Things I've Learned From My Recent Trip

I have learned some things from my recent trip to Alabama. First thing I learned - before you pack for a trip you should write down everything you want to take and check to make sure it works OK. If I did this, when I got on my bike to check to make sure it works OK, I would have noticed it was missing its seat and seat post.

Second thing I learned - dogs don't understand the concept of vacation (that’s not completely true, my Golden understands vacation, he thinks everyday is a vacation). My Lab gets anxious in the car; she paces and pants the whole time (my golden is like me on a trip, we both will sleep the whole way if possible). Once at my friend’s house Allie continued to pace and pant. She finally settled down on the day we came home (my golden was fine with the trip, he settled down right away.

Third thing I learned - I hate Scooby Doo. I didn't always hate Scooby Doo, it wasn't my favorite cartoon, but I didn't hate it. What changed was my friend has a three-year-old boy who was obsessed with his Scooby Doo DVD (same 4 episodes). I don't blame the boy for being obsessed, that’s what little boys do (I'm sure I did it too), and I don't blame my friend, because anything that can distract a child long enough for you to do laundry, clean the house, make dinner or even rest for a few moments is a good thing. But, by the third day of the same Scooby Doo episodes, it had driven me nuts (I even went outside in the rain to work on her fence). (An ironic twist - Sunday at Golden Retiever Rescue of Atlanta’s monthly adoption (I volunteer with them) I was tasked to show a Golden named Scooby.)

Forth thing I learned - things don't always go as planned. The first day I planned on getting there and going to the Lake and watching the fireworks. That went as planned. The second day I would install the garbage disposal and fix the fence. I had to go out and get a wrench and a pipe to do the installation of the garbage disposal, so I didn't get to the fence. That went sort of as planned. On the third day I was going to go for a bike ride or a hike with the dog in the morning and Susan and I would go out to a dinner and a movie that night. I forgot the seat/seat post to my bike and Allie (my Lab) was panting so much that I didn't think it would be a good idea to take her hiking, and I didn't want to stress her out any more by leaving with Buddy (my Golden). I went out looking for a cheap seat/seat post, but couldn't find one (I wasn't going to spend 125 dollars on something I had at home). It didn't matter that I couldn't find a cheap one because by the time I got back to the house, it had started raining. Susan was not feeling well that day, so date night was out. So, that didn't go at all like the plan. On the forth day I thought we could all go to the state park (it has a nice lakeside beach and a bunch of hiking trails. It was still raining and Susan was still not feeling well and I had as much Scooby Doo as I could handle, so I cut my stay short and came home.

The last thing I learned – be it ever so humble (and messy) there is no place like home.