The Pups' Excellent Maryland Adventure

Hey! We get to go on a car trip! Mom and dad told us to settle in since it will be longer than a trip to doggie day care. "We" means me, Kauffman, and my sister, Hanover, and brother, Fenway. I'm a Norfolk terrier and they are Border terriers. I'm 5 months old; Fenway, the elder, is nearly 13 years old, and Hanover is 10.



This is me, Kauffman



This is Hanover



This is Fenway

Mom and dad said we'll get to see Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia on our way to and from visiting where I, Kauffman, was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in April of this year. Gosh, that's eight states! We know what Kansas and Missouri look like since we live in Kansas and go to Missouri all the time (it's really close - only a couple of miles from where we live).

I can honestly say that being in the car is a bummer, even though Mom has made the car really comfy, with soft blankets and pillows. First off, I threw up in the first hour. That always hungry Hanover tried to gobble up my upchucked cookies - how gross - that was my job! However, Dad didn't let either of us clean up the mess, even though we said we gladly would.

One thing I really don't like is the harness I have to wear that keeps me from being free. Here are a few pics of us on our trip. As you can see, we find lots of interesting positions on the back seat. I was kind of worried being next to Fenway since he still thinks I'm just a little brat but he was really nice the whole trip. I think we're bonding!











We get to stop every so often so I can get out and stretch my legs, do my business and, most importantly, let every dog who visits that spot know that I, Kauffman, of Maryland and Kansas, have been there.







All in all, this car stuff is boring and it's only my first day on the trip. However, I think Mom and Dad aren't bored since they keep talking about the rain in the mountains of Kentucky. I think they're a little tense since they keep saying how they can't see the road and that the construction barrels are making bad reflections. I've even heard the word "hydroplaning", which I don't know anything about but the car did feel funny a few times.

Whew, we finally made it to a nice Hampton Inn in Lexington, Kentucky. You wouldn't believe how many other dogs I've seen here. Mom and Dad said it's a "dog friendly" place, whatever that means. I think every place is dog friendly, since everyone who sees me says how cute I am!

I took my first ride in an elevator and, since Hanover and Fenway seemed okay with the ride, I just followed their lead. The room is nice but Mom and Dad are keeping us on our leashes. They said something about making sure we have no accidents in the room since the hotel staff use black lights to search after we leave. I don't plan to leave anything behind for them to find but I guess if the black light shows a glowing spot on the carpet, it means there was an accident and that costs Mom and Dad money. Since it's so late, in to my kennel I go to sleep.

Well, the night was good and we get to eat our breakfasts in the room. I'll try to keep mine down today. Off we go to Maryland!

It's been another long day but I was really excited when we got to the rest stop in Maryland - my home state!! We stopped in the mountains and Dad and Mom kept talking about something called "fall foliage". I have no idea what they are talking about but it sure is pretty and I made sure to leave my "Kauffman" scent in the mountains. I need to make sure that all who follow know that I've been here.





We finally got to the farm where we are staying. It's called Spring Cove Farm. It was dark when we got here, so I haven't seen too much. But, this nice lady, who dad said helped my dog mom, Geordie, bring me into this world, is letting us use part of her house. She showed us around and brought this cute little girl Norfolk to play with me. She and my parents keep saying something about the little girl being "in season" but I have no idea what they mean. She's flirting with me but I just want to play. It's fun having someone my size to play with.



This house has really steep stairs since the house is 100 years old. But, I'm not afraid of running up and down the stairs. Neither Fenway not Hanover want to use the stairs, though, except when we go to bed at night. Maybe it's because they're higher off the ground than me and the stairs look scarier.



Oh my gosh! It is a new day and is this farm unbelievable? When Dad took me out for my morning constitutional, what did I first see but llamas! I went over to the fence and wanted to jump in to play with the big guys but dad just let me look at them. Plus, there is a horse and ostriches.









There is also a beach and a dock. You see, we're near Chesapeake Bay. The water at the farm is from a little river near the bay so it is gentle. The first thing I wanted to do was jump in and I did. Fenway is such a sissy, though. You'd think he was made of sugar and would melt if water touched him. Hanny is afraid of everything, so she didn't want to get in either. We went out on the dock and I just loved looking at the water. You know - this is where I was born - right by Chesapeake Bay.







Today, my mom and dad and I get to go see my dog mom, Geordie, and my first family. Boy, am I excited. I heard something about Geordie being "in season" too. I wonder if that is something like vegetables being "in season". Dad told my first family not to worry, that I didn't get it yet, so could be with Geordie. What does "he doesn't get it yet" mean?"

I had more fun than I can say playing with Geordie and seeing my first mom and dad again. I remembered them and even looked for my litter mate in the house. He went to live in Boston though, so I just played and played with Geordie. When we left, I found out that I would see my first family again a little later in the week. It's pretty fun having two nice families.







Speaking of being "in season". I found some ripe tomatoes and was going to pick one but my mom said something about that not being a polite thing to do. I love tomatoes and pick them in Kansas all the time.



My mom and dad and Fenway keep disappearing for a while each day to go a couple of miles down the road to something called the Border Terrier Specialty. Fenway and Hanover aren't doing any of the events like earthdog (which was held on my farm) or agility, since Fenway is too old and Hanover is too scared. However, they know some of the people who have dogs that are doing these fun things and they go to watch and chat. I'm hoping that I'll get to do some of these things too, as I get older. Here are a few pictures they said I could show you. The event was at Queen Anne County 4H park.









Today is Hanny's birthday. She's a pretty good looking girl for 10 isn't she?



That cute little girl Norfolk from next door came over again to play and, guess what? I finally "got it". Sheesh, just when I "got it" they took her away and I didn't get to see her again. Now, is that fair? No, I don't think so!

Here's a picture of the house we stayed in. Mom counted the trees lining the road to the house and said there were 41 on one side. She kept saying it looked like Tara, a plantation road. It's kind of neat since you drive through a lot of forest to get to the Tara road. We kept seeing deer in the forest. Since I got here, I've learned that my dog grandma and great grandma used to live on this farm too. What a small world!







There are a lot of barns on the farm. One is home to the horse who is 34 years old. Did you know horses could be 34? Here I am trying to make friends with him.



Since the farm is way out in the country, there are no curtains at the windows, including the bathroom. Mom, being the city girl she is, taped up newspapers after the second day. She said something about needing "peace of mind" even though dad told her that there was no one who was looking in the windows. She said she was reading scary books and the open windows spooked her. Maybe it's because it's close to Halloween.

One of the coolest things we heard from the owner of the farm, was that my little girl friend the Norfolk, had caught a mouse the week before. I wanted to so bad and could smell them in the walls and behind the cupboards but none ever peeped out for me to catch. You know, that's a job of a Norfolk terrier. My long ago ancestors lived in England and their job was to catch the critters that lived in barns. I wanted to do my job this week but never got the chance. Drats!

One of my favorite places at the farm was the nice screened porch I could sit on. I could watch all sorts of things from the porch.



My first family came to the farm to see me and Fenway and Hanover. Guess what? They brought me a toy like Geordie has, except that it's red. I love, love, love my new toy. I try to keep it away from Fen and Han since they just slobber on toys. Mom and Dad are calling the toy "Maryland Red". Georgie's toy was called "OJ", since it was orange and here's a picture of me playing with OJ. Geordie didn't know, or she would have taken it away from me..



Mom and Dad said that they had lunch with my first family at a nice restaurant on the water. Boy was my mom glad that people in Maryland are honest. She dropped her camera when she got out of the car and someone walked around the restaurant to find the owner. I'd say that she needs to be more careful with her pocket camera!

After they had lunch, they went to a Chesapeake Bay conservation area and saw some owls and hawks. I wish I had been there but they say that I'm still small enough that owls and hawks could swoop down and fly away with me. That's why mom and dad don't let me go out alone yet, even in Kansas.



When they came back, my first family said goodbye to me. I know they were sad. I watched them go. My mom said I looked sad. I wish my two families lived close together. After I watched their car go down the lane, I gave my dad a big puppy kiss.





Well, it's been a fun time on the farm but we have to go back to Kansas. First, we have to drive over the Bay bridge. It is the longest and tallest bridge I've ever been on and just goes on and on forever.



To go back to Kansas, we're taking what my mom calls the scenic route through Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. I keep hearing about the "fall foliage" again but all I'm interested in is leaving my mark in as many new places as possible.

We are in a town called Elkins, West Virgina, where we ran into a huge traffic jam. There is some HUGE event going on in town. Take a look at the chairs on the side of the road. I looked at them the whole way since I've never seen chairs on a road before. My guess is that there is going to be a parade. We can't stop, though. We're going back to the dog friendly hotel in Kentucky. That's kind of a bummer since I'll be on the leash again.





Our last day in the car is today. Since we've made such good time, we're stopping to see some family in Waterloo, Illinois. Here's a picture of the newest member of the family. He's younger than I am but not as furry, for sure!



And, here's his big brother.



Finally, home at last. It's been a fun 8 days but I am glad to be able to run without the leash.

Signing off now

Royal Chesapeake Kauffman Camden Brett (aka Kauffman)

It's Dad's Vacation

As a child, my two sisters, brother and I, and my dad and mom spent several summer vacations in Colorado camping at Byers Creek, near Fraser, Colorado. The family didn't have a lot of money and this was an economical way to get out and have some fun (in cooler weather than the hot, humid Kansas summers). We pulled a little pop-up camper behind the 1960 Plymouth Valiant, driving what was then the back roads of Kansas and Colorado. Our air conditioning was of the 4-70 variety - all four windows open, speeding down the road at 70 miles per hour. How we ever fit into that little camper to sleep is baffling to me.

As the years went by, my dad continued to go to Colorado whenever he could and with whoever was available to go, including his kids, friends and finally grandkids. Byers Creek campground was generally the destination, although on occasion,we detoured to New Mexico.

A few years ago, Dad became ill with a blood disease that saps his strength and also began going blind from the non-treatable kind of macular degeneration. Losing his eyesight slowly has been difficult, at best. He has always been an independent man and relying on others for anything is simply not in his nature.

A couple of years ago I heard dad mention that he had talked to a friend about wanting to see Colorado again before he went blind. That started the wheels turning and I asked my brother and sisters if they would like to take a family vacation with dad. It took a year and a half of planning but the time finally arrived in June 2009.

Even with all the advance planning, we were still able to surprise dad when my sister and her husband from St. Louis met Dad, Delia, my dad's wife of 35 years, and Bob at the airport to continue on their flight to Denver. All of us nearly slipped and mentioned the surprise at some point over the last few weeks of planning. My brother, who had just started a new job, flew out on Monday. The rest of us drove with the mound of luggage.

Something my dad had wanted to do his entire life was to take the train through the mountains, particularly, the Moffat Tunnel. So, on the first Sunday of the vacation, Dad, Delia, Delia's daughter Liz, me, and my sisters Kathy and Barbara set off from Denver's Union Station on the two hour Amtrak train ride to Fraser, Colorado. Our three husbands, Bob, Dave and Earl, drove the three cars to the house we rented in Winter Park, Colorado. Below are some photos from the ride.

Here's dad and Delia enjoying the scenery, which was stunning!









Liz made friends with the conductor, who was a hoot. As you can see, they became fast friends! Take a look at the reaction of the lady on the train - priceless.



The train station at Fraser is just a whistle stop but cute, nevertheless. The third photo is the Fraser end of the six-mile Moffat tunnel that cuts straight through the mountain. The train ride was great. The seats were exceptionally comfortable. In fact, we're all talking about taking a cross country train ride!







Due to my sister's persistence in this recession, we were able to rent a 6,000 square foot house for $300 a night! This was the view out of the living room window.



There were three master bedrooms, a pool room, a state of the art kitchen, a huge television room and hot tub. To say my dad and the family enjoyed this lovely home is an understatement.



The first thing my brother did was to jump into the hot tub.



Here's the view from the tub.



On Monday, we drove to the Byers Creek campground. Nearly 50 years after our first visit, it was still the same old campground, just with bigger trees and logs that had fallen across the stream in different places. Talk about bringing back the memories. It's funny when you get a family together to reminisce - each person may have experienced the same events but remembers different pieces.

The photo below shows "the Mountain" we kids used to sit on to eat our breakfast. I'm sure we scrambled up effortlessly as kids. It was more of a production to get situated for this photo, particularly for those of us with bad knees! We all thoroughly enjoyed the couple of hours we spent looking around the old campground. We had it all to ourselves since it's early in the camping season.



On Tuesday, Dad visited a local pharmacy and picked up a prescription that had been called in by his hometown doctor and he and my sister visited a local doctor to get one of the three shots he gets each week to build his blood cells. At the doctor's office the doctor discovered that the high altitude was causing an oxygen deficit, so arrangements were made to rent some portable oxygen tanks for dad for the remainder of the visit. Once the oxygen was delivered, we took a back roads trip out of Fraser.

The wildflowers were in glorious bloom and we stopped frequently to photograph the flowers, family and generally nice scenes. We found out a couple of days later that this back road had only opened in the last week or so. It was one of the highlights of our trip. We never saw another car the entire trip, except for one park ranger, who we thought might arrest us for picking flowers (not digging them up - which we knew was illegal).

Liz was entranced by the tiny flowers in the majestic setting.



Here's my brother picking flowers for Liz.







Wednesday we planned to take another back roads trip but the planned route was closed. As a result, we drove up to Walden, not far from the Wyoming border. After picnicking at a city park, we drove back through a wildlife wetlands sanctuary. It was cold, rainy and dreary but the prairie dog patrol volunteers were ensconced in their huts watching for and counting the prairie dogs. What a job! As the license plate states: "Prairie Dog Squad - It's not a Job, It's An Adventure."



In the distance, you can see one of the squad members sitting in the elevated shed, in the rain.



Further down the road, we were stopped by cowboys/cowgirls standing in the middle of the road. It turned out to be the highlight of the day trip. We got to see more than a hundred beautiful horses galloping across the road to pasture land on the other side. Never without our cameras, I, my husband and brother-in-law all jumped out and captured the action. My only regret is that I didn't turn the movie mode on for my camera. It's a new camera and I didn't think about it until about a half hour later. It would have been nice to capture the action and thundering sound of the horses in a more robust way than still photos.





Thursday was a rainy day, so we took the opportunity to just relax. One of my sisters and her husband and my brother had flown home Wednesday, so it was a smaller group doing the reminiscing but we spent most of the day recalling the years gone by. I tape recorded most of the conversations and will incorporate snippets of the audio into a slide show I will create of the trip.





I had to include a photo of my dad's hand. He made his living and provided for the family working with his hands. They are still strong hands, albeit a little shakier these days. As you can see, he gets around with a cane.




My dad said over and over during the trip that it was a great, great trip. I have never seen him so relaxed and content. Although he couldn't see the mountains perfectly, or roam around the campsite or walk across the logs that bridged the stream at the campground, he thoroughly enjoyed driving through the mountains, smelling the fresh mountain air and having his family around him all week. We all had a great time and created new memories that will be with us for a lifetime.

Dad, thank you for all you've done for us over the years. The memories you helped create by taking us camping at Byers Creek, formed the foundation for this trip in 2009.



We love you. Carol, Kathy, Barbara, Bobby (know to the rest of the world as Bob) and Liz