Cross country memories

A photo that pretty much sums up everything from the start; and the cover of book number one.

Around now each year I am flooded with memories from 2011.  This year has brought me fewer memories as I've been very busy with my new and wonderful Grandbabies.  :)  But when I opened up my FB newsfeed this morning, there it was.  A reminder of a not so great time in my life.  What had started out as an exciting and big adventure; very quickly turned into a challenging trip, both physically and emotionally.  

A pile of poodles.  Luke up front, then Elsa and in the back, Tilley.  

So when the temperatures drop, the memories come.  But like anything, time helps to heal wounds; and the further we get away from that time in 2011 the easier it gets.  It gets easier but I will never forget what my son and I went through on our travels across the country with our four dogs.  I am a big believer in the old saying "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."  Yep. 

At only 5 months of age, Elsa was amazing on our cross country trip.  

Many life lessons were dealt with on the trip across the country.  Even more once we landed and then headed back again.  Would I do it again?  Given the option of going through everything that we had to deal with? NO.  But like everything with life experience; it is what makes us who we are.  There are many things that we did back then in December 2011 that I would change and do differently.  But at the time I had yet to experience it all, so I didn't have the knowledge that I do now.  

Settled in and just weeks before Tilley passed.  

I look at life differently now and don't like to dwell too much on the past. That is, the past that brings with it bad memories.  One of my favorite sayings that I picked up in early 2012 was "don't look back, we're not going that way."  It's a good one and one that I try to follow.  

The whole ordeal that became two books (PBJ and me, And Back Again) was life altering.  Many of you followed us on our trip there, during and back again.   I tried to blog and share what I could, when I could.  It was a great support to have so many there to share it with.  

You can never be the same after going through something like it.  We lost our little Jack Russell, the matriarch of the canine pack mid trip.  Oklahoma will always have an impactful meaning to it for us.  It is there that we lost our little Jessie at nearly 16 years of age.  Then only weeks later after landing we lost our Lassie in poodle clothing, Tilley at 15.5 years of age.  

Life has a way of teaching us many lessons; some more desirable than others.  We cannot pick and choose, so we take our steps through it; hopefully learning as we go.  Life is a story for each and everyone us; we make our way through it with the decisions that we make daily.  With that comes memories that prepare us for the next part of our story, like it or not.   At this time of year, each year I stop to remember; but try not to dwell on the past. 

Life is a story.   

Travel - three years ago today.

I have been doing a great deal of remembering lately.  As I finish up my second novel And Back Again I have been going over many incidents from my life three years ago.  That time is often on my mind but because I have been writing about it; of course it is in the forefront these days.  This morning I wondered what my blog was three years ago today; this is it.  I decided to repost it as my book will be coming out very soon. 

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As you all know my son and I just finished a road trip across America.  We left sunny Southern California and drove to South Connecticut.  We stayed at 5 hotels that allowed us with our dogs so I have a good feel for where to stay and what to ask for now.  When we began our trip we had four dogs, not an easy number to tell the reservation people.  We didn't want to pay an exorbitant fee for having our dogs but understand that there would more than likely be some fee.

We discovered that almost all La Quintas allow dogs of any size and any number with no extra fee.  We stayed in 3 La Quintas.  One was nice, one a bit run down and dirty but with great outdoor grounds and the last very nice.  We actually stopped at a fourth; brought our bags and "dog stuff" up to the room only to turn around and leave.  The girl was nice at the desk and understood.  The whole hotel stunk of cigarettes and cheese (says my son).  It was run down and divey, not somewhere I wanted to stay.

Cost per night for the La Quintas was 70.00-90.00 with no extra dog fee.

We took a quick trip up the road and stayed at a Drury; my favorite hotel on our stay, easily.  When we got to the Drury Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee I was pleasantly surprised.  They also gave us the most convenient room and had lots of "grassy" area for the pooches.  We had complimentary snacks and wine on our arrival which was more than welcome after 4 solid days of driving.  Their breakfast was great and they were very friendly.  The hotel was clean and very accommodating.  Even though when we were originally looking for a hotel to stay in at all of our stops we were told that the Drury had a 2 dog limit they allowed us in with our 3.  Sadly we didn't stay at other Drury Hotels because we thought they had a 2 dog limit.

Cost per night was 119.00 with no extra fee for dogs.

Our last night away we stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn; there was nothing else that would accept dogs in the area that night.  It was a really nice hotel but although they allowed our dogs they did not seem "dog friendly."  We were told not to bring the dogs through the lobby and were given an end room on the third floor.  I asked for something close to the elevator because of Tilley and hauling all of our stuff but we were told that they were completely booked and that this was the last room.  Neither I nor my son bought the "full" line as the parking lot was nearly empty all the way around the hotel.

Cost per night 169.00 plus 100.00 dog fee.

The girls at the front desk were very friendly and the hotel was beautiful.  It was a king suite with a full kitchen, a great place if you are staying a while.  We were also told that they had a very strict barking rule as there were so many "business" people staying at the hotel.  They charge a flat 100.00 dollar fee to stay with your dogs which is non refundable.  Nice hotel but didn't receive a warm and fuzzy about the dogs which were down to three at that point.

When you stay at a hotel with your dog think about location, both in regards to the room and the hotel.  If your dog is not accustom to staying in hotels then you will not want to leave them unattended in the room for more than a very short time period.  Luckily there were two of us so when we arrived and got settled Brad went and got our dinner for the night.

Location of room was very important for us, we had a 5 month old puppy and Tilley who has a tough time going a long distance.  Plus she is so slow that it can literally seem to take forever getting anywhere.

All in all it was a great experience.  Would I do it again?  In a heartbeat for my dogs.

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