Last night we stayed on top of a mountain and it got very cold in the car-house while we slept. Luckily we have lots of blankets and Mom and I could huddle together for warmth, but it made it really hard to get up in the morning so that we could get an early start.
We didn’t have breakfast until after we’d run the 7.5 miles. That was partly because we had to sit outside to make and eat breakfast, and it had been too cold earlier, but also because my appetite is different now that I’m a drifter dog. When I’m home I eat on my routine, and I also get lots of treats. If I don’t get my first breakfast, second breakfast, or dinner on time – or if Mom forgets the treats on our walk – I feel STARVING and follow Mom around until she feeds me. But now when Mom puts out my kibble sometimes I sniff it and say, “Nah, I’m good.” I wonder if it’s traveling that takes your appetite away, or if maybe I’m just a greedy dog when I’m at home. When we’re living like strays we have to stop what we’re doing and prepare a meal, and then eat it in the cold, and then wait while Mom washes all the dishes in the silly sink-like thing that’s at her eye level on the back of the car-house. It really makes you think about whether you are really hungry or not.
Mom decided that she wanted a picnic, which required hauling the stove and all of the ingredients from the car-house to a picnic table, cooking everything, and then cleaning it all up and putting every last thing away before we could move on. When she was finally done we walked right off of the sidewalk and onto the blank space. At first I wasn’t so sure about it. The ground was sandy and smelled a bit like the ocean, but not really. Then I decided that it was AWESOME! This was definitely something that I wanted to track back to the car-house and make sure that it was in our bed for the rest of the trip. So I did a summersault and rolled around kicking my legs in the air like crazy. Then I got up, ran around in a circle, and did another cartwheel and rolled around some more.
I didn’t think that Mom was fast like me, but she also got her own speed certificate as we were leaving our morning run. I forgot to tell you about that! We pulled over and then suddenly a strange man had his big, fat face in my window. I barked at him, so he went to Mom’s window instead where it would be less scary for him. Mom talked to him and handed him some stuff, and I barked at him the whole time. He must have been real scared, because he took the stuff that Mom gave him and hid in his car for a really long time. Then he came back with Mom’s stuff and awarded her her own speed certificate. So I guess we’re a pretty speedy family!
Oscar the Speedster
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