew Strips - original bacon flavored. My dogs love bacon but won't eat these. Maybe when they have no choice, they will give them a try. These were on sale for only $2.29 at KMart.

Pup-peroni. I have hunted all over the bag but can only find that it was distributed by Del Monte Foods. At first Zooey loved them, then she wasn't interested anymore. Seymour wasn't interested at first and now will nibble on a few pieces. Not a great favorite for them. Don't remember how much these cost.

Colorado Naturals - Chicken Jerky Treats. My dogs devoured these! They even tried to find the bag and lick the empty bag. These were on sale for $4.99 for 4 oz. at PetCo. The overall favorite. I need to get another bag or two.

Time to get my daily breakfast: Egg McMuffin (on sale this month for 2 for $3 so my Dad gets the other one), and free small coffee. I get one for me and my dad since we are currently the only coffee drinkers in the house.


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Monday Night and Tuesday in PA

A quick stop at Mc Donald's with my iPad and WiFi !!

A couple of days ago, I had shopped for some decorations for my Dad's party so I went to the Party Store and the Dollar store with my dogs, and the dogs were welcomed into both stores. In fact I think I got better service because of the dogs. I left them home while we went to McDonalds to sit with the gang later.

After McDonalds Shannon, my grandsons and I did a little shopping at Good Will. Shan keeps finding things and says "But they are small". A bunch of small things add up to a big pile in my little Prius when we drive home!

After later heading to bed, Shan came out to my couch/bed to say that Gibson was sick and his breathing was hoarse. We both felt she needed to take him to the hospital. We texted back and forth while they were there and it ended up that he had Croup. Needless to say, none of us got much sleep last night.

Tuesday, we went to visit our friends, Pam and Dennis. Paxton still wasn't feeling well, so after a yummy lunch of pasta and pumpkin pie, we headed back to my parents. We took a little detour to check put Monongahela, where Shan was born. It was nice seeing the old town and our old house.

Things went down hill after that. Gibby was sick and started a marathon screaming fit; Paxton was unhappy that he didn't get what he wanted at the store so refused to get out of the car when we got home. Not going into detail, but everyone was upset, including my parents tonight. Zooey was hiding and Seymour got under the covers on my couch/bed. It is almost 10 pm and the house is quiet. I didn't take an aspirin tonight but was considering liquor until I remembered that there isn't any in the house and I'm too lazy to go buy some.

Seymour and Zooey are my comfort, unless Seymour sees a big dog, then just Zooey is my comfort! Tomorrow is another day!



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Late blog update

We have no WIFi connection except for at McDonalds, so here is a short entry. We found that New Jersey had the best pet rest area. It had a sidewalk, a picnic table and was not near the freeway. It was between where the trucks park and where the cars park. I thought I was in heaven for a few minutes.



Although there was lots of road construction, we made it to my parents by about 5 pm on Friday. At about 8 pm, I took my first Aleve. Quiet night with the dogs. Zooey didn't even bark at the kids but she does bark at my daughter (her adopted sister). My Dad's eyesight is very poor so I made sure the dogs were out of his way when my Dad got up.

Saturday Shan and I went to my old neighbor's daughter's wedding while my high school friend watched Seymour and Zooey. Beautiful wedding and great food, especially the cookies. Luckily I brought stretch pants to wear the rest of the week.

Sunday, my high school friend and her daughter (my god daughter) and I went to the Casino (what a surprise) while my friend's husband watched my kids, I mean my dogs. As much as they loved him, because he gave them treats, every time my friend's husband went downstairs and came back up, Zooey barked at him like he was a stranger. Oh, what a strange dog I have!

Today I came home from my friend's and did some shopping for decorations for my Dad's party and now we are at McDonald's with the "over the hill bunch". I am starting to fit in nicely :)

I will take more pictures because the leaves are starting to change and since the speed limit is mostly 25 mph I will be able to take nice pictures as I am driving.

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Day 2 of our Texas to Pennsylvania trip

Our room at the Super 8 passed the "dog didn't do anything" test so we headed out at about 10 am. A little later than I planned but I had to eat the free toaster waffles first.

We drove through Tenn. most of the day. I-40 was under construction in quite a few places so I am hoping to find a different way home. We stopped at a rest area in Tenn that again had the pet area between the highway and the parking lot. Obviously the people that planned these rest areas are not pet people. See how attractive our walk was?




Seymour finally got tired of sleeping in the car so he squeezed under the seat to the front and gave me those pleading eyes that said "I need outtttt! Now!". I think he had 4 drops of pee he hadn't used. I talked him into waiting until we crossed into Kentucky and stopped at the Welcome Center. See how pretty the sign is?




Then I remembered! This was the place that disliked pets more than any other State we had been in. They almost had more "No Pets Allowed" signs than parking spaces.

I do think they upgraded their pet area since I was there last. Now they have a chain link fence about 4 feet from the parking spaces where I think you are supposed to walk. Over by the freeway, of course. But, if anyone parks on that side it leaves about a foot of walking space. I filled in a suggestion card to ask them to make a more safe place for pets and left my name and address. It will be interesting to see if they write. Oh, I also left my blog address.



I don't have any more rest areas to complain about for now. The good news is that I picked up a hotel coupon book in the Kentucky Welcome center and ended up staying at the LaQuinta in Elizabethtown, KY. They don't charge extra for up to 2 pets weighing less than 20 pounds. Plus I got an additional discount with the coupon so it cost me about $5 more than I paid last night, with a free hot breakfast included. My friends Jan and Betty told me to be sure to pick up those coupon books in the States I was staying, and it proved cost effective.

I mentioned that my daughter and her 2 boys were coming home with us. I am surprised at how much I brought with me. When I went to Italy for 3 months, I had a backpack, a purse and Seymour's crate. I am going to be gone for 2 weeks and this is my trunk. We are in big trouble!



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Two weeks traveling with two dogs!

This is our first big trip since Italy - except for a short trip to a Texas Casino! Seymour, Zooey and I are on our way to Pennsylvania to go to my dad's 90th birthday celebration. We are in a car instead of our camper because my daughter and her 2 children will be driving home with us. There is only room for 2 people and 2 dogs in my camper.

So, I am getting a chance to experience finding places to stay overnight with 2 dogs. But I'm getting ahead of story. We left Wimberley Texas yesterday morning after a stop at the local Diamond Shamrock for coffee and breakfast taco. When I went to pay, they said "it's already taken care of". Thanks, Mary! Nice start to a trip.

The dogs settled into their sleeping spots; Seymour in a small crate and Zooey in her bed. Our first stop was a new rest stop in Texas, near Salado. It had a playground, a storm shelter and nice restrooms. As an after thought, the put in 2 "Pet Area" signs in the weeds near the road. Seriously? Notice the trucks on the freeway behind Seymour?




Zooey could barely walk in the grass/weeds because they were too high for her. This was definitely not a plan for pets in this new rest area. All they needed to do was make a gravel walking path, put in some trash cans for pet waste and maybe add a fire hydrant for fun.


In comparison, we stopped at the Welcome Center when we entered Arkansas and they had a nice pet area, not near the highway. I could walk on the sidewalk while the dogs enjoyed the walk through the nicely trimmed grass. The trucks in the background are parked, not racing down the freeway. Thanks, Arkansas! Also, while we were walking at in the rest area, I was on my cell and a lady kept following me around. She finally tapped me and asked how old Seymour was. She has a puppy that looked like Seymour and wondered how big her puppy might grow. (Seymour is 8 years old and about 7-ish pounds). A little while later, while still on the cell, a truck pulled up beside me and when I looked, it was that woman again. This time she was with her husband and she rolled down the window and said in broken English, "How old to your dog get this size". Because her English wasn't strong, I didn't tell her that I didn't rescue Seymour until he was 2 1/2 and he is a mix so who knows how big a dog who looks like him will get - so I just said "about a year". Dog lovers find each other even if we don't speak the same language.



We then started looking for places to stay. I remembered that Motel 6 was pet friendly and heard that Holiday Inn was, also. We stopped at a Holiday Inn in Malvern and they didn't accept pets but told me that the Super 8 did or I could drive further to Bryant, AR and there was a Holiday Inn that allowed dogs. I decided to drive further since the trip is 1500 miles and I'm trying to do it in 3 days.

We arrived at the Holiday Inn and found that they did allow pets, for $25 extra for each pet, and a long contract to sign. I opted not to stay. They told me that the Super 8 allowed pets and even called them for me. Celeste, at Super 8, was very friendly. We paid $10 extra for each pet and they will check the room before we leave this morning. The dogs were great so I'm not worried. They actually both slept with me. I've never allowed Zooey to do that because she is so small I was afraid I'd roll over on her. We were all well this morning.

I was told that the Super 8 Motel's are all individually owned so they can set their own rules regarding pets. But I will add this chain to my places that possibly allow pets for a reasonable rate.

On to day 2 of our trip.



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