The Adventure South in Dora the Explorer

Day 9

Dry road!

Cruisin' at 70+

Today is going to be a good day of driving. Up early and on the road to Grand Prairie, on to Edmonton and beyond. The roads are not only clear, but they are also dry AND it’s a freeway. No more remote highway, we have returned to civilization. Homer is about as remote as it gets for this girl. We are cruising at 70+ MPH and yes the cruise control is working! I stopped at PetSmart to get the dogs more food since we only packed for the eight days it normally takes to reach the east coast. Somewhere in the process we lost our road caravan, but that’s okay. 

BunBun and RockDog threw up this morning, no more worrying about terrifying roads. Instead I’m back to cleaning up puke and poop. I also notice that Woody has diarrhea – could be the aspirins but it’s probably the Beneful chicken dinner that I gave them for a treat, no doubt made in China. Yikes. Driving down the road we are about halfway to Grand Prairie when Woody starts demand barking from the bed in the back of Dora. I cannot stop (again) because of course I’m on the freeway and there is nowhere to pull off. He eventually stops barking and then a dreadful stench rises up permeating the back of Dora, slowly moving forward. I look behind me and see Woody has assumed the position on the floor. Oh NOOOOO! Walk, squirt, walk, squirt, walk, walk, dump. Holy shit, and yes that is what it is. The five other dogs rush to the front seat as far away as possible from the mysterious blob in the middle of the floor. OMG, to find a pull-off. I finally do and at this point Woody is both mortified and distressed.  He never has accidents in the house. Plus he has leaped off the bed, thank goodness but he has once again hurt his leg and is howling.

Bunny likes sitting on Zip's head

I clean up the mess, give him a massage and an aspirin, and we are back on the road, but not before pulling up the soiled rug, dog bed and down comforter. I had already decided we were staying in a motel tonight, but now it must also have a laundry rood. We continue on our route, fly through Grand Prairie, reach Edmonton and I realize we have lost yet another hour. Instead of being 4:30 it is actually 5:30 PM now. Oh well, we will keep going.

We reach Lloydmister around 7 PM and find a motel with a washer/dryer. Woody is again very distressed. I’m not sure about his shoulder/leg theory. At times it seems fine, and then he becomes totally agitated and almost lame. As I write this he is resting comfortable after two more aspirins, but still has the diarrhea. I will give him a banana in the morning and keep him off food for the day to see if it helps. Luce’s growth on her foot has also come back. Sounds like we will be seeing a vet when we arrive in North Carolina.

One bed

Unloading dogs and all our things at the motel is indeed an ordeal. This is all new to RockDog, Bunny and Anne. However, the seasoned dogs assume their positions on the beds, we actually have two. So 3 dogs on one, and 3 on the other.  I fit wherever I can around them. The shower is hot, the room is cozy and we are finally settled at midnight. It’s been a long day of driving and we covered over 600 miles. I am happy to say there is barely any snow on the ground and we are still headed south.

and the other. . . 

Day 9 is ending in the comfort of a motel room. However, I am actually more comfortable in our cocoon in Dora, but it is nice to stretch our legs a bit. Hopefully tomorrow will not be another day of Diarrhea Mama Mia! Fingers crossed, or maybe I should say legs?