Road Trip-Part 1

6:00 a.m. on the morning of the girls road trip, we clicked together our plastic cups in a toast to the beginning of a ten day journey. Ahhh! Nothing like a spicy Bloody Mary to pop open even the sleepiest eyes. 

We drove off as the sun peeped over the horizon in shades of pink and blue. Determined to make good time, we drove several solid hours until starvation and the need for a potty break called us in to a Bob Evans restaurant in Cape Girardeau. Delicious food and a clean bathroom. What more could a traveler desire?

Eager to get more miles behind us, we didn't linger over our eggs and toast. Back to the car we went, tummies full, bladders empty, and ready to roll.

After pushing through with only quick pit stops and a grab-n-go late lunch, we finally arrived at our first night's hotel stop...the Hollywood Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. This welcome respite couldn't come soon enough. Everyone was stiff-legged from sitting in cramped car position. But we soon forgot our achy muscles. Now we had diversion other than the radio. 

The hotel had numerous displays of film-making paraphernalia such as Batman's car, costumes from The Munsters television show, and a replica of a sinking Titanic. All this, and slot machines, too. Who knew?

I'm not much of a gambler, so I sat at the quarter slot machines while my co-travelers took on a few rounds at the blackjack table. They lost. I came out on top with a whopping $15 gain. Don't worry, I didn't spend it all in one day.

However, my eyes were red and bleary. The hours of driving had caught up with me and my comrades. We stumbled to our room and I can't say I remember much after that.

Except setting the alarm for 6:00 a.m. Whew!

Just Call Me Your Travel Guide

A few weeks ago, Hubby and I traveled with Son and Daughter-In-Law to spend a few days in a tropical paradise. And we didn't even need to leave the United States to do it.

On a dreary, chilly St. Louis Thursday morning, we hopped on a plane and flew to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Then we took off our jackets and rented a car, driving 3 and one half hours to arrive at our destination...Key West. At first I wasn't thrilled about such a long ride from the airport to our hotel, but then I realized the obvious. We were driving through the beautiful Florida Keys! A tough job, but we soldiered through it anyway.

What a place. Our hotel was a stone's throw from the ocean. It had stunning views with palm trees everywhere, a long boardwalk from which to view the sights, and best of all it was totally pet friendly. Each day an artist sculpted something interesting from sand for the guests to enjoy. This guy was my favorite:

Speaking of pet friendly, I think it's fair to say that pretty much all of Key West is pet friendly. People brought their pups to restaurants, bars, and shopping. In one restaurant I saw a cat napping in a comfy chair while the bartender's dog sat politely next to a bar stool and a customer's pup lounged beneath his table, perhaps waiting for a handout.

How about these cute boxer pups I discovered sitting outside a bar on Duval Street?

Nothing like a puppy fix to make a good day even better. But wait, there's more. Key West has chickens that roam pretty much wherever they want. Apparently the chickens belong to no one in particular, but everyone seems to love them. Unfortunately the chickens are a wee bit camera shy. You can see them fleeing from the photographer (aka me) below.

A huge boat race was going on that weekend and one night some of the enormous million-dollar boats were lined up on Duval Street for the fans to take a look. The streets were packed with people. I pointed out a man carrying a parrot and cockatoo. The next thing I knew...

What can I say? Proof that anything can happen.

This is your travel guide signing off until next time when I'll bring you more salty tales of Key West.

How to Go Anywhere with Your Dog

Last month we took a long family weekend in beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona. Scottsdale was warm and inviting, a lovely respite from Missouri's brutal polar temperatures and unending snow. Spending time with family was pretty awesome, too.

Above is one of the outdoor shots I took of the famous Barrett-Jackson auction. It's the one you've probably seen on television where people who live a totally different lifestyle from mine, think nothing of bidding 1.5 million to pick up a nice vintage vehicle. We spent a lot of time checking things out.

I could go on forever describing what we saw...amazing cars, celebrities, television moments, and vendors who arrived on scene to sell anything you can imagine...yes, even pianos.

But I want to focus on something else that interested me. I've never seen so many people with dogs wearing service vests in any place I've ever been. There must have been dozens and dozens of them, each with a vest displaying tags that looked very official. Some of the dogs even wore cute little outfits along with the vest.

I asked a few different handlers whether their dogs were in training or working. Each one smiled and said their dogs were working. Several mentioned that their dog did pet therapy.

Let me tell you, no one is more a fan of making dogs welcome in all places than me, but this was a no-dogs-allowed event EXCEPT for service dogs. I didn't notice anyone checking credentials, nor did I notice any millionaires lining up for pet therapy.

Later I went on-line and discovered something. Several companies will be happy to sell service vests to anyone along with patches, ID tags that include federal regulations mandating service dog entry into any building/area, and instructions on how one can travel by air with a service dog. (The service dog apparently flies free)

The websites selling the products have a disclaimer saying they aren't a certifying agency and they do not accept responsibility for any false information supplied to get the products. They add it's fraudulent to misrepresent a dog as a service animal, yet no certifying paperwork is required to make a purchase.

I know there are plenty of folks with highly trained service dogs for a specific and necessary purpose, but Barrett-Jackson made me wonder. Could it be that some people order vests and tags just so they can take their pup wherever they go?

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of dogs and people spending time together, but something seemed a bit odd. Is it my imagination or is this a new way to travel anywhere with your dog?

Mom, I expect you to order a service vest for me immediately!

Stowaway

California Here I Come

I'm packing my bag and heading to Santa Cruz, California next week. It's a work related trip to a place I haven't been before. Sounds dreamy, huh? Guess I should drag out my shorts and bathing suit. What else could one need in the land of sun, sand, and water?

Uh...apparently a heavy coat. Warm as we've been here, Santa Cruz has run about 20+ degrees cooler. Who'd have thought that Missouri would have more tropical weather than California?

Fortunately, I'm stubborn. I still haven't traded winter clothes for summer. After all, it's March. So I'll pack my cool temperature duds and have a final fling with fall-like weather out in sunny (or rainy) California.

Is this a topsy-turvey world or what?

Of Cruising and Cooking

I'm not a big risk taker. Yet I certainly admire those brave souls who are willing to step outside their comfort zone and take a chance. So when my friend, Linda O'Connell, over at Write From the Heart told me about her friend's new ambition, I couldn't resist checking it out.

Jean Ellen Whatley is an award winning journalist who decided to leave the grind of a regular job, pack up her pup, Libby, and cruise across the country and back again. She and Libby plan to visit dog parks along the way and share the stories of the people and pets they meet. I'm sure you'll be as interested in reading their adventues as I will, so check out the launch of her new blog, Off The Leash, Road Stories With My Dog.

Keep your eyes open, all you Critter Alley readers. Perhaps you'll run into Jean and Libby at a dog park near you!

Here at home, we have an unexciting weekend ahead. Indy is snoozing and Bogey is guarding the yard against potential bird or squirrel invasions.

Father's Day is only a few days away, and that makes me think about my dad. He passed away more than 30 years ago at the age of 46. So very young...

Dad's greatest joy was to barbecue. He was a master chef with a talent for creating the most tasty pork steaks I've ever had. And just like the mailman, neither rain, snow, or sleet kept him from cooking over an open fire. Here's proof positive:

This scene hung on the wall in my mom's house for years. I recently reframed it. The picture reminds me of a Norman Rockwell portrait...a sweet, funny, everyday moment captured forever.

Dad's barbecue tools were the most heavy duty utensils that money could buy. They were so durable, in fact, that Hubby is now the proud owner of the tongs. He uses them every time he barbecues and they still can turn over one heck of a pork steak.

Happy Father's Day! And Dad, hope you and Mom have enough pork steaks to feed all those angels!

Weekend on Beale

We just got back from a long weekend trip to Memphis, so I've been a slacker at visiting the blogs of all our friends. I promise to remedy that situation over the next few days because I'm nosy and can't wait to hear what's been going on in the blogmosphere while we were gone.

For now, here are a few tidbits about our trip.

First of all, a surprise. Once we reached the bootheel area of Missouri, we saw acres and acres and acres of cotton. I always envisioned cotton on a southern plantation somewhere in Georgia (okay, maybe I read Gone With the Wind a tad too many times), but it seems that good ole' Missouri produces quite a bit. At this point in time the plants are so loaded with ready-to-harvest cotton, that the fields looked as though they'd been dappled by an early snow.

If you love the blues, you'll love Beale Street. It reminded me of an enormous street party with more bands than you can count playing music while young Memphis boys performed as many consecutive back flips as possible down the center of the street. Onlookers applauded and the boys dripped with sweat as they passed a tip bucket around for more substantial appreciation of their efforts in the hot Tennessee sun.

As in so many "tourist" areas, there were numerous horse drawn carriages available for hire. The horses all appeared healthy and in good condition. Nearly every carriage sported a canine companion for the driver. This one had two! Biggify the picture to see the tiny chihuahua in the driver's lap.

For the number of people on Beale Street, the crowd was remarkably well behaved. Woe be unto anyone daring otherwise, for the police presence after dark is heavier than what you might see during a big city riot. This provides a certain calming effect on partiers who are given strict guidelines such as:

No one needed to "clear" us as we were back at the hotel long before 3 a.m.  At least, I think we were...

A bit more next time on our most excellent Memphis trip.

This n' That

We drove to the river Friday with plans to do some mowing and general clean up. On the trip down we clipped along fairly quickly.  There wasn't a lot of traffic and no major road construction. I was beginning to feel pretty sleepy when a red truck blew past us. It had to be traveling at least 80 miles per hour.

What I saw in the pickup bed made my eyes fly wide open.  A beautiful border collie, obviously full of border collie excitement, continuously paced back and forth. He'd put his front paws on the side of the bed and watch, then run to the other and do the same. Sometimes he even jumped on top of a tool box installed right behind the cab where he balanced precariously.

It was frightening! All I could think about was the driver swerving or slamming on the brakes. That poor dog would be skidding to the pavement in a heartbeat.

I pulled out my camera and took some pictures for documentation, planning to send that guy straight to court if the dog got hurt.  Pardon the fuzzy-muzzy nature of the photos since I used a telephoto lens in a bouncy truck through a dirty windshield.

Eventually the guy turned off the highway and disappeared. 

You may have noted that he had no license plate on the vehicle. I suspect if he'd been caught that the fine for failure to display a valid license plate would be greater than any punishment for animal endangerment.

Why do people think it's okay for a critter to travel in such unsafe conditions? I just don't get it.

Meanwhile, I had a little surgery on Friday for one of those lovely basal cell skin cancers...my third time...aren't I lucky? It was a small spot, but they taped me up enough to look as though half my nose had been amputated. I get to take off the monstrosity today for a tiny dot-size bandaid. It will look much less dramatic, but be way more comfortable.

Aren't I lovely? Sunglasses hide slightly swollen eye. Shots of anesthetic tend to make a person puffy, and since I'm already the reigning Queen of Poof...well, the results simply aren't pretty.

So here's my advice. Beware all you bronzed beauties! One day those delightful sun-filled, sunscreen-less afternoons may come back to bite you!

Travel Tails

Photo credit to kibblesplace.com

We spent a recent weekend out of town. Sad to report that the place where we stayed, though pleasant and family-oriented, definitely discouraged anyone bringing a pet via pricey fees and overly strict requirements.

That made me wonder, where are some really great places to go with your pet?

MSNBC publishes the top 10 pet friendly cities in America each year. They base their choices on hotels, restaurants, and tourist amenities. The good news is that they've found more and more cities that welcome four-legged visitors. Check out their picks...Drumroll, please.

The top ten cities for 2009 are:

San Diego
Chicago
Seattle
New York
Alexandria, Virginia
Portland, Oregon
San Francisco
South Lake Tahoe
Los Angeles
Boston

Lots of California cities represented, aren't there? And not much in the midwest. C'mon Missouri cities...get with the program! Your tourist dollars could depend upon it!

To read specific findings check out the MSNBC site.