We really, really should have practiced this before we actually did it live for the first time.

Today was the first actual "trip" we took in the truck with the chair and the critters. Tucker was already hyper and we finally had to confine him to his crate since he was trying to get under James' feet as he rolled the suitcase down the stairs. Since the birdcage had to be wrapped in a plastic bag before we put it into the truck bed, Snowy had to go into the carry box while we loaded the bed. Everything had to be wrapped in plastic bags because there was a good chance of rain (and it did sprinkle for a while around Cumming), and the suitcase took two, the CPAP bag another, the cookies and crackers for the common room one more. The bird cage didn't fit in a bag horizontally, so we just put it on top, like a big cap. (Bad idea not tying it on the bottom; it blew out somewhere on I-285 and all the seed spilled; good thing I brought more.) Then we put a tarp on top of that. Only then did we get the chance to load the chair and put the new cover on top; it does not go all the way down to the bottom of the chair as we expected. Once that was all tied down, then I could come downstairs looking like Doctor Doolittle's wife, pash around my neck, carry box in one hand, dog leash in the other.

We had a laugh at the vet: you used to have to drag Willow away from James. Tucker was entranced by this new place: smells! Dog toys! Cookie scraps on the floor! He walked to the back with the vet tech without a backward glance! Thanks, ol' faithful hound. :-)

On the way up it was chilly and foggy and then some sprinkles and then some mist, and then it was as if someone waved a hand. The clouds never actually cleared, but it got brighter, and we could see all the trees in bloom and the grass sprouting and cows grazing peacefully on both sides of the road and the horses at the riding stable down in the valley off the road lazing in a picket line. I'd had an idea before we left home: go the Sprouts behind the vet's office and buy Italian wedding soup for lunch. Rats. They've changed it to Thursday. Friday's soup is now clam chowder. Theirs is delicious, but not what we wanted. I got some muffins for our breakfast, and very soon afterwards found a Krystal for lunch after we purchased gas.

But we made it, "childless" until Sunday. We're all gathered at the Country Inn and Suites in the conference room which is ours for the weekend, gossiping, catching up, nibbling on cookies, trading job stories, etc.

Labels: birds, dogs, food, pets, vacation

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 5:47:00 PM

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