Thursday, May 29, 2008

traveling with "moo"



Moxie is an excellent dog to travel with. (and not because she is ours!!!) but she is quiet, well behaved and just enjoys going!! I think a lot of it has to do with her show days.... she always scored much better in the shows away from home.. she liked staying in hotels, and being on the road.

However, as I sort of figured, traveling with a dog is NOT the easiest thing to do. Quite often I feel like a second class citizen "because of the dog". Either "we" are not welcomed (and I quote from one hotel..."if we find that a pet is with you, we will fine you 150.00 per night"!!) or if you are welcomed, they will often put in the "not so nice section" of the hotel OR charge some outrageous price just in case your dog get "a hair" on the carpet!!! So, as we packed "Moo" into the truck for this trip.. I had all of that in mind.

Over all, though I am happy to report that it hasn't been as "bad" as I feared, though we have had a couple of bumps in the road.



I must give MAJOR praise to the Hampton Inn of Jacksonville, NC... and if anyone finds themselves there.. dog or not... please consider them as your place to stay. Here, dogs are more than welcomed... and our King sized, non smoking, no pet deposit, free Internet room.... was wonderful!!! Since we were there for 6 nights, it was so grand to have such a great place to stay in. I, of course, was very careful about Moxie being there... ALWAYS picking up after her...never leaving her in the room alone.... and made a point when we checked out at the front desk.. to tell them how delighted I was with the whole visit, and how much (as a dog owner,) I appreciated them being so pet friendly.

Our stay in Williamsburg was OK.... we have a little hotel that we always stay at (for the last 15 years that we have been going) they are also pet friendly.. with no deposit.. but I have to say that this time, we were in the "not so great" part of the hotel. We also had to pay for Internet, so my blogging was at a minimum (boy did I miss that). And this morning as we got back on the road, both Ed and I have decided that maybe we will look for another place when we visit Williamsburg again.


There was one other "little" problem... a PARKING ticket!!! Now, I will take complete blame for this, and will pay it promptly when we get home... but I am still a bit "ticked" about this....

Yesterday, as we were touring Williamsburg.. the day was reaching the mid 70's... I was nearly panicked about leaving Moo in the truck. So we looked and looked for a parking spot that would remain shady the whole day, and wasn't too far where I could walk back often and check on her. Course, the best spot to be found was in the "two hour/short stay" parking lot.. I knew I was taking a chance leaving the truck there for the day, but since there are no places for dogs.... I took my chances... and got caught. Oh well, the 10.00 that I have to send in was well worth it, as the truck stayed very cool and when I checked on Mox each time, she was happily snoozing.

It would be nice if Colonial Williamsburg could have a "day kennel" near the visitors center... I would have certainly taken advantage of it (even happily would pay!!!) and we can't be the only ones who visit there with a dog!!!! Maybe I will put that down on the questionnaire that is usually sent to us when we visit... I would think it could make them a little money and would be a real sense of well being for all dog owners...

This evening, we are in Lancaster, PA... a beautiful.. pet friendly (free internet) hotel... however, the 50.00 non refundable pet deposit seems a little much to me.... but, Moo is happily sleeping by the AC... so who am I to complain