SILVERWOOD AND THE BTCA NATIONAL SPECIALTY - SAN JOSE CALIFORNIA

Whew, what a whirlwind trip it was for Linda, Kathy, Emmett, Kissy and myself. We left Minnesota on Sunday October 11th for San Jose California. We were all excited to go and the dogs of course slept most of the way.

Little Mr. Emmett started out in the larger wire kennel with Kiss in the Vari-Kennel. It didn't take long for the pup to realize that there was a towel above his head separating the kennel from the suitcase resting on it. We soon heard ripping and tearing and looked back to see him pulling the towel through the bars and shredding it. Still not sure how much went down his gullet but were glad that he suffered no blockage. From that point on he was in the Vari-Kennel which of course was much more boring. He did know how to get our attention when needed. He would stand up and hit his water bucket from below sending water all over the inside of his crate. He would then bark like mad to let us know that it was time for a potty break. Linda was very good at growling at him and staring to get him to stop. He knew not to mess with her.  He also destroyed his kennel pad by tearing a huge hole in it and pulling out the stuffing.  That went into the trash and for a few days the fiber batting found it's way through his system and back out into the world.

The Prisoner

The first day found us in North Platte Nebraska which just two days earlier had had 18 inches of snow.  It was piled up everywhere.  I will mention here that each time I took my turn behind the wheel the weather would turn for the worse.  There were a few white knuckle moments as rain turned to sleet and ice built up on the mirrors.  Through it all, cars and semis would fly by at 75 or more miles per hour.  It was craziness and when the going go rough, the wheel was turned over to Linda.  It was her van and if anything was going to happen in bad weather I did not want to be driving!

Our motel stays were an adventure to say the least.  We stayed in a Motel 6 the first evening and it wasn't horrible.  Night two found us in Salt Lake City where the splurge was on two rooms.  One for Linda & Kissy and one for Kathy, Emmett and I.  I forgot to mention that the first night was sleepless for me.  Emmett would not settle down.  We left the kennels in the car as they were really packed in there so I put a leash on him and wrestled with him the entire night.  We also went out a lot and walked through ankle deep snow in my Sponge Bob Square Pants pajama bottoms and flannel red top with puppies all over it.  Truly I was the epitome of fashion.  So, night two was a posh place and Emmett was still being naughty.  We all gathered in Linda's room for supper and Emmett started barking.  Within moments the phone was ringing with a complaint from the front desk.   We skulked off to our room and I decided to try and get some work done.  I set up my computer, tied Emmett's leash around my waist to keep him near and worked for a bit.  He of course laid down and fell asleep.  Night two was not much better but at least the room was beautiful and the weather was warmer - no snow - so my middle of the night potty stops with Emmett were a tad more enjoyable.  I think I also forgot to mention that Kissy was just coming out of season on this trip which made her very attractive to my young stud muffin.  She was having none of it and Emmett has the scars around his lips to prove it.

 

Kissy trying to get her point across

We stopped along the way to take a look at the Bonneville Salt Flats.  What an odd thing to see.  Looks like a lake that is iced over.  Here are a few photos of that too....

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The weather was beautiful!

From Salt Lake City Utah we continued on to Reno Nevada.  I took the wheel for awhile and as became the joke, the weather turned.  It started to rain and soon I could see that there was slush and ice on the road.  This didn't make sense because the outside temperature gauge on the van said it was 50 degrees.  So, the debate began as I felt the van slip and cars and trucks whizzed by.  I was not comfortable going on so we stopped at the worst rest stop ever.....a line of pit toilets that smelled like nothing I've ever smelled before.  Linda took over and we got in to Reno after dark while the rain kept coming down.

Rain and sleet and me hanging on tight.

This stop was also a Motel 6 and was at this point in the trip the worst yet.  It was small and smelled of sewer back up and the fan didn't work.  We ordered a pizza that was not so great and turned in knowing that in the morning we were a short 245 miles from our destination.  Over 2100 miles in 3 1/2 days!

That morning I took Emmett for a stroll around the motel.  I felt bad at how much the dogs were cooped up during the drive so wanted to get a few of his ya ya's out before the trek to San Jose.  As we turned a corner we came upon a young trucker and his unleashed, no collar pit bull mix.  We startled each other and the dogs immediately went in to a stare down.  Emmett's hackles went up and the Pit took a step forward.  I calmly told the young man to please grab his dog and grab him now.  He had to wrangle him by his back legs to pull him away from us, all the while uttering apologies.  I turned on a dime and walked away, heart pounding.  I told him to leash his dog.

By the time we found San Jose the rain was coming down so fast and hard that we had to get off the 6 lane expressway just to gather our thoughts.  We hit up a Safeway food store to replenish our water supply...Linda loves D'sani and the dogs were given bottled water also during the trip.  We didn't want any upset stomachs because of strange water.  Once the rain moved on the weather was beautiful.  We couldn't believe that it was 81 degrees.  I walked around for four days with my face pointing to the sun, soaking up as much of it as possible and replenishing my vitamin D stores.

The DoubleTree hotel was wonderful.  After two nights of substandard accommodations we  felt like we walked in to the Taj Mahal.  Our room was large and comfortable and on the first floor which made unloading the van a breeze.  We shared our room with two other women and one more dog making the total five humans and three canines.  Amazingly it went very well.  None of us were high maintenance and we enjoyed each other's company.

Time to post this and then find a few more photos to add.