Puppy Tales, Part 28

toby

Never mind the human being in this picture.

This blog post is about the pooch. That would be Toby the Puppy, our 2 1/2-year-old road warrior.

My wife and I spent nearly two weeks on the road. We traveled in our Dodge Ram pickup, which was hauling our 28-foot fifth wheel RV.

Our trip began in Amarillo; we went to Allen to see our granddaughter Emma, her parents and her brothers; then we spent a night in Enid, Okla.; we spent another night in North Platte, Neb.; we spent four nights near Rapid City, S.D., where we did our share of sightseeing; a night in Lusk, Wyo.; and three nights in Colorado Springs, Colo., where we visited friends and saw some more sights.

Toby rode along. He was nothing short of spectacular. He hiked with us on trails in the Badlands, the Garden of the Gods and on a mountain path to Inspiration Point in the Rocky Mountains.

He sleeps most of the time when he travels with us. Toby is not one of those puppies that likes to stick his nose out the window. He much prefers to cuddle with his mother when I’m at the wheel. When she’s driving, he’ll ride on the console between us and he might decide to spend some time on my lap.

Toby doesn’t require a lot of, uh, “bathroom breaks.” He powers through it all. He waits until we stop for our own breaks. Then he takes care of his own business.

A member of my family has a dog that apparently gets car sick. The pooch’s queasiness in a moving motor vehicle makes it difficult for my family member to drive long distances with his dog. I truly feel sad for that situation.

This is my way of giving thanks that we were able to accept our new family member who makes traveling so easy.