Traveling Day

This is an end-of-the-day exhale photo . . . "ah, we got one!" Inspite of that, it contains everything these two people need: the shoreline and the waves!

We could have left several days ago for some much desired days away, but we didn't. In the past we've had the good fortune of enjoying many planned vacations. We've traveled lots of the rivers in America: the Columbia, the Mississippi (northern and southern), the Ohio, the Missouri, all the rivers and waterways from St. Louis to Mobile, Alabama, the Intracoastal Watery Way of Texas, and ocean cruises to numerous places and all of those were wonderful. We murdered numerous piggy banks in order to travel and if we hadn't done so, we'd probably have a big wad of money now, but not if we'd stashed it in the bank or invested it in stocks or 401Ks; the economy has murdered those. So we savor the memories of those vacations, but today this vacation began on our timetable.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be on a cruise. One of my teaching buddies left on January 4th out of San Diego and will be back in a month after visiting Hawaii and Tahiti! Wow! I'm green with envy, but I don't think I could take being gone from home for a month.

So, no planes to catch, no ship or no boat to embark. We packed our things and for the first time ever packed all that we thought we'd need to bring three dogs with us. With a car that couldn't possibly take one more of anything; we all slid into our places. As hard as Mr. Fun tried, he couldn't figure a way to get both dog seats in the backseat. So one hangs over the headrest in the frontseat and the other is seatbelted in the backseat right behind Mr. Fun. So I sat in the backseat catycorner from Mr. Fun with a dog on my lap. Yes, that dog would be Chloe (because she thinks she owns me). I really don't mind sitting in the back.

So Mr. Fun selected the destination. We are in the city where my Grammie Teele lived when I was growing-up. We like this city a lot. Mostly we like the ocean. We're about 90 minutes from home. When we arrived at the motel, I told Mr. Fun he could take a look at the room and make sure that the dog crate and all the junk we had brought would fit in the room and while he did that I would stay in the car with the pups.

So here we are in Carlsbad in a room that accomodates the five of us. We hauled all of our junk inside, set-up the dog crate (they each usually have their own--so it will be interesting to see if they really all sleep well tonight in one).

We are so excited to be "gone." We have no agenda. This vacation will be an experiment--traveling with 3 dogs. We don't have to be home for two weeks (I'm sure we won't stay "gone" for that amount of time), but we will change distinations several time.

So far we've had a delicous dinner at the Vera Cruz Fish House. Now we are settling in for the evening. Chloe and Mitzi seem to be settling, but Max isn't too sure. I think he's a typical male--he wants to walk this entire city. He wants to snoop and investigate and see what's here. I've walked him all around the motel grounds several times, but he's not yet satisfied. So I am going to sign-off to snuggle with him and see if he will settle.

And if you really want to know, it was Mr. Fun's idea to bring the 3 pups with us. This is also his photo, taken through the windshield of the car just after we exited the restaurant. If you've read this far, thank you!

Good night from the southern coast of Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol