Home, Sweet Home

After 12 days on the road and traveling about 5000 miles, the MT Pug Pack is home safe and sound. We arrived in Missoula on the 4th of July at about 11:30 pm. It was very nice of everyone to greet us with such a beautiful fireworks display on our return! (LOL)

The last couple days of our vacation seemed to be telling us it was time to go home. After leaving Rockford, IL we made our way to Worthington, MN. Arriving there about 10:30 pm, all we wanted to do was get some food and a good nights rest, but it wasn't meant to be that simple. The bed that I had asked about in detail, not once but twice, was NOT right for us. It seems like a simple thing to ask whether a bed is open underneath. Many hotels/motels have gone to using a box frame that sits flat on the floor. Nice for the maids, and to keep people from losing things under the bed, not so great when we need to use a Hoyer lift to transfer Dustin into bed. We talked to three other motels, ran around town, and to make a long story short ended up back at the first place where they offered us a roll away and were very apologetic and helpful in getting us settled for the night.

After an uncomfy night for D. I opted for a splurge on the hotel the last night and we stayed at a very nice Holiday Inn Express in Gillette, WY. Before reaching our last comfy bed though, we drove across the entire state of South Dakota. It was an interesting state with changing landscapes, many sites to visit, and decent roads. We did however, drive all day with a storm often threatening, wind blowing and two occasions of a cloud burst with a downpour so hard the wipers couldn't keep up! Since we had to spend an extra day in Rockford, we weren't able to take the detour we'd planned to visit Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument. Dustin has already suggested we take another trip to the Dakota's next summer to see what we didn't have a chance to this time. I was surprised because after all the driving we've done I didn't think he'd ever want to leave the state again!

The drive from Gillette to Missoula was long, nearly 600 miles. It was good to be home and sleep in our own bed again. The Puggies that had stayed with Uncle Mark and Auntie Linda were very happy to see us and their siblings. The picture attached is what a travelin' Pug looks like after a 5000 mile road trip.

Thanks for following along on our cross country adventures. Stay tuned for further adventures of the MT Pug Pack!

Catch Up, Craziness & Current Events

Greetings from Rockford, IL...again!!! No, we didn't just decide to stay here for a week, but Rockford is the only place we decided to stay twice. This is a very nice town and I wish I did have more time to explore it.

I know I've been remiss the past week on writing "daily" blogs. My BAD! We had a couple long days of driving and a hit or miss net connection while in New York. In my last post I talked about driving around the Twin Cities, MN. Well, I've learned since then that they are nothing compared to driving around Chicago! On the was east, just getting around Chicago was almost 4 hours. Between the road construction that slowed everything down to a crawl and the toll booths every 5 miles it seemed that we would never get past the city. And this was on the by-pass route! On our way back through we went more directly through the city. My heart was racing the whole time because driving bumper to bumper at 70 mph just isn't my thing. But I must admit, getting a close up look at all the tall building lit up at night was amazing! The best part was that we didn't have to stop once for road construction and only hit a couple toll booths so it went much faster than the first time.

Our time in New York was wonderful. We drove most of a day through the state to reach Newburgh/Plattekill where we stayed. New York was not at all what I expected. I always envisioned people everywhere. Like NYC spread across the whole state. To my surprise though, it is very green, lush, and rural. It was beautiful. It is so rural though that poor Susan and Lois had to come out at midnight and rescue us to help us find the KOA we were supposed to be staying at. We never would have found it in the dark on our own. It was wonderful to see them and get real hugs!

The next day we got to see and meet many Pug friends. Jenn and Ian we had met before in Baltimore 3 years ago. Ian has grown up so much and is such a smart boy. It was wonderful to finally get to meet Witchy, Joann (who has Daisy's half brother, another Pizz Pug!), Lisa and Kobe, Sue and her crew, Chris and daughter Bridget and their Otis who made me miss my Ripley, Michelle and Manny and their cute little boy, Alex, Susan's mother "Nana", Kate's friend Felicia and others I'm sure I'm not thinking of right now. I know Dustin enjoyed seeing Kate (Susan's daughter) again. We would bring her back to MT with us if we could! She is a wonderful, brilliant, funny young woman! It was hard to say good-bye when it came time to leave on Monday as our time there seems way too short.

Now we are on the last push back to MT. We ended up staying an extra, unplanned day in Rockford to get some repairs done on D's wheelchair. We will be hitting the road this morning and hopefully make some good miles in the next couple of days.

My apologies to anyone who may have thought we fell off the face of the earth. I guess I've learned not to make commitments like "daily" when I may not be able to keep the. All is well with us and the Puggies who are going to be just as glad as us to reach home. Until then...Pug hugs to all!

Thank doG I'm a Country Girl

Greetings from Rockford, IL. We had what seemed like a slow day yesterday with a lot of "road construction" that slowed things down. I put that in quotes because it seems that while they enjoy blocking off a lane of the freeway for 20 miles and slowing people down to 45 or 50 there doesn't seem to been much construction going on. Oh well.

Yesterday took us through Minnesota and Wisconsin. Most of the driving in Minn. is rural, country side. Then you hit the CITIES!!! What a mess that place is and especially with the two cities together. It seems to go on forever with left and right hand on and off ramps, more signs then a speed reader can read at 65 miles an hour and everyone in a hurry to get nowhere that important. We did well, didn't take any wrong turns and only had one close call when some "guy" (I'd like to use stronger language here but I'm keeping this G rated) thought he needed to work the crossword while he was driving and tried to change lanes without looking! I'm sure I'll be enjoying driving by/through Chicago just as much today. LOL

We finally hit Wisconsin. I think next to reaching New York, I've been looking forward to Wisconsin the most. I think it's a beautiful state, so green and lush. Some day I'd love to have time just to take a vacation there. We saw a beautiful sunset in our rear view mirror as we were driving. Dustin has been a fantastic navigator, great company and a real trooper for letting me drag him clear across the country on an adventure.

The Pugs were very good and let us sleep last night. Things should go well today. I promise you all pictures soon, but the camera is out in the van and I'm too lazy to go get it!

Rolllin' on to New York!!!

Are We There Yet?

Day two of our travels started well. Dustin may be convinced that not ALL of N. Dakota is boring as he had to admit that the area around the Bad Lands and Roosevelt National Park was interesting. Driving past the park I finally got to see something I'd been hoping to see for three years. (Last time I was in ND). There along the freeway, inside the park, was a band of about 6 wild mustangs. There are three or four bands that live inside the park. They were beautiful, but sadly I couldn't take a picture because of being on the freeway. We did stop later and take a few pictures however. I enjoyed watching the breeze running over the tall grass as we drove. It reminded me of a vast lake with the wind creating small waves.

The Pugs have been great travelers. Sammy and Ugga however, may be going home with Auntie Lois if they don't start sleeping more at night!! We spent the night in Alexandra, MN last night. It seems like a nice town and I'm anxious to see more of Minnesota in the daylight. We are going to do a little over 400 miles today, so an easier day for us. I suppose I'd better get this show on the road so we can collect a few hugs that I hope are waiting for us in NY!

On the Road...Finally

Well, here we are, a little behind schedule, but finally on the road and on our way to the Third Forever Pugged gathering in Marlboro, New York. Due to circumstances beyond our control, our departure was pushed back a couple of days to Monday. After packing the van with more things then I thought was possible (thanks for the help Linda), we hit the road at exactly noon. It was a very nice day for a drive, not too hot, not too much rain and not much traffic either. Ok, I thought it was a nice day for a drive, D. on the other hand...well, he isn't too excited about the driving part. LOL I especially enjoy watching the scenery change as we traveled across the state. We have the beautiful, pine covered mountains as we travel through western Montana, that gave way to the rolling, but green hills and open valleys in the central part of the state, and finally the vast, open prairies with interesting rock formations in the east. We traveled from an elevation of 6400 feet down to just over 2000 feet here in Glendive.

The Pugs were great travelers. They slept most of the way and only got restless to tell me it was time for a potty break. After we all got our potty breaks coordinated (everyone takes care of business at a rest area rather than individual stops) we made pretty good time and arrived in Glendive, MT at about 9:15 pm. I must remember that no matter how late it is when we arrive at our destination, the Pugs must go for a bit of a walk. The wanted to play well after it was lights out for us.

Today we travel through North Dakota. I've done this drive before and didn't find it unpleasant, but D. is not in favor of the long, straight roads and (in his mind) unchanging scenery. I think he will come to realize that it is more interesting than he thinks.

Well, that about wraps up the beginning of this adventure for the Travelin' MT Pug Pack. Look for another update soon from somewhere east of here!

P.S. The pictures don't seem to want to cooperate this morning, so I'm posting without them for now. I'll have to consult with my technical adviser and see what I'm doing wrong!.

16 Days and counting

Well, we have 16 days until we leave for our big adventure across the country from Montanan to New York! D. and I will be taking along 3 Puggies, although which three is still up in the air. We know we will be taking Ugga, our traveling Pug, and Daisy because she needs to go meet her brother, Bean. We are not sure however, about taking either Ripley or Sammy. It is bed time and I should be asleep so off I go to dream land. I'll take up the planning and pondering in the morning.