You lucky dog, you (Part uno)

This is my story of finally finding my Petunia. I hope you enjoy the very memorable road trip as much as I did.

I feel like I have a newborn child.  I'm sure those of you that have gone through the experience of having an infant of your own at home will be the first to tell me that there is absolutely no comparison between a human newborn and a baby dog.  But really, this puppy, from the second that I brought him in my front door is consuming every second of my time.  I started writing this blog post, to simply share my experience of retrieving Winston from the breeder, a mere 8 hours away, oh 3 weeks ago now.  The crazy dog, which he should be, is either eating my Mac, stepping on the keyboard or getting into some other mischief.  So, now that I am puppy-less (tear) thousands of miles away, am now taking a minute to catch up on sharing my fun filled adventure of retrieving this crazy thing.  I hope you enjoy what I'm sure will only be the beginning of my Winston adventures.

I will never ever be known as the most organized person, or the person who shows up for vacation with planned schedules and itineraries, but I really wanted to be somewhat organized for this trip, since I did ask someone to accompany me on this big adventure.  Well good thing I had bought dog supplies (you know food, toys, a crates, etc) before I brought the dog home.  But, that was about the only thing I had prepared ahead of time.  Other than that, Friday night leaving work, I had a flat tire on my car, a rental car to pick up at the airport and about 500 miles to drive before 9:30am on Saturday.  Good planning, right?!

After a loop around the Cincinnati airport, a stop at baggage claim (did you know that you have to park at long term parking to pick up a car at Hertz?) and a ride on the airport shuttle, we finally arrive at our rental car.  I would suggest asking for a rental car without keyless start - that thing was really hidden! Ashley started off driving - she was scared of my driving skills (I agreed after I had turned and headed the wrong direction down a one way street downtown on my way to pick her up)!

The car passes inspection and we're finally off!!

Finally, at 7:30 pm, we were on our way, puppy bound!  Not more than 1 hour into our journey we approached a wandering Cadillac.  Unable to pass the car due to his severe swerving, and formulating many many postulations about the driver's situation, we finally determined that he was an unfit driver and called 911 (or the highway patrol).  The next 10 minutes was both very calm and intense.  I was asked to tell her every mile mark that we crossed on the highway and describe the driver's actions.  The 911 operator was communicating with highway patrol officers through her ratio.  She then described the situation that would take place and asked me to tell her the instant that I was under the bridge ahead, almost, almost, okay NOW!.  All of a sudden, like on a TruTV police chase show, a police officer swooped in, slid in between us and the Cadillac.  He followed the still swerving Cadillac for about 2 minutes, just long enough to witness the reckless driving, and pulled him over.  Our job well done felt like a job unknown.  What had happened?  Could we go back?  We decided it would be best to stay out of the way and keep going with our 400 miles still left to drive!  Cheers!

I convinced Ashley that it was time for a stop - we were definitely going to need some caffeine, some snacks and dinner for sure.  We made it a combo stop - Walgreens (with some Kentucky souvenirs) and Chick-fil-a!  Best dinner ever.  I miss Chick-fil-a so much!  I ate it about 3-4 days per week last year for lunch and I am now having serious withdrawals!  I felt so sad for Ashley that she could not enjoy what I was enjoying due to her crazy diet - we'll go back very soon!  We ate inside for fun, and so did another happy couple - they were on a special date, all dressed up and having being taken!  I got my picture taken with them too!

So on we went.  I think we had a fairly uneventful next couple of hours until we got to Knoxville.  This is where things got weird - real weird.  We stop for a gas and more caffeine (yes, it was late).  In the parking lot, a police car was parked, and the stereotypical movie-looking police officers were outside the car not doing a lot of anything.  Inside, a blood covered blonde girl is standing near the front of the store and Ashley immediately notices.  I head to the restroom - which was also covered in blood.  We are whispering back and forth about this strange situation and try to leave quickly.  As soon ask we get outside we were now loudly discussing this gross situation, which was overheard by the police officer who then questioned our conversation.  We give a short response and I start making car adjustments to start driving. I was having a pretty difficult time working the car, adjusting the mirrors and the seat and somehow set the alarm off.  All of a sudden the police spot light was on us and the police officer tells us there are better ways to flirt.  We left in a jiffy.  Strange. Ashley T's theory: we were witnesses to a small town crime which occurred at the gas station and now that we were witnesses, the old, creepy police officer was going to come follow us into the mountains and kill us.  - Really!?

Addivan.  That is what that says.  Wow.

It was  late, the rest of the drive was pretty calm.  We stopped in Spartansburg, SC at 2:30 am and a very cheerful, very southern woman greeted us at whatever hotel we stopped at.  We are up and out 5 hours later, only 2 hours away from meeting my little guy!!!!!

Bright eyed and bushy tailed!