Shot-Gun

A long time ago, I used to ride shot-gun in the car.  I used to ride with the tip of my nose stretched out toward the partially open passenger side window, taking in the smells that were whipping by me.  I used to relish in the gentle breeze that used to fluff my fur while I watched the world fly by.

But that changed one fateful day years ago; the day I decided to jump out of the window of a moving vehicle (the story can be found here).

Since that fateful day, I've been not only relegated to the back seat (forced to occasionally share the area with other travelers) but I've also been forced to wear a seat belt which, obviously, severely limits my ability to roam about and drool on the driver's neck.

But something changed a few weeks ago.  Not only did Sister take me for a ride in her car (a rare thing given her desire to maintain a fur free zone in there and my on again off again willingness to climb into her car (remember when Karin and Sister tossed me into Sister's car at the end of a summer BBQ?)), but she also let me ride shot-gun.

Shot-gun!

Here's what happened.

Wednesday mornings generally go one of two ways--either Sister runs around like mad doing errands before going to work or she and I plop down on the couch for a morning of napping and television watching.  That particular Wednesday started as the former, however, after she got home early from her errands, Sister said one of my favorite phrases:  "You wanna go for a ride in the car?"

Well, you know what my answer was.

Minutes later, we were both sitting in the car; Sister in the driver's seat and me in the passenger's.  Immediately I became aware that Sister was requiring me to sit on a bed of towels--most of which were strategically placed directly under my chin--but a car ride is a car ride so I let it slide.  Besides, I was too busy trying to upgrade my seat to dwell on the offensive drool towels.

You see, Sister and I were engaged in a bit of a disagreement regarding who was going to drive.  I wanted to give it a go, but Sister didn't agree.  Throughout the argument, I kept trying to muscle my way onto Sister's lap, but each time I was met by an elbow and a hollered combination of "sit," "no," and "stay."  Eventually, I decided to be the bigger dog/person and allowed Sister to persevere.  It's okay; I'll drive next time.

As exciting as a car ride is by itself, the true thrill is in the destination and Sister did not disappoint me that day.  We didn't drive far, but we drove far enough to visit one of man's most ingenious inventions:  the drive-thru window.

I was an itty-bitty puppy when I was first introduced to the concept of the drive-thru window and it was love at first site.  How could it not be?  You get in the car, drive around, park in front of a window, then someone hands you a bag of food.  Ingenious!

My withdrawal

Sadly, Sister didn't take me to a hamburger dispensing drive-thru window that day.  She took me to the bank.  But even though it quickly became apparent that I wasn't going to be going home with a large side of french fries and a couple of ketchup packets, I didn't go home with an empty stomach.  When the teller gave Sister her money, she also gave her an envelope filled with dog biscuits.  Needless to say, as soon as that envelope appeared alongside Sister's window, I pushed forward and, standing (and drooling) on Sister's lap, I made sure that I was given a sample of my bank withdrawal right away. 

Sands Point

Lately, it's gotten really hot again.  Nighttime isn't so bad--I spend most of it in my Sister's air conditioned room--but the daytime is really tough because, aside from the bedrooms, no other room in the house has air conditioning.  Yeah, I get to play in the doggy pool on really hot days, but sometimes it's not enough.  Now, I've heard tell of a marvelous invention called "central air" and it sounds great to me.  How could it not be?  I mean, the entire house would be cool all the time!  I wonder if my humans ever heard of it?

Anyway, Pa told me this morning that it was my lucky day.  He said that my entire family and I were going to get in the car and drive to a place where I would feel much cooler.  "Whoo hoo!" I thought.  Not only was I going to get out of this heat, but I was also going to go for a car ride (and I know for a fact that the car has air conditioning).  He wouldn't, however, tell me where we were going.

It was really hard, but I waited patiently until it was finally time to leave the house later that afternoon.  We all piled into my Sister's car and we were off.  We drove for a long time, but aside from Pa not allowing me to sit on his lap in the back seat, I really didn't mind because it was nice a cool thanks to the air conditioning.  Eventually, we turned off the main road and onto a driveway where, before long, we pulled up to a little house where Sister stopped the car.   A nice lady came out of the house, declared how handsome I was, and asked if I could have a cookie.  That's all I needed to hear!  I started pushing my way into the front seat of the car, slobbering down Sister's back (she seemed less than amused by this, but then again it was her fault--she should have gotten out of my way).  The really nice lady came back with the cookie and Sister gave it to me while she wiped the slobber off her neck.  Sister then started up the car and we drove a little while longer until we reached a parking lot where we all got out of the car.

Water!

Once out of the car, I breathed in deeply and immediately knew exactly where my family had taken me.  We were at Sands Point!  I love Sands Point and this is why:  They allow dogs to visit all year round, there are lots of hiking trails with interesting smells, there's a beach to walk on (and roll on smelly sea creatures), and best of all...I'm allowed in the water!  Despite the heat, I started pulling my family down the trail that led to the Long Island Sound (they really need to learn to walk faster).  Eventually, we made it to the beach, and after climbing over some rocks and sniffing some seaweed, we made our way down to the water.

Pa trying to get me to swim

Now if you've read my profile, you already know that I'm not a big fan of swimming.  I've done it once before, at Sands Point in fact last year, but I simply do not like it when my feet are no longer touching the ground.  I do, however, love to frolic in the water--running in and out and snapping at the shallow waves which is exactly what I did.  I had so much fun and it was so refreshing!  Pa and Sister tried to get me to swim by luring me deeper and deeper into the water (once even with a piece of cookie), but I just didn't feel like it and kept going back to Ma who kept to shallower waters.  At one point, a lady and her two little girls came over to say hello to me.  The lady was very nice, she scratched my ears and said I was a very nice boy.  The girls were troublesome; they kept saying that they wanted to see me swim.  Despite that, I let them pet my back.

Just cooling off

We played in the water for a long time and when we were done I was really, really tired.  My family declared that we should go back home, but before we did, I rolled around in the sand to take full advantage of that fresh from the sea smell.  Then we got back in the car.  I slept the whole way home!

When we got home, Pa and Ma decided that I needed a bath to get rid of all the salt water on my fur.  I wasn't happy about it, but honestly, I was so tired from the fun I had at Sands Point that I didn't put up a fuss at all.