She rolled down her car window as I stood in the parking space next door, guiding Bill and Abbey Road between the lines. “Hey,” the woman said, resting her forearm on the sill. “Good luck with your marriage.” I turned, my arms still outstretched. “My parents almost divorced after a week in one of those,”Continue reading “A Farewell to Abbey Road”
Tag Archives: van dogs
Life is Good if You’re a Lab
Our vet said once that in her next life she wants to come back as a lab. Motivated by food and fetch, they wake happy, joyful at the prospect of another day of kibble, Kongs, belly rubs, and head scratches. Most would include walks on the list. Not Maisie. Let me clarify: leashed walks. AtContinue reading “Life is Good if You’re a Lab”
When Maisie Met Frankie
Love at first bite. Oh, there had been others. Sunny in Oregon. The border collie in Utah. Ruby at Huntington Beach. But only to Frankie did Maisie attach like a barnacle. A 4-year-old black lab, Frankie wooed her with pool leaps and hors d’oeuvres snatching. Unnecessary; he had her at the first tussle, as theyContinue reading “When Maisie Met Frankie”
Parking Lot Slumber
Things are pretty quiet here in the Bass Pro Shop parking lot just off CA 120 in Manteca. Eighteen minutes until closing. With luck a security guard will not knock on the door and ask why a nice couple and their lab from Newburyport, MA, in a rented Dodge RAM camper van, are spending thisContinue reading “Parking Lot Slumber”
California Living – and Driving
There’s #vanlife in theory and #vanlife in practice. In the first, the vans are parked and the residents jump into streams or swing on a hammock. In the second, vans are on the move, rolling down interstates or clinging to the edge of windy gravel roads along canyons. #vanlife is, if anything, driving. Lots ofContinue reading “California Living – and Driving”
Camping Wherever
The woman with the broad face by the door at the Kayenta, AZ Chevron station smiled ever-so-slightly. “Camping?” she said, pointing up the highway from where we had just driven. “Utah. Or maybe the Grand Canyon.” What she didn’t say was: “Idiot. There is no camping on tribal lands.” And tribal lands – Navajo andContinue reading “Camping Wherever”
Helmet Required
The sun is bright, the skies are clear, and the wind howls with a gale force on this remote spot on a fire road in a National Forest just outside of the Grand Canyon. Denver Son recommended this site and we are grateful – grateful that we didn’t have to drive another hour in theContinue reading “Helmet Required”
Trail Napping
She was doing so well. The dog who refuses to budge from her driveway, who plops down at every intersection, who hasn’t met a patch of grass she wouldn’t sniff, ambled happily on the trails around our site at the Saddlehorn Campground at the Colorado National Monument. Maisie danced down dirt paths, her paws coveredContinue reading “Trail Napping”
Of Birthdays and Bison
It seemed, initially, that the highlight of Maisie’s first full day in Denver — son #1’s 28th birthday — would be the unimpeded access to Luke’s comfy couch. But then we walked her around nearby Sloan Lake and she thrilled at the infinite supply of goose poop. That delight, however, was dwarfed by our afternoonContinue reading “Of Birthdays and Bison”
Hotel Redemption, Cultural Failure
What’s not to like about Nebraska? The drivers for one. The speed (75 mph). The weaving. The blocking (that’s you Ms. Ponytail in the SUV with the YOLO sticker). Bostonians are meek in comparison. Off the road, however, people are congenial, the terrain more rolling than Iowa, a state so flat you can see fromContinue reading “Hotel Redemption, Cultural Failure”
Driving Miss Maisie 