My hounds all love to travel, and we travel everywhere. If a car door is open, they are in the car. They will stay in the car just waiting for me to take them somewhere. Because Car always means a good time. It’s 2013 and we just got back from Florida – a 40 hour drive. They are better travelers then I am. I have to stop every 250 miles or so, and go to the bathroom. They patiently wait in the car until I return. They easily go hours without getting out of the car. See below for Ode to Car.
Why would they leave the car when I’ve made it so comfy for them? My back seats are never up. The entire back is fully covered with egg-crate dog beds. Then I cover the dog beds, just in case something should happen. I don’t put any of my luggage in the back with them. That is either all in the front, or on top of the car, or under the dog beds. They can stretch and move and stay comfortable. Human passengers don’t exist in my car – only hound passengers.
When I’m doing a road trip with hounds, what I bring for them is more than what I bring for me. Here’s a list:
– Dog beds. I also bring ones I can carry easily with me. Rolled up with a handle of some kind so I can sling it over a shoulder. This way dogs have a bed should we be standing someplace for a while.
– Sheets to cover bed covers in homes and hotels where we stay. Towels, Paper Towels, plastic bags, poop bags.
– Food. Bowls. Metal Spoon/Fork. Can opener. Tip-proof water bowl for car.
– Toys. Bully sticks.
– Meds – Neem Flea Spray, slippery elm, joint supplements, salmon oil
– Pertinent vet records.
– Dog coat if it’s that time of year. Fleece blankets if needed.
– Muzzle. Leashes. Extra collars. Name/Phone tags.
– First Aid Kit
I also check on-line for fenced dog parks in the areas I’m traveling through and to, so they can really stretch their legs off leash.
Car
Car is simply “Car.”
And I love him.
He has done everything I ask of him, every time. He drives everywhere I want to go, at the speed we both like traveling at. He spends hours alone, and never complains. He goes out in any weather, and gets places safely. He always starts, and always stops when I ask. When we had a big tire blowout, traveling in excess of 70 mph, car gracefully let me pull him over to the side without mishap. No panic on his part. Car is my protector, my home away from home.
All the Gang greyhounds love Car. Car is the first thing they know when they leave behind the life of crates and running for their lives. He is their first haven. And they never forget that. They trust Car. They can be scared of everything around them, but they know that Car will protect them.
Say his name — “Car” — and they become jumping beans. “Yes, yes, yes.” they say — “Go in Car.” If they at all think we are going to visit Car, they are ecstatic. When we walk around the yard, they always end the walk surrounding Car. Bobbing and weaving and saying, “Car, we want to go with you.” They will chase Car down the driveway if Car tries to leave without them.
Car brings them immeasurable joy. Car protects and provides. He took them from their former lives, and gives them daily opportunities to experience new adventures. Car never disappoints.
Even though Car knows he is on his last legs, he doesn’t stop. He might complain a little more, be a little slower to react, a little slower to get places, need more time to rest. But he’s still always there. He’d never think to let the greyhounds down. Not in 120 degree heat, or zero degree cold.
Quite simply, we love Car.
The Day
You have to understand that when I left my East Coast life style in 1993, I broke up with a boyfriend and I sold my classic, red, convertible Karmann Ghia. I cried harder when the new owner drove away in the Ghia, then when I told the boyfriend good-bye. So I have a history of loving my cars. I don’t believe I’ve ever loved and respected a car as much as I do CAR. Yet at this moment, Beauty, Smiles and I have hitched a ride on a Vegas-bound bus, where we’re going to pick up our new car – a 1997 Honda Odyssey Van.
I’ve never seen it, except in pictures. I’ve never driven it. But it’s going to be our new car – CAR2.Before I left I slipped behind the wheel of CAR. And I just sat. Red dust, torn plastic, worn seats, cracked windshield surrounded me as overwhelming sadness engulfed me. CAR had never once let me or the greyhounds down. He never refused to go, he was always ready and willing to rescue and chauffeur. It didn’t matter to him that I once picked 200 ticks off a greyhound on a 10 hour ride from rescue to my home. Or that another time, we packed seven greyhounds into his willing and generous cargo space. Or that over the years, hundreds of hounds had adorned and adored his interior.
I sat there, just slumped in the seat because I couldn’t even bring myself to start stripping CAR of the trappings I’d need for CAR2. The license plates, key chain, sunglasses, terra cotta aromatherapy holder, Jezebel and Eli pewter figurines that had traveled cross country with me, the insurance…to take from CAR these representative items which brought him to life. I felt like a traitor.
I slid out of CAR, thinking I would just take the plates off first. I walked slowly around to the back, my hand trailing along his dusty side. I couldn’t even get the plates off, CAR was holding on so tight. I moved to the front, and knelt in the gravel driveway in homage to CAR, and he let me remove the front. I had not noticed how the road and the journeys we had taken had reshaped the plates. They were rusted, bent and cracked, and my heart lurched with renewed respect for all the journeys CAR had allowed me and the greyhounds to make safely.
Believe me, I know this sounds a bit ridiculous. However, the tears are all true and undeniable. Without CAR’s steadfastness and trueness, greyhounds would not have been rescued so well. I never had to think about whether CAR would make it. He just always did.
The ride back from Vegas in CAR2 was quick, easy and light. There is more room for the greyhounds, they don’t have to jump as high to get into CAR2 (which is helpful for my crew all 10 and over) and it’s better gas mileage. But this first trip was not an adventure, like it used to be with CAR, it was just a drive.
ADDENDUM: CAR went to his new home today. Landon (yes, named for Little Joe) Loveland, and his wife Erica met CAR, and drove him to his new home that day. The hounds and I watched CAR drive up the driveway for the last time.
ADDENDUM2: We’ve been through a few cars since then – Honda Element, Honda Fit, Ford Escape Hybrid, Honda CRV and they’ve all been wonderful dog mobiles. Traversing across country numerable times safely and adventurously. We just bought a 2016 Honda Odyssey van because Gang has mushroomed to four big hounds – Oliver: Staghound; Millie: Afghan; Remy: Borzoi; Xander: Scottish Deerhound puppy and little Bodhi: Italian Greyhound. We are visiting friends in San Felipe this holiday season and dog sitting and to cross the border we needed a lot of cargo space to keep the hounds safe and happy on the 12 hour ride. We are not in love with this car – truck-like driving, mechanical and cosmetic issues, silly screens that don’t hook up to Apple Car Play. So we shall see…