November 11, 2008

11-5 A sixteen hour drive

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Our day started at 5am! I'm really NOT a morning person, so it was hard to get going, but we were out the door by 6:45. We made a few stops for meals and potty breaks, but those only extended the 14 hour trip (according to mapquest and my GPS) by an hour and a half so we made good time. Picking up an extra hour when we crossed the time zone helped too! During the trip, when we stopped at Long John Silvers, Dazzle did an excellent job of looking at me or laying down, even though there were some crumbs and bits of food on the floor. Also, by that time he had been in the van for many hours and his new girlfriend was just on the other side of the table. I was very proud of him!

When we got to camp, it was 8:30pm local time. He explored a bit, then I got my part of the room set-up while he chewed on a bone. He met a big golden retriever and once he was over the initial uncertainty, he relaxed around him. Others had also arrived early, but were busy getting settled in, so we didn't do too much socializing that night. I was ready for bed and was glad Dazzle was willing to go back in the crate and chew on a bone quietly, even though I'm sure after sleeping nearly 14 hours he probably didn't want to sleep more!