Ten Ten in Penn

Pennsylvania Oct 2010

Autumn is upon us! I do love this time of year; the cool mornings and just the way the air smells. I’ve never been a big fan of summer.  Being of questionable breeding, I tend to perspire more than the average person and it’s, well, just unbecoming.  So while families are taking off on road trips to roast in the unforgiving summer heat, I prefer to hold out until October. Leaf peepin’ is my thing.

Yep, it’s time to pack up gear into the RV and hit the road. RV you say?  Nice.  Yeah, hold onto that jealous thought just a sec. Speaking of unbecoming, I’ve christened the thing as The SWRCT. That awkward acronym stands for the “six-wheeled-rolling-cat-turd,” excuse my French. It moves when you hit the gas, it stops when you brake. And it holds all our stuff and the dogs. And that’s good enough for me and my value system.

We bought this rattle trap a few years ago so we could take our dogs along on our travel adventures. It puts a whole new edge to vacations, having dogs with you. The kid used to be part of all this, but now he’s all grown up and everything and off to college. We do miss having him on our road travels. So this trip, there was nothing to do about it, except borrow a friend’s dog to take with us. We hooked up with the sweet Fergo, a nine year old CCI COC.

So we’re off in the RV to Pennsylvania with three dogs, a fridge full of food and enough dog kibble to feed a sled dog team. Micron was thrilled to have Fergo with us. He would cram a toy in Fergo’s face and was all hey fergo be my friend let’s play fergo hey fergo where ya going be my friend fergo. But the old man just wanted some quiet time that didn’t involve yellow puppies in his face.

They finally reached a compromise of sorts.

Be my friend, Fergo

 As CCI puppy raisers, we look for opportunities to expose the pup to different environments.Socialization is one of the most critical tasks we have. Consider this – someday this dog will go wherever his person will want to go. It really helps if the dog has an attitude of been-there, done-that and can focus on his job, not a new experience.

Hey, hand me that little stuffed rabbit, will ya?

Off to Hershey for some huge antique car show thingy. Otherwise known as long walks with the dogs and a trip to the outlet mall for me. We set up camp in a field near Hershey Park, which the powers-that-be have cruelly closed for the season. But no matter, we take pictures of it anyway.


No fun for you today

  



Saying cheese for the food lady.

We don’t tow a car for this trip, so gotta hoof it if I want to go anywhere. The more benevolent Hershey powers-that-be have placed an outlet mall about a half mile from where we park the SWRCT.  Micron and I are off to go shopping. We hit the very excellent Times to Remember scrapbook store where Micron is treated like a rock star by the staff.

Where else can you find Hershey Kiss stickers?

After Husband finds some rusty antique car parts, we’re off again for a day tour of Lancaster County. We choose a nice little campground for an overnighter. Roamers’ Retreat is just outside Bird-in-Hand and is nestled next to some gorgeous farmland. 

The boys loved it.





They should name a yellow wine after me.



Rusty won’t play with me.





M-o-o-o-o-m!  Fergo won’t let me in the cabin!

Good trip with good dogs. Time to head out for the long drive back home where the boys will continue to leave their mark along the I-70 rest stops. For myself, I’m looking forward to a meal that doesn’t have dog hair as a condiment.