[ SHOWGSD-L ] Dog Stuff, or "How I Spent My Summer Vacation"
- From: "The Crystal Crow" <thecrystalcrow@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:00:02 -0400
Well, we went to see Mom.
We were going to see Rhea, an 8-month-old GSD. If she and Terra the Lhasa
got along, she would be coming home with us for some intensive
socialization.
Jackie, Terra and I set out in my Grand Caravan, thoroughly vetted out by
the mechanic before we left. "Remember" he said, "You're going to need valve
cover gaskets when you get back. Otherwise, everything is fine. Have a great
trip!"
Famous last words.
Driving to NY from Virginia is not a piece of cake. You have to plan your
departure times to miss the rush hour traffic around DC and all points
north. We left at 3 AM on Wednesday morning. Twenty miles out of Richmond on
I-95, I see a half-dozen cars pulled off to the left and a tractor-trailer
pulled off to the right. I'm in the hammer lane, and something looms in the
headlights. Nowhere to go-"HOLD ON!" BANG!
I ran over an I-beam that had apparently fallen from a truck. I watched the
gauges in the dark, wiggled the wheel, tested the brakes, and no apparent
damage-whew! We lucked out.
Eight hours later, I pull into Mom's driveway, and we decide to go out to
lunch. I have the only vehicle that can ride more than two people, so we
pile in the van. I stop at the end of the driveway for passing traffic?well,
I ATTEMPT to stop at the end of the driveway. The brakes bottom out and the
van keeps moving for a few feet. Dummy that I am, I decide that this is an
aberration. My mechanic told me everything was fine. He wouldn't lie to me,
would he?
A few miles down the road, the brakes burn up completely. We turn around and
nurse the van back up the mountain. Yes, I went down the mountain with no
brakes. You decide-optimist or idiot? I was internally voting for "idiot".
Getting out of the car, Jackie hears a noise. Apparently I've also split a
radiator hose. She looks under the van and finds a tan mark on the hose that
matches the color of the I-beam I ran over in Virginia. Surprise! Down the
mountain I go again (albeit very slowly in low gear), to the mechanic in
Walker Valley. The hose and brakes will be replaced and I can pick up the
van in the morning-hooray!
We still hadn't had anything to eat, and by this time we're starving. The
only problem is, Mom has a truck. A very nice truck with bucket seats. A
truck that cannot seat more than two people due to the thyroidal console
between the two bucket seats. Well, no problem-someone can ride in the back.
What? It's illegal to ride in the back of a pickup in New York? Jackie
volunteers to ride in the back LYING DOWN to get to the diner. Mom and I
call out "COP!" through the back window every time we see a police car. We
had a great lunch with the biggest desserts I have ever seen, and piled into
the truck (Jackie, of course, lying in the back again) and went back to
Mom's. Whoops-"COP! Don't move!"
Then we played with dogs. It was great to see Jeddie, Brando, Forest, Rhea
and even Burns the Lab puppy. I got doggie kisses from everyone, and no one
laughed when I cried for Eagle. Terra lived up to her name and terrorized
everyone except Forest, who was in a run so she wouldn't eat Terra. Terra
wanted to play with Brando badly-he looks a lot like Eagle, and she misses
him very much. Burns drove her nuts, so we had a laugh at her expense and
Mom put Burns in a run to give her a break.
Rhea was a surprise-I got a kiss within a few minutes, and so did Jackie. I
loaded up with really stinky dog treats first to coax her in. She was very
sweet. The shy ones seem to trust me, and I've had good luck with them in
the past.
The next morning, we picked up the van and decided to take it and go to New
Paltz to pick up dog food and to go shopping. We stopped for lunch and took
the scenic route back home. I parked the van next to the dog yard and the
dogs came out to play and my van went "BANG!" Oh, no, not again! Another
radiator hose had split. Back down the mountain to the mechanic in Walker
Valley, who was sick of me by now. Mom and I dashed to the mall-she needed
pillows, and I needed clothes. We had planned on staying one day, I had only
bought one change of clothes. I was pretty stinky by this point. We got back
to the mechanic, and he had accidentally broken the oil pressure stem thingy
that makes the gauge work. He gave me a credit for it, I paid the bill and
turned to Mom and said, "We're getting the hell out of Dodge before
something ELSE happens!"
I went back up the mountain and we loaded Rhea, Terra and lots of loot from
Mom. Jackie found that the mechanic had left his phone in the van (Mom took
it back the next day, and he said, "I was sure that was in Virginia by
now!"). We hit the highway at 6PM. The wicked thunderstorms started in
Cragsmoor at about 10 PM, and we hit them in DC at about 1AM. When we pulled
into Richmond, the secondaries were covered with storm debris. We made it
home in the pouring rain at 3AM to find our gazebo flattened. We could have
cared less. We were home!
In the aftermath, the gazebo was put back up but fell down again in the
60MPH winds the next night. The privacy fence was finished, so the dogs
could play together. After 3 hours of sleep on Friday morning, I took the
van to my mechanic and got the valve job and a new radiator. We were
exhausted.
Rhea is settling in well. Terra was mean to her at first, but now can't get
enough of playing with her. Rhea hoards toys, shoes and socks. Jackie always
leaves her shoes scattered around the house, and now they end up in my bed,
which has turned into Rhea's nest. I took a picture of the bed that included
one dog, 7 shoes, 10 dog toys and three socks. A week later, Rhea is
comfortable enough to evince typical puppy behavior, which means I've lost
one shoe, two books, have had the entire contents of the kitchen garbage can
spread throughout the house during the wee hours and the toilet paper pulled
off the roll-twice. I love young dogs! I've laughed so much in this past
week-she's a real love and has a sweet temperament-we just need to work on
the shy part.
I can't think of a moral to the story, unless it's "If you hit an I-beam on
I-95 at 3AM, turn the damned van around and go home!" But, if I had done
that, I would have missed seeing Mom and missed having sweet "Wee Rhea" for
a time.
Have a great weekend. I'm staying HOME!
Kristal
--
The Crystal Crow
2107 Ginter Street
Richmond, VA 23228
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