Road Trip by Clover the Black Lab

We were hauled out of our nice warm beds Sunday morning before the sun came up. It was cold and rainy and I really wanted to go back to bed. The person left us in the back yard while she put a bunch of stuff in the truck. When she was done loading everything, she came back for me and Cosmo.

We were held captive in the back seat of the truck for hours and hours. My head hurts from the pounding of the rain, and I just knew it was going to start with the thunder and lightning any minute.

Hmm. Love the smell of coffee – but she wont’ let me have any. She did give me a piece of her biscuit sandwhich that the nice lady under the yellow arches gave her through the window. Like those ladies at the window a lot!

Cosmo stretched out in the back seat and he took up so much room. I hate that. Why can’t he just stay on his side of the truck and let me have my side? Noooo. He had to stretch out and no matter where I sat, he had to touch me.

I sat up for a couple of hours looking out the window. I just knew it was going to start thunder and lightning any time. I stayed awake and alert so I could bark at the storm if I had to.

I was so sleepy, but I couldn’t close my eyes. Stayed alert in case SHE stopped the truck and I got a chance to get out and walk around. I sure needed to stretch.

The person’s favorite place to make a “pit stop” is a restaurant called Cracker Barrel. She says the bathrooms are usually clean, not that I would ever know because I have to stay in the truck. They always have a nice patch of grass around their restaurants and there are always a lot of people around too. Cosmo gets to go for his walk first because he is so impatient. When he gets in the back seat, then I get to go. Sometimes, he doesn’t like to get back in the truck, so the person has to pick his ass up and shove him in. He doesn’t like that, but I think its funny! We repeated this exercise a couple of times during the day .. always in the rain. There is a funky smell in the truck … you know … a wet person smell. Ugh.

I finally was able to push Cosmo off to the side and get a spot of the back seat for myself. He was snoring. The person was singing along to some song on the radio, and it was still raining. Stayed alert.

Usually when we make a road trip to visit the old folks and my friend Misty, a.k.a.: The Hairy Beast, in Florida, we stay one night in a hotel in South Carolina or Georgia. I don’t mind it much as long as it is quiet and clean. If it is noisy then I get nervous and bark a lot. But this day, it seemed like we weren’t stopping and were going to drive all the way. Oh my gosh! What was she thinking! It was still raining and we wanted out of the truck!

Hours and hours passed and we were still in the truck. It was dark out by now, and of course, it was still raining. I was so hungry and tired of being in the truck all day. I couldn’t sleep a wink because I just knew it was going to start with the thunder and lightning any minute.

What do you know? She finally slowed the truck down and it looked like we were getting off the highway. Hmmm. She rolled the window down and I could smell the Florida air. It smelled very familiar. It was still raining, but not that bad anymore. I could tell – we were almost there!

Ahhhhhh. We made it. Door flung open. We jump out and run to the front door of the house where the old folks and the Hairy Beast live. The rain was still coming down and I could hear the frogs chirping all around us. I didn’t care. I was just so glad to get out of that damned truck.