DeeBee’s Travel Blog – 2009
Day one
Hi! My name is DeeBee. Allow me to introduce myself. I am a middle-aged Golden Retriever, male at birth, but since altered, with a permanent residence in Ventura, California. I was originally called “Dog Baby”, but one of my human partners found this objectionable and shortened it up to DeeBee. That’s fine with me, as I think that a dog’s name should be no more than two syllables long. Anything longer than that, we lose patience and our minds wander. But I digress. I need to introduce my human partners, Geri and Don. I joined them when I was a little more than a puppy, and have their Son, Gary, to thank for this, as he found me, educated me, and left me in their care. When I went to live with them, they already had another Goldie, an old fellow named Buddy. Buddy taught me a lot about how to get the most enjoyment from living with humans, and I respected him greatly. Since Buddy went to Dog Heaven (you know that all dogs go to Heaven), I have been the only canine member of Geri and Don’s household. We have a home that is based on mutual respect, and I am particularly respectful of their efforts to feed me and walk me on my extremely rigid schedule. I do my best to show my love and dedication to them by eating anything they put in front of me, playing “keep-away” with my toys, and licking their wrists when extra love is needed. But enough about me.
This Blog is meant to describe our adventures on a long-planned trip across our country, visiting friends and family in many places. This trip is not a first for me, as Buddy and I went on a similar trip with Geri and Don several years ago. I learned a lot on that trip, particularly how to live happily in a motorhome, which doesn’t have much room to run around in. But every day brings new walks, new smells, new people to pet me and tell me how handsome I am, and I really do love it. I can’t say that I would like to travel every day for the rest of my life, but it really is a nice change. I think that this trip will be a lot of fun for me, and maybe even educational.
We left Ventura this afternoon, the Saturday after the Monday that we were originally scheduled to leave. See, the way things work in our family is that Don, who was born as an Engineer, sort of like a Border Collie in our way of thinking, always seems to think that things can be done on schedule if they are planned correctly. Geri, a former airline stew and Federal Government Bureaucrat, finds all kinds of loose ends, new problems, and other reasons to delay departure, a kind of German Shepherd attitude, making sure everything is safe. Geri always wins. So, on Saturday, we finally put things together for our departure. Our friend Bill, from next door, came over to wish us a safe trip, and Joe, from across the street, the housemate of my temptress Debbie of the Doggy Treats, came to help us get underway. My canine acquaintance Jonah, from the corner across the street, also made his way into my motorhome. My welcome was a bit brusque, I must admit, as Jonah is a bit more cavalier in his evaluation of situations than I am. I didn’t bite him, but I let him know that he was less than welcome.
So, a little after lunch, we were off. I took my place on the couch, where I could look out the window to ascertain our progress, and we roared up the Ventura Highway, to trudge up the Conejo Grade and make our way through the upscale part of Ventura County. We soon entered low-speed San Fernando Valley, and I assumed a place of repose on the floor, in recognition of the slow pace and their animated discussion of where we were going to spend the night. It sounded like the place that Don wanted to stay didn’t exist, and Geri wanted to stay in Ohio. I like Ohio, so that was ok with me. We stopped at a rest stop, and I was really glad, cause I needed a rest and to take a dump, which I did. Geri spent a lot of time talking to the thing that she holds up next to her head, and her tone of voice sounded like she wanted to tell someone to “Lay Down!” It was getting dark when we finally stopped in a place called Indio, and I got my dinner. Geri took me for a walk, and we met some people who said I was beautiful. That always makes my day. Don and Geri had red beans and rice for dinner, which is good for me, cause I get the bowls when they’re finished. After dinner, I dictated this installment of my blog to Don, and we all went to bed.
Day two
Don and I got up at 6:00 AM, as we normally do, and he made me a nice breakfast, as he always does. One thing I miss about taking these trips is that I don’t get to do my morning job, bringing the newspaper in from the driveway. Well, I really don’t miss the work that much, but I do miss my paycheck, which consists of two cookies. We spent a lot of time organizing things in the motorhome, and Don took me for a walk around the RV Park. I found a putting green that had a lot of signs that said “No Dogs!”, and peed on one of the signs. A lady stopped and petted me and told me I was very handsome, which bolstered my self-image. We got on the road about noon, and I took a nap. I missed seeing the CHP chase down a speeder who passed us doing about 100 MPH (faster than a whippet!), but I did see the Colorado River when we crossed it. Geri spent a lot more time talking to the thing she holds up next to her head. We finally made it to the place we were going to stay about six o’clock, and Geri took me for a walk. Some people asked Geri if I was available to help train their new Goldie puppy, to show her how we are supposed to behave. Don and Geri had salmon for dinner, and I got some good plates. Don and I did the blog, and we went to bed.


Day Three
Don and I went for a long walk through this RV park this morning; it’s really huge! We see a lot of flags with a leaf on them; Don says they‘re Canadian, which is a country way up north, further than where Gary lives. We met one of them, from a place called Victoria, a man with a funny little dog that looked like he was part Chihuahua and part Pomeranian. The stupid little dog tried to mate with me. Don and the man seemed to be getting along OK, they were talking about motorhomes. Bob has a Beaver Patriot Thunder, 550 HP, that Don was drooling over. Believe me, I know drooling when I see it. When we got back to our rig, there was a lot of discussion between Geri and Don about the satellite antenna, which they use to watch TV; it wasn’t working. Then they had to leave to have lunch with their friends Robyn and Bob. They gave me my lunch and made sure I had plenty of ice water before they left. I took a nice nap. When they got back, Geri took me for a very pleasant walk around the RV park, and I got to meet a lot of people and some more stupid dogs. Geri told me about Robyn and Bob’s new puppy, Archie. It seems Archie has a thing about eating socks, then puking them up again. I would never think of doing that. A little later, we were visited by Jim and Vicky; I knew Jim from meeting him in Washington, he is Brian’s dad. He has a dog named Baby, with whom I got along very well when I met him a few years ago. I had never met Vicky before, but I really like her. She petted me a lot and told me I was a very nice dog. Jim and Vicky recently mated (well, you call it married), and I’m really happy that they found each other. We watched “24” on the TV, and went to bed.
Day Four
We all got up early (except Don, who slept till 7:30), because we were going to get ready to leave Mesa Spirit and go somewhere else. Geri took me for a nice walk, and we met Bob and his stupid little dog Lexxy (who I’m beginning to like). They talked about our satellite problem, and Bob said he might be able to help, as he had similar problems on the Patriot. After Geri dropped me off back at the rig, while she went to the shower, Don and Bob got together and spent a lot of time playing with the television, while Lexxy and I got better acquainted. He’s not a bad dog at all, just has a real playful streak, not serious like me. Don and Bob seemed really happy about what they were doing, so I was happy too. When my human partners are pleased, I am pleased. Don got us ready to leave, and we hit the road about 10:30, and headed south on Interstate 10. What a bore. We stopped for fuel at Casa Grande. When Don finished fueling, he pulled into a waiting area while Geri was still in the store. I guess she panicked when she looked out and saw the rig was gone. She came running out and found us. When she got aboard, she said that she thought that Don had finally done it and ditched her. We got big dog laughs out of that. We got back on the road and drove, and drove and drove. We stopped at a rest stop, and the place was so rocky that it hurt my delicate little paws. I complained and limped, getting a lot of attention. We kept going until we reached Deming, New Mexico, and pulled into another gravel pit of an RV Park. The people there were nice, though, and I got a lot of attention, which made me feel better about not having a lot of grass to run and roll in. I did find a patch of dead grass, and I had to roll in it just to make up for my recent grassless days. Don and Geri had soup for dinner, and gave me the bowls, which made me feel a lot better. We watched some old Clint Eastwood movies and went to bed.

Day Five
We got an early (for us) start, about 9:45, out of our RV park. Don had taken me out for a walk, and I complained bitterly with every step about gravel, burrs, and lack of grass. He kept telling me that things would get better, but I’ll believe it when I see it. So we went through Las Cruces and El Paso and made a stop at a rest area. I took a look around and saw it was more of the same; rocks, burrs and no grass. Geri took me for a walk, but I found a way to feign a limp in three legs at the same time. She got fussy and handed me over to Don, who petted and talked to me, while keeping me on concrete. We got back in the rig and headed southeast again. Don says that the expression “Miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles” was invented in West Texas; I believe him. First it was boring mountain ranges, then they even took those away! I took a nice nap. We stopped for fuel in a place called Van Horn, and Geri took me out for a walk in another patch of dead grass. Fortunately, it didn’t last long. We wound up tonight in a place called Fort Stockton. Don likes the name of the place, because he was born in Stockton, California. Geri likes the RV park because they have a restaurant there, and she can get a real meal. I see more of the same underfoot, gravel and burrs to aggravate my tender tootsies. But there are some nice people here who appreciate a good dog who desires only their friendship and their petting. I met quite a few. When Don and Geri got back from dinner, we went outside and looked at the stars, which are quite plentiful here. Don and Geri fought with the TV some more, then Don and I worked on the blog . We went to bed early.
Day Six
Boy, this gig sucks. I’m not getting my regular morning mile walks, what walking I am allowed is on sharp pointed gravel or burr infested weeds, I have to poop on demand, there’s no grass to roll in . . . I could go on, but what’s the use. We left Fort Stockton about 9:30, heading east on this interminable Highway 10. It goes up, it goes down, it goes left, it goes right, and it goes and goes and goes. We saw a lot of windmills on the hills around us, but they weren’t turning. We made one stop at a “Picnic Area”, which was no picnic. We finally stopped for the day at a town called Boerne, about 30 miles short of San Antonio. This place is in the Texas “Hill Country”, which I thought we had been experiencing for two days. The park we’re in is a cut above the places we’ve had recently; there’s a little grass, and the roads are paved, reducing the gravel experience. Don and Geri went shopping, and I got a little nap. When they got back, Geri took me for a walk and I got to meet some deer. They’re pretty big. We also saw a very big dog, who didn’t look real friendly; Geri restrained me, and I didn’t try to make friends. Don fixed some chicken paprikesh for dinner, one of my favorites; the plates were great. We worked on the blog and went to bed.