“The journey not the arrival matters.” – T. S. Eliot

We recently went to visit family in Baltimore for the Thanksgiving holiday. And since Dolce basically becomes Ghandi and goes on a hunger strike every time I leave her, we figured it'd be best to bring her along with us. And so, Dolce's first road trip commenced.

As we got ready and we were packing the bags to leave I was chatting with my mother and she told me we'd be taking my dad's truck and not her car, so we could bring stuff back with us.  I was immediately perturbed because, anyone who has sat in the cab of a truck for a long period can attest, it's super uncomfortable and not very roomy.  But nonetheless we made due.  So I immediately started planning and figuring who was going to sit where, as I had planned to sit in the back seat with Dolce, in my mother's car.  And I was immediately informed that  my father had "called shotgun" for Dolce a few days prior. Yes, he called shotgun for a dog, I'm not sure what's worse, that  or the fact that he'd rather sit next t the dog than his wife or daughter, but I digress.  Dolce loved it up front, for most of the drive.  David pet her, played with her, she got to keep watch out the windows and she slept in her own seat.  But then a few hours in we started getting the face you see above.  She was just dying to get in the back with Nancy and I.  We eventually switched during one of David's mandated "Dolce breaks" and Nancy moved up front and Dolce and snuggled in back for the remaining hours down to Baltimore. I have to say all in all she handled the trip really really well.  I thought for sure she'd be a terror in the car since it was pouring buckets and she didn't get a walk before we left.  But she mostly slept and we played intermittently between her naps.  She did really well adjusting to her city life at my brother's place, although I think the cats in the neighborhood were none to happy to see us walking down the street, giving me a new found respect for what Smudges deals with every day. And after a few fun days in the Charm City, we headed home again, Dolce now an experienced traveler kept her eyes on the road and said good bye to her first road trip and hopefully the first of many big adventures on the road.