I originally planned to start this with Day 1 and talk about everything we saw between Everett and Bozeman. But as often happens with road trips, all did not go smoothly getting ready to leave home. I finally got back from Iowa about noon on Wed, we had my MIL over for dinner that night (see OLS #4) and got laundry done. Thursday we worked and then left early to come home and start packing. That’s right, you read that correctly, we started packing approximately 12 hours before we planned to leave on an 11 day, 4,000 mile road trip. Yeah, not the best idea.

Hiccup #1. We’ve never kenneled our dogs before. When we just had Sam we used to rely on friends to take him in we left town. He’s so mellow and so sweet that it was never an issue. Since we got Jake last year we’ve always taken them with us on trips. But this time we were expecting temps in the 100’s all the way across MT and ND and decided to let them have a vacation too. I made arrangements with a kennel recommended by friends and several co-workers. Their policy is that two dogs can share a run but they have to eat the same kind and amount of food. The same kind was no big deal, but Jake eats 6 cups of food a day and Sam 3. That posed a bit of a problem. I spoke extensively with the kennel owner and was assured that they could and would make an exception for us.

When we arrived, there was a guy checking in his non-friendly pitbull. Warning sign 1. Then it was our turn and when I started confirming details with her, including type of food, amount and Sam’s need for a pill with his meals, that’s when it got hairy. The woman, pretty rudely, informed me that giving two different amounts was not their policy and that I must have misunderstood the owner. I said no, talked to him for a while, it was pretty clear that an exception would be made. She said no. Her solution was instead of giving Jake 3 cups and Sam 1.5 twice a day they would give them each 2.25 and that would work. I said huh? So one dogs gets skinny (he’s already pretty lean) and one dog gets fat (he’s already a little heavy) and that makes sense to you?

Argument ensued. She wouldn’t call the owner, we wouldn’t separate them into 2 runs and we wouldn’t agree to overfeeding one and/or underfeeding the other. So we said screw you (literally, I was pretty pissed) and left. With no plan whatsoever for what we do with the two of them while we were gone. A few desperate phone calls later and we had a back-up plan, but not one that anyone seemed thrilled about (thanks anyway Mia!).

Hiccup #2. We got home and Mike put the rack on the truck while I ran to the store for some provisions and snacks for the drive. Got home and went to put the ice in the freezer only to discover that the raspberries / cherries melting everywhere. Dammit! I wasn’t sure if the door had been slightly ajar (has happened before) or if it was going down. The top two shelves and their contents are now covered in frost 2″ thick. I chipped the ice off with help from Mike, shut the door and waited to see if it would re-freeze or if we were going to spend the next morning getting a replacement and transferring the contents to it.

Hiccup #3. We did not finish packing before we went to bed. But it almost didn’t matter as we had to see if the freezer re-froze and find a new kennel for the dogs. And couldn’t do either until after 8 am on Friday. Had a quick dinner and some leftover homemade ice cream and off to bed we went. Hopefully tomorrow would be better.

- written Sunday, July 22