The sun is shining, and I am working on things for our upcoming vacation. Have you heard? Chuck and I are going to Utah for a week! To see my kids! Plus Mother's Day, y'all! Oh, how I have missed those kids. Every picture of the Rocky Mountains has made me a little homesick, and a little teary.
In the past, we have always flown to Utah. Our lives have been turned upside-down, in a good way, since Bristol and Sami came to join us, and we didn't want to leave them in a kennel, if we could help it. Enter the crazy idea of taking them with us in a car.
My husband and I have done some serious road-tripping in our day. We've done trips alone, with our kids, and with each other. One thing we've never done is travel with a puppy; and never-ever with two puppies. Just when it was feeling like Chuck would never get a break from work, he found a week-long window he could take, and we jumped at the chance.
My husband and I have done some serious road-tripping in our day. We've done trips alone, with our kids, and with each other. One thing we've never done is travel with a puppy; and never-ever with two puppies. Just when it was feeling like Chuck would never get a break from work, he found a week-long window he could take, and we jumped at the chance.
Now we find ourselves gearing up for a 1,600 mile car trip from Illinois to Utah, with Sami and Bristol. Yikes. We haven't had time to prepare them for anything like this. I don't know if there could ever be enough time to prepare ourselves.
"Have WE got a surprise for YOU!" Chuck informed the puppies a couple days ago. I laughed nervously. I really hope they don't have any surprises for us.
We took them for a ride to Walmart and then to Pizza Hut a couple nights ago. I'm not sure 30 minutes in the car did much in the way of acclimating them to the marathon we have planned.
We took them for a ride to Walmart and then to Pizza Hut a couple nights ago. I'm not sure 30 minutes in the car did much in the way of acclimating them to the marathon we have planned.
I've been scouring the internet for travel tips for dog owners. There are lists of pet-friendly hotel chains. Lists of things with which to stuff Kong toys. Packing lists. More suggestions for pet paraphernalia to buy.
We just can't seem to find anyone recommending driving 23 hours straight, plus time for gas station and rest area stops. Whew. We will do what we have to do. Chuck and I plan to take turns driving and sleeping, with plenty of puppy stretch/potty breaks. I wonder how much longer the trip will take with all of those thrown in. The learning curve will be steep on this trip, I'm thinking.
We just can't seem to find anyone recommending driving 23 hours straight, plus time for gas station and rest area stops. Whew. We will do what we have to do. Chuck and I plan to take turns driving and sleeping, with plenty of puppy stretch/potty breaks. I wonder how much longer the trip will take with all of those thrown in. The learning curve will be steep on this trip, I'm thinking.
This week we ordered yet another crate; one with two doors for ease of access to the dogs in the car, and also for easier loading and unloading. We'll take two crates, and leave one for future use in Utah. Luckily, the puppies still fit in one large crate together, or we wouldn't have room for us to stretch out for sleeping. We also ordered some new items for chewing; bully sticks and Holee Roller balls.
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| If you're interested, I bought these HERE. |
If you've never heard of bully sticks, you can look them up online. I could do a whole blog post about those by themselves, but just suffice it to say, a bully stick is a beef product, and it is digestible. The product packaging says, "So good, your dog won't want to share."
Boy, was that true! I had no sooner given each puppy a stick, and they each took off in opposite directions, and contentedly chewed on them for over an hour. Bristol finished his early, and thought Sami would want to share hers with him. He was wrong, and she let him know about it.
My little arts and crafts project today was stuffing a Holee Roller ball with strips of old t-shirts. You know how dogs love to pull the stuffing out of toys? Well, this allows them to pull the strips of fabric through the holes in the ball. Treats can be tucked into the strips of fabric so they get little rewards during their playtime. I thought two shirts would be enough to fill the two balls, but they only filled one ball. One more to go.
We are very glad we bought the Highlander this year. It will be absolutely full with a crate for the puppies, camera gear, a cooler, clothing for a couple of days, dog food, snacks for humans and canines, an air mattress, blankets, and pillows. The puppies have a long list of their own: vet records, water, bowls, leashes, harnesses, bedding, paper towels, wipes, medicines...what am I forgetting?
If you're an experienced road traveler with pets, and have any suggestions we need to know about, tell me here in the comments, or on my Facebook page. We only have a few more days to prepare for this adventure!
Thank you!
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