The Adventure South in Dora the Explorer

 Day 15, The End of the Road

Blue Ridge Mountains

A six hour drive from Columbus, Ohio and we have arrived. It is pitch black outside and my friend tells me to meet her in front of the courthouse. Of course I take the wrong turn and find myself on 4^th Avenue West – isn’t that where the Dahl house is located? I decide to look for number 614 the address of our new home, and quickly realize that is a bad idea. There are ghosts and goblins dressed in black wandering both sides of the street - did I mention how very dark it is outside? Like so dark I can’t see behind me in the van. I remember as a child in West Virginia being fearful of what might be lurking in the back seat of the car. I had forgotten about that blackness.

I also forgot it is Trick or Treat night, again. Seeing all the critters on the street causes a flashback to the time I moved to Spanish Harlem in 2002 for eight weeks. Three dogs and I arrived in Newark at 5 PM and rented a large taxi van to take us to our sight unseen apartment on 112^th Street in Manhattan. It was dark and there were ghoulish characters roaming the neighborhood as far as the eye could see. I completely spaced out the fact it was Halloween! The wanderlust rarely knows what day it is let alone the date on the calendar, so we were clueless before we arrived. The dogs freaked out, barking madly in the taxi while I frantically banged on the door to my apartment house until Paco (landlord) let us in. I then proceeded to tote an IMac, two dog crates, three dogs and luggage up six flights of stairs. That was the beginning of an adventure in Spanish Harlem where the roaches were huge, the stairs were daunting and the dogs became models – three cocker spaniels dressed in hooded sweatshirts sitting on the stairs leading up to our apartment. The image was later named “Dogz in the Hood.”

Sign for Asheville!

Obviously it is nothing like that in Hendersonville but with my limited night vision and all the black costumes I hightail it out of the neighborhood fast before I actually hit one of the small moving shadows. And of course, the dogs are barking their heads off and my patience has faded. My friend tells me to just park the van and she will find me; I agree without even hesitating. Miriam and I have never met face-to-face but have been friends on Facebook for three years. Amazing how it feels like we’ve always known each other. She is an artist and dog trainer, has four dogs and had a business similar to TBTB before moving here from Pennsylvania. Since we have been in Dora driving for hours, she thought a trip to the local dog park would be good so we follow her to Jackson Park. I still can’t see shit so I leave the headlights on so the dogs can go potty in a place meant for them. A quick jaunt in the dark, a few wet bushes and then it’s time to leave – the dogs can’t see either but they are more willing to meander around in the dark than me.

Hendersonville Exit!

We are blessed to park Dora at Miriam & Doug’s place for the night. They have an adorable storybook cottage in the woods a few miles outside of Hendersonville town. The dogs enjoy rolling in the leaves, sniffing the squirrels that pepper the yard, and stretching their legs after being confined to Dora for two straight weeks. We sleep blissfully knowing our journey has finally ended and we are safely at our destination. We are indeed at the end of the road for a time. Today we will get the keys to the Dahl House and begin the process of making it our nest for the winter.

Thanks to all of you for reading the long, involved tale of a wanderlust traveling cross-country with six dogs in a van called Dora. Some days in the snow blizzard your comments were our only link to the world beyond our reality at the time, and were indeed encouraging. We hope you continue to follow the stories that will no doubt unfold at 614 4^th Avenue West where a boarding house called Milepost 49 will host an assortment of interesting characters from who knows where?

Oh, and the reason it’s so dark here? There is no snow! In Alaska the light reflects off the snow so you are able to somewhat see what is hiding in the backseat! But I still don’t miss it!