Super Adventures

Even though I am adventure dog at home, my adventures are usually squirrel-, bunny-, or party-related. Recently I endured the dreaded bath, which usually means I’m going to a party—but this time, Dad put my comfy cozy in the back seat of the car, and off I went for a long ride. This ride was much farther than the post office, the library, or GrammaGrampa’s house—my usual destinations. Our few stops were just false alarms, and I got very upset when Mom or Dad went inside a building for a few minutes, but pretty soon we were all together again rolling alongside big brown fields. Finally, we arrived at the adventure, which was called Amana.

Mostly I waited outside with one of my parents while the other went inside a store, but I got to swing on lots of swingy benches, and one time I even got to go inside an eating place with lots of tables. Mom and Dad kept ssshhhing me. They even gave me a treat every few minutes to keep me quiet. But whenever a lady in a white apron came over to ooh and aah at the cute doggie (me), I just had to whine and yip with excitement. I hoped all the ladies would pet me, but Mom said they might get in trouble with the health department if they did. So Mom and Dad wolfed hamburgers really really fast, and then one of the ladies let us out a back door. So that was my first new adventure.

The next adventure Mom and Dad spelled out. I thought B-N-B might be like when they spell out T-R-E-A-T or W-A-L-K so that I don’t flip out with excitement before they’re ready for me to flip out. Turns out B-N-B was a place with beds and halls. When the door of our room opened, I bolted to run up and down the halls with one of my parents chasing me. That was a fun game. I got to sleep all by myself on a very big bed. I was very tired from the Amana adventure and snort-snored loudly.

Wait, there’s more. The next day was an even longer ride in the car until we arrived at the next adventure, meeting a new aunt and uncle. First I explored their house, which had some fuzzy floors, some slippery floors, some fuzzy stairs, some slippery steps. My little legs went so fast, my ears flew behind me. Until I got used to the slippery steps, I made a few belly flops. I got lots of attention, but I was on-edge. I like routine, but even seeing my own food bowl from home, I felt too anxious to eat. So Mom fed me from her hand, and Dad took me out for lots of little walks. My aunt and uncle talked to me and petted me, and I was just starting to feel calmer, when all five of us went for a ride in an unfamiliar car—once again, I didn’t know what to expect.

This time, we went to lots of museums. And when I say “we,” I mean all five of us. Almost everywhere, nice people let me go inside museums. I felt very special and secure in dad’s arms. I was a good boy and didn’t bark while the adults looked at covered wagons and Christmas trees and movies about pioneers. Even when I saw horsies and oxen and buffalo in the pictures, I didn’t even whine. But then later, outside a soda fountain, ponies carrying Santa Claus clip-clopped right by me and I just had to bark and pull Dad toward the street. The whole day was one adventure after another and again, I seriously conked out at night.

By the time Mom and Dad and I packed up our car to drive back to our home, I was so tired from all my new adventures, I slept the whole 11-hour ride.

Slow Walks

Mommy was sick today. All morning was boring, because I had nothing to watch and no one to smile at. But when she took me for a walk, she took teeny tiny pokey steps, and that turned out good for me. When you walk slow, you can hear buzzy bees, whizzy cars, whirry birdwings. The best part was I got to sniff everything. Mom was on cement, which doesn't hold smells very well, but I walked on grass the whole time. She let me sniff as long as I wanted in all the grass. When I lingered by a yellow fire hydrant with a shiny, sticky side, she said "That's enough snifferdoodle," and we shuffled on. But that was the only time. If she had asked me, I could have told her which grass squirrels had scampered on, which grass the neighbor dogs had poopied on, which grass a birdie had stopped to pull a worm out of and what kind of berries that birdie ate earlier. When I smelled bunny on the grass, you better believe I looked under the nearest porch to find the bunny. I didn't find any bunnies, but I did feel like Adventure Dog.