On The Road
Coming up at the end of this month I’m going to be taking a little trip to the coast. I’m greatly looking forward to this adventure as it’s been more than 18 months since I’ve seen my beloved Pacific Ocean. Oh, and visiting with friends and Mom… those are important too.
Really, there’s only one thing I’m not looking forward to. It’s going to be a long drive.
Now, the drive in and of itself is no big deal. I love driving. However, the Mud Dog is not the most polite driving partner. He loves to go for rides, but he has an exuberance issue that I haven’t quite been able to master. (Hey, don’t rush me. I’ve only had the Mud Dog for ten years.)
The exuberance issue begins the night before departure. Once the suit case, box of cassettes and munchies, Mud Dog’s blanket, Mud Dog’s food, Mud Dog’s chewie and Mud Dog’s water are in the car, Mud Dog alternately trembles, pants and bounces. He’s not a small dog, therefore the bouncing is rather humorous; unless, of course, he’s bouncing upstairs while I’m downstairs.
Anyway, once we’ve all gotten a little sleep, morning will dawn and Mud Dog will be somewhat normal. He’ll be normal until I pick up his collar. The sound of the collar will set him off and while he’ll do his best to sit patiently so I can fasten it about his neck, his paws will be tapping the floor. Once the collar is fastened there’s no calming the beast until a day and a half AFTER reaching our destination.
I plan to be on the road by 7am. This means that about 20 minutes later we’ll have our first pit stop – so that Mud Dog can fertilize a bit of God’s not-so-green earth. Then will come the leaping from front seat to back seat amid a flurry of breathy huffs and chuffs, tongue hanging out about as far as it possibly can while remaining connected. This particular stage of the drive – accompanied by the occasional, “Damn it, Mud Dog, knock it off!” – will last from about Nampa, Idaho to, say, Portland, Oregon.
During a lengthy drive such as this one, Mud Dog will calm down and sleep for about the 90 minutes between Portland and Astoria. Once we get to Astoria, however, the familiar scents and sounds will have him pasted to the window (if it’s warm enough, his head will be OUT the window). I fully expect him to dance, prance and whine from the second we hit Chinook until we actually get to Mom’s house. That could well be the longest ten minutes of the whole drive.
The last time Mud Dog and I made this trip it was the second week in April, two years ago. That time, we were traveling in my beloved – and much mourned – black, F150, manual transmission pickup.
–As an aside, don’t park your beloved truck on the street or some stranger will fall asleep at the wheel, plow into the left rear, total your truck and leave you growling about foolish people who fall asleep at the wheel!–
The pickup had vinyl seats. My Married Lady Car (Ford Crown Victoria) has velour seats. This may seem like an insignificant difference, but I promise you it is not. With the velour seats, and Mud Dog’s penchant for sniffing every window and sitting in every seat, this means that there can be quite the static electricity build up. This means I will most likely be shocked quite frequently! Grrr.
Damn it, Mud Dog, knock it off!
All things considered, I’m very eagerly looking forward to this trip. I miss my Mom. A lot. And I miss my friends, church, the ocean and the marvelous explosion of vibrant, living greenery.
Maybe I’ll stay a little longer than originally planned. Maybe I’ll head out a day earlier. After all, if I’m coming in Friday, I’ll get there just in time for the traffic. And, because it’s going to be a “clam tide weekend”, everyone and their dog will be heading toward the peninsula.
Huh… Maybe I should leave at 6!
Until next time…
Please include Northwest Journal in all correspondence. JD_DSVic at Yahoo.com
Copyright © 2010 D. S. Vic
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