I found a spot that was doggie heaven.

Surprise, we didn’t go to New England this year. We went to Ohio instead. I’m a real good boy while we’re in the car. Sometimes I sit in the front seat and just look adoringly at my mom while she drives. Other times, I get myself into the back seat where my bed is and just sleep. I enjoy our long drives.

When we get somewhere, boy o boy–that is when the trouble begins. I mean T.R.O.U.B.L.E. — I’ve been a good boy all day and I want to play, go outside, get something to eat, play some more, go outside again and do other annoying stuff to try to make my mommy try to figure out what I want. I get some dirty looks. ‘She’ says she wants to put her feet up and have a glass of wine. I can’t figure out what is so important about that. Can you?

I mean after all, once we get where we are going, I help her bring in her suitcase, her cpap machine, her computer, my bed, my bag of stuff, a cooler, and a few other things. She says she is tired, but I don’t know why because I’m not tired at all.

This year we went Akron, Ohio where my mommy says she grew up. We saw my human cousin, Kim, who then left us and went down to Myrtle Beach. So what we did is spend a lot of time with Kim’s mom, Bobbie. She’s a real nice lady. I met some new people there who were also nice. I didn’t especially like our morning walks because there were a couple of big unfriendly dogs who got off their leashes and came running up to us. They scared the stuffing right out of me.

My favorite day was when Shirley and Barbara came. We got in their car and drove to Warren, Ohio, that’s where mommy’s husband grew up. I never knew him.

I’ve known Shirley for a long time, she has visited us in Florida a couple of times. The last time we were together was in the Poconos; that is when mommy and I almost ran into a bear when we were out walking in the morning.

Yikes!

When we saw the bear, first, we just started backing up and then turned around and headed back to the timeshare as fast as we could.  I am faster than she is. That was a close call; the bear came down to empty the trash containers looking for food. I just didn’t want to be there in case they didn’t find what they were looking for in the trash bin.

This day got more bizzare by the minute. We went to a shopping center and there must have been 100 police cars there all over the parking lot. We didn’t have a clue as to what had happened. They wouldn’t let us go left, right, or straight. We were in a fix.

Then that night we learned that there was a mad man loose in the Poconos who had murdered a police man.  We were told to shelter in place and not go near any windows.

That was a couple of years ago, but now Shirley drove us to Marilyn and Dick’s house. This was heaven for me because I am sure they have the best back yard in the whole world. I was able to wander in the back yard and sniff to my heart’s content. I didn’t have to have a leash and I wasn’t constantly being told “hurry up Brady”.  The back yard was so pretty with a white picket fence and lots of flowers. This was my favorite spot of all time. I could be out there on my own without worrying about alligators or even snakes. I was having the best time, then I started digging under the fence, that’s when I got in a little bit of trouble. But I wish I could have just stayed there and enjoyed that peaceful back yard. I liked Kim’s back yard too but there I didn’t have a fence to dig under. Marilyn and Dick were very nice too. They already had a dog dish for my water. I hope I get to go back there sometime soon.

Pretty soon, though, the week was over and we had to head for home. But… not before getting lots of fresh Ohio corn and tomatoes to take back to Solivita for some of our friends.

One of my mom’s favorite parts of the trip was when we went to buy the corn and tomatoes. It was very near where my mom used to spend a lot of time in the summers working on her Dad’s farm. When she mentioned that her Dad had a farm near there, they all remembered him. He hasn’t even been alive for fifty years, yet these people knew of him. It was special. He was a special person.

On our way home we met up with my human brother Greg and his wife Marilyn. Outside our room was a dumpster. We thought there was a cat in there and started try to get it but it was no cat, it was a raccoon. Yikes!