- May 3, 2020

1000 MILES, THE END IS IN SIGHT...

I am sitting in the back seat of an indecently loaded SUV. One arm is hooked behind me to console the unhappy cat in the tent. The other is wrapped around 45 pounds of panting dog. Wedged between the dog and the other side of the vehicle are the fish and frog. There's a second cat who's irritated the dog's tail is in her face. Up front manning the navigator's seat is my daughter, Eden. Terry drives calmly. Our own "eye of the hurricane".

We have now topped 1000 miles and there's more to come. I'm not just talking about stretches of highway. I see much more. This is our chance to rise above and challenge ourselves to learn more, explore more, and essentially be more. One of my favorite authors is Kurt Vonnegut. (Hailing from the University of Iowa's writing school.) He writes much about living..but it's an existence that's stagnant, nothing more than going through the motions of another day. Same routine, same scenery, same result, until death do your part. I want to keep writing those chapters in my life. I want to see my horizons in the distance, not directly in front of me. I want all of us to live with a passion.

So we jostle together in a critter filled, cramped, but curiously happy SUV. Nimbus the Weather Dog is probably the most excited about traveling. It's sad to say, but he recognizes the McDonald's sign. He is living the life right now because I worry about him eating. (He won't touch dog food at this time.) So he is getting more spoiled by the hour. He is a lover of the human race so is making friends left and right at each stop. Going down the elevator at the hotel this morning, a patron offered him a piece of pizza which he accepted. A bit surprising since one of his favorite tricks is to immediately drop the food and then look up sadly. The individual responds by giving him everything which he greedily accepts. Once he realizes he's got as much as he's going to get, he happily eats his food or treat.

We finished our trek across Ohio today and moved forward through Pennsylvania and New York before stopping in Massachusetts for the night. I took Nimbus with me to get ice down the hallway and he "Free Willied" himself through the hotel. I wasn't worried until I realized the automatic doors didn't discriminate between canine or customer. So he burst out the door pleased beyond belief with himself. He sped back and forth relishing his freedom until the moment came where I had the smallest, most tiniest, remote chance to grab the dog. He had to shall I say, poo. That's a good 30-60 second task. So he was collared during a most unfortunate but relieving moment for him.

Items of interest for you. The New York Tollway now features Text Stops. Yes, these are quick turnouts for you to send off a few quick messages. Plus every stop was a mandatory face covering. It's pretty obvious New York is suffering so much more than many areas of the U.S. from the pandemic. Did you know that Petsmart sells pot dog bones! Nimbus chewed his way through New York on one of them. I think he caught a little buzz.

So tomorrow we will finally be in Portland, Maine. We have made it fairly unscathed. The fish (Cheeto) and frog (Orpheus) are still alive. The two cats are going strong...maybe and ounce or two lighter. And Nimbus, of course is relishing the whole adventure. Here's a picture taken Saturday night of Cheeto and Orpheus.

Now for the question of where is Bobblehead Terry. Well, at this point we were in a place where you could not go into buildings without a face mask. (Completely understandable) so because I only had a bandanna. I was reluctant to traverse inside. So I took BobbleHead Terry's picture outside. Clues for you. Note the gas prices have gone WAAAY up. It's more than 600 miles (but less than less than a 1000) from Marion, Iowa. We were in a suburb of a major city in the state of New York. It's considered an oasis on a major U.S. interstate highway. The region is known to be FINGER LICKING GOOD! Okay that is all the clues you are getting. Good Luck. I know we have a smart group out there.