-- Crossing the Border...

We woke up pretty early today.  Actually, I had to pee like crazy and stared at my mom until she received my telepathic communication.  Anyway, after a long and blissful visit to the doggy area, we packed up the Supervan and headed east. 

I called shotgun this morning and my mom didn't argue. 

Here is my hairy silhouette as I say so long to the snow-capped mountains...

As we headed toward the Nevada border, as usual, I got sleepy.  When I woke up and looked ahead, the view was pretty awesome.

And each time I woke up, the view had the same colors, but all the pieces were mixed up.  First there was no mountain and a straight road, then there was a big mountain on the right and a curvy road...

Then the mountain was on the left and the clouds disappeared.  I only nodded off for a few seconds, even though my mom said it had been three hours. 

The next time I woke up, my mom made some yummy sandwiches while my dad drove the Supervan.  And I got a piece of bread... happy me, happy me.

But then she called shot gun and I was sent to the back seat with all of the rest of the crap, like my dad's smelly shoes and the laptops.  Okay, I enjoyed smelling the shoes, but who gives a crap about a laptop? 

Oh yeah, that's my favorite baby on the seat next to me.  I was only allowed to bring one toy and that one is my favorite.

We finally ended the day's journey in a town called Ely, Nevada.  The RV Park gave me pause when I saw the sign out front.  I kept my paws crossed that the accommodations inside would not reflect the condition of the sign...

Actually, it wasn't so bad.  There was a huge grassy area and I couldn't wait to take advantage of it, if you know what I mean.  My mom could barely keep up, following behind me with a poop bag at the ready.

Here is our campsite:

Everything was going well... until...

My dad couldn't get the satellite working. 

Too many trees, I said, but did he listen to me?  I know we are camping, but for cryin' out loud, if my dad doesn't get to watch the Fox News channel, it ain't gonna be pretty... 

Finally, he rebooted the TiVo and everything was beautiful again... 
happy me, happy me. 

My dad shared his carrot sticks with me, too.  It's going to be a good night in the Supervan. 

-- Wash, Dry, and a Cut

Yosemite was worth staying awake through the pass.  After so much beauty, I tuckered out and switched places with my mom so she could borrow my seat in the front.  We stopped on the side of the road when we noticed it was snowing.  That sure was different than the weather at home!  I got to get out of the Supervan and traipse through the cold white stuff.  I even took a pee in it.  And yes, I even looked for squirrels...
 

Those squirrels are tricky little devils and could be hiding anywhere.  After a while, I had enough and jumped back into the warm Supervan.  I could feel a nap coming on. 

We stopped for lunch in a town named Lee Vining.  We weren’t sure where to find squirrels, so we decided to stay local at Mono Vista RV Park for the night and get an early start in the morning. 

It wasn’t very big, and my hopes in squirrel hunting are small.  There was a big fatty white bird in our space when we pulled in, but he saw me in the window giving him the evil eye and he wisely left the area in a hurry. 

Here’s a photo of our campsite:

Later on, my mom decided to wash some clothes while we stayed there.  While my mom was waiting for her clothes to dry, a couple of campers entered the laundry facility and decided to turn it into a personal barber shop right in front of my mom.  Take a look at this pic my mom sneaked while they weren’t looking:   

Can you believe that?  My mom thought she was on Candid Camera or something.  He's wearing a lovely apron though, don't you think? 

By the time my mom got back to the Supervan with the laundry, she was in a lousy mood.  And to make matters worse, it was already 7pm and my dad didn’t even have dinner started (as if).  I could have sworn I heard her doing a Muttley impression…

http://www.retrojunkie.com/soundbox/muttcurse.wav

And she had that look on her face the whole time she was cooking dinner and I knew it wasn’t a good time for me to be a bad boy.  I just tried to stay clear.  You don’t want to mess with my mom when she gets like that, y’know?  Just sayin’.  

Guess I will have to look for squirrels tomorrow. 

-- And Mommy Makes Three...

Heading out early today with my mom and dad.  Destination Yosemite.  I’d like to share with you a problem I encountered and I wasn’t sure how to deal with it:  My mom was in my seat.  Guess I forgot to call shot gun.  They wouldn’t understand me even if I did call it.  A couple hours into the trip, my mom must have seen me pouting in the back of the Supervan, cuz she shared. 

I got to look out the window, but got bored and decided to sleep some more. 

When we got to Yosemite, I overheard my mom and dad talking about not having any reservations…  Seems we got lucky though, cuz there was a space available for one night.  I sat in the passenger seat, sticking my nose out the window while my dad was talking to the ranger, and-- SQUIRREL!!!  SQUIRREL!!!  Oh my heck!  They were all over the place.  Gotta get out of this Supervan, quick!!!  And wouldn’t you know?  My dad had the audacity to close the window!  Sheesh.

Which way did he go???  Huh? Huh?  Which way? 

Our campsite was decent.  A lot of tent-campers with noisy children.  And the rangers told my dad that I wasn’t allowed on any trails... 

Are you kidding me?  Seriously???  How the heck can I find squirrels if I am restricted the boundary of my campsite?  When I got out of the Supervan, I sniffed every inch of the campsite and I could tell that squirrels had violated my space before I arrived.  When my dad tied me to the picnic table, I took watch. 

I heard my mom whining about something having to do with bears.  I’ve never seen a bear before, and my mom was pretty askaird.  There was this sign on a metal box by my lookout station at the picnic table.  Now I can’t read, okay, but even I noticed the typo on this sign…  I’m gonna have to report this to the rangers.  It’s shameful.  They’re more interested in drawing a nice silhouette of a bear than spelling the words right.  Can you find the typo? 

After roasting hotdogs on the fire pit, my mom and dad ate them while I drooled.  Sometimes, I don’t get any respect.  By the time my mom finished her last bite, I developed fat slobber-strands and I looked more like a walrus than a dog.

One good thing about being on medication though-- she stuck my pill inside a piece of the hotdog and I ate it without spitting it out.  Oh, didn’t I tell you?  I’ve been on meds for a week now.  I had a hot spot last week on my neck from scratching and I had to wear the cone-of-shame. 


Ain't I pathetic?

Go ahead and laugh-- it’s okay.    ‘Karma’ is all I can say to you.

-- Bait and Switch...

Today we are heading up to San Jose to pick up my mom.  She was visiting her family this weekend and the thought of all that talking made my dad so tired, he allowed her to go on her own so she could yakety-yak it up with her sister and all of her mom’s cousins. 

My mom is quite the talker.  My dad and I don’t talk much, so we don’t really get it, y’know? 

Anyway, we picked up mom (happy me, happy me) and stayed at an RV park in Morgan Hill.  It was the Coyote RV Park. 

I didn’t see any coyotes there.  I consider this to be false advertising, or maybe even a bait and switch.  Anyway, this place was kinda small, but it rocked when it came to accommodations.  I got to pee and poop in a fenced area, especially for me.  There was a pool and a Jacuzzi, but I wasn’t allowed in there.  I was happy enough to be tethered to the wrought iron fence on some nice grass while my mom and dad sat in the Jacuzzi. 

Our campsite was more like a camp 'slot.'  Here's a photo:

My mom said she liked the clean bathrooms, showers, and laundry facility.  Good for her.  Why does she tell me these things?  

Anyway, the downside:  No squirrels, no critters of any sort.  Didn’t even get a glimpse of a lousy bird. 

Boring... 

My dad says we’ll leave in the morning and try something else, so I have that to look forward to…

-- Loading Up and Hittin' the Road...

My journey begins in San Diego, California, with my dad.  He’s pretty cool.  He drives; I sleep.  Works for me.

Today, we travel up the coast of Southern California, destination Gaviota State Park in Santa Barbara County.  My dad says I get to ride shot gun. 

Since we are driving north, my dad gets the view of the California coast, so I just slept the whole way there.   We did stop in Thousand Oaks, our old home town, though.  Our rest stop was at my old favorite place, Pinkberry.  Of course, I am relegated to the vehicle while he gets to sample the new flavors.  But I digress...  My dad let me lick the sticky cup.  Flavor:  Salted Caramel (hold the salt, please).  And of course, I licked it clean.  This seems to give my dad some sense of pleasure that he did something nice for me…  Oh well, it’s back on the road in the Supervan. 

Gaviota State Park was decent enough.  A lot of tent-campers… 

Now, let’s talk about the accommodations.  There was no segregated doggy area.  Strike one.  The small “grassy” area, if you can call it that, was more like a weed-infested crab grass.  You know, I can conjour up a dump a lot easier with fresh cut Marathon sod, but I tolerated it. 

We took a walk down to the pier at Gaviota Beach (I was not allowed on the beach btw, strike two), and there were so many interesting smells, I didn’t know which way to yank the leash.  There’s nothing like the putrid stench of something, you know what I mean?  My dad gave me free reign, and when I got my fill of sniffing, we headed back to camp. 

After eating a burger cooked in our Supervan, my dad and I watched some Fox News and I fell asleep dreaming of squirrels, since there were none to be seen.  Strike three.