Whirlwind Kentucky Roadtrip

Well, we did it. My daughter and I did a quick road trip to Kentucky to get the "boys". We left Sunday morning and headed to Bowling Green. Spent the night with my niece and her husband. It worked out well, as this was the first chance we've had to visit with them at their new house. Short but sweet visit!

Left their place early Monday morning for Hopkinsville. Picked up the boys and we couldn't have asked for better travel companions. Badger happily hopped in the car and made himself at home. Bear (Cecil) we weren't so sure about, but we never needed the kennel. When we put him in the car, he rode on my daughter's lap until we got to Elizabethtown. After that, he settled down where the seats and the trunk meet- and slept almost the whole trip back! Poor boy has spent almost 1/3 of his life in a shelter so it's probably been a long time since he had quiet. Never heard a sound out of either of them the entire ride!


Managed to get in a quick tour of Western Kentucky University. Nice campus- wouldn't mind if one of the girls went there for school. Plus- their idea of "cold" is about 30F... I'll take that! Loved the drive through Lexington. I haven't been there since our family went back in the 70's. Did a driving tour of Keeneland- what a beautiful facility. Had an interesting "stoplight" experience; as we were stopped at a red light, I realized that Badger was looking out the window, wagging his tail. I looked over and noticed there was a pickup next to me with 2 men in it. After a few moments, the driver pulled up and the passenger motioned for me to roll down my window. The older gentleman driving commented, "Ma'am, that's a beautiful English Shepherd you have there, just a beautiful dog." I definitely agreed with him!


Met the family that was adopting Badger in Mount Sterling. I think they were destined to be together. Badger gave Larry a big hug when he met him- I'm not kidding. It wasn't like he jumped up- he just walked up to Larry, tail wagging, and the next thing we knew he was "standing" there with both paws on Larry; giving him kisses, etc. I've never seen a dog do that to a stranger. It's like they'd known each other for years. And he did the same thing to Larry's wife. Then, when introduced to their son, he snuggled right up to him. They had brought a crate in case they needed it, but when they headed home, Badger was snuggled up in the back seat of the truck with their son. I had already warned DH that if things didn't work out finding/meeting the family in KY, that Badger was headed home with us...

Bear rode home very quietly with us to Wisconsin. He slept through Lexington, Cincinatti, Indianapolis, the snowy white-out in Hammond, Chicago- you get the picture. He did wake up briefly to take a short walk when we stopped and once when we got dinner, but the rest of the trip- he was out! Didn't get home until almost midnight- got delayed with the impropmtu mini-blizzard in Indiana. I'd forgotten how much "fun" lake effect snow can be...

He spent a couple days at our house so we could get him up to date on shots. He could have stayed too! He figured out his place very quickly and was happy to have a quiet place to sleep. Lola loved having someone "lower" than her to boss around! And she loved having another dog her size with whom to play. I took him to the office for a couple days and he slept right under my desk. Made friends with the staff and stole their hearts! Introduced him briefly to the lambs but since it's been so cold at our house (-30's F), we couldn't spend a lot of time outside. He was intrigued with them- a little hesitant, but not afraid. Would have loved to have some warmer days to see how he was the flock.

Bear is now being fostered with another family to learn the basics. He's learning to sit before eating, proper play- all those basic puppy things. It shouldn't take long before he finds a permanent home.