Alberta Adventure Chapter 1–The Beginning

My name is Spike, they tell me I'm a poodle, but I know better - I'm a dog. I have other names too; sometimes they call me Mr. Naughty McNaughty Alot, but I really don't know why - I'm almost never naughty. When they call me 'Baby' or 'Sweetie" I just cringe. I like to hunt and kill things so I think they should call me something scarier.

There are six of us in my family: my two dog sisters, Bella and Kabira; and my people, Laura and Carm; I also have a bird sister named Grace. Bella is a poodle as well, although she is much bigger than I am, and is black. Kabira is a Rhodesian Ridgeback. Carm said that she was bred to hunt lions, so I feel safe when she's around. Grace is an African Grey parrot. She's okay I guess, and does save some of her supper for us to have as treats.

We all live on a farm, where I can run and hunt and play in the pond. Laura says we live the life of Riley, but I don't know who he is.

I like summer time best because that is when we go camping, which I think is great fun. When I see my people carrying stuff out to the camper, which is really just a home on wheels, I start to feel excited. Sometimes they take days and days to get all my beds and toys loaded, not to mention all the food, so I try to wait patiently... Eventually the day comes.  On that day, Laura and Carm seem busier and a bit more excited than usual so I keep a really close eye on them.  Bella and Kabira, my dog sisters, help me keep track of them.

We know it is really going to happen when Laura gets out the collars that we wear camping. They have tags that say how to get us back home if we get lost, plus they glow in the dark so Laura and Carm don't step on us. I can barely stand still long enough for her to put it on me, and then I leap and jump, I just can't help myself, I feel that we are in for an adventure.

Last summer was different though. I could tell that my people were getting ready for something big. It seemed like they were running things out to the camper for weeks. Sometimes is was stuff for us dogs, but often it was boring things. I couldn't count the number of times Laura emptied and reloaded the front of the camper. How much stuff did she need to bring? I saw that she loaded extra bags of dog food and I thought that we'd be going away for a long time. Even our beds in the backseat of the truck were changed and rearranged. I wondered what was going on and if there'd be room left for me when we finally went camping.

One morning Laura got up early, took Grace's cage out of the camper, put it into the truck, then put Grace in her carrier, put that in the truck and drove off. I was a little concerned about this, but figured they'd both be back soon. It wasn't to be! Laura came back without Grace. Then I was really worried and wondered what was going on. Where was she? Was she sick? I thought back to when I was a puppy and my dog brother Titan went away and never came back. I didn't want that to happen to Grace, she was only a bird, but she was part of our family.

The next morning the alarm clock went off - this usually only happened when Laura & Carm were going somewhere without us. My heart sank. They seemed so excited,  but I was sure they would leave us at home. I didn't let them get out of sight, just in case changed their minds. And then Laura got out the camping collars! Hurrah! We were going camping!

We all danced around Laura as she clapped her hands and jumped too, saying over and over that we are going to Alberta. I wasn't sure where Alberta was, but figured it was a campground that must be very wonderful.

My sisters and I were so excited to go that I would have leapt into the truck by myself, but Laura won't let me because I'm not very big and might slip. After she lifted me in, Bella and Kabira jumped in beside me. It was strange not to have Grace there as well, but I thought maybe we'd be going to get her. She likes camping too.

Laura and Carm walked around the camper checking things, then got into the truck and away we went. I watched out the window and as the house slipped out of view, I wondered how long we'd be gone.

Laura seemed to be pretty excited, I thought she might jump right out of her seat!

to be continued…

Alberta Adventure Chapter 2–Underway

We drove and drove. How far away is this campground anyway? I kept watch out the window, nothing seemed familiar; we must be going somewhere new. I hoped there would be lots of things to smell.

Finally we stopped. Was this Alberta? It didn't look like a campground, but I thought maybe if I looked out the other window I would see it. It definitely wasn't a campground. Laura got our leashes and we leapt out of the truck (okay, I didn't leap, I had to be carried - it is hard to wait for her to lift me down). As soon as my feet were on the ground I started looking around more closely. There was a lot of pavement, and way too many cars for it to be a campground. It seems I was right, because as soon as we had stretched our legs, my sisters and I were put back in the truck. It hardly seems fair, but I think the people went and ate something while we just starved.

As soon as my people were back in the truck we started moving again. I thought we must be getting there soon. Are we there yet? I stared at Laura, sure that she'd be able to read my thoughts and stop us at the campground right away. I don't think she was listening as we kept driving and driving. I'll have to tell you, I was actually a bit worried. Why was Laura so happy but seemed like she might cry? Were we going somewhere terrible? Was she worried about Grace? Was Alberta a terrible place?

I was a bit tired, but I still kept a watch out the window. I started seeing fewer farms and fields, and more trees. I even saw some lakes that I thought would be fun to explore.

We did eventually stop again. This time it was a beautiful place, and there was even a lake we could have swum in, but Laura didn't even let us put our feet in the water. I could smell dogs, and other animals too - I would have loved to go hunting, but as usual, we were on our leashes.  Laura got out a picnic lunch for the people; we dogs starved again. Oh sure, we got a teeny, tiny hotdog treat, but we could have eaten more! 

I thought they would set up the camper and get it ready to be a home, but it seems we weren't there yet! Not even yet. We had to get in the truck again, and drove, drove, drove some more. I was starting to think that Alberta was too far away.

I stared and stared at her, and finally Laura must have heard me ask if we were there yet, because she told us we still had a long way to go. It must be a pretty special campground for us to drive that far.

Laura and Carm were playing music as we drove and sometimes Laura would sing along. The sound of her voice made me feel less worried. If she was having fun, we must be too.
The next stop seemed different. Carm got out of the truck and talked to a lady - she pointed and nodded her head. Carm got back in the truck and we drove just a few feet and stopped. We all got out of the truck, and when Laura started getting the camper home ready for us, my sisters and I got excited. FINALLY! We are here! Then Laura said we were at a campground called Dreany Haven, just outside of North Bay, and that we weren't in Alberta yet. It sure seemed like a long way from home.

After our home was all set up we went for a short walk. It wasn't very interesting, and was close to a big road with lots of cars driving fast. Once my sisters and I had done our business we walked around the rest of the campground, but it was small so there wasn't very far to go. I was disappointed that we had driven all this way to come here and hoped we weren't staying at this campground for long. I was glad that this wasn't Alberta. From the look on their faces, Bella and Kabira felt the same way.

The day was over and I was exhausted. Looking out of the window to see where we are going is exhausting. Even though I was tired, I would have loved to have a longer walk to clear my head. I was glad we were all together, but wondered where Grace was.

to be continued…