Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Fif (Friend I follow) and I have been on the road for more than a week and I’m just beginning to feel a little settled and more secure. The first few days were very rough. I missed being on our farm, being with my buddy Emma and Ef (Emma's friend). I missed the horses, which sometimes I’m allowed to “herd,” and even those pesky cats, which I am NOT allowed to herd.

Hardest of all though have been all these strange smells to sort out. And different ones every day. Who knew there could be so many dog smells (thus dogs) in this world? Every time we stop for the night or get out during the day I have to catalog all these different smells.

I guess if I had to find a bright spot in this it is that I get to spend 24 hours a day with Fif. That has never happened before and it’s mostly good. A couple of days ago I actually started feeling more like myself and Fif and I had a short, fun game of toss and tug with the new Lambie she bought for this trip. I had totally ignored Lambie till now, but after our game she became my go-to in stressful times (like when Fif makes all those trips out to the car and leaves me in a motel room alone). 

We have also been invited into a number of museums, like this one I got to tour in Dana, Indiana. It's about this guy named Ernie Pyle, who was a writer and traveled all over the U.S. like Fif and I are doing, meeting people. He also "went to war," as a writer during WWII and people at home in the U.S. got to read about what it was like to live in the trenches. Ernie died during a battle he was covering at the end of the war. I noticed after we went through this museum Fif's eyes were very moist.

This was actually kind of fun. We got to walk to a lake every morning and evening when we visited Shell Lake, Wisconsin and watch ducks and geese. I made friends with a little girl whose father was teaching her how to fish. She asked if I was a WOLF! Have I mentioned that I LOVE people?

Finally, here I am in one of those embarrassing touristy photos Fif insisted on taking in, of course, Wisconsin. It was worth it as the cheese IS spectacular!