Day 16 –  Hanging in WI

Today was a VERY special day.   We got up early and went with Dad in the Jeep.  He said he had something very special planned for us!  I’m not sure why Mom wasn’t with us.  I’m pretty sure she got lost somewhere.  She was nowhere in sight and neither was her hot little red car.  I was VERY concerned even though Dad seemed to think everything was alright.

Well… we pulled into the parking lot of this store that had a cat and a dog cartoon character on the front.  Dad said “You kids have been SO good the past 2 weeks that we are going to buy you a SPA day!”.  I had no clue what that was but he was excited which told me it had to be awesome!!!  I was still worried about Mom but Dad made this sound so good that I thought I’d go along with his plan.

Turns out a SPA day is where you get to have a bath, get brushed and tickled A LOT and get your nails done!!!  Even Eli got to get his nails done!!!  You also get your ears cleaned.  Maybe now Lililoo will start to LISTEN?!  (probably not)  It was the most fun we’ve had in a long time.  Jennifer was really nice to us and they gave us treats whenever we asked (which was quite often).  When we were done, even LILILOO smelled good!  Who woulda thunk???

Next Dad picked us up and we went for a ride and guess what?  WE FOUND MOM!!!  She was at this place Dad called “our new house”.  I don’t know what that means but at least Mom was found!

We stayed there while some men were digging up the ground and laying down wire and posting white flags.  We have those flags at home in California and I know well enough to STAY AWAY from those flags.  They beep and if you ignore the beep they BITE YOU! 

Next we went with Mom in the Jeep to see the doctor.  She fooled us into thinking we were going somewhere fun which I did not find very amusing.  The vet was nice until she stuck us all with a pricker thing!  Something about keeping us from getting sick from ticks.  I think that’s all a lie – I’m WAY bigger than a tick and could eat it easy without getting sick.  Oh… the vet said that I was the best one – REALLY she DID!

After that we went back to that “new house” place.  Dad was still there but the digger guys were gone.  There was another man there.  He had a piece of paper.  Something about “covenants” and them saying you can only have 2 dogs.  Mom and Dad sounded appalled!  Then the guy said be quiet and don’t worry, there are other people with 3 dogs.  Wow – for a minute I thought we were all going to get ARRESTED! 

Then, our worst fears were realized.  We got in the Jeep and drove to this big building and then got into another HUGE car with no windows in the back.  It had a metal grate between the front seat and the back.  WE WERE GOING TO JAIL FOR SURE!!!  We drove to this place called Milwaukee.  Mom and Dad went inside and came out with a huge box.  They put it in the jail cell with us and we drove away.

Finally we got to get out of jail and got back in the Jeep.  We went to the hotel, ate, RESTED, got in the Jeep while Mom and Dad ate, back to the hotel then to sleep.  Same ol’ same ol’.

Arrested and jailed

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen... nobody knows my sorrow...

Incarceration vehicle

SLEEPY - BIGTIME SLEEPY!

Our "new house"???

Day 15 – Wisconsin at last!

Today we got up and went for the longest ride yet.  Dad didn’t take many pictures except for the giant windmills all over the place.  These things are huge and have really long arms that they use to pick things up and throw them HIGH into the air!  We’ve seen them before but they looked even BIGGER this time, maybe because there were no mountains and the trees around them were SO much smaller.

We got to this place called “Wisconsin”.  It was really green but there were no mountains that I could see.  Mom and Dad seemed excited that we had “finally got there”.  I’m not sure why we would drive for 15 days to get HERE???  Now that we got here, what are we going to do and when are we going to go back home???  I’m sure they’ll tell us pretty soon.

In the meantime, we did our normal stuff of hanging in the Jeep, going for “REST” stops and being in a hotel.  Mom says we have 2 more nights in a hotel, then we get to go to a house.  I don’t know whose house it is but it sounds like fun if we can go inside. and Mom PROMISED we could!

We stopped by all these cars and Mom got in her little red car.  How did that car get here?  Are we home?  It doesn’t look like home.  Maybe the car missed her and came to find her???  She looked REALLY happy to see it and drive it.  Good for Mom!!!

Mom and Dad stopped at this place called “Chase”.  It was a little building.  They went inside (probably to eat).  I’m getting tired of being left out.  The window was down a little further than usual so I thought I would try to make a break for it and find out exactly what they were doing.  Mom was sitting inside with this lady and Dad and saw me run by the window.  WOW – DID THAT CREATE A BIT OF EXCITEMENT!!!  They ran out of the building and my Dad called me back and put me in the car again.  Just trying to teach these humans a lesson!  Again... what if it had been Lililoo??? She would never come back!  (hmmm... food for thought...)

Next we went to this place called a “Mattress” store.  Mom and Dad were not in there too long.  Just long enough for us to find a fresh package of beef jerky and devour it.  Dad was NOT happy.  Not sure why he got so upset,  it's pretty obvious that he left it for us!

From there it was back to the hotel and a good night’s sleep.  Not sure what tomorrow has in store but I’ll let you know when we know!

Yup - still sleepy

Iowa windmills

The Mississippi River

Welcome to Wisconsin?  What the heck is that?

YUM!!!!

Day 14 – Omaha, NE

Hi! It’s “ME”! The Funny Red Head! The morning started out pretty normal with “Super Dad” (or is it “Sleepy Dad”) responding to the early morning call of “Mother Nature” and taking us for our daily power walk. You would think that by now he would understand that as soon as that hotel room door opens, we are outta there! “Set me free why don’t cha Dad…Get us out of this room why don’t cha Dad. Wooo-A-Wooo-oooh!” Actually, we know the routine but love to mess with his head. He barely gets the door open and BAM! Off we go!  It is funny to see him stumbling down the hallway,  pulled by a team if hounds, trying not of fall forward.  And best of all he thinks he can get control just by raising his voice. Doesn’t he know that all he does is attract attention to himself? How embarrassing!  When people see him, he just repeats “I am in control…I am in control!” You would think that after 2 weeks…Awh…forget it. Poor Dad. Father’s Day is just around the corner so we will make it up to him…I am sure!

When it was time to load up, Dad opens the back of the jeep and while reaching in, hits his head on the tail gate.(That could leave a mark!) After “praising the Lord” (or something like that), he says to Mom that something is wrong with the gate because it would not open as high as it usually does. Of course pushing on it will fix it…NOT! Hey Dad, if you push really hard you might be able to bend it! Seriously!

Mom walks around the corner of the jeep and discovers that the right rear tire is completely flat! I am talking “rim on the asphalt” flat. Funny thing; Dad wasn’t even upset at her discovery. He just paused and actually said to Mom he couldn’t be mad because it could have happened while in the middle of South Dakota on the highway. That would have been a real mess. So after unloading what he had just loaded, getting out the tiny little tire jack and crawling half way under the car to find the exact right place to locate the tiny little tire jack…and then getting up and rummaging through the glove box to find the owner’s manual to locate where to locate…(get the picture???) and getting all full of dirt and scraping his knees on that same asphalt upon which said flat tire lay, I saw that Dad was seriously rethinking that comment about not being upset. Ya think?!!?

Before things deteriorated much more (it was VERY close), “Jerry Johannesen” (man of the moment and Best Western “Super Maintenance Man”) appeared on the scene. “Need a little help there do ya?” I thought for sure Dad was going to say “I am in complete control…I am in complete control…” but thank goodness he didn’t. Jerry said he would be right back and sure enough, he came back with a portable compressor. A VERY appreciative Dad filled up the flat tire, drove to exactly where “Super Jerry” told him to get the tire repaired and after a quick one hour delay, we were headed to Omaha!  Dad  gave Jerry a VERY nice tip! Whew!

The ride to Omaha was automatic: “Get In the car. Fight for position and off to sleep”. The only time we wake up is when the car stops. I think it is the vibration thing puts us right out! Dad is always saying that we are “SOOO GOOD!” in the car…but that is only when it is moving. Really! Stop the car and it is a whole different story. Example: Every time (and I mean at this point in the trip…EVERY TIME) they leave us in the car to go eat, (we are still upset over that 3 meals a day thing) we make a sport out of howling and barking and smearing our noses all over not just the back windows, but the windshield and driver’s window and passenger window as well. We do the whole car! I know Dad just loves it! Mom thinks it is funny that he uses that dripping wet gas station window washer thingy on the inside of the car as well as the outside of the car! Ahhh. Life on the road!

We arrived in Omaha  just in time to unload, get walked, do our “do-do” thing, watch Mom and Dad get all pretty (so people think they travel looking like that all the time), get back in the car and go to dinner with friends ( oh yes…”THEY” go to dinner!) More howling…and barking… and window painting. When Mom and Dad returned to the car, they introduce us to their very good friends Kent and Stephanie. Of course they said we were so loveable because…well…WE ARE! And who wouldn’t love a face like mine? (Bella thinks that she is the prettiest but I distinctly heard Stephanie say that she liked me the best! Score one for the Red Head!)

Back to the hotel for bed. We did our little routine of trying to convince Dad that we had just as much right to sleep on the “Big Bed” that he had…but just as routinely, it didn’t work. We were sentenced to sleep on the beds on the floor once again…only to wait for them to drift off to sleep so we can slip back up, not to be detected until morning. Who said “Life wasn’t fair”???

Good night to all (and a very good night it will be!)

Big OOPS!

Cause of the OOPS

Jerry - Tire pumper-upper

Al and Darwin - OOPS fixers

Kent and Stephanie

Sleepy girls once again!

Day 13 – Wall, SD             

Well, it was back on the road again today.   We knew Mom and Dad were really tired from our “play day” yesterday so we let them sleep until 8:00.  Then it was back to the familiar routine of loading up the Jeep, getting our last “REST” stop done and heading out of Dodge (ok… make that Casper but we ARE in the wild west). 

We stopped by Aunt Beth’s and Uncle Tim’s to say goodbye.  Of course WE had to stay in the car.  Well… today I called them on that!  Dad left the window all the way down and I jumped out and joined him and Uncle Tim’s conversation inside the garage.  Boy was Dad ever SURPRISED!!!  (teehee) I was immediately re-incarcerated but that piece of freedom for one minute felt REALLY wonderful!  I told Dad I was just trying to teach him a lesson not to leave the window down.  I mean what would have happened if it was Lililoo who jumped out?  She would have run off and we would never find her!  Hey - that's an idea!!!

After picking up our “REST” results that were missed yesterday and Mom cleaning the patio door glass with our nose prints all over it, we were on our way.  I don’t know why she had to clean the door… we wanted to leave our “autograph” for our new friends to remember us by. 

We headed to that place called “The Badlands”.  It must have been pretty because Dad took a bunch of pictures (AGAIN).  I kept looking for the drop off place so we could leave Lililoo but we never did find it.  Alas, my sister is STILL with us.

Mom and Dad stopped at this place where there were LOTS of cars and 4 guys faces carved into the side of the mountain.  We got out for a “REST” and then got put back in the car.  Mom asked Dad if they should leave this one bag in the car (it’s never been left in the car before – always in the turtle on the top).  He said it would be fine and they proceeded to the lock the Jeep and walk where all the people were going.  As they were walking away, Lililoo was sniffing around that one bag.  WOW – WE HIT THE JACKPOT!!!  This was one case where Lililoo was a great asset to us!!!  She found a bunch of treats and all of the dog food.  Not being sure how long Mom and Dad would be gone we got to work immediately!!!  We ate a $13 bag of junk food (Beggin’ strips is what Mom calls them) and a large amount of the 5 gallon zip lock bag with Lili’s really rich, REALLY yummy dog food.  Just then Mom came back.  She was NOT HAPPY!!!  I don’t know why because they left it in there for us and WE were VERY happy!

 Next we went to this place called Rapid City and met up with Aunt Beth and Uncle Tim’s son Lucas and his girlfriend Jordyn (sp?).  They looked really nice and she was really pretty.  I didn”t get to be around them because… you guessed it… WE HAD  TO STAY IN THE CAR!!!

The last stop of the day was this place called Wall, SD.  We checked into the hotel, ate, “Rested” and then drove to town. 

Mom and Dad went into this place called Wall Drug.  It looked like a big store.   They didn’t stay long so once again, there must not have been any food there.  Then they went into The Badlands Bar.  They stayed longer there and came out with some pizza in a Styrofoam container.  Of course we didn’t get any of THAT either. 

Then we went to the hotel and went to bed.  For some reason, we were all tired even though we just rode around in the Jeep today.

Good, sleepy times!

Sleepy, sleepy...

Oh so sleepy

Our "REST" by the faces on the mountain

The guy's faces on the mountain

I've seen better lookin' guys before...

Yummy oh-oh's... BAD LILILOO!!!

Wall Drug



Badlands Bar - real glass - bad wine, when will things finally come together???

Badlands Bar  - classy joint

Classy x2

Day 12 – Casper, WY      

Hi, it’s Bella checking in with our Day 12 update.

Today was a WONDERFUL day for us!  It was a play day ALL DAY!!!  We were a little confused (well, mostly Lili was).  Dad didn’t pack up the car like he usually does.  Instead, we got in the Jeep and drove 3 miles to our Aunt Beth and Uncle Tim’s house.  That’s the place we went yesterday that had the BEST DOG PARK EVER!  It was very windy but we had fun anyway.  Lili got a new ball and our new friend Matthew played really hard with us! 

While we weren’t allowed to be with Mom and Dad when they went in the house, we did manage to leave our mark (nose marks) all over the window.  They said that Uncle Tim is allergic.  I’m not sure what that means but I think it’s something that we can catch from him.  Mom and Dad are always watchin’ our backs.  We LOVE them soooo much!

That’s it… eventually we went back to the hotel and slept VERY well!  Both Lili and I were able to sneak up on the bed and Mom and Dad were so tired they didn’t even know until the morning!

That’s all for the day 12 update.  We’re going to the “Badlands” tomorrow.  I think we’re going to leave Lililoo there - she can be pretty bad…

Aunt Beth in her dog park

Uncle Tim

Mom and Aunt Beth

Eli napping

Our new friend Matt

Just THROW IT Matt!!!

Uncle Tim gave Mom a VERY SPECIAL cup for her wine

Day #11 – Casper, WY

IT’S ME…LILILOO!  OK…I promised Mom and Dad that if they let me do today’s blog, I would be good and won’t pull on the leash and wouldn’t bark or howl when in jail in the car and total strangers walk by eyeing all of our worldly possessions in the super duper, highly stylish luggage rack on top of the jeep (I crossed my tail with Bella’s so I don’t’ have to honor that one).  I also said I wouldn’t drink out of the toilet and oh yeah; I had to promise not to pick on Eli! He is such a pain in the…Opps! I DIDN’T SAY THAT! IT WAS BELLA! I SWEAR!!!

Last night was great! The hotel only had a room with 2 Double Beds! Bella and I had a sleep over in Mom’s bed and Eli slept with Dad. I think Mom was having so much fun she kept pushing and shoving us all night long. I am sure it was to wake us up. So Bella and I just snuggled up next to her even more so she would go to sleep. NOPE!  She didn’t look very rested in the morning . Maybe she looked grumpy because she missed sleeping with Dad. That might have been our last sleep over of the trip.

We started out the day with a morning walk with MOM! WOW! She must have felt sorry for Dad because she let Eli and him sleep in. I’m sure she was thinking “beauty rest…he needs beauty rest!” News Flash: Dad has not shaved since they started packing. If he thinks that it is something that would qualify for “America’s Got Talent” he is really off his rocker. Can facial hair cause a lack in judgment?

Our walk was short but just what we needed to “rest” ourselves. Mom knows that our happiness is highly impacted by how much our bladders (and other parts of our body) hold. We got back to the room and had another hour and a half of peace and quiet.

After breakfast, Dad took Bella and me for another “Hike”. Eli opted to sit in the car with the windows open. I think he wanted to meditate. He looked like he was in one of those contemplative moods.    

When we left the hotel, Mom and Dad made a couple of stops to window shop.  I don’t know why in the world we would need more windows???!  Good news is that they came back empty handed.  It’s already cramped in this car without having to lug a bunch of windows around.  Next we gassed up the “Fur Mobile”. Dad snapped a couple of photos of some cool stuff before leaving town.

The trip from Red Lodge to Casper was pretty uneventful. The thought of 4 hours of blurry scenery was enough to put the three of us to sleep. I wonder how many pictures of “desert sand” dad took. I’m betting a lot! Mom said some parts were pretty.  I must have slept through that part.

We arrived in Casper to what Dad said will be one of the very best dog parks EVER! Lots of green grass and while no other dogs were there (very suspicious), it did turn out to be a lot of fun. It turned out to be the fenced in backyard of Aunt Beth and Uncle Tim’s house. Lili and I played for the first time on our trip. Eli found a great spot of shade and dosed off.   

Mom and Dad and the other humans went inside to eat.  They said they went in to get warm but WE KNOW BETTER.  The window in the dining room was just the right height for Bella and me to jump up on and peek in.  I know FOOD when I SEE it!!!  Besides, the window was open so we could SMELL it too. 

We arrived back at the hotel where Bella and Dad had a fight.  Really.  Bella wanted to sleep on the bed. Dad said “no”. Bella insisted. Dad said “NOT TONIGHT!” This went on for about 45 minutes. Bella decided to wait until Dad dosed off and then tried slipping up on the corner of the bed but “NOOOOO! NOT THIS TIME”! Dad was all over her. I think he thought he won a World Wrestling Federation match.

Things finally settled down when Bella decided that tomorrow was another day. Dad got back to his “beauty rest”. 

Amazing furniture in Red Lodge

Window shopping

Multi-media horse sculpture - the glass was amazing!

Abandoned old buildings outside of Red Lodge

The great outdoors

Lili checking out the sights

A desolate part of Wyoming

Who is this fuzzy, hairy guy?

YAY!!! PLAY TIME!!!

NOTE:  Went through some beautiful country outside of Thermopolis, WY but the pics are stuck in the Zoom Tablet.  Will post tomorrow...

Day 10 – Red Lodge, MT

It’s Eli and I get to write about our adventures on Day 10.  It was a pretty slow day.

We got up

Got walked

Smelled stuff

Met 3 ladies from Australia.  They liked me best.

Ate

Got walked again

Smelled more stuff

Got in the Jeep

Rode in the Jeep – it was not very pretty until we got to Billings, MT.  Then it was a little more pretty.  I know this because Dad didn’t take any pictures until then.

Dad got a phone call (that happens alot).  His friend asked if we were stopping to see the biggest ball of twine in the world.  He said "no".  The closest we'll get to that is producing the biggest hair ball in the world when Dad FINALLY gets to clean out the Jeep.  Yup... I must admit... it's pretty disgusting in there.  All Lililoo hair of course.

Got to Red Lodge and checked into the motel.

Ate

Got walked 

Smelled stuff

Got in the Jeep

Mom and Dad drove to town and LEFT US IN THE CAR AGAIN!

People peeked in the window - we scared them - it was FUN!  Some of them took pictures of us.

Lililoo found Dad’s beef Jerky – he should know better than to leave it in the car.  We ate it.

Saw some of those freakishly large dogs pulling a wagon

Told them to get away from our Jeep!

Mom and Dad came back

Rode back to the motel

Got walked

Smelled stuff

Went to bed

Mom and Dad drank wine in paper cups

The end

3 ladies from Australia - they liked me best!

Us smelling stuff

One of Dad's few pictures today - outside of Billings, MT

Billings, MT

Downtown Red Lodge

Girls sleeping

Bestest lookin' dog EVER!!!!

Freakishly large dogs pulling a wagon

See - great wine can still have "legs", even in a paper cup